acteria, and they have
therefore an injurious influence on the special lactifying germs it is
our object to cultivate. Preservatives are now not nearly so much used
as they were, a few years ago, and there should be no difficulty in
obtaining milk free from them.

For keeping both fresh and soured milk good a small ice-chest is an
excellent device. The germs which are continually dropping into milk
kept in open vessels in the air, even in cleanly surroundings, are
mostly kept out in the close ice-chest, and the low temperature prevents
in a natural way the development of the bacterial germs already in the
milk. For the preservation of all kinds of foods the ice-chest is a
capital investment, not to mention the benefit of having cooled drinks,
etc., as required. They manage things well in this respect in the United
States, where ice is regarded as a necessity in the summer time by even
the poorest people, and is delivered with the same regularity as the
milk.

It is necessary to utter a word of warning as to certain forms in which
the sour milk bacillus is being offered to the public. It is being
compounded with sugar, chocolate, and other articles, and sold in the
form of sweets, etc. There is no reliable proof that these preparations
are valuable. Certainly, sugar is a medium in which the lactifying germs
can live, but the quantity so introduced into the system must be very
small compared with what is obtained from properly fermented milk. It
takes some time, even with strong cultures, to fix the acid-producing
germs in the large bowel where they are wanted, and until proper
evidence is forthcoming that confectionery preparations are efficacious
we would recommend that only the regularly fermented milk be used. It
would save trouble, no doubt, to treat oneself with a few chocolate
creams containing the necessary germs daily, but if the matter is taken
up seriously it will be better to take some pains and stick to methods
the efficacy of which has been demonstrated, leaving the others until
their _bona fides_ has been proved. There are always enterprising firms
who are prepared to simplify things for us, but we must make sure that
their simplifications are warranted.

CHAPTER VII

THE PREPARATION OF SOURED MILK IN THE DAIRY

There is a tendency in certain medical quarters to discourage the use of
soured milk "made for profit." This view leaves out of account the fact
that besides being of value in medicine