150 MILK AND ITS HYGIENIC RELATIONS 



while the midwife was in attendance, but I am sorry to say in 

 many instances this has been given up for the bottle when the 

 midwife has ceased her visits.' 1 



And the Medical Officer of Health for St. Helens says : 



' A high percentage (97 per cent.) of infants were breast-fed 

 at the time of the first visit, but there is reason to believe that this 

 is discontinued within a short period.' * 



These instances might be multiplied many times, but enough 

 evidence has probably been brought forward to show that the 

 capacity for lactation may still be regarded as universally present 

 in the female of the human species. 



2. The Period of Lactation. It is frequently stated that, 

 although lactation may be established, it is not possible to main- 

 tain it for the necessary period. This statement has led many 

 persons to the belief that the capacity for sustained lactation 

 is decreasing among women. 



It may be at once admitted that on the surface there appears 

 to be some truth in this statement. Inquiry and investigation 

 show, however, that where due regard is paid to the requirements 

 of the gland the difficulties are apparent rather than real, and 

 can in almost all cases be removed. 



The knowledge which has been obtained as to the functions 

 of the human mammary gland has come almost entirely from 

 countries outside our own. The chief cause of this is probably 

 to be found in the more common use of wet-nurses in foreign 

 countries, especially in institutions for sick children. 



It is curious that in considering this matter so little attention 

 has been paid to the method of action of the mammary glands of 

 lower animals, more especially to that of the humble cow. There 

 has, however, been no lack of readiness to rely upon the organ 

 of this animal instead of attempting to ascertain why it was, 

 that the gland of the cow continued to give milk and that 

 of the human species did not do so. The functions of the 

 various organs are fundamentally similar throughout the animal 

 kingdom, and knowledge gained as to the functions of an 

 organ in one species can frequently be applied to that of the 

 human species. 



It is a matter of common knowledge to the dairy farmer, that 

 unless the udder be emptied at each milking, and unless the milkings 

 take place at sufficiently frequent intervals, the cow will no longer 

 give her full quantity of milk, and will in fact soon cease to give 

 milk altogether. 



The growth of the movement for ' clean milk ' in America 

 led to the introduction of the milking machine for cows. It was 

 found at first that the machine did not empty the udder and that 

 the cows ceased to give milk much sooner than would have been the 



1 R.A., Co. M.O.H., 1912, pp. 48, 49. 2 A.R., 1914, p. 418. 



