376 



LECTURE XVI. 



mother. Of iron it takes up 0.294 gram (0.42 gram Fe 2 O 3 ). Here 

 again the greater part is taken up during the latter part of the period of 

 pregnancy. This gives one the impression that the foetus is probably 

 provided with reserves in order to fit it for all contingencies which may 

 arise with regard to its nourishment after the birth. 



After its birth the child still receives nourishment at the expense of the 

 mother. Milk now affords the vehicle for the transference of material. 

 An idea of the amounts of material which the mother has to furnish the 

 child is shown by the following figures: A male nursling takes about 

 one liter of milk per day at the age of six months. This contains the 

 following amounts of separate constituents: 1 Water 875.8 grams, casein 

 8.0 grams, albumin 12.1 grams, fat 37.4 grams, milk-sugar 63.7 grams, 

 ash 3.0 grams. The ash is composed of 1.08 grams potash, 0.28 gram 

 soda, 0.50 gram lime, 0.07 gram magnesia, 0.007 gram ferric oxide, 

 0.66 gram phosphoric acid, 0.53 gram chlorine. 



This increased output is naturally felt by the organism of the mother, 

 and it must be taken into account in the choice of her food. Here again 

 it would be altogether wrong, as regards the nourishing of the nursling, to 

 regulate the diet of the mother with regard to the calorific value of the 

 food. It is the chemical composition of the food which is of utmost 

 importance, for the milk must provide the infant not only with combust- 

 ible matter, but above all with building material for its cells. Although 

 the organism of the child can probably utilize carbohydrates for the pro- 

 duction of fat, and can perhaps form sugar from albumin, it is impossible 

 to effect such transformations in the case of inorganic salts. Even the 

 assumption that the place of one salt may be taken by another one which 



1 Averages from 173 analyses. See J. Koenig: Die menschlicher Nahrungs-und 

 Gemissmittel, Berlin, 1904. 



