COLOSTRUM. 105 



arates into a thick, opaque, yellowish cream and a serous 

 fluid. In an observation by Sir Astley Cooper, nine meas- 

 ures of colostrum, taken soon after parturition, after twenty- 

 four hours of repose, gave six parts of cream to three of 

 milk. 1 



The peculiar constitution of the colostrum, particularly 

 the presence of an excess of sugar and inorganic salts, 

 renders it somewhat laxative in its effects, and it is supposed 

 to be useful, during the first few days after delivery, in as- 

 sisting to relieve the infant of the accumulation of meconium- 



As the quantity of colostrum that may be pressed from 

 the mammary glands during the latter periods of utero- 

 gestation, particularly the last month, is very variable, it 

 becomes an interesting and important question to determine 

 whether this secretion have any relation to* the quantity of 

 milk that may be expected after delivery. This has been 

 made the subject of careful study by Donne, who arrived at 

 the following important conclusions : 



In women in whom the secretion of colostrum is almost 

 absent, the fluid being in exceedingly small quantity, viscid, 

 and containing hardly any corpuscular elements, there is 

 hardly any milk produced after delivery. 



In women who, before delivery, present a moderate quan- 

 tity of colostrum, containing very few milk-globules and a 

 number of colostrum-corpuscles, after delivery the milk will 

 be scanty or it may be abundant, but it is always of poor 

 quality. 



But when the quantity of colostrum produced is con- 

 siderable, the secretion being quite fluid and rich in corpus- 

 cular elements, particularly milk-globules, the milk after 

 delivery is always abundant and of good quality. 3 



From these observations it would seem that the produc- 

 tion of colostrum is an indication of the proper development 

 of the mammary glands ; and the early production of fatty 



1 COOPER, The Anatomy and Diseases of the Breast, Philadelphia, 1845, p. 85. 

 DONNE, op. cit., p. 407, et seq. 



