CLEAN MILK 137 



work, but if he is lacking in this quality it is very difficult 

 to change his methods by any amount of instruction and 

 public regulation. The contamination that enters milk 

 because of this lack of the sense of common cleanliness 

 may be serious. 



Unfortunately, clean milk is not necessarily safe milk, 

 for even certified milk may, at times, contain invisible foes 

 such as the pathogenic bacteria; however, it is perfectly evi- 

 dent that harmful bacteria are much less apt to be con- 

 tained in clean milk than in dirty milk. Reference has 

 already been made to the fact that a certain dairyman in 

 Boston produced an exceptionally clean and satisfactory 

 milk for twenty-eight years, when one day last spring it 

 became contaminated with the discharges from a case of 

 sore throat, with dire results. Other instances in which 

 clean milk has become carrier of infection are not un- 

 common — perhaps for the reason that such milk is usu- 

 ally consumed raw. 



The dangers from dirty milk have been considered, and 

 it now seems unnecessary to emphasize the importance of 

 clean milk, especially for infant feeding. It is conserva- 

 tively estimated that if all the babies in New York could 

 have clean milk, it would probably save about six hundred 

 little lives a year. There are many philanthropic associa- 

 tions which have for their object the production of clean 

 milk for babies. Among these may be noted the Straus 

 milk depots in New York City and elsewhere, the gouttes 

 de lait in France, the Milk and Baby Hygiene Association 

 in Boston. Municipal depots have been established in 

 Rochester under Dr. Goler's leadership. Belgium and also 

 France have municipal infants' milk depots subsidized by 

 public funds. 



Fresh milk 



It must be plain by this time to those who have followed 

 thus far that milk should be as fresh as it is practicable to 



