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for the London County Council, and he visited the cowshed from
which this milk was obtained. His report is as follows:—
LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL.
Public .Health Department,
15th May, 1907.
Dairies, Cowsheds and Milkshops Order of 1899.
Special Report, re Cows at 39a. Baldwin Street, Finsburv.
To Dr. Newman,
Medical Officer of Health,
Finsbury Borough Council.
Sir,
On 14th March I received notice from you that pus had been found
in the milk from these premises. I attended the next day and made a
careful examination of all the cows in the cowshed.
The examination was made by me in the following manner, viz :—I
milked each cow myself and drew each teat into a clean white saucer ;
by this means I found three cows were giving pus in their milk. Two
of these cows were known by the cowman to have defective quarters,
and the milk from these cows was not used, but the third cow was not
known by the cowman or owner to have any defect of the udder, and
the milk from this cow was being sold for human food ; this milk
would have been sold for food, perhaps for many weeks, had not your
Chief Sanitary Inspector taken samples from the milk pan.
The importance of continually taking samples of milk for examination
is clearly shown by this case; here was a cow giving pus in her milk
from an udder which to all appearance was healthy; there was no
enlargement, induration, or anything that could be detected by external
manipulation; it was necessary to draw each teat with care into a
shallow white vessel before the pus in the milk could be found; in a
case of this kind it is useless to draw the milk from the teat into one's
hand, as the colour of the hand gives the milk a deceptive appearance.
With the consent of the owner, I marked the cows by cutting the
whip hair off their tails, and isolated the animals at the extreme end of
the shed. I made frequent visits at different times of the day to see
that the cowman kept good faith until the cows were sent out to the
Public Slaughterhouses to be killed, at which time they were in good
condition.
Your Obedient Servant,
(Signed) WILLIAM F. SHAW, F.R.C.V.S.
Veterinary Inspector, L.C.C.