(TTNIVERSITYJ 

 ^-^CALI F o R N i ^^ 



xi] MILK AS A FOOD 171 



nature. We saw that among the changes which took 

 place was the coagulation of the albumin, which 

 forms a skin on the surface of the milk. Now, while 

 such a change would not affect the ultimate digesti- 

 bility of the albumin, it would no doubt retard it. This 

 doubtless accounts for the fact that, as the above table 

 shows, milk in the uncooked state is more speedily 

 digested than in the boiled condition, as indeed is 

 seen to be the case with the other foods cited. The 

 difference, however, is slight. Again, what may 

 strike the reader as, at first sight, singular, is that 

 sour milk is more speedily digested than either fresh 

 or boiled milk. This is probably due to the fact that 

 the lactic acid generated in the souring process helps 

 the gastric juices in the stomach in their solvent 

 action on the different nutrients. 



Suitability of Milk as a Food. If it be asked 

 whether milk contains the different food nutrients in 

 the best possible proportions for sustaining animal 

 life, we may safely answer that it does, so far as 

 children are concerned. Certain foods we know are 

 better adapted for the digestive organs of children 

 than adults, and this is the case with milk. Again, 

 it has been found that the composition of the mineral 

 constituents of milk is very similar to the composition 

 of the mineral matter in the body of the sucking 

 animal, with slight exceptions. In one respect there 

 is a strange anomaly, and this is that the percentage 



