1002 The Cornell Reading-Courses 



to find something which will " agree " with the baby. Sometimes we hear 

 of a successful result, but the failures are sadly marked. This is not the 

 time to rely on the word of those having a commercial interest in selling 

 a particular patent food. Now, only expert advice and the word of those 

 physicians and scientists who have spent a lifetime in exploring this field 

 should be considered. What is the opinion as expressed practically 

 unanimously by these persons? That the food which gives the best results 

 when babies must be fed artificially is the milk of some other animal. 



Whatever the source, milk is a natural building material for such 

 tissues as the baby's. When the mother's milk fails, or is not available, 

 an intelligent effort should first be made to use the milk of some other 

 animal. Undoubtedly there are serious difficulties to interfere in the use 

 of cow's milk as a substitute for the baby's natural supply, but an under- 

 standing of these difficulties will enable us in most cases to overcome them. 

 We must remember that the difficulties in using foods other than milk 

 are greater than those in using milk. 



Nature has adapted the milk of each animal to meet the particular 

 needs of its young. The new-born calf is a relatively strong and well- 

 developed animal. Its muscles are comparatively vigorous and its powers 

 of digestion are fairly active. In a very few hours it must lead a semi- 

 independent existence and in a very few weeks it must shift for itself. 

 Cow's milk is a strong food that stimulates and develops but does not 

 overtax the digestive powers of the sturdy calf. 



But the new-born baby is more frail and helpless. Its muscles are 

 weaker, its powers of digestion relatively feebler, its period of dependence 

 longer. Human milk is a weak food, requiring comparatively little effort 

 to digest, and it is perfectly suited under normal conditions to the lagging 

 activities of the baby. 



In using cow's milk to feed the baby, a part of the problem, therefore, 

 is to adapt the food of a naturally vigorous animal to a naturally less 

 vigorous one. To accomplish this, cow's milk must be modified or changed 

 to make it more like human milk. Milk thus treated is known as modified 

 milk, and it has become an important factor in the artificial feeding of 

 infants. 



clean milk 



A very important factor in suiting cow's milk to the baby's needs is 

 the question of cleanliness. Mother's milk is delivered directly from 

 the " producer to the consumer." There is little time or opportunity 

 for it to become contaminated in passing from the mother to the child. 

 Cow's milk, on the other hand, is frequently produced under very 

 unclean conditions and is liable to careless and dirty handling before it 

 reaches the baby. Hours or even days may elapse before it is used as a 



