138 Journal of the Mitchell Society. [Dec. 



also to note the decrease in adulteration. In Massa- 

 chusetts in 1883 the percentage of samples of adulterated 

 milk was 83. This fell to 28 in 1900. The percentage of 

 adulterations of foods dropped from 31 per cent, to 14. 



Milk is most liable to fraud of all the different kinds of food, 

 because the chief adulterant is water, which costs nothing. 

 In Massachusetts three-fifths of the entire appropriation is de- 

 voted to the inspection of milk and its allied products, butter 

 and cheese. In the city we are more apt to be confronted with 

 blue milk than in the country. The law in most States re- 

 quires the presence of twelve parts of solid matter, since the 

 natural product of the cow does not contain less than this, 

 though it may contain much more. The cream rises in a cow's 

 udder the same as if in a milk-pan, and, unless the cow has 

 violently exercised just before milking, the first milk is less 

 rich in butter fat, and this, by some, is sold to the consumer. 

 The last of the milk,called the strippings,is nearly pure cream. 

 The milkman is apt to keep this for his own private butter- 

 making. 



Owing to the fact that milk is such a splendid medium for 

 the growth of all kinds of bacteria, which bring about its de- 

 composition, it is an exceedingly common practice for the milk 

 dealer to add some antiseptic, especially formaldehyde, so that 

 it will keep in hot weather and may be transported long dis- 

 tances. On account of the physiological action of formalde- 

 hyde it is a menace to the health and its use in milk should be 

 condemned. But this form of adulteration is dangerous from 

 another standpoint: it becomes a substitute for cleanliness 

 and sanitary precautions, which are so essential to the health- 

 fulness of milk. The requirement of cleanliness is appre- 

 ciated by the modern progressive dairy, which is a model of 

 purity. 



In Connecticut the collection of "milk samples is made by 

 agehts, who are provided with bicycles carrying in the frame 

 a case containing eighteen cans of a half-pint capacity each. 

 The construction is such that one can may be removed with- 



