COLOSTRUM 303 



Colostrum ordinarily decomposes more readily than milk and rapidly 

 takes on putrefactive changes. If allowed to stand for twelve to twenty- 

 four hours, it separates into a thick, opaque, yellowish cream and a 

 serous liquid. In an observation by Astley Cooper, nine measures of 

 colostrum, taken soon after parturition, after twenty-four hours of 

 repose, gave six parts of cream to three of milk. 



The peculiar constitution of colostrum, particularly the presence of 

 an excess of sugar and inorganic salts, renders it somewhat laxative in 

 its . effects, and it is supposed to be useful, during the first few days 

 after delivery, in assisting to relieve the infant of the accumulation of 

 meconium. 



As the quantity of colostrum that may be pressed from the mam- 

 mary glands during the later periods of utero-gestation, particularly 

 the last month, is variable, it becomes an important question to deter- 

 mine whether this secretion has any relation to the quantity of milk 

 that may be expected after delivery. This question has been studied 

 by Donne, who arrived at the following conclusions : 



In women in whom the secretion of colostrum is almost absent, the 

 liquid being in exceedingly small quantity, viscid, and containing hardly 

 any corpuscular elements, there is hardly any milk produced after 

 delivery. 



In women who, before delivery, present a moderate quantity of 

 colostrum, containing very few milk-globules and a number of colos- 

 trum-corpuscles, after delivery the milk will be scanty or it may be 

 abundant, but it is always of poor quality. 



When the quantity of colostrum produced is considerable, the secre- 

 tion being quite fluid and rich in corpuscular elements, particularly 

 milk-globules, the milk after delivery is always abundant and of good 

 quality. 



From this, it would seem that the production of colostrum is an 

 indication of the proper development of the mammary glands ; and the 

 early production of fatty granules, which are first formed by the cells 

 lining the secreting vesicles, indicates the probable activity in the secre- 

 tion of milk after lactation shall have become fully established. 



The secretion of the mammary glands preserves the characters of 

 colostrum until toward the end of the so-called milk-fever, when the 

 colostrum-corpuscles rapidly diminish in number, and the milk-globules 

 become more abundant, regular and uniform in size. It may be stated 

 in general terms that the secretion of milk becomes fully established 

 and all the characters of the colostrum disappear between the eighth 

 and tenth days after delivery. A few colostrum-corpuscles and masses 

 of agglutinated milk-globules may sometimes be discovered after the 



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