MODIFIED MILK 8l 



mann 1 and Walls in this country have shown that, in itself, 

 cows' milk proteid is almost as easily digested by infants 

 as is that of human milk. Czerny and Keller have shown 

 that it is the fat, not the proteid ; that is the main cause of 

 digestive disturbances. 



Since there are so many infants that, for various reasons, 

 are artificially fed, the proper modification of milk to 

 meet their needs is a very delicate and important matter. 

 The milk provided by nature for the infant is usually the 

 best food; hence, in artificial feeding, the aim is to imi- 

 tate this product as closely as possible. It is therefore 

 necessary to have an exact knowledge of the composition 

 and characteristics of human milk. 



Human Milk. The first few days after parturition, 

 colostrum is secreted as in the case of lower animals. This 

 is characterized by a higher proteid and mineral content, 

 and a lower fat and sugar content than the normal milk, 

 and in addition contains numerous colostrum corpuscles, 

 which are four to five times as large as the normal fat 

 globules. 



The composition of human colostrum milk, according to 

 Pfeiffer, is 



Proteid 5 7 1 



Fat 2 . 04 



Sugar 3 . 74 



Salts or minerals 0.25 



Water. 88.23 



Normal Human Milk Compared with Cows' Milk. 



The composition of human milk has not been very 

 thoroughly investigated, but an average of the most recent 

 analyses by some of our best authorities is shown in the 



1 Hygienic Laboratory, Bui. 56. 



