COLOSTRUM OF ANIMALS. 61 



OF THE MILK OF ANIMALS. 



Colostrum of animals. 



In the colostrum of the cow Chevallier and Henri found : 

 water, 803-8 ; casein, 170-7 ; and butter, 26-0. They describe it 

 as a dark yellow, thick, viscid fluid, sometimes marked with fine 

 streaks of blood; it has an alkaline reaction, contains little 

 butter, (as shown by the analysis,) coagulates on heating, and 

 in all probability contains a mixture of albumen and casein, in 

 the same manner as I observed in the mammary secretion of 

 the ass a short time before delivery. 



Boussingault and Le Bel 1 found in the colostrum of a cow 

 the day after calving : water, 784-0 ; casein with albumen, 151-0; 

 butter, 26-0 ; sugar, 36-0 ; and earthy salts, 3*0. (I shall pre- 

 sently describe a specimen of cow's milk resembling colostrum, 

 which was analysed by me.) 



In the colostrum of the ass Chevallier and Henri found : 

 water, 828*4; casein, 123-0; butter, 5*6; and sugar, 43'0; 

 and in the colostrum of the goat: water, 641*0; casein, 275*0; 

 butter, 52-0 ; and sugar, 32'0. 



The 170-7 parts of casein found by Chevallier and Henri 

 in the colostrum of the cow, consisted of 150-7 of a substance 

 coagulable at a boiling heat, which they termed colostrum-casein, 

 and of 20 of a substance remaining in the whey, to which they 

 applied the name of matiere muqueuse. 



The 123 parts of casein in the colostrum of the ass con- 

 sisted of 116 of the former, and 7 of the latter substance; and 

 in the colostrum of the goat they were in the proportion of 

 245 : 30. These numbers approximate very closely to the pro- 

 portional amount of casein and albumen in asses' milk, pre- 

 viously to delivery. (See page 48.) 



1. Cow's milk. 



Cow's milk is a rich white fluid of an agreeable, somewhat 

 sweetish taste, and of a peculiar odour ; when allowed to stand, 



1 Anal, de Chim. et de Phys. May 1839. 



