GERMS IN RELATION TO MILK 2Q> 



lion in the udder of the cow, in normal conditions, but only gain 

 entrance to milk through the medium of the air when the milk 

 flows into the receptacle or cistern which communicates with the 

 air through the opening, in the teat. We showed that if the 

 milk cistern was washed out clean and that if then a milking tube 

 was introduced into the teat it was possible to secure milk free from 

 germs altogether and which would therefore remain sweet indefin- 

 itely if kept in a sealed flask. If the cow is suffering from a germ 

 disease it is possible for the germs to get into the milk, during its- 

 formation in the udder, from the blood of the animal, if it has 

 a general disease; or, what is still more likely, if there is disease 

 of the udder itself, the germs may find their way into the milk- 

 directly from the diseased parts. While, in the case of most gen- 

 eral infectious or germ diseases of cows, the germs will not escape- 

 in the milk yet the toxins or poisons produced by these germs may 

 so escape. Inflammation of the udder may be caused by various 

 germs, of which the germ of tuberculosis is one and perhaps the 

 most dangerous. This germ is found in milk, then, more frequently 

 when tuberculosis affects the udder (tuberculosis of the udder- 

 occurs in 2-8% of all cases of tuberculosis), but also when 

 tuberculosis attacks other parts of the cow. 



Thus Mohler fed and also inoculated (injected under the 

 skin) guinea pigs with milk from 56 tuberculous cows, which 

 were free from udder tuberculosis, and found that the milk from 

 '21% of these cows contained the virulent germs of tuberculosis. 



Moreover, the milk becomes infected in other ways : 1. Tub- 

 erculosis of the bowels and womb of cows is common and the dis- 

 charges from these parts soil the cow and thus the milk. 2. The 

 germs of tuberculosis from consumptive persons (tuberculosis of 

 the lungs) may enter milk as dried expectoration blowing about in 

 dust (rare) ; or by means of the hands of consumptive milkers be- 

 ing soiled with their expectoration (rare). 3. Again, the dis- 

 charges from tuberculous cows (expectoration, manure, vaginal' 



