140 THE COMMON SENSE OF THE MILK QUESTION 



investigators prove. Reporting to the Royal Com- 

 mission on the Effect of Food derived from Tuber- 

 culous Animals on Human Health, Dr. Martin writes : 

 "The milk of cows with tuberculosis of the udder 

 possesses a virulence which can only be described 

 as extraordinary;"^" and Dr. Woodhead, confirm- 

 ing this opinion, shows that butter made from such 

 milk is equally virulent and dangerous — a fact of 

 vital significance when it is remembered that milk 

 that is condemned as unfit for use, as milk, is fre- 

 quently made into butter.*' Where there is infec- 

 tion of the udder the result is uniformly bad in the 

 butter and cheese no less than in the milk from which 

 it is made. 



When the staid and conservative British Medical 

 Journal published an article bearing the sensational 

 caption, " Pus as a Beverage," " there were a great 

 many unfavorable comments. Many persons who had 

 not read the article felt that the title was too brutal 

 and alarming. The article referred to a very serious 

 outbreak of sore throat, often accompanied by ab- 

 scesses in the neck, at Woking, England. The 

 Medical Officer of Health traced the epidemic to 

 the milk of a number of cows that were suffering 

 from inflammation of the udder. Pus from the 

 diseased udders entered the milk in considerable 

 quantity, and there was no difficulty in accounting 

 for the sore throats and abscesses of the unhappy 



