Kvrnm. 
VOL,. XXX. No. 24. 
WHOLE No. 12PS. 
NEW YORK, AND ROCHESTER, N. Y, DEC, l>, 1874 . 
j PRICK SIX CENTS. 
I #2.50 PER YEAR. 
[Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by the Rural Publishing Company, in the office of the I-lbrnrian of Congress at Washington.! 
Jaii|g Huskwlrjr. 
THE CRIME OF POISONING MILK AT 
ITS SOURCE. 
[t is only quite recently that the subject 
of milk poison has begun to claim attention. 
Farmers and dairymen are for the most part 
incredulous concerning changes liable to be 
wrought in milk as a consequence of the 
manner in which stock is treated, if a farmer 
beat* or otherwise maltreats his cows, ho 
may perhaps admit, when his passion lias 
become sobered, that the animals, under bad 
treatment, will yield a diminished quantity 
of milk ; but that the milk from this cause 
is rendered less nutritious, or is so changed 
as not to he a healthful article of human food, 
is regarded n* preposterous. 
No greater service, it seems to us, can be 
done for the dairy public, or for the com¬ 
munity at large, than to disseminate correct 
information in regard to tiro various causes 
affecting tlio healthfulness of milk. And we 
are glad to see that the subject is arresting 
the attention of medical men, because when 
they give the result of their investigation on 
questions of this character it carries with it 
the weight of authority, and is more readily 
believed than when it originates from other 
source?. 
We cannot expect a change of practice or 
reform unless men are convinced of their 
errors. A mere statement of facts, if they 
do not cany conviction to the mind, wiil 
effect bur. little, hence in presenting the fol¬ 
lowing account of the diseases resulting from 
the use of imperfect milk and the causes 
which led to its imperfection, we are glad to 
present, the subject from a medical stand¬ 
point, or as coming under the experience of 
a well known practitioner of medicine. The 
facts given we have condensed from an ar¬ 
ticle in a late number of the 
“ Medical and Surgical Re¬ 
porter,” by T. D. Crotherh 
of Albany, N. Y. 
During the latter part of 
October and since the publica¬ 
tion of the article referred to, 
we had au interview with Dr. 
Crotherr and obtained from 
him many of tho circum¬ 
stances connected with his 
investigations, and wo are of 
the opinion t hat the conclu¬ 
sions arrived at by him are 
substantially correct. Indeed, 
they correspond with facts 
coming under our own obser¬ 
vation and experience. 
DISEASED MILK CAUSED BY FILTHY 
STABLES AND KUTTEN VEGETABLES. 
Referring to the almost uni¬ 
versal use of milk as a diet 
and the many cases reported 
during the last year which 
give strong evidence that 
milk is an agent of far greater 
danger and more widely dif¬ 
fused as u source of disease 
than we arc aware of, Dr. 
t-'HOTRERS describes a severe 
ease of diarrhea occurring in 
a healthy family and living in 
good hygienic surroundings. 
Culled to prescribe for the 
sufferers, ho found that the 
family had never suffered 
from this disease before, and 
it seemed more violent among 
the younger rneml iers than in 
those grown up. A careful 
inquiry Into the habits of this 
family indicated nothing un¬ 
usual, except the free use of 
milk as an article of food. 
Sunday, milk was made a 
CURING 
ROOM 
12 X 3 a 
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Bammm aortas 
Ground Plan. 
prominent dish at dinner, and 
it was noticed that the days 
following the disease was in¬ 
creased unless checked by 
medicines. The milk came 
from one cow kept in the 
neighborhood. 
Suspecting the milk was not 
all right, Dr. (J. found on vis¬ 
iting the stable, that tho cow 
was a small, ill-conditioned 
animal, standing in a close, 
filthy stall, ill-ventilated and 
containing hardly room 
enough to turn about. Thu 
food of rids cow was garbage 
from the street, consisting of 
vegetables in all degrees of 
decomposition, cooked and 
raw, alternated with brewers’ 
grains once per day. Water 
was given in the food but 
occasionally, depending on 
chance; a pail was brought in ; 
the stable was cleaned once 
or twice a. week, and the 
doors were closed to keep in 
some liens. The walls of the 
building were brick, and the 
ventilation or renewal of the 
air must come from the open 
seams in the door and win 
dow. In tliis place for over 
three months this cow had 
been conflnod, her body was 
filthy and the hair stood up in 
all directions. That the milk 
was impure and the cause of 
the diarrhea was proven by 
the complete disappearance 
of the disease when the fami¬ 
ly stopped using the milk. 
THE NATURE OF THE POISON UN¬ 
CERTAIN. 
Dr. Crothers thinks the na- j 
ture of the poison is uncertain, and he refers 
to the investigations of Dr. ( HANDLER of New 
York, who failed to find any specific poison 
in milk known to be impure. In this case the 
impure milk acted as an irritant, causing a 
low grade of inflammation, a certain forerun¬ 
ner of other lessons. 
DEATH FROM USINO IMPURE MILK. 
This was the case of an elderly gentleman, 
previously well and strong, while convales¬ 
cing from a severe attack of intermittent 
fever was ordered to use milk freely by his 
physician. Four days after he began to use 
milk as a medicine ho was attacked with 
exhaustive diarrhea, resisting all medicines 
and terminating fatally in six days. The 
family of the owner of the cow from which 
the milk was furnished likewise suffered from 
diarrhea. Tho cow was kept in a similar way 
to that, first described ; and when this cow 
was turned out in the yard and received bet¬ 
ter food and more cleanly surroundings, the 
diarrhea in the family disappeared. 
A Mother severe case of the same complaint 
was noticed in a middle-aged man using the 
milk of swill-fed cows. The. disease termi¬ 
nated in death after four weeks. 
INFLUENCE OF INSUFFICIENT FOOD ON WOMEN S Milt. 
Some remarkable experiments on this sub¬ 
ject were conducted by M. Decaisne of 
Faria, during the siege of 1871 and detailed 
in a paper before the French Academy, pre¬ 
facing his paper with observations of Dumas, 
Pa yen and Boussingault, in which were 
shown the. fact that a cow gave healthy milk 
in exact proportion to the surplus of food 
beyond what was necessary for its own 
maintenance. If the animal was kept upon 
food barely sufficient for proper nourishment 
the milk produced must he at a loss of animal 
tissue, with general deterioration of the milk 
and also of the cow. Milk formed at an ex¬ 
pense of the nutrients and tissues of the 
body, has less caseine, butter, sugar and salts, 
while the albumen will be increased. It fol- 
TUB OIIOD FAIRFIELD CHE E8E FACTORY, HERKIMER CO., 1ST. Y.-(See Page 37S.) 
