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29
But in connection with the contamination of milk the
results of a bacteriological examination of sample's of
London milk by Mr. Sydney Rowland, recently published
are of the greatest interest. His investigations clearly show
that milk is largely polluted before it reaches the consumer.
Normal milk, as it exists in the udder of the healthy cow, is
perfectly sterile, while the average number of organisms
found in the samples examined was 500,000 per cubic centimetre
(about 15 drops), but the most significant fact is that
the organism found in the greatest abundance, constituting
90 per cent. of all the forms found, was that known as the
Bacillus Coli Communis, which is unquestionably diagnostic
of fœcal contamination, and finds its way into the milk
from the unclean bodies of the cows and from the polluted
air of the stables and stalls in which the milking is carried on.
Mr. Rowland remarks:—
“With regard to this extraordinary number of Bacteria, it is not
difficult to imagine their source if, for a moment, one recalls the usual
conditions of the cows in even the cleanest and most hygienically
managed of our dairies. The stable or cowshed in which the milking is
carried on is itself saturated with excremental matter; the very straw the
animals stand upon is too often but an incubating ground for microorganisms,
for, warmed by fermentation and saturated with fœcal matter,
it offers all the conditions of warmth and nutriment material for their best
growth. The restlessness of the animals and the walking of the milkman
disturb at each moment myriads of these micro-organisms, some of which,
passing into the open air, find in the warm milk all the conditions for life
and active multiplication."
Since the determining influence of the Bacillus Coli in
cases of Infantile Diarrhoea and other intestinal complaints
has been clearly shown, its presence in milk, especially in
milk used for infant feeding, cannot but be a grave source of
danger. Numerous other organisms were also present, such
as are found in putrefying organic matter of all descriptions,
which show either direct contamination with putrefying
matter, or exposure to an atmosphere containing particles
of decomposing matter.
It is clear from this it is necessary, that in addition to a
rigid supervision of the retailing shops, steps should be
taken to enforce an improvement in the surroundings of the
cows, and in the conditions under which milking is carried
on so as to secure, as far as possible, absolute cleanliness