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24
The question of contamination is by far the most important
one we have to face when dealing with cow's milk.
It is not the only difficulty in its bearing on the infantile mortality.
It has been pointed out that cow's milk differs in its chemical
composition from human milk. In the vast majority of cases, this
difficulty is overcome by a suitable dilution, together with the
addition of a little fat and sugar. But after all the modification
the question of contamination remains. Human milk is sterile,
and is transferred directly from the breast to the infant, but this
is far from true of cow's milk. There is no other food so exposed
to contamination, or so easily contaminated as milk.
The contamination may start with the cow (through unhealthy
or unclean udders) supplemented by the milker, and added to in
the cowshed. Opportunities for further contamination occur in
its transit. It is well known that warm transit means impure
decomposing milk. The railway companies do not provide different
vehicles for the summer from those used in the winter, and none
provide refrigerating vans for milk in this country.
24 Samples were recently taken on delivery at Liverpool
Street Station, and examined by Dr. Klein. 13 were found to be
fairly clean, 2 were tuberculous, and 9 were dirty and unsatisfactory.
To anyone acquainted with dairy farming as carried on in some parts
of the country, these results are not surprising. The Dairies and
Cowsheds Order is more honoured in the breach than in the observance
by many rural authorities. Cattle and cowsheds, if inspected
at all, are inspected in a very perfunctory manner. The
cowsheds are far from sanitary, and the grooming of the cattle is
seldom if ever done.
Conditions have so changed in Acton that we have to depend
for a large part of our supply on outside sources. 64 Persons
are registered to sell milk in the district, and of these only 2 are
eowkeepers. The others obtain their milk from sources of supply
which are not under the supervision of the officials of our Council.