198 THE MILK QUESTION 



milk is in general use. In Denmark, in fact, paragraph 6 

 of the law of March 26, 1898, relating to measures for com- 

 bating tuberculosis in cattle and hogs, requires that all 

 skimmed milk and bottle milk from Danish dairies to be 

 used for feeding animals must first be heated to about 85° 

 C. This law went into effect June 1, 1899, was revised in 

 1903, and again in February 5, 1904, by requiring the pro- 

 ducts to be heated to 80° C. and adding, to the products 

 requiring pasteurization, cream used for the manufacture 

 of export butter. The same law requires that only such 

 milk and buttermilk may be brought into Denmark as has 

 been heated to at least 80° C. 



In France the heating of milk is practiced by the whole- 

 sale dealers who supply Paris. A portion of the milk sold 

 in certain of the larger cities in France, and the milk dis- 

 tributed from the infant depots (govttes de lait) is also 

 heated. Much of the cream destined for Paris is pasteur- 

 ized. 



Bacterial toxines 



Much has been written concerning bacterial toxines, but 

 when we sift the matter down to the bottom, we find a few 

 definite facts which are comforting. It has commonly been 

 said, especially by those who are opposed to pasteuriza- 

 tion, that the heating does not destroy those toxines or 

 chemical poisons which are produced by the growth and 

 activity of bacteria in milk. Whether this is so or not must 

 engage our attention. 



The true toxines are soluble chemical substances of un- 

 known composition and exceedingly poisonous in small 

 amounts. They produce symptoms only after a definite 

 period of incubation and are capable of inducing immunity 

 as a result of the production of antitoxines. We are ac- 

 quainted with very few true bacterial toxines. The best 

 examples are the toxines of tetanus, diphtheria, and the 

 poison produced by the Bacillus botulinus, or sausage 

 poisoning. The true bacterial toxines are not resistant to 



