Railway Rates. 



229 



of the surface pellicle (" scalded layer "), the thermal death point 

 of organisms is materially increased. This point has consider- 

 able bearing on the vitality of bacteria in connection with 

 various methods of preservation (sterilization and pasteurization) 

 that are applied to milk intended for direct consumption, or for 

 butter-making. The destruction of pathogenic, or disease- 

 producing, bacteria is a question of great importance, as the 

 tubercle bacillus may retain its vitality for a considerably longer 

 period in the scalded layer on the surface or milk. This 

 relation of the surface membrane to the varying vitality of 

 bacteria in milk is indicated both by the growth of organisms in 

 the membrane at higher temperatures than in the milk below, 

 and also by the sterility of membranes removed after the initial 

 membrane has once been formed. The increased resistance of 

 bacteria in the surface membrane is not entirely due to the 

 lowering of the temperature at the surface, but it appears to be 

 affected by the nature of the enclosing membrane itself. 



Railway Rates on Merchandise from Abroad. 



The following correspondence has passed between the Board 

 of Agriculture, the Board of Trade, and the Hull and District 

 Fruit Buyers' Association in consequence of representations 

 made by the latter body as to alleged preferential rates charged 

 by railway companies on the carriage of fruit and vegetables 

 from the Continent, via Hull, to certain inland towns in this 

 country. 



The Board believe that it is not generally known that the 

 amounts charged by railway companies for the carriage of 

 goods by sea and by rail can be ascertained separately. They 

 desire, therefore, to direct special attention to the statement in 

 the reply by the Board of Trade, that railway companies which 

 -carry merchandise partly by land and partly by sea are bound 

 to specify, in the rate books kept at the ports in the United 

 Kingdom which they use, the proportion of any through rate 

 appropriated to conveyance by sea, and that these books can be 



