ABNORMAL MILK 25 



what bitter taste. It is especially secreted as the first 

 food for the young, and is adapted only to that purpose. 

 The ingestion of such milk, especially by children, is apt 

 to produce diarrhea, colic or other digestive disturbances. 

 Some foreign people, however, after the first two days, 

 use it for cooking purposes. 



General. — Until a few years ago little was known about 

 the effects of bacteria and other germs. This very seri- 

 ously interfered with the dairy industry. Major Alvord 

 reports that in a period from 1815 to 1830, in an agricul- 

 tural district in Mecklenburg, Germany, the disease of 

 blueness in the milk lasted eight years, and that in earlier 

 times, in the best agricultural districts of Schleswig-Hol- 

 stein, butter would become cheesy and moldy for several 

 months in the summer. Such defects in dairy products 

 occur at the present time, but in intelligent dairy circles 

 they last only a short time, as the causes of them are 

 known and remedies can be applied. 



We know now that the chief cause of these defects is 

 the action of bacteria on the components of milk. Milk, 

 when first drawn, contains gases and animal odors, which 

 in a large measure may be eliminated by cooling and 

 aerating it in a clean atmosphere immediately after it 

 has been drawn. The aeration causes the gases to pass 

 off, and the cooling keeps the milk in good condition and 

 causes fermentation to be wholly or partly checked. Cool- 

 ing milk to about 50° F. and below this temperature 

 checks fermentation so that the natural sweet flavor of 

 the milk can be preserved without other preservatives 

 for 72 hours or longer, providing all utensils, receptacles 

 and surroundings are perfectly clean. If not, the milk 

 will go " off " in flavor. Milk, kept even at a low tem- 

 perature, will in time lose its palatability, owing to the 



