COMPOSITION OF COLOSTRUM. 



377 



accurately described by Donne, under the name of " granular bodies," and supposed to 



be characteristic of the colostrum, always exist in this fluid. These are now known as 



colostrum-corpuscles. They are spherical, varying in size from ^Vo to -gfa of an inch, are 



sometimes pale, but more frequently quite gran- 



ular, and they contain very often a large num- 



ber of fatty particles. They behave in all respects 



like leucocytes and are described by Robin as a 



variety of these bodies. Many of them are pre- 



cisely like the leucocytes found in the blood, 



lymph, or pus. We now know, however, that 



the so-called mucus- corpuscle does not differ 



from the pus-corpuscle or the white corpuscle 



of the blood ; and leucocytes generally, when 



confined in liquids that are not subject to 



movements, are apt to undergo enlargement, 



to become fatty, and, in short, they may pre- 



sent all the different appearances observed in 



the colostrum-corpuscles. In addition to these 



corpuscular elements, a small quantity of muco- 



sine may frequently be observed in the colos- Fl 



J 

 trum on microscopical examination. 



On the addition of ether to a specimen of 



Colostrum under the microscope, most of the 

 .. , , ,, ., , . , .,, ,, 



fatty particles, both within and without the 



colostrum-corpuscles, are dissolved. Ammonia 



added to the fluid renders it stringy, and sometimes the entire mass assumes a gelati- 



nous consistence. 



In its proximate composition, colostrum presents many points of difference from 

 true milk. It is sweeter to the taste and contains a greater proportion of sugar and 

 of the inorganic salts. The proportion of fat is at least equal to the proportion in the 

 milk and is generally greater. Instead of caseine, pure colostrum contains a large 

 proportion of albumen ; and, as the character of the secretion changes in the process of 

 lactation, the albumen becomes gradually reduced in quantity and caseine takes its place. 



The following, deduced from the analyses of Clemm, may be taken as the ordinary 

 composition of colostrum of the human female : 



Colostrum, from a healthy lying-in wo- 

 man, twelve hours after delivery. (Funke.) 

 The smaller globules are globules of milk ; the larger 



lostrum-corpuscles gradually disappear, and the 

 milk-globules become more numerous, smaller, 



and more uniform in size. 



Composition of Colostrum. 



Water 945-24 



Albumen, and salts insoluble in alcohol 29'81 



Butter . 7-07 



Sugar of milk, extractive matter, and salts soluble in alcohol 17'2Y 



Loss 0-61 



1,000-00 



Colostrum ordinarily decomposes much more readily than milk and takes on putre- 

 factive changes very rapidly. If it be allowed to stand for from twelve to twenty-four 

 hours, it separates into a thick, opaque, yellowish cream and a serous fluid. In an 

 observation by Sir Astley Cooper, nine measures of colostrum, taken soon after partu- 

 rition, after twenty-four hours of repose, gave six parts of cream to three of milk. 



The peculiar constitution of the colostrum, particularly the presence of an excess of 

 sugar and inorganic salts, renders it somewhat laxative in its effects, and it is supposed 

 to be useful, during the first few days after delivery, in assisting to relieve the infant of 



the accumulation of meconium. 



V 



