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" At St. Helens the infantile mortality in the borough, as a whole, in 1901, was 175 per 1,000
birt is registered, but only 106 per 1,000 among infants fed with sterilized milk. At Dukinfield 'the
infantile mortality among children fed on humanized milk (in 1901) was 80 per 1,000, whilst that
for the whole district was 288.' A still more striking illustration of the value of sterilized milk is
furnished by the New York correspondent of The Lancet, in a communication (October 11, 1902)
headed—
" Free Milk Supply in New York."—It is stated that Mr. Nathan Strauss ' has now for eleven
summers given pure fresh milk to the young children of that city. In the course of the summer
(of 1902) nearly a million bottles of pasteurised milk and milk food was dispensed* . . . mainly
to the ailing children of the tenements of the east and west sides of the city. . . . The low
death rate among children under five years of age is largely attributed' to this system, and ' the
rate has steadily decreased concurrently with the increase in the distribution of pasteurised
milk. . . . The death rate during the hottest months of the year—June, July, August—when
the danger to infant life is greatest, has been reduced from 126 per 1,000 in 1891 to 63.6 per 1,000
in the season just passed . . . and a careful investigation of the vital statistics shows that a very
low death rate for children is characteristic of those sections of the city where the distributing
depots of the Nathan Strauss laboratory are located.' All will agree with the concluding
observation, that the facts stated serve as ' a magnificent testimony to the philanthropic work of
Mr. Strauss, and might serve to spur on rich men in all large cities to emulate his generosity.'
" The information laid before the Council (i.e., in the tenth report), with respect to the
feeding of the infants of the poor goes to show that fresh whole milk does not enter largely into
their diet. Most of the foods therein referred to are unfit for the sustenance of very young children,
being unsuited to their digestive powers. Milk, however, having been mentioned as forming a part
of the dietary in a considerable number of instances, it became an interesting question, and
steps were taken to ascertain, to what extent this best of foods is used.
" Three dairymen in North Kensington, in a fairly large way of business (their joint sale per
day is about 1,250 pints), were interviewed, and only one of them admitted the sale of so much as
one pint of milk, night and morning, to one family, in the area supplied by them, which comprises
parts of Golborne, St. Charles, and Norland Wards. As a rule the milk was sold, night and morning,
in very small quantities—farthings'-worth, ' ha'porths,' and, less frequently, ' pen'orths.'
" It has been ascertained that a large amount of machine-skimmed milk is sold at a factory
in the north of the borough, the price before 8 a.m. being three ha'pence per quart, and at other
establishments this article, unfit as we have seen for the sustenance of infants, is vended on similar
terms. Condensed milk, moreover, has a large sale, by grocers and oilmen. Samples of different
brands to the number 10 (there are probably 50 brands on the market) were obtained, and, of these,
no fewer than seven are labelled as ' machine-skimmed.' The label of one only of these samples
gives an inkling of its unfitness for the food of infants, by stating that " For infants and invalids we
recommend the use of our Full Cream Milk.'
" ' Condensed milk' contains a very large proportion of cane sugar used as a preservative and
for cheapening the production. In a report on the subject by the Medical Officer of Health for
Liverpool, the analyses of 22 samples are given ; 5 of them ' pure milk ' show a percentage of this
constituent to total solids ranging from 36 per cent. up to 44.20 per cent. The fat ranged from 0.27
to 2.24 per cent in milks described as ' machine-skimmed.' The ' other solids of milk' ranged
from 22.34 up to 35.76 per cent of the total solids, the minimum and maximum of total solids being
given as 67.21 and 75.80 per cent.'

Of condensed ' machine-skimmed milks' it will suffice to say that all, being practically
devoid of fat,t are unfit for the food of infants ; but the sale of them is extremely large owing to the
nominally low price at which they are vended.
* In addition " about a million glasses of raw and pasteurised milk were consumed at the stations."
† The public analyst has informed me that the actual percentages of fat in the skimmed varieties are so small as to be
obviously of no importance from the point of view of " food value;" 0.25-0.3 per cent. being the amounts commonly found
The minimum standard for " fat " in " genuine " milk is three per cent.