Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-02-07
GERMS IN THE MILK,
Process of Sterilizing as It Nay Be
Carried on at Home Described
by an Authority.
CLEANLINESS THE FIRST POINT.
The Same Cloth or Brush for Washing the
Receptacles Must Not Be Used
Eore Than Once.
BOW The MICROBES MULTIPLY.
A Scientific Discussion Of Lung Fever and Colds BY
Ephraim Cutter, MD.
CLEANLINESS THE FIRST POINT.
H0W THs MICROBES MULTIPLY.
A Scientific Discussion Of Lung Fever and Colds BY
Ephraim Cutter, MD.
rwnrrrEN ros THE p1srArcH.l


The most important element Of the do
nestic sterilization of milk, is the knowl-
edge that it will not be completely sterile.
No milk can be really sterilized after 1t is
even an hour old, unless it is steamed twice,
on two successive days, and each time sub
ject to intense and prolonged heat.
have during the past three years, had
from hundreds of mothers, communications
upon the subject of sterilized milk, and
have myself experimental every day for
one whole wear, to ascertain how thorough
II, and under what conditions milk could
be sterilized at home. AS result, have
never found anyone who could perfectly
sterilize city milk in an ordinary kitchen,
SO that it would keep. have used every
apparatus in the market, tried all grades of
milk, and experimental with various de-
grees of heat, and never could at home
produce sterilized milk, that would uni
fornly keep any number of weeks. 1t is
frequently, and quite irrelevantly, urged
that it is not necessary to keep milk for
long periods, since one can easily prepare
fresh supply every day. 1 do not sterilize
milk to test if it will keep, but keep milk
will keep unchanged for years.
Milk Sterile Only in Name
The fact that one cannot produce perfect
u sterilized milk at home, is not an argu-
ment against the domestic preparation, but
it is in reality the strongest of all pleas for
q careful steaming of all the milk that is to
be used in the family. IF the germs are so
difficult to destroy, so active and prolific,
then the greater the necessity for killing as
many as possible, before introducing them
into the digestive system of man or child.
I have known cases where mothers, who
had lost children from intestinal troubles,
reassured themselves BY saving, 81 felt ab-
solutely confident that ell would be we'll
with my child, because 1 used sterilized
milk" Inquiry often develops the fact
that the milk was prepared by a domestic,
who though: the whole process superf1uous,
and paid little attention to the degree or
duration of heating; or that the quality and
age of the milk was unknown, or the tenn
perature at which it WAS administered a
VARYING quantity. The milk was sterile
only in name, but the mere name had lulled
the mother into false security, and tempted
her to neglect other and more important
precautions.
With this qualification in mind, we may
with clear conscience proceed to discuss the
best methods of home sterilization. First,
the age of the milk must receive careful
consideration Every hour the milk re-
mains exposed to the atmosphere, or is
shaken by the motion of transportation, it
deterorates and the bacteria, (Which find
lodgment in the milk almost as soon as it
leaves the cows udder) multiply In geo.
metrical ratio. The common hay bacillus,
found in all stables, and consequently in ali
milk, multiplies so rapidly that at the end
Of a hours its descendants number 10, ,000,-
600, 900.
Eat All the Fat in Four Days.
These germs live upon the milk, and the
microscope demonstrates that under their
ually disappear, few or none remaining
after the fourth day. Whereas with
pterilized milk no change is visible, even
with the microscope, except a tendency of
the fat globules 10 coalesce, process pop
ularly known as a condensation of the
cream. Therefore, in fresh milk We find
few microbes and many fat globules; in old
milk many microbes and few fat globules
Second, the quality of the milk is to be
considered Cows milk differs from moth
er's milk, in that it contains more cheesy
matter and less of the necessary fat To
restore the natural proportions we need to
use milk richest in cream, as the Jersey or
Guernsey. 1t is sometimes asserted that
these breeds are less desirable than
common COWS. They are occasionally
accused of unusual nervousness, and
of being susceptible of tuberculosis
No statistics have, however, ever
been given to support this statement, and
v,rr he - .4l.