40 MILK HYGIENE 



milk of the Alpine cows is noted for its aromatic 

 taste. Feeding with beet leaves, turnips, malt sprouts, 

 etc., is supposed to be the cause of the taste and odor of 

 beets or a burnt taste and odor in the milk. We do not 

 yet know how much influence is to be attributed to the 

 food. In some cases, the offensive odor and taste is 

 undoubtedly due to the activity of bacteria in the milk — 

 indeed, it is doubtful if the " beet taste " and the " burnt 

 taste " ever come from the food (see below). Peculiari- 

 ties of breed may possibly be the cause of the aro- 

 matic milk of the Alpine cows. On the whole, it is 

 highly probable that the food has some influence on the 

 taste and odor of the milk [this is unquestionable in the 

 case of garlic,] but by no means all of the substances in 

 milk that have special odors and tastes are secreted 

 with the milk. 



The ash ingredients of milk are not generally influ- 

 enced to a great extent by the amount of salts taken 

 with the food; even a considerable iron or phosphoric 

 acid content of the food causes no direct increase of 

 these materials in the milk; still, certain sulphates, as 

 Glauber's salt, given in large quantities are excreted in 

 small quantity with the milk, and consequently cause 

 an iucrease in sulphuric acid in the ash. 



While it is true that feeding influences the compo- 

 sition of milk only to a slight degree, it is nevertheless 

 true that the quantity of milk is dependent to a very 

 great degree on the amount and composition of the food. 



8. The significance of sexual conditions. The occur- 

 rence of oestrum and pathological conditions of the 

 generative organs cause a decrease in the milk secre- 

 tion ; therefore it has been assumed that these conditions 

 may also cause changes in the chemical composition of 

 the secretion, yet this does not always appear to be the 

 case. 



