MILK FOR BABES. 495 



Clinical results point to barley water as the best diluent, as it 

 produces the finest curd. As a result of Dr. Chapin's study and 

 experiments made by Dr. Arnold Eiloart, a receipt lias been de- 

 vised by which a mixture of barley or wheat flour is treated with 

 maltine, the effect of malt upon milk being to favor its digestion 

 and assimilation. Dr. Judson C. Smith, who is a district visitor 

 for the hospital mentioned, says he has used the extract of malt 

 to peptonize milk for about a year, both for infants and adults, 

 with very satisfactory results. His method has the advantage of 

 simplicity. One tablespoonful of malt is added to a pint of milk, 

 which is heated from twenty to thirty minutes and then brought 

 to the boiling point, which practically Pasteurizes the milk. It is 

 to be diluted for administration according to the age of the infant. 

 Top milk should be used with the proportion of cream sufficient 

 to give at least four per cent after dilution; thus, twelve per 

 cent of cream would be required to allow for two parts of water 

 to one of milk, which is the dilution advised by Dr. L. Emmett 

 Holt in order to reduce the proteids to their normal proportion. 

 By careful experiment he has found that one quart of ordinary 

 cow's milk, allowed to stand for six hours in a common fruit or 

 milk jar, will give about five ounces of top milk of this strength. 



The underlying truth of all the past and present agitation 

 concerning the purity of the milk supply and the artificial feeding 

 of infants is that both have been sadly neglected for many years, 

 with the pitiful result of a vast amount of suffering and many 

 useless deaths of children from one to five years of age, especially 

 during the hot summer months, when it is so difficult not only to 

 secure but also to protect the milk upon which these little ones 

 depend. Comparatively few people stop to consider how quickly 

 dangerous changes take place in this important article of food 

 and how readily it becomes contaminated by absorption of various 

 volatile substances. This is particularly true of those who have 

 the immediate charge of milk. It is appalling to any one under- 

 standing the subject and its bearings to see the carelessness that 

 is frequently displayed by the milkmen, maids, and nurses, all of 

 whom play so important a part in infant dietetics. Is it any 

 wonder that philanthropists, scientists, and physicians have com- 

 bined in solicitous effort to wake up mothers to the crying need 

 for a pure supply of milk and for its proper administration to 

 save helpless and suffering infants ? The subject is of infinite 

 importance, and should be kept constantly to the front. The 

 truths concerning it should be iterated and reiterated until satis- 

 factory evidence has been given that persistence in a cause like 

 this has been of some avail in changing existing conditions that 

 are a reproach to our peoi)le and a menace to our health as a nation. 



