COLOSTEUM. 339 



colostrum contains a large proportion of serum-albumen ; and as the charac- 

 ter of the secretion changes in the process of lactation, the albumen becomes 

 gradually reduced in quantity and caseine takes its place. 



The following, deduced from the analyses of Clemm, may be taken as the 

 ordinary composition of colostrum of the human female : 



COMPOSITION OF COLOSTRUM. 



Water 945-24 



Albumen, and salts insoluble in alcohol 29-81 



Butter , 7-07 



Sugar of milk, extractive matter, and salts soluble in alcohol 17-27 



Loss.. 0-61 



1,000-00 



Colostrum ordinarily decomposes much more readily than milk and takes 

 on putrefactive changes very rapidly. If it be allowed to stand for twelve 

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

 a serous fluid. In an observation by Astley Cooper, nine measures of colos- 

 trum, taken soon after parturition, after twenty-four hours of repose, gave 

 six parts of cream to three of milk. 



The peculiar constitution of the 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 deliv- 

 ery, in assisting to relieve the infant of the accumulation of meconium. 



As the quantity of colostrum that may be pressed from the mammary 

 glands during the latter periods of utero-gestation, particularly the last 

 month, is very variable, it becomes an important question to determine 

 whether this secretion have any relation to the quantity of milk that may be. 

 expected after delivery. This question has been studied by Donne, who ar- 

 rived at the following conclusions : 



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

 being in exceedingly small quantity, viscid, and containing hardly any cor- 

 puscular 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 colostrum-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 secretion 

 being quite fluid and rich in corpuscular elements, particularly milk-globules, 

 the milk after delivery is always abundant and of good quality. 



From these observations, 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 secretion 

 of milk after lactation shall have become fully established. 



The secretion of the mammary glands preserves the characters of colos- 

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



