XVI REFORMS IN CONDITIONS OF SUPPLY 285 



tube and the so-called teat-cups and mouth-pieces which fit over 

 each teat. Through the pull of the partial vacuum in the 

 milk pail the milk is drawn into it. By a mechanical device 

 the suction is intermittent. Several cows can he milked at 

 one time. The investigators found no ill effects upon the 

 cows, while they report favourably on the economy of the 

 machine. Bacteriologically they found that the milking- 

 machine produced milk with a slightly lower bacterial content 

 than that drawn by hand. They conclude that " the success of 

 machine milking will depend largely upon the man operating 

 the machine, and on his attitude towards machine milking." 

 More eloquent, however, than any bacteriological tests con- 

 ducted ujider the best possible conditions is the picture given 

 of the machine and the method of cleansing (Fig. 25). 

 Obviously, this is not a machine to entrust into any hands 

 but those of persons trained in a bacteriological laboratory. 



3. Freedom of the Cow and of those who handle Milk from 

 Bisease. — From the particulars given in earlier chapters it is 

 evident that if a milker or other person handling milk is suffer- 

 ing from an infectious disease he may be the cause of a wide- 

 spread outbreak of disease amongst the consumers of the milk. 

 It is very necessary that all persons handling milk should be 

 free from disease or the suspicion of disease. They should 

 abstain from handling milk until proved free from disease to 

 the satisfaction of the Medical Officer of Health. The expense 

 of any such procedure and stoppage from work should not fall 

 upon the farmer, unless proved to be due to his neglect, but 

 upon the community who profits by the precautions adopted. 

 All persons who have had typhoid fever should be excluded 

 from handling milk unless repeated examinations of their 

 stools show no evidence of typhoid bacilli. 



The importance of the cow as a vehicle for the trans- 

 mission of disease harmful to man to milk has been considered 

 in Chapters VI. and VII. It need only be mentioned here, 

 therefore, that the cows must be healthy and free from 

 disease. 



4. Care of the Milk at the Farm. — The churns which 

 receive the milk from the milking-pails should not stand, as 

 is customary, in the cowhouse itself, but should be in a separate 

 clean dairy, or if not possible, then in the open air outside. 



