SOCIETY MEETINGS. 
213 
mean that it is clean or pure, it simply destroys the active 
germs and makes it possible to keep the milk much longer. It 
has been proven practical and profitable to produce milk having 
but a few hundred bacteria per c. c., whereas ordinarily the 
same volume contains many thousand organisms. The chief 
sources of infection are dirt and water. Cattle should be 
groomed daily and the udder and surrounding parts thoroughly 
cleansed with a damp cloth ; before milking hands should be 
clean and over clothes used for no other purpose. At the ex¬ 
periment station in Wisconsin it has been shown that by using 
these precautions, the number of bacteria deposited per minute 
in an ordinary pail during milking is about 2500, while under 
ordinary circumstances they numbered over 16,000. Old, worn, 
battered pails and cans should be discarded, as they cannot be 
thoroughly cleansed ; they should be thoroughly sterilized with 
boiling water or live steam. Russell found milk taken in steril¬ 
ized pails contained but 165 germs per c. c., while that taken 
under the same conditions in unsterilized pails contained over 
4000 germs per c. c. When dry hay or other fodder is fed much 
dust arises and the number of g-erms falling: within the ordinarv 
milk pail may be over 150,000 per minute. The fore milk re¬ 
maining in the teats is easily reached by bacteria from the out¬ 
side of udder; all conditions being favorable they multiply with 
astonishing rapidity, Shultz having found 100,000 germs to 
the c. c. of fore milk. Milk ordinarily taken contains over 
15,000 bacteria per c. c., while with the precautions above sug¬ 
gested there were less than 350 in the same volume or a diminu¬ 
tion of 98 per cent. After being drawn the milk should be im¬ 
mediately cooled within 15 minutes to 45^ F. or lower to check 
bacterial growth Outbreaks of tuberculosis, diphtheria, scarlet 
feber, foot-and-mouth disease, typhoid fever, cholera, scarlatina, 
etc., have been traced to the milk supply, and in some instances 
have been widespread in their effects. Kober reported an out-break 
at Stamford, Conn., in the spring of 1895 of 307 cases ; outbreak 
Hightstown, N. J., in 1893 of diphtheria, 28 cases ; boy assisted 
in milking while he had diphtheria. The following should be 
observed in establishing a dairy plant: All animals suffering 
from any disease, or not in a normal condition, should be ex¬ 
cluded from the herd. Pasture should be free from foul de¬ 
caying matter, should not have access to ground unnecessarily 
befouled or swampy. Stables should be convenient, comfortable 
and healthy, on elevated, well-drained ground, waste products 
immediately removed to a distance, feed kept apart from stock 
