12 PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF MILK HYGIENE 



Eugling, is as follows: Casein 2.65 per cent., albumin 

 and globulin 16.55 per cent., sugar 3 per cent., extrac- 

 tives 3.54 per cent., ash 1.18 per cent., and water 73.07 

 per cent. The high content of albumin and globulin is 

 due to the presence of the colostrum bodies and nume- 

 rous other cells. The sugar is not lactose, as in milk, 

 but glucose, or perhaps a mixture of glucose and galac- 

 tose (Tereg). Of the extractives, about 78.2 per cent. 

 is fat, 13.8 per cent, cholesterin, and 8 per cent, leci- 

 thin. The fat differs from that of milk and is apparently 

 similar to the fat of the tissues. The mineral salts are 

 rich in magnesia, to which is attributed the laxative ef- 

 fect of colostrum. 



The reaction is acid to litmus. For two to four days 

 after parturition the secretion coagulates when boiled 

 (see boiling test), on account of the large quantity of 

 albumin and globulin present, while it curdles for four 

 to twelve days after parturition when mixed with an 

 equal volume of 68 per -cent, alcohol (see alcohol test). 



Microscopic Appearance. Viewed under the micro- 

 scope, colostrum is seen to contain free fat globules, 

 which are not uniform in size like those seen in milk; 

 colostrum bodies or corpuscles, which are comparatively 

 large, round or mulberry-shaped masses, containing fat 

 globules ; leucocytes, some of which contain fat globules, 

 and, in fresh colostrum, show amoeboid movement; and 

 epithelial cells, which are more or less disintegrated. The 

 colostrum bodies are cells which contain large masses of 

 fat globules within their protoplasm, but opinions differ 

 as to whether they are leucocytes or epithelial cells. 



Ferments or Enzymes. Catalase and diastase are 

 present in colostrum in greater amount than in milk, but 

 at the end of the first week after parturition they are 



