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source) and sell it as Grade A (T.T.), it may be very difficult to detect the fraud.

It was not long before such a case occurred. The circumstances were of an exceptionally callous nature, as frauds were perpetrated on Italians whose knowledge of the terms used for the grading of milk was naturally limited, but who confidently displayed in their premises notices informing the public that the ice-cream they purveyed was made from tubercle-free milk.

Two makers of ice-cream were victimised, but the facts in the case of one of these were so clear that it may be sufficient briefly to record them. A written contract was made between the company and the manufacturer of ice-cream, and an undertaking to supply only Grade A (T.T.) milk was given in the following terms:-"This grade of milk will be delivered in sealed containers under the regulations applying to Grade A (T.T.) Milk." Power was reserved to supply ordinary Grade A milk, if unforeseen circumstances prevented the company from supplying Grade A (T.T.), but this contingency was not anticipated.

The arrangement was entered into in July, and in December the sanitary department of the Corporation of Edinburgh found that the consignments of milk were not labelled as required by the Milk (Special Designations) Order. They suggested that the ice-cream manufacturer should order 36 gallons of Grade A (T.T.) milk. The order was given to the manager in person over the telephone, and he, while not declining the order, offered no information, though it was proved at the subsequent enquiry that the company had not received any Grade A (Tuberculin Tested) milk whatsoever for some time previously.

The milk arrived at the ice-cream shop, where two inspectors took samples for analysis. The delivery note for this milk was in the following terms :

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A sample was sent by the local authority to the company, who immediately replied that they had supplied ordinary raw milk. When their books were examined it was found that the icecream manufacturer's account had been corrected by a credit entry of sixpence a gallon for that day only. On all other days. the price of tuberculin-tested milk had been charged, though for a considerable period the company had none to give.

Sixpence a gallon on 36 gallons is eighteen shillings. The fact that eighteen shillings a day may be made by fraud out of one customer is an index of the enormous profits that may be made illegitimately in the milk trade.

The decision of the Corporation not to grant or renew any licence for the sale of higher-grade milk by this company was upheld by the Board on appeal under the Order. Thereafter the Corporation declined to grant registration under the Milk and Dairies (Scotland) Act, 1914, to this company. It is under

stood, however, that subsequently drastic changes were made in the direction and management of the company and that registration was then given.

Another appeal was lodged against the refusal of a local authority of a burgh in the south-west to renew a small dealer's licence for the sale of Grade A (T.T.) milk. The appeal was dismissed.

An assistant in the sanitary inspector's office called at the dairy about nine o'clock in the morning and asked for a bottle of Grade A (T.T.) milk, but was informed that it was all sold. About eleven o'clock a woman specially instructed obtained a bottle on behalf of the sanitary inspector. The bacteriologist found that this milk contained a million and a half bacteria per c.c.; the butter fat was 3-4 per cent. The local authority considered that the explanations offered were unsatisfactory.

These cases illustrate some of the difficulties inseparable from any system of graded milk, but are specially interesting from the point of view of Grade A (T.T.), which can only continue to exist if the honesty of the dealers is above suspicion. Local authorities should cause the records of dealers to be examined from time to time and should see that they are properly kept. It is also essential that the methods of small dealers should be clean and in every way suitable. An officer of the local authority should from time to time investigate the handling of higher-grade milk by each licensed dealer, should be fully aware of the methods employed, and should draw attention to any act or defect that may increase the bacterial content. Sampling must also be regularly carried out in the case of each dealer.

16. Municipal Distribution of Milk in Stornoway.This matter, which is referred to on page 48 of the Report for 1922, came under review early in the year. From reports furnished to us it appeared that the necessity for municipal distribution. of milk in Stornoway no longer existed, as practically all the milk dealers in the burgh were obtaining milk from the mainland, and an adequate supply of milk was assured. Accordingly a Special Order, dated 22nd June, 1926, was issued, in terms of Section 14 (h) of the Milk and Dairies (Amendment) Act, 1922, terminating the arrangements for municipal distribution as from 30th June, 1926. Besides meeting an emergency with success, the arrangements terminated with a surplus in hand.

17. Milk supply of Lerwick and Scalloway free from Tuberculosis. With the co-operation of the dairymen supplying Lerwick and Scalloway with milk, the county veterinary inspector undertook the tuberculin testing of all the cows from which the milk supply of these places was obtained. After repeated tests the herds were completely freed from tuberculosis. This was a notable achievement, and it is worth recording that it was a portion of Ultima Thule that had the distinction of being the first locality in Great Britain to be

in possession of a milk supply guaranteed wholly free from tuberculosis. The laborious work of testing was undertaken by the veterinary inspector, and the dairymen concerned defrayed the cost of the tuberculin.

It is unfortunate that this fine achievement may lapse for lack of funds to defray the tuberculin.

18. Clean Milk Competitions.-During the year several clean milk demonstrations have been given under the auspices of the Colleges of Agriculture, and following the example of the city of Edinburgh the county of Midlothian held a clean milk competition. The labour and time spent in conducting such competitions are well repaid by the spread of knowledge and interest among dairymen.

19. Examination of Milk to detect Dirt.-It is now possible to obtain simple and inexpensive apparatus to test the cleanliness of milk, so far as dirt is concerned, and in many areas samples of ordinary milk are subjected to sediment tests or to bacteriological examination for the purpose of estimating cleanliness. Experience shews that there is considerable room for improvement. In one county during the six months April to September, 61 informal samples were examined in the bacteriological laboratory with a view to estimating the cleanliness of milk retailed to the consumer. About 50 per cent. of these samples were found to be unsatisfactory. Several re-inspections were made, and further samples were taken in order to ascertain the point at which contamination took place.

20. Legal Standards for Milk and Cream.-In the Annual Report for 1922 an outline was given of the recommendations of the Inter-Departmental Committee on the laws, regulations and procedure governing the sale of milk in Scotland. The Committee recommended fixed standards for milk, skimmed milk, buttermilk and cream. During the year reasoned representations were received from the Corporation of Glasgow and from the county council of Aberdeen to the effect that the recommendations of the Inter-Departmental Committee should be passed into law. These two areas together comprise a substantial fraction of the population of Scotland, and their representations are receiving due consideration.

21. Milk-borne Infections.-(1) An outbreak of gastroenteritis occurred in a city in the east coast in August. The first cases occurred on 18th, and no new cases occurred after the night of 20th August. Some 373 persons were affected, and there were no deaths, but many were acutely ill. Of the 373 cases, 59 were under five years of age, 42 were between five and fifteen, and 272 were over fifteen years of age. A medical practitioner intimated that he had under his charge about 20 persons on three farms tenanted by one farmer, and that all these appeared to be suffering from gastro-enteritis. These farms were visited immediately, and on one of them, a large dairy farm, it was

ascertained that a cow had been ill for several days. Although the farmer stated that this cow was not producing milk, the medical officer of health was satisfied after careful enquiry that this was not the case, and that until the animal was isolated on the previous day its milk had been mixed with that of the other cows and distributed. The farmer was warned of the necessity for strict isolation of the cow, and instructions were given regarding the precautions which had to be taken. The cow, which was obviously suffering from a very severe enteritis, died on 22nd August, and the carcase was disposed of with all necessary precautions.

The following specimens were collected and forwarded to the bacteriological laboratory for examination :-samples of the actual milk believed to have caused the infection; samples of milk taken from the sick animal; a specimen of blood from the animal, and a sample of the alvine discharge; a number of specimens of stools of infected persons, and a number of specimens of their blood. The bacteriologist reported that he had established beyond any doubt that the cause of the outbreak was B. Enteritidis (Gærtner).

Unfortunately the source of infection of the animal was not discovered. It was purchased in a cattle market about ten days before it became ill.

(2) In a burgh on the east coast an outbreak of dysentery occurred in September, involving some 80 houses and about 150

persons.

On 12th September the medical officer of health in the course of bacteriological work found that a specimen from a boy contained organisms which gave the cultural but not the agglutination reactions of the Flexner group. Enquiry among the medical practitioners shewed that a condition of sickness, vomiting, diarrhoea and collapse was rife in the burgh. The symptoms pointed to food as the cause.

Meat was not suspected, as the veterinary inspector had observed nothing suspicious at the slaughterhouse, and in any case the houses affected obtained their meat supplies from different shops. The water supply had been under constant bacteriological observation since June. The majority of those affected, however, had a common milk supply, a farm outside the burgh.

On the next day the medical officers of health of burgh and district met at the farm, and it was found that the two children of the farmer and at least one of the milkers were suffering from a disorder of similar nature to that prevalent in the town. It was decided that the ailing milker should be withheld from milking or handling milk.

On 14th September some cases occurred from the infection of the 13th. No cases occurred on 15th September, but from 16th September onwards a few fresh cases occurred. A further visit shewed that though the infected milker was isolated from the milk supply she was being nursed by her mother, who was

also a milker. The girl was removed to hospital on 24th September, and no further cases occurred in families supplied directly or indirectly from the farm.

It was not considered necessary to send any cases to hospital in the burgh. Though the disease was highly infectious it was mildly contagious, and only 13 cases by contact were notified.

B. Dysenteria Sonne was isolated by culture and by agglutination with specific serum from the greater number of fifty stools, and was agglutinated in varying dilutions by the blood serum of an appreciable number of infected cases.

The girl milker, of course, should have been prohibited from milking by the farmer as soon as she had diarrhoea. The farmer took no steps to inform the authorities when his two children took what was apparently diarrhoea. Measures should, in any case, have been taken to prohibit the mother of the milker from milking or handling milk-vessels, unless "proper precautions as required by Section 17 of the Milk and Dairies (Scotland) Act, 1914, were taken.

(3) On 6th October a county medical officer in the west, having received intimation from one of the medical practitioners in a village that cases of acute diarrhoea had occurred in seven households, communicated with the two other doctors in the locality and ascertained that other seven households were affected, three of them being in an adjacent village.

Lists of patients were received from the doctors, and specimens of fæces for examination were taken from three of the patients. A bacillus of dysenteric type was isolated from the specimens submitted, and suspicion soon rested on the milk supply of farmer A, whose two children were among the first affected. With the exception of one patient, all the cases were in households that received milk from farmer. A. It was subsequently discovered that this patient was supplied with milk by farmer B, who was in the habit of receiving about half a gallon of milk daily from farmer A.

While on service in Mesopotamia farmer A had had dysentery. During the week commencing 12th September, 1926, he had had a slight influenzal attack which had been followed between 18th and 27th September by a mild attack of diarrhoea. He had not milked the cows nor had he had anything to do with the production or despatch of the milk for some time prior to his influenzal attack, but he had dealt with the milk on one or two subsequent days. None of his workers had had diarrhoea recently, nor had they been ill in any way, nor were any of the cows affected. A specimen of fæces was obtained from him, but it was later returned as negative.

In view of the possibility that he was the source of infection, the farmer agreed not to go near the milk supply or deal with it in any way, and in the circumstances it was not considered necessary to have it stopped.

A further specimen taken from the farmer was found to be negative, but specimens taken from his wife and a daughter

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