212 
SOCIETY MEETINGS. 
Hart, Chas. T. Goentner, Francis Allen; also a number of stu¬ 
dents. 
We also had the pleasure of having with us Prof. Marks, of 
the Adirondack Valley, Mr. S. C. Diamond, of Massachusetts, 
and as speaker of the evening, R. A. Pearson, Assistant Chief 
of the Dairy Division of the Department of Agriculture, 
Washington, D. C. 
After the calling of the roll and reading and adoption of the 
February minutes the regular order of business was suspended 
that Mr. R. A. Pearson might read his paper on “Sanitary 
Milk.” This was followed by a paper by Dr. Leonard Pearson 
on “ What Prof. Bang’s Work Teaches.” * Dr. Pearson having 
been called to Harrisburg, his paper was read by the Secretary. 
After its reading the discussion was entered into upon both 
papers. 
Mr. R. A. Pearson said that of the foods most liable to adul¬ 
teration, milk was the most important; it contains all the con¬ 
stituents of a complete food, and when fresh they are in a 
condition to be easily digested; its purity depends upon the 
selection, health, care, and feed of the animals, cleanliness of 
utensils, in the stables, and all places where milk is allowed to 
be 5 its age when it reaches the consumer, and its care at that 
time. It is important that these details should be well looked 
after when we realize that one-third of all deaths are infants 
and a large, proportion of these are fed on cows’ milk. Pure 
milk does not signify simply milk having a normal chemical 
composition ; it means freedom from any form of contamination. 
The contamination may be divided into two classes : those af¬ 
fecting quality from a chemical standpoint, viz.^ skimming and 
watering, and those affecting quality from a hygienic stand¬ 
point, viz.^ the bacteriological contents and the various fermen¬ 
tations that may be taking place. The most common species 
of bacteria are those forming lactic acid and causing the milk to 
become sour by acting on the milk sugar; milk carelessly 
handled contains two or three times as much acid as carefully 
handled milk of the same age. Slimy milk is a fermentation, in 
which the fluidity is partially lost, and in attempting to dip it 
strings are formed. If the odor on milk is strong when first drawn 
from the cow, and gradually decreases, it is probably due to food 
eaten by the cow. If it is not at first noticed but gradually be¬ 
comes apparent and continues to grow worse it is probably 
due to bacterial growth. Pasteurization does not necessarily 
* Published elsewhere in this issue of the Review. 
