108 
JNO. M. PARKER. 
habit of getting their milk from this farm were sick, while their 
neighbors escaped. 
A case is also reported where after cans were thoroughly 
washed with soda and boiling water they were simply rinsed out 
before milking, with clear cold water from a well. The well 
afterwards proved to be infected and a large number of persons 
became sick from this cause. Cholera, scarlet fever and diphthe¬ 
ria, as well as other infectious diseases, may be communicated in 
the same way, but the immediate danger is not so great, because 
these organisms will not, as a rule, multiply in milk, so that there 
is not the same danger of the rapid spread of the disease. These 
organisms are all destroyed by heating to i8o° F. 
The bacillus of tuberculosis stands in a class by itself, both 
because of its special characteristics and because of the amount 
of work that has been done on the subject. The greatest diver¬ 
sity of opinion prevails as to the danger of tuberculosis from the 
use of milk. What, then, are the facts in the case ? 
We find, to begin with, that deaths from consumption are 
steadily decreasing. In Massachusetts the percentage of deaths 
for each iooo of population from 1883 to 1893, inclusive, has 
fallen from 31.6 to 22.7. In New Hampshire also the statistics 
show a gradual falling off in the number of deaths from phthisis 
pulmonalis. The same decrease appears to a marked degree in 
Great Britain. 
This decrease of course has nothing to do with the use of 
milk, but is due to an increased knowledge of the subject and to 
improved sanitary conditions generally. 
A great deal has been said and written on the question of the 
infectiousness of milk, when the udder is not infected. Now, if 
we take Prof. Ernst’s work on the subject, we find that even 
Prof. Ernst does not claim that the danger is so very great. He 
simply says that there are cases that are dangerous, even where 
the udder is not affected, but in judging of the amount of danger 
it must be remembered that all his cases were picked out by 
physical examination alone. No tuberculin was used, and it is 
just as possible to pick out these bad cases now as it was then, 
