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21
and of the probability of milk from cows so infected
being sent by the Great Western Railway from the
Farringdon District to Paddington for sale and distribution,
I deemed it my duty to acquaint myself with
the views of other Medical Officers of Health, as to the
fitness of such milk for human consumption.
I could, however, at that time get little information
from them, their attention not having been specially
directed to the question. But as I firmly believed that
any animal secretion must be unfit for human food
when the animal is suffering from a grave constitutional
malady, I sought from the Medical Department of the
Local Government Board such information as it could
afford; and though it could furnish no definite and
positive intelligence, I was assured, that if I adopted
the view that milk from cows suffering from Foot
and Mouth Disease is unfit for food, I should have the
support of that Board, and of Sanitarians generally.
With some difficulty I obtained from Dorsetshire
three specimens of milk from diseased cows, and gave
them to Professor Anderson, our Analyst, for examination.
I felt the question to be one of very great
importance and magnitude, since it involved to a large
extent the milk supply of the Metropolis.
Knowing that conflicting opinions were held as to
the wholesomeness of such milk, and anticipating that
legal questions would in all probability be raised, should
the Officers of the Vestry seize it, or interfere with its
sale, I conferred with the Vestry Clerk, and placed
other samples of the milk in the hands of Dr. Burdon
Sanderson and Professor Wanklyn, for microscopic and