BREAST-FEEDING 155 



the total amount of milk given at different intervals by a nursing 

 mother. The amount of milk given was ascertained partly by 

 mechanical removal and partly by weighing the infant before and 

 after suckling, by which method the amount taken by the infant 

 is given. The figures thus obtained were added and showed the 

 total amount given at each occasion. The diagram below has been 

 prepared to show these points, and is taken from Helbich's figures. 



DIAGRAM 6. Showing the effect of the intervals of feeding on the amount of 

 milk obtained after each interval. 



Each column shows the total amount of milk given each day. The divisions 

 in each column show the amounts given at each occasion when the gland 

 was emptied. 



With five periods of suckling in the twenty-four hours, i.e. four 

 hours in the daytime and eight hours at night, the amount given 

 in the morning greatly exceeded the others. When, however, 

 the intervals were made equal, that is eight hourly, the amounts 

 of milk given on each occasion became approximately equal. 



On the fifth day of the experiment the procedure was altered 

 and the milk was withdrawn three times a day at eight-hourly 

 intervals, namely, at 5.30 A.M., 1.30 P.M., and 9.30 P.M. The result 

 was three large, almost equal, amounts of milk, the total of which 

 equalled the quantity obtained daily under the former conditions. 



It is interesting to note that while the secretion was well main- 

 tained for six and a half months when the removal of milk was 

 made five times in the day, it began to fall off slightly after three 



