The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-04-22
Civ Bacteriologist Makes Many Experiments
Which Convince Him Of Effect on City
Unusual Infant Mortality.
REMEDY NOT DIFFICULT;
PROMPT ACTION NEEDED
Levy Suggests Plan for City TO Control It's Mllk olt-
alton, But Highest Standard Cannot Be Demanded al
- Once: Diaries Must Be Inspected by Expert ana
His Decisions Promptly Enforced

an all Of these ways there is great
1 work to be done. My chief regret i'll 'ne
| whole matter Is that / see no way ny
which the work can be started in time
to do good this summer, and 1t is reallv
a sud thing to reflect that many m
| fants will surely die this summer III
| Richmond whose lives could be saVen
by the expenditure of very small sum
| Of money In looking after our milk sup
| ply. Personally, | would be very glad'
as city bacterIologist, to supervise TINS
| meet the actual expenses. OF course. II
would be necessary to get certain ordi-
nnnces passed to back up what was done
! 1t would accomplish nothing merely to
! find out which farms furnished yood
| and which bad milk, unes the bad milk
! could be excluded. but I imagine that II
the City Council could be assured that
the expense would not fall on the city
Itself, there would be no trouble IN get
| ting them to pass such ordinances with
out delay
lor. Levy's paper is, in part. as follows'
Milk Is the most important single ar
| ticle Of diet. 1t con ta1ns. In readily
assimilahle form. all the necessary con-
| stituents Of complete food. But its
| chief claim to Importance is that 1t Is
| properly the sole article of diet of many
| Infants during considerable part OF
| their existence II Is also food espe-
cially adapted for lnvalids.
| No argument Is needed, therefore, to
. show the Importance Of furnishing milk
| OF good quality, and, since the Individual
| consumer in cities has no means of know
| ing anything concerning the sanitary
| quality Of the milk sold. 1t is properly
| held to be one of the functions OF
| health boards to see that the public milk
supply is kept up to the standard
How It May Be Poor.
There are two general ways In which
| milk may depart from the requirements
| demanded of it: First, II may be deficient
| in nutritive value. either on account Of
| It's having been skinned or watercd. or,
| at times, on account Of the fact that
| certain breeds of COWS Motaby Hol-
| steins) furnish q milk of poorer quality
| than others. Second a milk may be I'M
| fit for use FROM Il sanitary standpoint
on account or (a) having come from
n diseased COW, or, 90 having been
handled In dirty manner, or, (c) hav-
Ing been kept too long at too high
| temperature.
In a broad way. the tests applied TO
milk are for tie purpose Of detecting
either one or both or cheese classes OF
departure from what constitutes salts
factory. wholesome milk Again. 1t may
be necessary 10 sas:asiin* for tho pres
cnce OF preservatives.
Regarding tests for the determination
! whether a milk Is up to the standard OF
| nlltlitive value, this can scarcely DC
| called strictly sanitary measure, since,
| for example, II a milk contains II per
| cent, Of solids instead Of the required
| 10 per cent, this, of Itself, simply means
that it would take twelve pnts OF this
| milk to contain the nutriment that
| should be eleven pints or, to state the
same proposition In different terms, 1t
| means that the purchaser is getting eight
| cents worth less of food value In each
| dollars worth or mix lnan he Is emu
| tied to receive.
Al first glance, therefore, 1t might seem
fashionable whether regulations as to
the food value Of milk properly fell with
In the domain of public health depart
| ments But the custom of all our most
! advanced communities is In this direc-
| ton, hence the wisdom Of such regula-
! lions might as we'll be admitted without
! argument.
a more rational plea than mere Gus
tom, however. lies In tho fact that any
! regulation which demands regular SUI
| pervision OF the conditions under which
milk is produced will If lnteligently
applied. lead to beneficial results. When
farmer, or a city dairy, has to live
|
Is tendency to improve conditions
| along other lines.
! Tho very regulation in question, by
SITTING n standard OF nutriii?e value,
PROBABLY causes the producers to pay
more attention to the condition OF their
| stock, and to many other matters which
are beneficial In q sanitary direction
Regarding the second manner OF de-
! parture OF milk from the proper stand
ard, no such indirect mode Of argument
! Is needed to show its Importance. We
| viii leave out OF consideration in this
report the entire question Of milk from
diseased COWS, combining our attention TO
! what has come to be described nova
days as dirty" milk.
Caused BY Improper Milk.
II is universally admitted that Il very
large proportion of all cases OF lntes-
final disorders among infants whether
called by the name summer complaint,
"infantile diarrhea, cholera infan-
! tum," or what noU Is caused directly
by improper milk. The terrors of tho
Second summer" of infants are due.
not to any popularity OF that period of
| life, but to the fact that most infants
are weancd by that time, and nre on a
diet made up largely Of cows milk, and
| tho trouble is occasoned by bacteria
which have either developed poisonous
substances by their growth IN the milk
| before 1t Is swallowed, or which work
their harm by multiplying after reaching
| the stomach.
| Although II Is practically impossible to
secure milk absolutely free from bacte-
| ria, still there Is no reason why, If
proper care is exercised it should not
be certain to contain no harmful bacte-
ria and n much smaller proportion OF
harmless ones than is commonly the