BACTERIOLOGY IN A NUTSHELL. 



Common 

 Methods of 

 Communication. 



Contaminated 

 Milk. 



in vomited matter, in the desquamating skin, in 

 the rose spots, in pus from suppurative com- 

 plications, and are sometimes found in the 

 sputum and sordes (foul substance which col- 

 lects on the teeth and gums of fever patients). 

 Flies are known to distribute the infection. The 

 common method of communication is through 

 contaminated drinking water and food sup- 

 plies. Milk has been found to contain the 

 germs and they are said to multiply rapidly 

 therein. *Milk may be contaminated (i), be- 

 cause the cows are not kept clean; (2), because 

 milk pails, cans or other vessels in which milk 

 is kept are not thoroughly cleansed and boil- 

 ing water poured into and over them before 

 using; (3), because the dairy is not kept pure 

 or persons handling the milk are not careful; 

 (4), because water, which some dishonest 

 dealers are said to put in the milk they sell, may 

 contain the germs. Epidemics of the disease 

 are common and are often traced to a contam- 

 inated water supply. Hence the necessity for 



* In the best dairies and creameries now-a-days the 

 milk is Pasteurized in sterile receptacles. Water used to 

 wash the butter is boiled in covered apparatus, and then 

 cooled to the proper temperature in specially constructed 

 refrigerators. Special care is taken to sterilize all cans, 

 pails, etc., used for the milk and butter. The cows are 

 kept clean, and the milkers' hands and clothing also, both 

 in milking and in handling the milk afterward. Butter 

 made in these dairies and creameries, according to agri- ' 

 cultural journals, keeps months longer than when made 

 and taken care of in ff^e gld-fashioned way, 

 72 



