646 
of its content of butter fat by skimming, nor should its color be im- 
proved by artificial means. It is needless to say that no preservatives 
should be added to it, as is often done by the unscrupulous. 
Cold milk . — The prompt cooling of milk, after it is drawn, to a 
temperature of 7.2° C. (45° F.) and its maintenance at that temper- 
ature until the time of consumption is one of the. most efficient means 
at our command for restraining the growth of its bacterial content 
and preserving its wholesomeness as a food. Milk is an excellent 
culture medium for bacteria. Although by appropriate precautions 
the number of germs present can be very materially reduced, there 
are no methods at present commercially possible by which the nat- 
ural sterility of mother’s milk as drawn by the babe can be imitated. 
It is entirely within our means, however, to restrict the growth of 
bacteria in milk. 
The rapid cooling of cow’s milk after it has been drawn to a tem- 
perature of 7.7° C. (45° F.) and the maintenance of that tempera- 
ture until the time of consumption not only prevents the multipli- 
cation of its original bacterial content, but actually tends to diminish 
their number. In the winter, the low atmospheric temperature ren- 
ders this easy of accomplishment. In the summer, the fulfillment of 
these conditions involves the use of efficient methods of refrigeration 
on the part of the dairyman, the transportation company, the milk 
jobber or handling company, and finally on the part of the consumer 
to whom the milk is delivered. 
It is the preliminary seeding of milk with the noxious germs of 
filth and their deliberate and luxuriant cultivation by conditions 
of temperature both of the milk and its surroundings, often simulat- 
ing that of a laboratorj^ incubator, which is one of the chief causes 
of the high degree of diarrheal mortality during the summer months 
of the infants to which it is fed. Instead of the phrase u milk warm 
from the cow,” so common in popular literature, we must substitute 
the words “ milk cold from the cow ” and see to it that they become 
an actuality. 
COMPOSITION OF cow’s MILK. 
The composition of cow’s milk from different breeds varies chiefly 
in the content of butter fat, the other ingredients being remarkably 
constant in their proportions. Holstein cattle produce milk with 
the lowest fat content (3 per cent) and Jersey cattle that with the 
highest (5 per cent). According to the analyses of Richmond, 
Fleischmann. United States Experiment Station? Adriance, and 
others, good herd milk has the following average composition : 
