View report page

with cracked ice, and immediately transferred to the city for
use. Of the cleanliness of milk prepared in this way, 43 daily
samples were found to average not more than 14,000 bacteria
per cubic centimetre, while city milk for the same period
approximated 235,000 bacteria per cubic centimetre."*
This method is far in advance of anything which has
yet been done by the English municipalities, and if it were
not for the legal difficulties raised by the absence of statutory
powers, there is no reason why it should not be adopted in
this country. Not only would the quality of the milk be
improved and the necessity for sterilisation removed, but
an object lesson in clean milk production could be given,
which would give an immense impetus to the movement
for the "clean milk" which is one of the most pressing
needs of the present time, when the question of "physical
degeneration" appears at last to be likely to receive some
measure of the attention its importance as a national question
demands.
I would conclude this report by acknowledging the good
work of the staff of the Depôt during the year, particularly
the energy and ability with which Miss Lowe, the manageress,
discharged her difficult and responsible duties.
* "The Influence of the Municipal Milk Supply on the Deaths of Young
Children." Dr. Goler, Health Officer, Rochester, N.Y., U.S.A., New York
Stall Journal of Medicine, December, 1903.