The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1909-10-21
The Influence and Action of Bacteria
on Milk Products.

BaruleSS OF tne TACT tndC Jney are IN
ming themselves into debt and out OF
business, are putting in the best years
of their lives in the attempt to pre-
vent some of these contagious dis
eases which they have spent SO
many long years in curing. They
tell us the astonishing news that We
dead as a result of this, or that, or the
other ailment, unless we want to eX-
perience those three stages. if We will
but observe the first and foremost
rules of clean and sanitary, whole
some living. We used to think that
Providence visited us with an illness
as punishment for this or the other
sin which we had a hazy recollection
of committing at some time. Now
adays, we know that such diseases
are usually preventable and due to
some gross carelessness on our part
and that Dame Providence probably
bothered her head very little about the
matter.
But, do we meet the physicians half
way in their brave uphill fight against
impure air and impure food ana-fm-
pure water and milk and medicine:
You can't help man if he won't be
helped and you can't help him if he
won't help himself. There's a stand
ing army of us who take that old
ground day by day and year by year
and argue that people didn't use to
bother about these things. Why should
we? But" says the doctor, we are
working for a cleaner people. q
stronger race" 20, yes, DOCTOR" we
reply, shaking our heads obviously,
at would be very nice if it would
work, but we never did anything like
that before, you know" Shades of
our grandfathers. (And thered be
less of the ghostly shapes if the dear
old gentlemen had lived more n.y.
gienic lives). What an argument.
Where would be the railroad and the
telephone and the wireless and the
aeroplane if we were all like-minded
What is progress anyway but doing
something we've never done before, a
step higher, a step further?
For instance, there's the milk ques-
ton. We plead ignorance of dairy
and creamery methods but Martha
Van Rensselaer, in the National
Grange Organ, published at Concord,
N. H., covers tho subject thoroughly
and so simply that child might un-
derstand. With so many sources of
authoritative knowledge before us,
can we go or poisoning the babies
and the rest of the household with
impure milk? Find out where your
milk comes from and how it is handl-
ed. If you don't know anything about
the action of bacteria on milk. read
her article.
Bacteria and Milk.
AS milk Is one of the most i'm
portant food stuffs, especially for
children, it is very important that
every housewife understands some
thing of the effect of bacteria upon il e.
Everyone knows that milk contains
a certain number of bacteria. Some of
these germs are in the udder itself
but most of them get into the milk
after it is drawn. Dirty cows, dirty
barns and stables, dirty hands and
clothes of the mixer, and dirty uten-
sils all contribute to increase the
number of germs in the milk. If the
milk is not properly cooled and kept
cold then bacteria multiply and pro-
duce many changes in the milk that
have often troubled the nurse and the
cook.
The most common of these diff
culties is the simple souring or Tactic
acid fermentation. In addition to this
well-known process there are num-
Der of other and more troublesome
changes, such as the appearing of blue
milk, bitter milk, Shiny milk, tainted
milk, and others.
The Tactic lamentations, or com
mon "souring," of milk is brought
about by number of species of bac-
terra. Formerly it was supposed that
a single species produced this change
which consists in the splitting of the
milk-sugar molecule into carbon d.
oxid and Tactic acid. 1t is now known
however, that in this process of split.
ting up the milk-sugar other by-pro-
ducts are produced. In the simple
Tactic type of fermentation these Sec
ondary products are not very i'm
portant. 1t should be noted, however
that in the souring of milk by differ
ent species of bacteria correspond
ingly different by-products may be
produced. In consequence of this the
souring is often accompanied with
by-products that are undesirable il
not injurious to the consumer In
these cases the deleterious substan-
ces are often produced before the
quantity of acid is sufficient to cause
curdling. In fact, these by-products
may become harmful while the milk
is still considered sweet and whole
some. The most telling truths which
come to us from all these inquiries