749 
ness and energy to the discharge of its duties, for on May 15, 1871, 
within about five weeks after the day of its organization, the board 
took steps to prevent the sale of unwholesome food in the cities of 
Washington and Georgetown by enacting an ordinance for that 
purpose. This ordinance in so far as it relates to the sale of milk 
was as follows: 
Sec. 2. And he it further ordained and enacted, That no person shall manu- 
facture, prepare, or sell any liquor used for drink, whether malt, vinous, or 
ardent, or milk of cows or goats, intended to be used as food or drink, which 
has been adulterated with any poisonous or deleterious ingredient ; and any 
person violating the provisions of this section shall, upon conviction, be pun- 
ished by a fine of not less than fifty nor more than five hundred dollars for 
each and every such offense. 
Sec. 7. And he it further ordained and enacted. That no person shall offer 
for sale, or keep for such purpose, any unwholesome, watered, or adulterated 
milk, or swill milk, or milk from cows kept up and fed on garbage swill or 
other deleterious substance; nor shall any person make for sale any butter or 
cheese from such unwholesome milk ; and any person violating the provisions 
of this section shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not less than five 
nor more than twenty-five dollars for each and every such offense. Passed 
May 15, 1871.® 
Strange as it may seem to the sanitarian of to-day, and yet appa- 
rently quite in keeping with the then prevailing ideas, while this ordi- 
nance very clearly and positively required that places where meat and 
vegetables were sold for food should be kept in a clean and whole- 
some condition, and that meat and vegetables should not be allowed 
to become poisoned or infected or unfit for food, no such provision 
was enacted with respect to the sale of milk. The board of health 
held, however, advanced ideas with respect to the production of milk 
for sale and in its first annual report says: 
The proper diet of cows is also a measure of vital moment to that large class 
of infants and others who subsist chiefly on milk and its preparations. The 
deterioration of this most nourishing secretion by swills and other nefarious 
compounds has, in our large cities, vastly increased the percentage of deaths 
from diarrhea and cholera infantum. * 6 
In the second annual report of the board of health, under date of 
October, 1873, the food inspectors in the service of the board, Messrs. 
William Wolf and Robert Wilson, and Dr. Charles Allen, drew atten- 
tion to the importance of a good milk supply. These inspectors seem 
to have realized even then the importance of the inspection of milk 
at the place of production, a feature of milk-inspection service that 
on the part of sanitarians generally did not receive the consideration 
that it deserved until about twenty years later. Their practical expe- 
ct Report of Board of Health, 1872, pp. 63, 64. 
6 Report of Board of Health, 1872, p. 18. 
