TILTH AS infants' FOOD 97 



milk cows in, or to clean his finger nails and wash his 

 hands in water containing boracic acid or some other 

 disinfectant. Should you tell him these things, he 

 would only think you were trying to be funny at his 

 expense — unless he suspected that you were 6razy. 



If a fly goes into the milk, or if the cow should 

 whisk a lump of dung into it. Bill is quick to dip his 

 fingers in and take it out, if he observes it. And if 

 he does not observe it, everything will be all right, 

 for, you know, the milk will be beautifully strained 

 through the nickel-plated strainer which Farmer 

 Jackson bought at the Dairy Show for the purpose, 

 and of which he is extremely proud. If you are cu- 

 rious enough later on, you can see for yourself the 

 round ball of dung and hair which will be cleaned out 

 of the milk. Yes, these strainers are wonderful in- 

 ventions; they "take out all the dirt and make the 

 milk perfectly clean" ! 



Because Bill doesn't know an3d;hing about bacteria 

 and their manner of increasing, every step he takes is 

 an aid to their work and their rapid multiplication. 

 His first pail filled, he places it aside, imcovered, 

 and begins to fill another. Nobody ever told him that 

 there were such things as bacteria in the air, little 

 plants similar in many ways to the mushrooms that 

 spring up in a night, and that these httle plants are 

 often very deadly to human beings. And, since no- 

 body ever told him, he is not to blame for not knowing 



