The question of milk adulteration is cone that crops up locally st irregular intervals. No matter how zealous the sanitary inspectors may be, it is impossible for any extensive restriction to be exercised unless householders give their support in reporting instantly any suspicious cases which come under their notice. For general uses it is not likely that little added clean water would do much damage, beyond the petty Tarceny of the case, but it is reasonable to assume that offending dairymen whose farms are outside the range of the Shanghai Water supply ose the impure supplies which suffice for home uses. Chinese are generally careless where sanitation is concerned, and their inherent fatalistic tendencies overshadow the dictates of common sense and allow them to accept as 8 mark of joss good or bad—immunity from illness, or sickness and death, which may be the direct result of insanitation. And while they show peculiar indifference to their own food supplies, is not logical to suppose that any more serious consideration will be given to those articles which they intend for foreign consumption.
As far ax concerns the ssnitstion of the milk we may leave all supervision confidently to the Municipal inspectors. But the ordinary processes of adulteration have been proved, by the evidence given at some protections in the Mixed Court, to be carried on after the milk has left the farm. In such cases the inspectors are powerless unless chance idence in their way. alive to the importance of obtaining pure milk, recently wrote to a brother in Australia, who is the proprietor of " large dairy farm, asking for some simple means of discerning aduNeration. The fact that the information comes from the Commonwealth is of value because the Dairies Supervision Acts of the various states provide for the practical applica tion by dairymen of the latest and most drastic principles of sanitation. The following extracts are from the letter referred to:—
"It ie a difficult thing to determine by the appearance of milk whether it ix pure or not. Pure milk has s slightly yellowish tinge, a very slight odour if any, and should have a distinctly sweet, pure taste. When allowed to stand quietly for several hours creat should rise naturally; no sediment should appear in the bottom of the vessel, and, when poured from a tumbler, the should cling to the glass.
"Skimmed, or watered milk is thinner than whole (or pure) milk and of a lighter shade, being of a bluish-whit colour. Milk can be fortified, however, in many ways #0 that the lactometer signifies pure milk, To make it this, the milk only has to have 'a little filling matter put into it for a lactometer is simply weight which is carried high or low by the density of the liquid it is put into.
It ie, therefore, no absolute test for Milk may be impure and unfit for as; even when boiled. In Australia thee is one standard of quality for all sok sold. It must contain not less that per cent of cream and 8.5 per cost of other fats or solids. This is s low ratio.
There need be no difficulty in obtaining pure nourishing milk if the feeding of the cows is carefully gone into, their water pare, surroundings clean, paddock large and not too far from the dairy. Ido not think milk can be healthy from a cow that has no grazing +k, particularly in the hot weather and I consider that milk carries. more diseases than any other food. The chief duties of our sre to see the cows milked occasionally; and, if as beast is suspected of being diseased to have the milk set apart and tested, and the cow put into quarantine at once. Again, they have to inspect the utensil joceasionally and seo that they are washed just before the milking. Our Government is very strict, for the doctors say that the health of fatare generations depends upon the pureness fof milk given to children, or consumed by mothers."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.