OUR BABIES.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2001, 7 March 1914, Page 11

OUR BABIES.

TBr Htosu.l Publithod und«r tho »uspiee» of tb.« Society for ,tho H«alth of Womon and Childrsn."It h wlsar to put np a fenoo at the top M a, precipice than to maintain an ambuloaco at the bottom."

LIVERPOOL MILK SUPPLY. .Regarding tho so-called humanised milk_ issued to the poor by tho municipality in Liverpool, as described lastweek, it should be understood that no attempt is mado to secure anything beyond a rough modification and grading. Sugar of milk is not used because cauo sugar is so much cheaper, and..sterilisation is effected merely by boiling. Even eo, the price is, of course, much lower than would have to bo charged if.the depots were to be self-supporting. • The issuo of milk for babies in Literpool is a municipal charity. Light is thrown on this by the cost of humanised milk in London—say, for instance, that supplied by the Aylesbury Dairy Company. Their preparation is issued in pint and quart bottles, and in only two grades, yet the charge is Bd. for a pint and Is. 2d. for a quart. If the milk were specially graded for each child, as is done in Dunedin, tho charge would have to bo still higher.

ELECTROCUTING MICROBES IN MILK; So far as it goes, the work done in Liverpool has been highly beneficent; but tho. authorities aim much higher. A practical experimental work which is now being carried out at. the University by Dr.. I. M. Beattie, Professor of Bacteriology, and Mr. F. C. Lewis (working in conjunction with N the municipal authorities in general and the Infant Life Preservation Committee in particular) bids fair to lead to practical results of world-wide importance in the immediate future. The work they are engaged in bringing to practical fruition is the subjecting of ordinary impure city milk to a powerful alternating electric current with a view to killing the microbes. They find that thoy -can electrocute the microbes without in any way changing the vital properties of the milk itself, and they aro sangaine that this, will be practicable on a large scale, without appreciably increasing the price to tho public. At the time when Dr. King left England a small electrical plant tor sterilising about 30 gallons an hour was almost ready to start work. Tho next step would bo to arrange for a muoh larger installation, capable of sterilising on an adequate scalo for public distribution. ■The temptation to resort to superheated dried milks for tho poor has been very strong, and iri some cities large quantities of glaxo and other such preparations, issued at about a shilling a pound, and thus costing the consumer about the same as ordinary milk, have been largely sold for infants, and the advent of safe sterilised, but otherwise unchanged, "electrified" milk would be a great boon to mothers and babies.

The following extracts from an article by Professor Bcattie on the subject will bo read with interest:—

"The, advantages of the process aro that, tho-milk is not heated up unduly, that no coagulation can occur, that a continuous. stream of milk can he sterilised, and therefore that tho method will bo available for sterilising on a large scale, such as city supplies for infant feeding, etc. A.high tension electrical current is used, and the exposure of the milk to this for. a very, short .time practically kills all the microbes."

A special. demonstration was. given to Dr. King by means.of a small laboratory apparatus,- the impure. milk being poured into a glass funnel i and run through electrified tubes into & cream pint bottle in tho course of a few minutes. This. ; mjJk .shpwpd ~eyidcuiee, of any change'. -It.ivas taken frbin'Liverpool to London, and kept .well for several days without any special precautions.-

Professor Bcattio says :—. "The taste of .the-milk is not altered, the fresh 'bouquet' being as perfectly discernible after as before treatment. Indeed, upon? the samples being submitted to expert dairymen, the opinion they expressed was that they could not detect any difference. "Apart from chemical analyses, feed-ing-experiments were made on.a series of kittens, and the nutritive properties of the milk thereby proved to have been unaltered. : In point of fact, the iu...A ... ■>. -■- '

' creaso in tho. weight of the animals fed with the electrified milk 'was somewhat in advance- of that of similar kittens fed on ordinary milk; but we do not attach* undue importance to this. "Several series of experiments were made with milk'infested with tubercle bacilli. 'Animals inoculated with this milk developed extensive tuberculosis; but thoso inoculated with the milk after }it had been subjected to tho electrical treatment did not show the slightest sign of tuberculosis."

UTILITY FOE NEW ZEALAND. If :tiie results on a large scalo prove as satisfactory as Professor Beattie anticipates, tho;' electrical treatment _of milk is likely to become a very important mtltter for us, especially in such cities as Wellington, where the supply of puro milk has hitherto baffled nil efforts. . New Zealanders will be gratified to know that Dr. Beattie, who is Professor of Pathology and Bacteriology at Liverpool University, was born in Otago, and has already achioved a distinguished reputation in the Old Country.