36 



SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF DAIRYING. 



calving, colostrum corpuscles (fig. 18). They are, despite a widely-spread 

 belief to the contrary, of no importance in the morphology of milk secre- 

 tion, and it is a mistake to look upon them as the type of the fatty 

 degeneration of the epithelial cells of the milk-gland basket. 



According to Eugling, the colostrum of 22 Montavun cows, two to 

 thirteen years old, which had given birth to from 1 to 11 calves, possessed 



Fig. 18. Colostrum Cor- 

 puscles, (x 300.) 



a, Cells showing fatty de- 

 generation; a', cells with 

 nucleus; b, cells contain- 

 ing large fatty globules; 

 c, cells with partially de- 

 stroyed membrane; d, e, 

 cells which have com- 

 pletely lost their mem- 

 brane; /, DonntS corpus- 

 cles; g, h, group of cells. 

 (Furstenberg.) 



a specific gravity of from 1*058 to 1-079 an average of T06S, and had 

 the following chemical composition: 



Average Composition. 



Water, 7T69 



Fat, 3-37 



Casein, ... 

 Albumin, 

 Sugar, 

 Mineral matter, 



... 4-83 

 ... 15-85 

 ... 2-48 

 ... 178 

 100-00 

 Total solids, ... 28 '31% 



Limits of Variation. 



76-60 to 67-43 

 1-88 4-68 

 2-64 7-14 



11-18 

 1-34 

 1-18 



20-21 

 3-83 

 2-31 



23-40% 32-57%. 



The ash of the colostrum, inclusive of phosphoric and sulphuric acid 

 formed by the burning of the protein matter, had, on an average, the 

 following composition : 



Potassium oxide, ... 



Sodium oxide, 



Calcium oxide, 



Magnesium oxide, 



Iron sesquioxide, 



Phosphoric anhydride, 



Chlorine, 



Sulphuric acid, 



Deduct oxygen replaced by chlorine, 



7-23 

 5-72 

 34-85 

 2-06 

 0-52 

 41-43 

 11-25 

 0-16 

 103-22 

 3-22 

 100-00 



