MILK FOOD AND ITS HYGIENIC MARKETING. 
97 
Seventh. Care of milk. This would include the handling 
and shipping. Milk is an article of diet that must be kept 
within the reach of all at a popular price, and all improve¬ 
ments kept within a reasonable expenditure, the principal 
thing being health and cleanliness. 
The diseases that may be transferred through the milk are 
those that the cow is subject to, and which can and do pass 
through the secreting organ into the milk, and those which are 
affected through external causes, as from the organisms on the 
udder and skin of the cow, or on the hands or clothes of the 
attendant, and from the water used to wash utensils. Milk 
being an excellent culture medium and having many oppor¬ 
tunities of being contaminated in the various handlings it re¬ 
ceives, should be removed from stable at once to a more cleanly 
place especially designated or built for the purpose of straining, 
aerating and cooling. Many of the epidemics caused by milk 
have occurred by contamination after the milk has left the cow 
and before delivering to customers. 
Prof. Ravenel says that ordinary milk as it reaches the con¬ 
sumer is usually richer in bacteria than the sewage of our great 
cities, and that various samples experimented with have shown 
anywhere from 15,000 to 2,200,000 germs per cu. cent. These 
facts mentioned can be greatly modified by a little carefulness 
and cleanliness, and belong to that part of the dairy which comes 
under the head of purity of milk. 
Now, even with the greatest care many germs may still be 
present, and to destroy these and make the milk marketable, 
the remedy is simple. The germs of all the above diseases are 
absolutely destroyed by the application of a moderate heat. This 
process of heating applied to milk is known as “ Pasteurization ” 
or, if carried still further, “sterilization.” Therefore, the remedy 
is,—use only Pasteurized milk. It is not necessary for me to 
go into detail of the process of Pasteurization, for I believe you 
all understand it. It is subjecting milk, an animal food, to the 
preparatory treatment which other animal foods receive. But 
it may be asked, “ If the remedy is so simple why is this process 
