606 USES OF MILK IN THE ECONOirlV )F NATURE. 



But when the young animal is b(5rn it breathes for itself. It must, 

 therefore, be supplied with that kind of food which seems specially in-, 

 tended to meet the wants of respiration. 



The additional starch eaten by the mother, therefore, instead of being 

 breathed away in her own lungs, is conveyed in the form of sugar into 

 the food of the young animal. It is changed into the sugar of the milk, 

 and the natural function of this sugar is to supply the carbon which the 

 young animal gives off wHen it begins to breathe for itself. 



It is not difficult to understand the kind of process by which the 

 starch of the mother's food is converted into the sugar of her milk. If to 



2 of starch = 24C + 20H + 20O, 

 we add 4 of water = 4H + 40, 



we have 54C + 24H + 240, which is the formula for 



milk sugar. In passing through the digestive organs of the cow, there- 

 fore, the elements of the 2 of starch require only to be combined with 

 those of 4 of water to be converted into the sugar of milk. 



But though it is not difficult to understand in what way this change 

 may be effected, yet it is exceedingly interesting to lind that such a 

 chemical change as this should be made to commence at a certain special 

 epoch with a view to a certain special end. 



Milk is a perfect food for a growing animal, containing the curd which 

 is to form the muscles, the butter which is to supply the fat, the phos- 

 phates which are to build up the bones, and the sugar which is to leed 

 the respiration. Nothing is wanting in it. The mother selects all the 

 ingredients of this perfect food from among the useless substances which 

 are mingled in her own stomach with the food she eats — she changes 

 these ingredients chemically in such a degree as to present them to the 

 young animal in a state in which it can most easily and with least laboui 

 employ them for sustaining its body — and all this she begins lo do at a 

 given and appointed moment of time. How beautiful, how wonderful, 

 how kindly provident is all this ! 



But apart from its natural use in the economy of nature, milk may be 

 regarded as an article of manufacture — an important article of agricul- 

 tural husbandry. As a mere producer of milk for other purposes than 

 the feeding of calves, the cow will be differently fed according to the pur- 

 pose for which her milk is intended ta be employed, or the form in which 

 it is to be carried to market. 



a. The town dairyman, who sells his new milk to daily customers, 

 requires quantity rather than quality. He gives his cattle, therefore, 

 succulent food in which water abounds — green grass — forced rapidly for- 

 ward by irrigation or otherwise — green clover, young rye, brewers* 

 grains, or hay tea.* In this way, without the actual addition of water, 

 he can make his milk thin, and increase its bulk. 



b. Those, again, who desire much rich cream, or who grow milk for 



* A mixed hay tea and pease soup, which is excellent for making cows give milk, is pre- 

 pared by putting hay into a pot in alternate layers, sprinkling between each a handful of 

 pease-meal, adding water and bringing to a boil. 



