54 



colostrum acts as a purgative. After the eighth day the milk ap- 

 pears normal to the naked eye, though it may contain a few colos- 

 trum corpuscles. 



T. Sickness increases, in all cases, the milk solids, especially so 

 in cases of chronic disease. 



8. The influence of all kinds of psychic emotion upon the 

 secretion of milk is well recognized. 



9. The quality of the milk depends also on the number of 

 children which the mother has borne, as also on the age of the 

 previouslij born child, and the surroundings and circumstances of 

 the mother. The milk from each of the two breasts differs, also. 



All these circumstances must be considered and stated, if the 

 examinations make claim to scientific accuracy. 



10. Medicines taken by the mother may pass into the milk as 

 they pass into cows' milk. 



Abnormalities in milk are either caused by the lack or pre- 

 ponderance of one or more constituents, or by the presence of 

 substances not found in normal milk. 



"Woman's milk has the following properties : 



Smell : Hardly perceptible Avhen from white women, but pe- 

 culiar, and similar to the exhalations of the skin, in the case of 

 women of the African race (Mott). 



Taste : Sweeter than cows' milk, occasionally salty. 



Color : Bluish-opaque. 



Consistency : It is more watery than the milk of animals. 

 Author found the milk, a few days or weeks after birth, rather 

 rich in fat. The fat collects often in small globules on the sur- 

 face ; they possess an intensely yellow color, and are of such size 

 that they may be seen with the naked eye. 



Reaction : The reaction is, according to the latest investiga- 

 tions — which embraced the examination of one hundred and fifty 

 samples — alkaline, provided the milk was tested directly after it 

 had been obtained (Conrad, L. Fleischmann). 



The specific gravity ranged in 130 observations from 1.025 to 

 1.039, at 15° C. (Conrad.) 



