428 LIQUID PARTS OF ANIMALS. 



having a slight but peculiar smell, and an agreeable sweetish 

 taste. It slightly reddens vegetable blues. Its boiling and 

 freezing points are nearly the same as those of water ; yet they 

 vary a few degrees in the milk of different animals.* Its speci- 

 fic gravity is greater than that of water and less than that of 

 blood ; but it varies so much even hi the milk from the same 

 animal, that it is impossible to give a correct mean. Brissonf 

 states the specific gravity of various milks as follows : 

 Woman's milk, , . 1-0203J 

 Mare's milk, . . . 1-0346 



Ass's milk, . \ \;- 1 1-0355 

 Goat's milk, . * . 1*0341 



Sheep's milk, v . 1-0409 



Cow's milk, . , r : . 1-0324 

 Clarified whey of cow's milk, 1-0193 



Lassaigne examined the specific gravity of the milk at various 

 distances before and after parturition, and states the results as 

 follows : 



42 days before parturition, ". 1-063 



32, *t$ H '.;'-: 1-062 



21, . s > . intfo . 1-064 



11, K*. . *'^ 1-040 



Just after p arturition, ' ; >< 1 -039 



4 days after, - . - . . 1-035 



6, ' v . . 1-033 



20, I 1 .'./! *$M 'V 1*040 



21, -V-> -J- ' . 1-037 

 30, . 3 . . 10-38 



The temperature at which these specific gravities were taken was 

 usually about 46. The cow during the whole time was fed up- 

 on the same kind of food, namely, beet-root, hay, and straw. 

 We see that the specific gravity of the milk before parturition 

 is higher than after it. These specific gravities are all higher 

 than cow's milk, according to the statement of Brisson. 



The first milk, or the milk which is given by the animal just 

 after parturition, is called colostrum. In Scotland it goes by the 



* Jour, de Phys. xxxvii. 362. 



f Lavoisier's Traite Elementaire de Chimie, ii. 587. 



J Henri and Chevalier say that it varies from 1 -020 to 1 -025. See Jour, 

 de Pharm. xxv. 403. 



