Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-04-27
MILK SUPPLY AND DISEASE
A Local Effort to Raise the Standard and
Reduce the Danger
Conclusions of a Committee of the
Washington Medical Society
After a Series of Tests.

SfH UdCleTlOlOg1Cai study IN It's relation to
! the peoples food supply is a tendency on the
{ part of municipal authorities and medical
| organizations to demand a publication Of
the milk supplies. 1t is now widely recog-
| nzed that this community presents very
many opportunities for the transmission of
disease. Several of the most common cpl
| demic diseases are positively known to be
communicable through milk including scar
| let fever, typhoid fever and diphtheria AS
a consequence of this disclosure medical au-
thorities have reached the point of demand
ing that municipal action be had to insure
better dairy conditions, thus striking at
| the root of the evil. 1t is believed that by
requiring cleanliness and care in the han
ding of cows and their product at all stages
of the transaction the danger of disease
communication through this medium will be
reduced to minimum.
The Washington Medical Society has been
particularly active in this research. Re-
alizing the relation of purity in the milk
supply to the public health and having had
| its attention called to the local desire for
pure milk, it appointed committee of
three physicians Drs. Adams. Kober and
De Schweinitz, to inquire into the processes
and the products of a selected dairy which
was to be conducted under the closest scru-
| tiny of these physicians, using all means
suggested by medical science to assure pur-
| ity in the milk. This committee was named
| in December. 1897, and has been at work
! since that date with the result that at a
recent meeting of the society report was
presented by DR.. De SchweiaitZ showing
| the generally satisfactory results of the
tests applied.
BacteriOIOgical Census.
| The product Of this dairy was of two
kinds, "pasteurized" and sanitary" The
| latter was collected from carefully chosen
sources ard guarded with every possible
precaution to keep the dangers Of contain
nation at minimum. The former was sub
jected to the welI-known scientific treat
ment. According to the report the number
of bacteria per cubic centimenter IN the
pasteurized milk was found as rule to be
less than 200. In some cases no bacteria
could be detected. In four instances the
number increased to over 1000 The show
ing as to the sanitary milk was not so
favorable as might have been expected. In
113 samples eXamined-these having been
procured surreptitiously without notice TO
the dairy company-the number of bacterial
colonies varied in a majority of cases from
200 to 5000. Three samples showed over
$4,000 colonies to the cubic centiineter. t,rse
others over 10000 and less than oo,oDo one
over Is 900 and less than 10000, two others
oliver 10000 and less than 1900, two others
| over 5000 and less than 1o,oo-
DR.. de SchweinitZ in his report Tor the
committee to the society, says further:
'In April and May, 1898. obtained
| through the health officer DR.. Woodward,
| and in January, 1892 through one OF the
health office inspectors, DR.. Turner, sam
pies of milk taken from different dairy
wagons in the city. Thirty-one dlnereht
! samples of milk were examined or these
one showed only about 100 bacteria per
cubic centimeter: one, 100 per cublc cen
| timeter; five others, between looto anu
| 5000: six between 10000 and oOCOo per GU
bic centimeter, and the remainder more
| than 10000 per cubic centimeter, in seVeTaI
| instances running over 10000 per cubic
centimeter,
Millions of Colonies.
when we consider that, in the milk sup
| ply Of our large cities the number OF pac-
| terra per cubic centimeter has been found
to vary from 10000 to S5.ooo,ooo. and has
often been found as high as the number
of bacteria in the sewage of several toWlls'
namely. between one and four milioh per
cubic centimeter, the value of the number
of bacteria per cubic centimeter OF mix as
Indicating the care which has been used IN
collecting and handling the milk is at once
apparent One of the German authorities
on the subject of sanitary mix, bltteI,
claims that the maximum limit LOT hlllh
that is fit for food is 5o,uot germs pei
cubic centimeter. On this basis, the mllh
from only thirteen out of thlrty-tWo oalries
which has been examined in TINS CITY "ouiu
be fit for food The results OF The exam
nations which have made sho" that II
is possible to keep the bacterial coiileIis s
down below $1,000 per cubic centltllSle., anu l
it would not be expecting TOO fiiuc. ~ u
found to contain more than this NUMBER
Generally Good Conditions
After reviewing the sanitary regulations
in vooue in some of the largest cities OF me
old world affecting the milk supply the re-
mort concludes thus, in reference 10 lie
work of the dairy establishment uhder
scrutiny:
We may say in general that the larger
number of samples examined nave SHOWN
very satisfactory results. Eighteen sam
Mes during the year from time to time in
Hcated carelessness When properly ham
died the milk from this laboratory appeared
to contain a smaller number of bacteria
per cubic Centimeter than most of the mix
that we have examined from other da1r1es-
1T is interesting to note that IN some
cases where the temperature as recorded
at the weather bureau in TINS CITY, WAS
high the number of bacteria fouhd III the
milk was still low, while in other cases
where the temperature was lower the num-
Der of bacteria found in the milk was
higher than it should have been. The aver
age number of bacteria per cubic centimeter
found in the samples of sanitary mix *
amined between January !, 1888, ana fep-
ruary /. 1899. was 6,4S3. The average NUM-
Der of bacteria per cubic centl1netef IN the
samples of pasteuriZed milk examined DUR
ing the same time was 32i. The total num-
Der of sanitary samples examined was ll3;
the total number of pasteurlZed samples eX-
amined was 81. The total number OF sam
pies examined from other diaries was 81,
and the average number of bacteria per
cubic centimeter in these was found to be
$1,000. In all these examinations agar
plates We're used and the colonies counted
after forty-eight hours.
1t is of benefit to Washington that the
medical society is taking such a direct in
terest in this matter and that the result of
its supervision thus far has been so ia
vorable. The standard of purity and clean
illness having thus been raised in single
instance it is not too much TO expect that
under the influence of scientific scrutiny
and perhaps of municipal regulations the
general dairy conditions through the local
area will be materially bettered, to the in
finite benefit of the public health.
Stop the ScOrcher.