CONTROL OF CITY MILK SUPPLY 227 
and filth and are largely responsible for the diarrhea, 
summer complaint or general gastro-intestinal diseases 
so common among infants and young children subsisting 
on cow’s milk. 
Importance of Cleanliness. Milk furnishes an ideal 
medium for the development of a large variety of bac- 
teria and for this reason, when improperly handled, it 
is possible for many of the organisms which gain en- 
trance into it, to multiply thousands and even millions 
of times before the milk finally reaches the consumer’s 
table. 
Another reason why extreme cleanliness should be 
practiced with milk is the fact that possibly no other 
food is naturally exposed to so many contaminating in- 
fluences as is milk in its production. If water should be 
squeezed by unclean hands from unclean cows confined 
in unclean stables, with particles of dirt and manure 
dropping into it in the process, it is certain that even the 
least fastidious persons would refuse to drink it. Yet 
thousands are daily consuming milk produced under such 
conditions, apparently oblivious of the filth and bacteria 
contained in it. Two reasons may be given for this ap- 
parent indifference towards milk on the part of a large 
percentage of consumers: (1) the general ignorance re- 
garding bacteria and the part they play in milk; (2) the 
opaque color of milk which obscures the bulk of the dirt 
contained in it. 
To improve the quality of milk supplied to towns and 
cities, it is necessary to exercise a reasonable control over 
it, both at the farms as well as in the city where it is 
consumed. Most cities now have a well organized sys- 
tem of milk inspection and great improvement in the 
composition and in the sanitary conditions surrounding 
