194 THE dairyman's manual. 



tioD. After the first calf, a considerable falling off in 

 the milk, and a stoppage of the secretion, accompany the 

 beginning of this period with some cows, but with others 

 the milk flow continues for a much longer time. The 

 character of the milk, however, changes considerably, 

 and the salts in it are much increased in quantity, so 

 much so as to considerably affect its taste. 



^Vheh the calf is born a sudden change occurs in the 

 milk glands. Tiiey become hard and tense, and very 

 sensitive from the large accession of blood which they re- 

 ceive. The formation of cell matter is now at its maxi- 

 mum,- and a sudden breaking down of it into a strongly 

 albuminous fluid containinga large quantity of salts takes 

 place. With some cows this is accompanied by a serious 

 disturbance of the nervous system and active febrile con- 

 ditions, which produce the generally fatal disorder known 

 as milk fever. This disturbance approaches its maxi- 

 mum during the change which is occurring in the char- 

 acter of this first milk, or, as it is called, ^'colostrum," 

 and which lasts about four days. In fatal cases death 

 occurs on the third or fourth dav after calvinof. 



The colostrum is a viscid, yellowish, sweetish fluid, 

 disagreeable to the taste, and of greater density than ordi- 

 nary milk, having a specific gravity 1.063. It coagulates 

 on heating, and on this account is often 

 it^ ®T> ^^^^^ ^^ England for making custards, 

 ^j^ which need no eggs and are extremely 



^ ^ firm and of a hio^h vellow color, inclinino^ 



^" * to a reddish tinge. Butter made from it 



is a deep reddish orange color and soft, and soon becomes 

 rancid. The fat globules of colostrum are smaller than 

 those in ordinary milk and are fewer in number ; but 

 there are large numbers of disc-shaped corpuscles (figure 

 22, a, a) generally agglomerated in masses in a tenacious 

 viscid matter, some having nuclei (figure 22, J), and 

 among these are to be observed many peculiar bodies 



