12 PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF MILK HYGIENE 
Eugling, is as follows: Casein 2.65 per cent., albumin 
and globulin 16.55 per cent., sugar 3 per cent., extrac- 
tives 3.54 per cent., ash 1.18 per cent., and water 73.07 
per cent. The high content of albumin and globulin is 
due to the presence of the colostrum bodies and nume- 
rous other cells. The sugar is not lactose, as in milk, 
but glucose, or perhaps a mixture of glucose and galac- 
tose (Tereg). Of the extractives, about 78.2 per cent. 
is fat, 18.8 per cent. cholesterin, and 8 per cent. leci- 
thin. The fat differs from that of milk and is apparently 
similar to the fat of the tissues. The mineral salts are 
rich in magnesia, to which is attributed the laxative ef- 
fect of colostrum. 
The reaction is acid to litmus. For two to four days 
after parturition the secretion coagulates when boiled 
(see boiling test), on account of the large quantity of 
albumin and globulin present, while it curdles for four 
to twelve days after parturition when mixed with an 
equal volume of 68 per cent. alcohol (see alcohol test). 
Microscopic A ppearance.—Viewed under the micro- 
scope, colostrum is seen to contain free fat globules, 
which are not uniform in size like those seen in milk; 
colostrum bodies or corpuscles, which are comparatively 
large, round or mulberry-shaped masses, containing fat 
globules; lewcocytes, some of which contain fat globules, 
and, in fresh colostrum, show amoeboid movement; and 
epithelial cells, which are more or less disintegrated. The 
colostrum bodies are cells which contain large masses of 
fat globules within their protoplasm, but opinions differ 
as to whether they are leucocytes or epithelial cells, 
Ferments or Enzymes.—Catalase and diastase are 
present in colostrum in greater amount than in milk, but 
at the end of the first week after parturition they are 
