IB 



GOVERNMENTAL CONTROL OP THE 

 MILK SUPPLY. 



The question of how the milk supply of cities should be 

 brought under government control, has of late so frequently been 

 discussed, that we propose to give here merely fundamental expla- 

 nations, but based upon extended experience of the matters con- 

 nected with the hygiene of milk. The milk reaches our markets 

 in a variety of conditions ; sometimes it is the natural product ; 

 sometimes it has been skimmed or watered ; sometimes both pro- 

 cesses have been resorted to ; sometimes the milk is fresh, good- 

 flavored, and shows good keeping qualities ; but frequently it is 

 stale, of bad taste, and apt to get sour. The vessels used for 

 transporting it are not always the cleanest, and often no precau- 

 tions are taken to keep it cool while it is transported or stored. 



For these reasons, it is not to be wondered that the inhabitants 

 of cities do not use this otherwise excellent food to such an extent 

 3LS they should and might, if they had the guarantee that only a 

 rich, cleanly-treated, well-flavored, and unchanged milk would be 

 offered them. 



Milk is a product of rather complicated composition ; and it is, 

 by no means, an easy task to ascertain the quantities of the valu- 

 able constituents which it contains. It is, therefore, of the great- 

 est importance to the inhabitants of especially the larger cities to 

 know that the products which reach the market have to pass sani- 

 tary inspection. 



In most of the larger cities, this control has been assumed by 

 the government ; but it is frequently carried ont, not only in an 

 unrational, but also a very superficial manner. Science and justice 

 are certainly not furthered when, even now, milk is passed or con- 

 demned merely upon the results obtained by the use of the lacto- 

 densimeter alone, or in combination with a cremoraeter. While 

 many dealers, by the use of such primitive methods, have escaped 

 the deserved punishment, others, who were entirely innocent, have 

 been punished. It is, therefore, at the time, and, in the interest 



