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Report of the Medical Officer of Health. 71

From this table it is evident that there are some causes at work
in the third quarter which raise the mortality.
Carelessness, ignorance, and drunkenness of parents are not
confined to the third quarter of the year, but these, combined with the
presence of house flies and increase in temperature in the third quarter,
may, generally speaking, be said to be causes of this increased
mortality.
The provision of a municipal milk depot will have no effect on
any of these causes, and however much, theoretically, it may seem
desirable to put into the hands of parents milk which is sterile, yet
unless the other causes are dealt with, little or no improvement can
possibly result.
The most obvious solution of the whole problem is that mothers
should nurse their children wholly for the first nine months. Mothers
milk is sterile, and passes from mother to child without exposure to
external sources of pollution. Owing to various causes, this is, in
some cases, impossible.
The best substitute is cows' milk, diluted to suit the age of the
child.
It is well known that cows' milk, as sold in the Metropolis, is
liable to pollution in many ways, chiefly in the houses of the consumer,
and specially if the consumer belongs to the poorer classes.