portunities afforded to them by this Laboratory, and by submitting samples of milk for examination, will materially diminish the high rate of infant mortality by removing one of its chief etiologic factors, namely, poor milk. Method of preparing specimen. Procure in any of the sup ply stations a 4 oz. mailing package used for sending sample of water. In the case of mother's milk, wash the breast in the neighborhood of the nipple with soap and water and remove the milk by a suction pump which has been rendered sterile by boiling. 2 oz. should be collected. In case of cow's milk, send a sample of the milk usually consumed by the child (4 oz.). Cow's milk varies considerably in composition, depending upon breed, feeding and period of lactation. In the feeding of infants the mixed milk of a herd will vary less in composition from week to week than that of a single cow; on the other hand the former is more dangerous from the standpoint of tubercular infection than the milk from a single healthy cow. When the milk comes from cows whose record of health is uncertain it should be Pasteurized, by heating to 140 F. for 15 minutes before being fed to infants. The following table gives the results from the analysis of large numbers of samples of cow's milk. Import. Drinking water is frequently a medium of infection. Typhoid Fever is in the majority of cases conveyed by means of water. It has also been an important agent in the spread of cholera. Contaminated water is also in many cases responsible for certain intestinal troubles simulating typhoid. When typhoid fever appears in a household the physician should at once direct his suspicions to the water supply, and have an examination made by the Laboratory. Local health boards should assiduously guard the purity of their public supplies, and should have occasional examinations made. The same holds good of boards of education when pupils use water from the wells on school premises. The importance of water analyses in the prevention of disease is too apparent to all to need further comment. Suffice it to say that physicians and health authorities should make more frequent use of the Laboratory for such purposes. Outfit for sending samples. The character of the bottle in 1 which water is sent is of great importance, in the first place it shall be absolutely clean and in the second it should be sterile. Experience has taught that we cannot depend upon these conditions being fulfilled in bottles sent to us, hence we will refuse to examine the water sent in any than our own bottle. Therefore, when a water analysis is wanted communicate with the Laboratory, when a bottle properly prepared will be sent. The party desiring the analysis must pay express charges both ways. Instructions for collecting the sample. Ist. From a water tap or pump. The water should run freely from tap or pump for a few minutes before it is collected. The bottle is then to be placed directly under the tap or sprout, and rinsed out with the water at least twice, pouring out the water completely each time. It is then again filled to overflowing, and then a small quantity poured out, so that there shall be left an air space under the stopper of about an inch. The stopper must be rinsed off with flowing water and inserted into the bottle while still wet, and secured by tying over it a clean piece of cotton cloth. Under no circumstances must the inside of the neck of the bottle or the stem of the stopper be touched by the hand or wiped with a cloth. 2nd. From a stream, pond or reservoir. The bottle and stopper should be rinsed with the water, if this can be done without stirring up the sediment' at the bottom. The bottle, with the stopper in place, should then be entirely submerged in the water and the stopper taken out a distance of about 12 inches below the surface. When the bottle is full, the stopper is replaced below the surface, if possible, and finally secured as above. It will be found convenient in taking samples in this way to have the bottle weighted, so that it will sink below the surface. It is important that the sample should be obtained free from the sediment on the bottom of a stream and from the scum on the surface. If a stream should not be deep enough to admit of this method of taking a sample, the water must be dipped up with an absolutely clean vessel and poured into the bottle after it has been rinsed. The sample of water should be collected immediately before shipping by express so that as little time as possible shall intervene between the collection of the sample and its examination. The blank accompanying each bottle should be filled out in full, as it is necessary to know this data before a reliable interpretation of the analysis can be made, and results will be withheld until these conditions have been complied with. Special mailing cases to be sent by mail may be had at the various stations to forward 4 oz. of water to Laboratory. 3-FOOD ANALYSIS. The Laboratory is prepared to analyze foods, liquors, condiments and confectionery for the purpose of determining their purity or the presence of adulteration. These examinations must, however, be in the interest of health, and not for commercial purposes. Samples where possible should be sent in unbroken original packages. TOXICOLOGICAL EXAMINATIONS. (SPECIAL.) The Laboratory is prepared to take up this work. Numerous requests for such examinations are made yearly. The larger number of specimens received from physicians and others not authorized to send such specimens are simply rejected. Toxicological specimens must be sent or ordered to be sent by the Attorney General or the Cornoer and delivered personally and not expressed. Specimens of all the organs are to be submitted. Stomach, 3 or 4 feet of intestines, kidneys, liver, are to be placed separately in new quart Mason jars and properly marked and sealed. Results of such examinations given within 2 to 5 weeks. The supply of mailing cases of the various kinds may be obtained from the following stations, except those marked private, free of charge. No cases are to be delivered, water cases excepted, by the stations to any person but a physician or veterinarian. These cases are the property of the State Board of Health Laboratory and must not be uesd for any other purpose than the transmission of material to the above Laboratory. Edw. J. Elliott, M. D. --W. R. Keys & Co. (Pharmacy) Bridgeville -F. R. Palmer, M. D. Clayton Dagsboro Del. City Delmar Dover Felton Frederica -E. C. West, M. D. -W. W. Ellis, M. D. -Robert Ellegood, M. D. -E. R. Steele, M. D. E. H. Atkinson (Pharmacy) H. C. Taylor (Secretary Board of Health) -J. M. Luff, M. D. -J. B. Derrickson, M. D. W. F. Hoey, M. D. (Private) Georgetown -Marshall & Chipman (Pharmacy) Kenton Kirkwood Laurel Leipsic Lewes Magnolia -P. M. Money, M. D. (Private) -W. E. Cann, M. D. (Private) -W. S. Vaughn, M. D. (Private) -W. P. Orr, M. D. James Beebe, M. D. (Private) Marshallton --Hope Farm (Tuberculosis Cases) Milford Milton Millville Odessa Rehoboth Seaford Selbyville Smyrna Townsend Bragdon & Co. (Pharmacy) H. L. Beale, M. D. -Wm. Marshall, Jr., M. D. J. G. Dawson, M. D. -W. E. Douglas, M. D. (Private) -K. James Hooker, M. D. (Private) -W. R. Messick, M. D. W. F. Haines, M. D. -G. F. Campbell, M. D. (Private) 1 |