FILTH AS infants' FOOD 89 



founded, for they could not bring their milk a distance 

 of little more than a hundred miles and have it in 

 good condition for more than forty-eight hours, imder 

 the most favorable conditions. In the midsummer 

 season they were barely able to keep their milk sweet 

 for twenty-four hours after its arrival. Major Alvord, 

 who was in charge of the exhibit, found it no easy 

 matter to convince the milk experts on the jury that 

 the milk was in its natural state, uncooked and un- 

 doctored; that nothing but "cleanliness and cold" 

 was used to attain such wonderful results.' 



When milk decomposes and turns sour in a relatively 

 short time, as is most common, the decomposition is 

 due to the action of bacterial life in the milk, to the 

 presence in it of organisms that are not indigenous 

 to it, but as foreign as the dangerous chemicals which 

 the unscrupulous dealer sometimes adds to his milk 

 to keep it from souring, or the coloring that is some- 

 times added to give the milk the appearance of having 

 more "body" and being richer than it actually is. 

 To put the matter still more plainly, when microscopic 

 examination shows the presence of a large number of 

 bacteria in milk, regardless for the moment of the 

 nature of such bacteria and their influence upon those 

 who consume them in the milk, it is indisputable 

 that the milk is foul and dirty and fit for the sewers 

 rather than to be used as food.' 



