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THE BACTERIOLOGY OF CONDENSED MILK AND MILK POWDERS.
385 .
We
practical importance.
trust that
while milk dried over hot cylinders occupied an intermediate position. In each of the three methods of treatment there was a stage at which the reduction in the total number of bacteria was much greater than that observed in the finished article ready for sale. This increase is attributed to recontamination. The interesting observation is made that the tubercle bacilli which had survived pasteurisation in method 1 and drying by heat in method 2 were still capable of producing progressive tuberculosis in guinea-pigs inoculated subcutaneously with milk containing these bacilli, but the course of the disease produced by these organisms was very much slower than that of the disease produced in guinea-pigs inoculated with the same amount of untreated tuberculous milk. The tuberculosis produced by the heated bacilli was "latent" or "occult" for some four weeks, while young rabbits fed with milk containing these modified bacilli did not contract tuberculosis. The report forms a valuable addition to the series of food reports issued from time to time by the Local Government Board, and it appears clear that if precautions were taken to guard the condensed or dried milk products from recontamination they would, generally speaking, be safer to use than raw milk.
the whole
subject will, at some short interval, be again discussed by representative surgeons in order that this kind of practical suggestion may be widely forthcoming from different experts, while the sad circumstances in which debate available.
we
live render material for
Annotations. "Ne
quid nimis."
THE FOOD-SUPPLY OF THE GERMAN
PEOPLE.
WE publish this week a detailed review of Dr. Paul Eltzbacher’s remarkable pamphlet on the food-supply of the German people. This work is a complete and authoritative exposition of the situation which he and his collaborators foresaw might arise when the British Fleet began to exercise serious pressure upon the German resources. The ftgures are as striking as the arguments, and sufficiently show how enormous the task of the Allies has been. ____
THE
A
"
"
BACTERIOLOGY OF CONDENSED MILK AND MILK POWDERS.
concerning the effects of certain conand densing drying processes used in the preservation of milk upon its bacterial contents was issued last week by the Local Government Board. The investigation was undertaken by The three methods of Dr. Sheridan Delepine. examined were: (1) the manufacpreservation ture of sweetened condensed milk; (2) the drying of milk over heated revolving cylinders ; and (3) the drying of milk by spraying it into a current of hot air. The experiments now reported were made with the view of ascertaining whether tuberculous cows’ milk was still capable of conveying tuberculosis after being treated according to methods 1 and 2. Further experiments have been made on the general effects upon the bacterial contents of milk following the use of methods 2 and 3, but the results await further inquiries. In feeding experiments Dr. Delepine reports the superiority of dry milk over fresh milk, and points out the advantages of dry milk from the hygienic as well as from the commercial point of view. It is therefore regrettable, he adds, that the process of drying should not alwayss yield an article entirely free from pathogenic bacteria. He concludes that if clean milk obtained from healthy cows were dried in a factory where suitable precautions were taken to prevent recontamination, dry milk almost free from bacteria could be produced. No experiments appear to have been made on the question of how long in a practically dry powder the organisms remain virile. The activity of bacteria is necessarily diminished in the absence of moisture, and milk powders do not, as a rule, contain more than 3 or at the most 5 per cent. of moisture which can be expelled by heat. In summarising his work Dr. Delepine states that the total number of bacteria present in mixed cows’ milk: has been found to be considerably reduced by treatment according to each of the three methods investigated. The reduction was greatest in the case of sweetened condensed milk, least in the powder obtained by spraying milk into hot air , REPORT
,
EPILEPSY AND OPERATION UPON PELVIC ORGANS.
THE
FEMALE
IT is stated by some writers that the development and commencing activity of the female sexual organs are in some way concerned with the onset of epileptic convulsions. It has also been said that the time at which the menses cease to appear is again apt to be attended with the occurrence of epilepsy, but Nothnagel denies that this is the case. It would not be difficult to find a number of cases recorded in medical literature in which the onset of epileptic fits coincided with great accuracy with the occurrence of the menstrual period. Cases, too, are to be found in which the fits have ceased during a pregnancy, only to recommence with the return of the monthly periods. When we bear in mind the increased nervous excitability of the woman at the menstrual period, and further, when we remember the tendency to periodic recurrence of epileptic attacks and the periodicity of the monthly periods, it is not surprising to find that in a certain number of women the two conditions coincide so frequently as almost to lead to the conclusion that there is some definite relationship between them. There is, however, no certain proof of any etiological relationship between uterine and ovarian disease and epilepsy. Sir William Gowers said, "Of epilepsy due to disease of the uterus or ovaries nothing is seen except by gynaecologists," and from the point of view of a judge demanding evidence the statement stands. In spite of this opinion from so high an authority a number of cases have been recorded in which various operations have been carried out upon the pelvic,organs of the woman for the purpose of curing epileptic. fits. Dilatation of the cervix, the treatment of erosions, the amputation of the cervix, and even the removal of the healthy ovaries have been advocated, and indeed practised, from time to time with reputed benefit to the patients, That the fits have ceased and in some cases have never. returned has been adduced as proof of tha value of the particular procedure
We
practical importance.
trust that
while milk dried over hot cylinders occupied an intermediate position. In each of the three methods of treatment there was a stage at which the reduction in the total number of bacteria was much greater than that observed in the finished article ready for sale. This increase is attributed to recontamination. The interesting observation is made that the tubercle bacilli which had survived pasteurisation in method 1 and drying by heat in method 2 were still capable of producing progressive tuberculosis in guinea-pigs inoculated subcutaneously with milk containing these bacilli, but the course of the disease produced by these organisms was very much slower than that of the disease produced in guinea-pigs inoculated with the same amount of untreated tuberculous milk. The tuberculosis produced by the heated bacilli was "latent" or "occult" for some four weeks, while young rabbits fed with milk containing these modified bacilli did not contract tuberculosis. The report forms a valuable addition to the series of food reports issued from time to time by the Local Government Board, and it appears clear that if precautions were taken to guard the condensed or dried milk products from recontamination they would, generally speaking, be safer to use than raw milk.
the whole
subject will, at some short interval, be again discussed by representative surgeons in order that this kind of practical suggestion may be widely forthcoming from different experts, while the sad circumstances in which debate available.
we
live render material for
Annotations. "Ne
quid nimis."
THE FOOD-SUPPLY OF THE GERMAN
PEOPLE.
WE publish this week a detailed review of Dr. Paul Eltzbacher’s remarkable pamphlet on the food-supply of the German people. This work is a complete and authoritative exposition of the situation which he and his collaborators foresaw might arise when the British Fleet began to exercise serious pressure upon the German resources. The ftgures are as striking as the arguments, and sufficiently show how enormous the task of the Allies has been. ____
THE
A
"
"
BACTERIOLOGY OF CONDENSED MILK AND MILK POWDERS.
concerning the effects of certain conand densing drying processes used in the preservation of milk upon its bacterial contents was issued last week by the Local Government Board. The investigation was undertaken by The three methods of Dr. Sheridan Delepine. examined were: (1) the manufacpreservation ture of sweetened condensed milk; (2) the drying of milk over heated revolving cylinders ; and (3) the drying of milk by spraying it into a current of hot air. The experiments now reported were made with the view of ascertaining whether tuberculous cows’ milk was still capable of conveying tuberculosis after being treated according to methods 1 and 2. Further experiments have been made on the general effects upon the bacterial contents of milk following the use of methods 2 and 3, but the results await further inquiries. In feeding experiments Dr. Delepine reports the superiority of dry milk over fresh milk, and points out the advantages of dry milk from the hygienic as well as from the commercial point of view. It is therefore regrettable, he adds, that the process of drying should not alwayss yield an article entirely free from pathogenic bacteria. He concludes that if clean milk obtained from healthy cows were dried in a factory where suitable precautions were taken to prevent recontamination, dry milk almost free from bacteria could be produced. No experiments appear to have been made on the question of how long in a practically dry powder the organisms remain virile. The activity of bacteria is necessarily diminished in the absence of moisture, and milk powders do not, as a rule, contain more than 3 or at the most 5 per cent. of moisture which can be expelled by heat. In summarising his work Dr. Delepine states that the total number of bacteria present in mixed cows’ milk: has been found to be considerably reduced by treatment according to each of the three methods investigated. The reduction was greatest in the case of sweetened condensed milk, least in the powder obtained by spraying milk into hot air , REPORT
,
EPILEPSY AND OPERATION UPON PELVIC ORGANS.
THE
FEMALE
IT is stated by some writers that the development and commencing activity of the female sexual organs are in some way concerned with the onset of epileptic convulsions. It has also been said that the time at which the menses cease to appear is again apt to be attended with the occurrence of epilepsy, but Nothnagel denies that this is the case. It would not be difficult to find a number of cases recorded in medical literature in which the onset of epileptic fits coincided with great accuracy with the occurrence of the menstrual period. Cases, too, are to be found in which the fits have ceased during a pregnancy, only to recommence with the return of the monthly periods. When we bear in mind the increased nervous excitability of the woman at the menstrual period, and further, when we remember the tendency to periodic recurrence of epileptic attacks and the periodicity of the monthly periods, it is not surprising to find that in a certain number of women the two conditions coincide so frequently as almost to lead to the conclusion that there is some definite relationship between them. There is, however, no certain proof of any etiological relationship between uterine and ovarian disease and epilepsy. Sir William Gowers said, "Of epilepsy due to disease of the uterus or ovaries nothing is seen except by gynaecologists," and from the point of view of a judge demanding evidence the statement stands. In spite of this opinion from so high an authority a number of cases have been recorded in which various operations have been carried out upon the pelvic,organs of the woman for the purpose of curing epileptic. fits. Dilatation of the cervix, the treatment of erosions, the amputation of the cervix, and even the removal of the healthy ovaries have been advocated, and indeed practised, from time to time with reputed benefit to the patients, That the fits have ceased and in some cases have never. returned has been adduced as proof of tha value of the particular procedure