214 THE COMMON SENSE OP THE MILK QUESTION 



Another tent was provided for the nurse in charge to 

 sleep in, the entire "plant" costing between $500 and 

 $600. Strangely enough, this very simplicity of the 

 system, which is its strongest feature, is the feature 

 which I have heard most disparaged; visitors are 

 frequently disappointed that there is nothing to see 

 except a shed, some tents, and people trying to be 

 clean in handling milk. 



The result of the experiment was watched with 

 great interest that first season; could Dr. Goler main- 

 tain the low death-rate attained as a result of pas- 

 teurizing the infants' milk sold at the depots, or was 

 he gambling with the lives of babies ? Many were the 

 dire prophecies made concerning this vital matter. I 

 recall receiving a letter from an interested observer 

 of the Rochester experiment which dolorously ended 

 somewhat as follows: " Dr. Goler's decision is unfor- 

 tunate. Failure is inevitable, and the work of years 

 will be thrown away. Could not something be done 

 to dissuade him?" But, fortunately. Dr. Goler was 

 not dissuaded. He had counted the cost and pinned 

 his faith to clean milk as a result of profound study. 

 His policy was revolutionary, but it was vindicated 

 when it was shown that, not only had the gains made 

 during the three preceding years been maintained, but 

 actually improved upon. I give the figures for the 

 six years, 1900 to 1905 inclusive, divided into three- 

 year periods for the purposes of ready comparison. 



