Vol. XXIII. No. 6.] 



POPULAR SCIETTCE InTEWS. 



95 



Goat's milk, because of its richness in fat, disa- 

 grees with many, occasioning nausea and vomiting. 

 Its disagreeable odor is also objectionable, and 

 infants do not thrive under its use. Mare's and 

 ass's milk contain less nitrogenous matter and fat, 

 and more sugar than cow's milk, — that of the ass 

 being verv sweet and easy of digestion, although it 

 sometimes causes diarrhrea if taken alone. When 

 milk is boiled, a thin scum of albumen appears upon 

 the surliice, which, when removed, is quickiy re- 

 placed by another. Boiling expels about three per 

 cent, of gases, and the loss, of oxygen diminishes 

 the formation of lactic acid, and consequent souring. 

 It somewhat affects the taste of the milk, and its 

 use for any length of time produces constipation. 



Should raw milk be given to infants.' 



This question has given rise to much discussion, 

 and high authorities sharply differ upon the matter. 

 We certainly know that, in many cases, pure milk 

 does no harm, and that children thrive upon its 

 constant use. Boiling the milk arrests the develop- 

 ment of germs and fungi, with which it may have 

 been contaminated, and thus it may prevent the 

 occurrence of certain diseases; and the process of 

 souring and coagulation is certainly retarded by 

 boiling. 



The quality of milk depends largely upon the 

 breed and proper care of the cows. Much neglect 

 in this direction is common among the producers of 

 milk. There should be absolute cleanliness in 

 handling everything belonging to the care of the 

 herd, as well as in the process of milking and the 

 use of the vessels for receiving the lacteal fluid. 

 Sometimes the milk is put at once into glass bottles, 

 tightly corked. The pails and cans should be care- 

 fully washed, and often iiisureil Irom germ-poi.soning 

 by scalding with boiling water. In large establish- 

 ments, there should be an inspection of the sanitary 

 surroundings, either by a physician or by an expert 

 in hygienic science. The condition of the yards 

 and stables should be thoroughly inspected, and 

 care should be taken that the animals are not fed 

 upon swill and garbage, and that certain kinds of 

 food should be avoided, especially such substances 

 as will give to the milk a disagreeable odor, like 

 garlic, cabbage, etc. It has been suggested by good 

 authority that there may be danger of tuberculous 

 disease by drinking milk from cows having "pearl 

 disease," which is believed to be analogous to 

 tuberculosis; but there is really no authentic case 

 where this result has been produced in man, al- 

 though lower orders of animals are thus infected. 

 This is a matter for further investigation, for cer- 

 tainly the milk of animals having the above named 

 disease is below the normal standard of nutrition. 



The inspection of milk by legal authority is of 

 great importance, and, in many states, the require- 

 ments are specific. In New York, the specific grav- 

 ity is ascertained by the lactometer; in Massachu- 

 setts, Rhode Island, and Maine, a chemical analysis 

 is required. The normal average specific gravity 

 allowed is 1.030-I-. 



The total quantity of solids in milk should, accord- 

 ing to Letheby, amount to fourteen per cent. Such 

 inspection has been made necessary because of the 

 adulteration of this important article of food. The 

 most popular and simple form of adulteration is the 

 addition of water. In order to give the milk a 

 thickened look, after this dilution, chalk or flour is 

 sometimes added. Bicarbonate of sodium and 

 salicylic acid are often added, to prevent sour- 

 ing. If milk inspectors are honest men, and under- 

 stand their business, it is a very easy matter to detect 

 any of these base frauds upon the public. 



The most popular products from milk are butter 

 and cheese — those well-known condiments and appe- 

 tizers all over the world. Cheese is the separated 



casein of the milk, and it forms a highly nutritious 

 article of diet, and, in some countries, where meat 

 is scarce and dear, the people consume large quan- 

 tities of cheese, to supply the nitrogenous elements 

 Qf diet, using the heavy and less highly flavored of 

 the cheeses. The wealthier classes use as a condi- 

 ment the more highly flavored cheeses, such as 

 the Roquefort, Edam, Cheshire, etc. Taken in 

 moderate quantities, tfiese cheeses aid in promoting 

 digestion, and are very palatable to the epicure. 



Butter is made from cream by the mechanical rup- 

 ture of the albuminous follicles which enclose the 

 fat-globules, which then adhere tegether into small 

 masses. Butter contains six neutral fats, four of 

 which being volatile, give to it taste and odor. 

 The adulteration of butter is accomplished by deal- 

 ers, by beating it up with water, and by adding 

 other fats, especially suet and oleomargarine. But- 

 ter will not support life for any considerable length 

 of time when taken alone. Taken in connection 

 with other food, it is a highly digestible and nutri- 

 tious, and often fattening, food. 



Fermented, or "rancid," butter causes violent gas- 

 tric derangement, and it is therefore important that 

 it be thoroughly worked with a spatula, and fre- 

 quentlv washed, and sea.soned with at least two per 

 cent, of salt. In California they have an ingenious 

 way of ridding butter of a rancid taste, by subjecting 

 it to the action of an electric battery. The butter is 

 melted in a tub, and the poles of an electric battery, 

 encased in flannel, are placed in it. so that a current 

 of electricity, when passed through the butter from 

 one pole to the other, determines a collection of the 

 acids which caused the rancid taste, at one or the 

 other pole. In striving to reach the pole, the acids 

 sink into the flannel, and may thus be removed. 



Condensed milk, which is so much used for the 

 food of infants, is prepared by slowly evaporating 

 the water of milk by moderate heat. There are two 

 varieties : the plain, which is condensed to about 

 one-fourth of its bulk, and superheated, and to 

 which no sugar is added : and tlie stronger variety, 

 which is more condensed, and to which cane-sugar 

 is added in excess, yielding about forty-five per 

 cent, of sugar among its solid ingredients. This 

 excess of sugar prevents the decomposition of the 

 milk, and it will keep fresh for many hours after the 

 can has been opened. 



Condensed milk, because of its convenient form, 

 is used largely among the poorer clas.ses, and infants 

 seem to thrive well for a time. But, although they 

 often grow fat, they develop poorly, and are less 

 able to resist disease than children who use the pure 

 milk. 



According to Heubner, condensed milk has been 

 used successfully in dysentery, and is a preventive 

 of that dreaded disease of summer — scurvy. 



Koumiss is another form in which milk is pre- 

 pared for dietetic and medicinal uses. This is a fer- 

 mented milk, prepared in a peculiar way, and used 

 largely by the Russians. It is mildly stimulating, 

 and .sometimes intoxicating, and is used in cases of 

 phthisis and intestinal derangements, and other 

 wasting diseases. Its virtues have, no doubt, been 

 exaggerated, the cures having been due more to the 

 favorable climate along the steppes of Russia, where 

 the patients under treatment resort, than to the 

 curative qualities of the specific. 



The koumiss has been introduced into this coun- 

 try, where its curative qualities have been highly 

 lauded. It is strongly diuretic, quenches thirst, in- 

 crea.ses the cardiac force, improves the muscular 

 tone, aids general nutrition, and beautifies the 

 complexion. 



This preparation is made from cow's milk, by 

 various firms in the United States, and preserved in 

 glass bottles, but it does not contain the peculiar 



flavor and the essential qualities belonging to the 

 native article, which is made from mare's milk, and 

 kept in smoked-out leather bottles, and subjected to 

 various manipulations, which cannot be imitated, 

 even by Yankee ingenuity. 



[Specially Compiled for The Popular Science Seicg.'\ 



MONTHLY SUMMARY OF MEDICAL 



PROGRESS. 



BY W. S. WELLS, M. D. 



Mr. Ernest Hart {British Med. Jour.) writes, 

 regarding nasal surgery in Paris, that French sur- 

 geons are more and more renouncing the great 

 operations and resections, which were once much in 

 vogue there for the cure of naso-pharyngeal polypus. 

 This operation used to cause very considerable mor- 

 tality from secondary hemorrhages and cerebral 

 complications, of which M. Verneuil has reported 

 many examples. The course now pursued is rather 

 that which M. Trelat has brought into repute at the 

 Paris hospitals, namely, limited resection of the 

 palatine arch, as described by Nelaton, followed by 

 destruction of the polypus by electrolysis, or by the 

 actual cautery, or chloride o( zinc, the various pro- 

 longations of the polypus being tiius attacked. The 

 risk of relapse is materially diminished. 



Transplantation of mucous membrane from 

 the mouth to the conjunctiva is described by Dr. 

 W. F. Smith, in the Archives of Ophthalmology. 

 He reports the case of a child, subject of cicatricial 

 contraction of the upper lid, resulting from ophthal- 

 mia neonatorum, in which the transplantation was 

 performed. The contraction of the cicatrix on the 

 inner surface of the lid had incurvated the lid so 

 that the lushes irritated the ball. With antiseptic 

 precautions, an incision was made on the inner sur- 

 face of the lid, parallel with its border, through the 

 cartilage and orbicular muscle. This was made to 

 gape, and the mucous membrane graft fitted to it 

 and secured in place by sutures. The entire graft: 

 lived, the result being perfect. 



Suction, or exhaustion of the air by the use of 

 the cupping-glass, for elevating a depressed fractured 

 parietal bone in a child, has been successfully em- 

 ployed by Dr. E. W. Piper, ot i'hiladelphia. It is 

 suggested by Dr. Geo. J. Ziegler, ot the same city, 

 that this principle may be extended to aid in cases 

 of fractured cranial bones in adults, also, and in the 

 extraction of bullets, morbid growths, and various 

 fluids. It might also be used to raise the depressed 

 cranial bones of a newly-born infant, produced by 

 the forceps, in delivery. The form of the suction- 

 cap or cup, which may be of rubber, or other mate- 

 rial besides glass, and the application of the aspira- 

 tor, or other exhaust power, will suggest themselves 

 to the mind of the ingenious practitioner, according 

 to the exigencies of each particular case. 



The first case of suspension treatment of locomo- 

 tor ataxia in England {London Med. Press) is one at 

 present in St. Mary's Hospital, under the care of 

 Dr. de Watteville, who began a course of suspen- 

 sions the same day that Prof. Charcot's article 

 reached London. He has since taken two other 

 cases in hand, and the results have so far been satis- 

 factory. The improvement in the first case is evi- 

 denced by the facility with which the patient can 

 turn around sharply, a feat particularly ditticult to 

 ataxics, even at an early stage of the disease. The 

 other symptoms, subjective and objective, are also 

 showing signs of gradual abatement. The case was 

 one of unusual severity, the disease being of over 

 six years' duration. 



Prof. V. G. Lashkevitch, of Kharkov, {Aovosti 

 Terapii) tried hydrochlorate of cocaine, internally, 



