DR. ERIC PRITCHARD'S PAPER 311 



classed together. As far as infant feeding is con- 

 cerned, one variety of milk may be quite suitable in 

 certain cases though quite unsuitable in others, so 

 that different milks cannot be interchanged without 

 incurring risks. For instance, delicate babies with 

 enfeebled powers of digestion may thrive well on 

 milk No. i, and fare extremely badly when given 

 milk No. 3. While strong and vigorous infants, in 

 my experience, flourish better on milk No. 3 than on 

 milk No. i, 1 invariably make an effort to develop 

 the functions of digestion up to a point at which there 

 is tolerance of the less digestible variety. This I 

 generally succeed in accomplishing by a gradual 

 substitution of milk No. 3 for milk No. i, or perhaps 

 more satisfactorily after first feeding the infant on 

 dried whey, also prepared by the Bevenot-de-Neveu 

 process and similar in all respects to freshly prepared 

 whey by gradually introducing the dried milk into 

 the whey solution. 



Dried milks prepared by any of the above- 

 mentioned processes are usually supplied in three 

 qualities, which differ considerably in price: (i) Full 

 cream ; (2) half cream ; (3) separated milk. Some 

 manufacturers supply yet a fourth variety, which is 

 modified to a standard which is supposed to be suit- 

 able for the feeding of infants. Although it is well 

 within the range of possibility to desiccate milk which 

 has been previously modified to the human or any 

 other required standard, no milk fulfilling the required 

 conditions of infant feeding has, up to the present, 

 come under my notice. 



From the point of view of purity and freedom 

 from bacterial contamination, desiccated milk is 

 superior to ordinary dairy milk. In the first' place, a 

 good dried milk can only be prepared from an initially 

 good raw milk. In the second place, after the mills: 

 has once been packed in hermetically sealed tins it is 

 liable to no subsequent contamination. Dairy milk, 



