December, 1910.] 



515 



Plant Sanitation, 



by the planters themselves by the 

 aid of the Circulars published recently 

 by the Mycologist. 



Remedial treatment consists, in prac- 

 tically all mild cases, in cutting out 

 the part affected together with a good 

 margin of sound tissue— the edges of 

 the cut being left very clean. In more 

 severe cases the plant or tree should be 

 cut down, and when the roots are affect- 

 ed the stump, with as much of the roots 



as possible, should also be extracted. 

 The hole from which the roots have 

 been removed should be left open to 

 the action of the sun for a considerable 

 time. As a further precaution, a trench 

 should be dug arouud the affected area 

 and quicklime applied. 



Diseased plants and portions of plants 

 removed in this way should invariably 

 be destroyed by fire. Exposed surfaces 

 of wood should be protected from fresh 

 infection by a coating of tar. 



LIVE STOCK. 



A PURE MILK SUPPLY. 



(Prom the Indian Agriculturist, Vol. 

 XXXV., No. 10, October, 1910.) 



In the whole realm of hygiene there is 

 no matter of greater consequence than a 

 pure milk supply. Among all the 

 articles of diet milk occupies a unique 

 place, being the only one that can be 

 scientifically described as containing all 

 the elements of a complete food, and 

 which, as a matter of fact, supplies all 

 the nutrition that the majority of man- 

 kind subsist on during the most critical 

 period of life. The matter is of even 

 more than usual importance in a country 

 like India, where the climate favours 

 putrefactive processes, nor is there prob- 

 ably any community among whom 

 milk forms a larger part of the domestic 

 diet than it does among Bengalis. A 

 lecture by Dr. A. G. Newell on Milk 

 Sanitation, delivered recently in Lahore, 

 is therefore all the more worthy of 

 attention, because it discusses the 

 problem from the point of view of one 

 who has made a special study of health 

 conditions in India. After a brief 

 account of the physiology of milk, Dr. 

 Newell gives a simple but complete des- 

 cription of the means used for detecting 

 the adulteration of milk, and also for 

 preserving its purity. It is now pos- 

 sible, if one takes the trouble, to 

 countercheck every move the gowala has 

 learned in the game of milk contamina- 

 tion ; the presence of every constituent 

 can be tested, as well as of bacteria and 

 other extraneous matter ; it is even 

 possible to determine whether the milk 

 has previously been heated and approx- 

 imately to what degree of temperature 

 it has been raised. For ordinary domes- 

 tic purposes, however, the first liue of 

 defence is the lactometer, of which the 

 best type is Soxhlet's. It acts by show- 

 ing the specific gravity of milk, which, 

 owing to the amount of organic matter 



it contains, is greater than that of 

 water. The specific gravity of water 

 at 60 deg. Fah. being taken as 1,000, that 

 of pure milk at the same temperature is 

 usually 1,032. In most of the ordinary 

 lactometers a correction has to be made 

 for temperature, one degree of specific 

 gravity being added or subtracted for 

 every 10 degrees of temperature regis- 

 tered above or below 60, and another, 

 possible, but not very probable, source 

 of error lies in the fact that the presence 

 of an extra amount of cream has the 

 same effect upon the specific gravity as 

 the addition of water. Cream, being an 

 oily substance, is lighter thau water, so 

 that ''skimming" the milk raises its 

 specific gravity, and if the farmer or 

 dairyman has done this dishonestly he 

 usually adds water to conceal the fact. 

 The practised eye of the housewife will 

 not have much difficulty in distinguish- 

 ing milk that has been diluted with 

 water from that which is unusually rich 

 in cream, and if an accurate means of 

 detecting "skimming" is wanted, it is 

 supplied by the creamometer or lacto- 

 seope. The lactometer and creamometer 

 beirg combined, a normal specific 

 gravity with less cream than normal 

 will indicate both skimming and water- 

 ing ; a low specific gravity with low or 

 normal cream, watering ; and a high 

 specific gravity with a high percentage 

 of cream, unusual richness— a rare com- 

 plication in India. The means of pro- 

 tecting milk from disease-producing 

 germs is mainly a matter of cleanliness. 

 If we were able to ensure the utmost 

 cleanliness and good health on the part 

 of the cow and her milker, and on the 

 part of all who handled the milk until it 

 reached the consumer, there would be 

 little need of any further precaution ; 

 but how often are we likely to be sure 

 that this immunity has been preserved? 

 Koch some time ago threw some doubt 

 on the possibility of tuberculosis being 

 conveyed from cowrf to men, aa he had 



