156 MILK HYGIENE 



to brief boiling or to pasteurization, since it is thought 

 that long cooking affects the digestibility of the casein. 



Through the zealous efforts of physicians, it has been 

 possible, during recent years, to cause the general ac- 

 ceptance of the practice of sterilizing milk for infants 

 and the reports show that this has had a favorable influ- 

 ence in preventing disease and death. 



There are, however, some children ivith ivhom cooked 

 cow's milk does not agree, as it causes continual indiges- 

 tion and loss of weight so that, indeed, when six months 

 old they may weigh less than at birth (infantile atro- 

 phy). This condition is often improved at once if a wet 

 nurse is procured for the child or if asses ' milk is used ; or 

 a change to raw cow's milk may lead to quick recovery. 

 An explanation of these different effects of cooked or 

 raw cow's milk cannot be given here, since there is no 

 convincing reason for the opinion that cooked milk is 

 harder to digest than raw. Possibly the favorable effect 

 of raw milk can be attributed to the presence of sub- 

 stances antitoxic to some of the poisons absorbed from 

 the intestinal canal, which antitoxins are destroyed by 

 heating the milk. [In America, the balance of opinion 

 among pediatrists appears to be in favor of clean, raw 

 milk, specially produced, of low bacterial content and 

 from a reliable source (" certified milk ") ; or milk that 

 has been pasteurized at a moderate temperature (155 

 to 185 F.) and that has not been boiled. L. P.] 



