37 



Influence of Food, etc. 



The influence of food upon the milk of animals is a subject of 

 some importance, and should engage the attention of physicians, 

 since many waste products of important manufactures are at pres- 

 ent utilized for feeding purposes, either alone or in combination 

 with other food. 



By means of such foods, substances may enter into the compo- 

 sition of milk, which make it totally unfit to serve as nourishment 

 for infants. 



Much has been written and said to defend the use of such 

 waste products as food, yet nobody prefers such milk to milk from 

 cows which have been normally fed on good pasture. 



Being constantly housed can, likewise, not be of advantage to 

 the well-being of an animal, especially if the stables are damp and 

 badly ventilated. 



Potato distillery swill : Only a few fragmentary investiga- 

 tions have been made to determine the influence which is exerted 

 on the quality of the milk of cows which are fed on potato distil- 

 lery swill. That the milk of such cows cannot be good may be 

 presumed, if we consider that the swill is not always fresh, nor 

 free from alcohol. 



Kied found that such milk did not contain alcohol, but that it 

 is very poor in fat (1 to 1^ per cent.). The swill is poor in carbo- 

 hydrates, since the conversion of the starch into sugar, and finally 

 alcohol, is the object of the treatment. 



Albuminates, acids and salts predominate ; hence, such milk is 

 richer in casein and salts, and comparatively poor in sugar and fat. 



Clark found that the fat globules of such milk are small and 

 few, and that they are disposed to adhere together, forming aggre- 

 gates of considerable size. In two specimens, uncommon numbers 

 of epithelial cells were observed, some of which showed a peculiar 

 granulation, while others were colored. Some of these were very 

 small and enclosed butter globules, thus showing that they had 

 formed the coating of the lacteal ducts, and that they had loosened 

 before their inner structure had been completed. The deleterious 

 influence on the health of consumers, especially that of children, 

 which is caused by such milk, has been traced to the circumstance 



