50 
of it, however, is shipped from the farms to the 65 or TO dairies 
operating in the District of Cohimbia, where it is mixed, bottled, etc., 
before delivery. Some of the dairies in Washington receive milk 
from as many as 30 to 40 farms. It is evident that a supervision 
over these various dairy farms and dairies sufficiently thorough to 
prevent the introduction of typhoid fever infection into milk would 
require a large force of inspectors and could be done only at a great 
cost. Therefore the treatment of milk before it is delivered to the 
consumer by some process (pasteurization), which will destroy any 
possible infection contained therein and at the same time not impair 
the food value of the milk, seems to be at the present time the cheap- 
('st and most practical method of preventing the conveyance of 
typhoid fever infection by milk. 
There can be no more objection to the pasteurization of milk for 
the use of adults and of children over three years old than there is to 
the cooking of meat. The fresh clean “ certified '' “ or “ inspected ” « 
milk for infant feeding and special uses needs no purification. 
Pasteurization may not be the ideal to be attained, but until we can 
be assured that the general market milk is free from danger the only 
IDrotection is to destroy the infection by means of heat. Pasteuriza- 
tion not only protects the community against much of the t 3 q)hoid 
fever, but also against some of the tuberculosis, scarlet fever, diph- 
theria, infant diarrheas, etc. For a full discussion of this subject 
see the article on Pasteurization in Hygienic Laboratory Bulletin Xo. 
41, page 591. 
ICE CREAM. 
The history of the cases in regard to the use of ice cream within 
thirty days prior to the onset of illness was as follows: Three hun- 
dred and forty-five ate it from time to time, 1G3 ate none, and for 15 
the facts were not determined. Xo cases this year were traced to 
infected ice cream, but in view of the bad sanitary conditions under 
which much of the ice cream sold in Washington is made and handled 
(particular!}^ by street vendors) a certain number of scattering cases 
probably were caused by infection through ice cream. 
RAW SHELLFISH. 
The following table shows the history of the cases in regard to the 
eating of raw oysters and clams from time to time within thirty days 
prior to onset of illness: 
Shelilisii. 
Ves. 
No. 
Not de- 
termined. 
Oysters - - 
23 
488 1 
12 
12 
Clams -- - _____ 
1 
494 j 
" Fci- a definition of these terms see “ The classification of market milk." hy A. D. 
Melvin, Hygienic Laboratory Bulletin No. 41, p. 559. 
