MILK. 87 



Cooper, as the result of direct observation, states that the 

 quantity that can be drawn from a full breast is usually about 

 two fluidounces. 1 This may be assumed to be about the 

 quantity contained in the lactiferous ducts when they are mod- 

 erately distended. Lehmann, taking for the basis of his cal- 

 culations the observations of Lamperierre, 2 who found, as 

 the result of sixty-seven experiments, that from fifty to sixty 

 grammes of milk were secreted in two hours, estimates that 

 the average quantity discharged in twenty-four hours is 

 1,320 grammes, or about 44*5 fluidounces. 3 Robin estimates 

 that the daily quantity is from thirty-four to one hundred 

 fluidounces ; 4 but he does not give the data from which 

 this estimate is formed. Taking into consideration the evi- 

 dent variations in the quantity of milk secreted by different 

 women, it may be assumed that the daily production is from 

 two to six pints. 



Certain conditions of the female are capable of ma- 

 terially influencing the quantity of milk secreted. It is 

 evident that the secretion is usually somewhat increased 

 within the first few months of lactation, when the progressive 

 development of the child demands an increase in the quan- 

 tity of nourishment. If the menstrual function become re- 

 established during lactation, the milk is usually diminished 

 in quantity during the periods, but sometimes it is not af- 

 fected, either in its quantity or composition. Should the 

 female become pregnant, there is generally a great diminu- 

 tion in the quantity of milk, and that which is secreted is 

 ordinarily regarded as possessing little nutritive power. In 

 obedience to a popular prejudice, apparently well-founded, 

 the child is usually taken from the breast as soon as preg- 

 nancy is recognized. All of these conditions have been 



1 COOPER, TJie Anatomy and Diseases of the Breast^ Philadelphia, 1845, p. 93. 



2 LAMPERIERRE, Des moyens d reconnaitre la quantite et la qualite de la secre- 

 tion lactee chez la fenime. Comptes rendus, Paris, 1850, tome xxx., p. 174. 



3 LEHMAXX, Physiological Chemistry, Philadelphia, 1855, vol. ii., p. 63. 



4 ROBIN, Lecons sur les humeurs, Paris, 1867, p. 402. 



