68 THE SECRETIONS: 



The great increase of the soluble salts, especially of the free 

 alkali, the presence of albumen, and the almost total absence 

 of sugar, are the points most worthy of notice in the morbid 

 specimen. 



Herberger 1 has analysed the milk of cows suffering from the 

 grease, and found it materially affected. In the first stage of 

 the disease he found that the milk only coagulated imperfectly 

 on the addition of rennet, in consequence of the increased 

 quantity of alkaline salts ; moreover (and probably for the same 

 reason) the fat-vesiclesw ere not distinct, as they usually are, but 

 merged into each other. In the second stage, only a few fat- 

 vesicles were observable, the coagulation by rennet was very 

 imperfect, and the milk, which was thick and viscid, had an 

 unpleasant putrid smell and taste. In both stages the sugar 

 and casein were below their normal proportions, but the amount 

 of salts was increased; the presence of carbonate of ammonia 

 (an ingredient never before observed in the milk) was detected. 

 His analyses gave the following results : 



In the first stage. In the second stage. Healthy milk. 



1. 2. 1. 2. 



Water . . 869-0 872-4 874-1 879-3 857-5 



Solid constituents 131-0 127'6 125-4 120-7 142-5 



Fat . . 39-0 38-5 38-2 37'9 38-2 



Casein . . 52-4 51-0 50'0 49'0 68-4 



Sugar . . 22-8 21-0 21-0 19-0 28-8 



Fixed salts . 16-8 17-1 16-6 13-9 7'1 



Specific gravity 1033-6 1033-0 1033-1 1029-1 1033-7 



The most striking changes in the diseased milk are the dimi- 

 nution of the solid constituents, especially of the casein and 

 sugar, and the extraordinary increase of the salts. Hence the 

 modifications of the fluid in this instance closely resemble those 

 in my analyses in the preceding page. 



Donne found that the milk of the cow during " la maladie 

 aphtheuse," resembled colostrum. It was less fluid and homo- 

 geneous in its mixture than ordinary milk ; it became viscid on 

 the addition of ammonia, and, besides the ordinary milk-cor- 

 puscles, the microscope revealed mucus-granules and tubercular 

 (mulberry-form) corpuscles. 



1 Pharm. Centralblat. Jahrg. 1840, p. 138. 



