629 
INFANTS’ MILK DEPOTS. 
The milk dispensary, or “ goutte de lait,” was called into existence 
in consequence of a recognition that bad milk and bad hygiene are 
responsible for excessive infant mortality among families of the poor. 
Its primary object is to encourage maternal feeding, and when this 
is impossible, to supply a pure milk to meet the special need of the 
infant. An additional important function consists in the diffusion 
of knowledge among mothers regarding the hygienic care of their 
children in the home, especially with reference to the conditions nec- 
essary for success in artificial feeding. 
The first institution of this character in the United States appears 
to have been opened by Dr. Henry Koplik at the Eastern Dispensary, 
New York, in 1889.® 
During the same year a similar institution was also founded in St. 
Gertrude’s district, Hamburg. * 6 
In 1892 Doctor Variot established a “ goutte de lait ” in connection 
with the Belleville Dispensary, Paris. 
Since 1892 similar establishments have been opened in many local- 
ities in this and other countries, either through private philanthropy 
or governmental agency. 
Although the methods employed in the conduct of infants’ milk 
depots have varied somewhat both in this country and abroad, their 
objects have been the same. It is recognized that all milk dispensed 
should be produced and transported under conditions insuring a prod- 
uct of the highest purity, that it should be prepared and modified in 
the depot under medical supervision, and that strict bacteriological 
precautions should be taken in every step of the process. 
In addition to the care exercised in the depot, the milk is packed 
in a manner to guard against contamination in the home. Each bot- 
tle contains but one feeding, and is so designed that it will not stand 
on end, and therefore can not be left standing open. 
The milk is modified in accordance with standard formulae in use 
at the various depots, and, in addition, special modifications are made 
upon the prescriptions of physicians. 
The following are formulae now in use at the Straus milk depots 
in New York: 
FORMULA FOR MODIFIED MILKS. 
Formula No. 1 (Dr. Arthur R. Green). 
Milk I i ounces 96 
Cane sugar do 2. 5 
Salt do 0.083 
Oat water do 32 
“New York Medical Journal, Jan. 31, 1891, and Feb. 4, 1893. 
6 Von Olilen, Milk Depots in Germany, Public Health, 1905. 
