MILK. 85 



almost always temporarily increase the activity of the secre- 

 tion, and sometimes produce a certain amount of effect upon 

 the child ; but direct and accurate observations on the actual 

 passage of alcohol into the milk are wanting. During lac- 

 tation the moderate use of drinks containing a small propor- 

 tion of alcohol is frequently beneficial, particularly in assist- 

 ing the mother to sustain the unusual drain upon the system. 

 There are, however, few instances of normal lactation in 

 which their use is absolutely necessary. 



It has been conclusively shown that many medicinal 

 articles administered to the mother pass unchanged into the 

 mammary secretion, and therapeutists have sometimes at- 

 tempted to produce the peculiar effects of certain remedies 

 in this way in the child. This, however, can hardly be 

 called a physiological action ; but it is interesting to note 

 that some articles may be eliminated in the milk, while 

 others pass into other secretions. This elective power we 

 have already seen is possessed by many of the glands. 

 Among the articles that pass readily into the milk may be 

 mentioned, some of the salts of soda, chloride of sodium, the 

 sesquioxide of iron, and the preparations of iodine. Dr. 

 Eees detected iodine in the milk in a patient who had taken 

 but forty-five grains of the iodide of potassium in five-grain 

 doses three times daily. 1 It is generally believed, from the 

 effects upon the child of remedial agents administered to the 

 mother, that very many articles of this class pass into the 

 milk, but in such small quantity that they cannot be de- 

 tected by the ordinary chemical tests. 



It is well known that the secretion of milk may be pro- 

 foundly affected by violent mental emotions. This is the 

 case with many other secretions, as the saliva, and the gastric 

 juice. It is hardly necessary, however, to cite the numerous 

 instances of modification or arrest of the secretion from this 

 cause, which are quoted in many works. Yernois and Bec- 



1 Cyclopaedia, of Anatomy and Physiology, London, 1839-1847, vol. iii., 

 p. 362. 



