Daily Kennebec journal., 1899-08-31
OUR MILK SUPPLY.
Only One Barn Not In SAM
tary Condition.
Health Officer Shows Why Milk Sup
ply Has to be Guarded.
Chemical Used For Preservation Not Harmful
But Benefits Public Health.

But Benefits Public Health.
Not the smallest Of the advantages
possessed BY residents of Augusta is
the excellent milk supply. All Of the
herds Of cattle from which milk comes
are healthy herds, ana with but one
exception, the barns are kept in a very
good sanitary condition. The attention
| OF the health officer was recently called
To the fact that some of the milkmen
We're using preservatiye for their
milk and cream, which prevented these
products from changing Or becoming
sour 1t was suggested that this pre-
serVative in itself might be harmful.
\ searching investigation of the matter
was made at the request of public
minded citizen, and the following facts
are furnished the journal by The health
officer
a brief general consideration of the
organisms and disease germs found in
milk by way of preface. There exists
in nature no better culture medium or
soil for the Development of disease
germs than milk. All milk when
freshly drawn from the COW, even. un-
der the strictest precautions as 10 clean
illness, contains SWarms of bacteria. In
- samples Of milk recently passed as
pure milk in New York. the average
number Of bacillito the teaspoonful was
a little over 1000 900. In eleven sam
pies recently examined in Augusta the
number was somewhat less than this.
The best German authorities agree
that the number of germs double ev-
cry hour The wonder is. then, not
that milk contains so many microbes.
but SO few. But thanks to the germi-
cidal action of the digestive fluids of
the stomach. many of these organisms
are destroyed before passing into the
intestines.
Stop moment and recall the best COW
barn YOU We're ever in. What was the
prevailing odor.-was it that Of a field Of
new mown hay, was ii that of freshly
strewn lime. or was it manure? The
COW shed is almost invariably saturated
with excremental matter. The straw
which the animals lie and stand upon :
itself saturated. ana is but an incubating
ground for Heterogeneous: it is warmed
by fermentation. ana saturated with fecal
tail. the movement Of the milker, each
draught Of air. stirs up myriads of germs.
which easily enter the open milk pail
and these find all the conditions for active
multiplication.
That this picture is not overdrawn will
be seen when we know that more than
eighty five per cent of the organisms
found are the common inhabitants of all
eXcrement, namely, the common bacillus
of the colon" ,thc large intestine of all
warm -blooded animalsD When this mi
crobe is found in water. We know that
there is sewerage contamination. Chemi-
cal analysis Of water reveals nothing con-
elusive when contamination is suspected.
| And eight per cent are aorobic bacteria,
| that is, germs floating in the air.
| Among these are the hay and potato ba
| cillus. which have very resistant spores;
| they are found also in COW manure and
| all the dust of barns and stables, and the
soil Of streets. They are very poisonous,
| and concentrated cultures give young an
| mals a fatal diarrhoea. These germs,
| taken into the human stomach. depending;
upon the state Of digestion, which deter
mines the resistance to disease, gives us
|
phoid fever. blood poisoning. assesses
Iperitonitis, appendicitis. cholera nfantum,
and various other digestive and constitu
| tional diseases
1t may be contended that a bacillus
which is always present in the intestine
of the most healthy, can produce no harm
if introduced from without; but such j
| claim will not hold 1t is different to pos
| sess a normal amount of a certain con
| stituent, or to possess an abnormally
large amount of the same constituent
And again. it has been demonstrated that
| some of the milder forms of disease are
entirely dependent upon abnormal mum
bers of the common bacillus of the colon
ilco -colitis of children and adults is one
The part which this one germ plays il
the production of diseases of children
who are fed on milk. is not insignificant
but is entitled to the most careful con
sideration of every father and mother
And an intelligent consideration of foot
problems is becoming to an enlightened
laity who wish to get the most out OF
life.
When milk turns sour. the normal suga,
Of the milk is turned into Tactic acid
Lactic acid fermentation is brought abou
by a fungus or germ, which may be lik
ened to a yeast germ; it is termed the
"odium lactis."
Now if we can find any way to retart
the development of the micro organisms
in any food product as valuable as milk
much in the way of prevention of disease
lhas been accomplished, provided, o.
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