106 SECRETION. 



granules, which are first formed by the cells lining the se- 

 creting vesicles, indicates the probable activity in the secre- 

 tion of milk after lactation has become fully established. 



The secretion of the mammary glands preserves the char- 

 acters of colostrum until toward the end of the milk-fever, 

 when the colostrum-corpuscles rapidly disappear, and the 

 milk-globules become more numerous, regular, and uniform 

 in size. It may be stated in general terms that the secretion 

 of milk becomes fully established and all the characters of 

 the colostrum disappear from the eighth to the tenth 

 day after delivery. A few colostrum-corpuscles and masses 

 of agglutinated milk-globules may sometimes be discovered 

 after the tenth day, but they are very rare ; and after the fif- 

 teenth day the milk does not sensibly change in its micro- 

 scopical or its chpmical characters. 



Lacteal Secretion in the Newly-Born. 



It is a curious fact that in infants of both sexes there is 

 generally a certain amount of secretion from the mammary 

 glands, commencing at birth, or from two to three days after, 

 and continuing sometimes for two or three weeks. The 

 quantity of fluid that may be pressed out at the nipples at 

 this time is very variable. Sometimes only a few drops 

 can be obtained, but occasionally the fluid amounts to one 

 or two drachms. Although it is impossible to indicate the 

 object of this secretion, which takes place when the glands 

 are in a rudimentary condition, it has been so often observed 

 and described by physiologists that there can be no doubt 

 with regard to the nature of the fluid, and the fact that the 

 secretion is almost always produced in greater or less quan- 

 tity. 



The latest researches upon this subject are those of Gub- 

 ler and Quevenne, who have given a tolerably complete 

 analysis of the fluid. The fact of the almost constant oc- 

 currence of the secretion was fully established, in 1853, by 



