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and great surprise is frequently expressed on their
attention being called to this fact. This also applies
to the milk that stands in the churns in the dairies
previous to its being strained, prior to its delivery,
the prevailing idea being that the milkman's duty is
discharged when he strains the milk through a muslin
strainer, whereas by this means the grosser impurities
are intercepted, but there remains the more dangerous
contaminations, such as germs which are induced
by this careless exposure of the milk.
The provision made for the cleansing of those
vessels and utensils used in the Dairies I propose
referring to. In most instances either a steam
apparatus or a special boiler is used for heating the
water, also for cleansing or sterilizing purposes.
It appears that the Lambeth Borough Council
have established an Infants' Milk Depot, at which
pure pasteurised or sterilized milk can be obtained at
cost price, and by this means the milk is rendered
free from the germs of disease, and since the Depot
has been opened the general infantile death rate has
been reduced from 134 per 1000 to 58 during the
first six months. A similar system has been adopted
in Liverpool with equally satisfactory results, where
the infantile death rate has been reduced from 171
per 1000 to 96, the object being to combat the
terrible loss of infant life from injudicious feeding, in
addition to which it is a valuable preventitive against
the possibility of tubercular disease being conveyed
to the consumers of milk.
The problem of Infantile Mortality is one receiving
a large amount of attention at the present time, and
it is generally admitted that this mortality is, to a