28 THE COMMON SENSE OF THE MILK QUESTION 



the milk and produce intestinal troubles, sometimes 

 quite serious, in their infants. Diseases in the diges- 

 tive tract of breast nurslings are sometimes traced to 

 the mother's milk. The child does not thrive; its 

 digestive system seems to be upset ; there is diarrhoea 

 and frequent vomiting; or, in other cases, constipa- 

 tion, perhaps accompanied by fever or convulsions. 

 Analysis of the mother's milk may reveal that it is 

 excessively rich in fat, and therefore indigestible ; or, it 

 maybe, the milk is deficient in fat, causing constipation. 

 In an interesting study of the variations of fat 

 in mothers' milk. Dr. Louise Tayler-Jones, of Phila- 

 delphia, cites the case of an infant, being nursed by 

 its mother, who was gradually wasting away, losing 

 weight daily." Analysis of the mother's milk showed 

 that it contained far too much fat and too little 

 protein. The mother had been industriously exer- 

 cising and cramming herself with meat and drink 

 in order that she might be able to nurse her offspring, 

 an interesting case of commendable but misdirected 

 zeal. The exercise was stopped to secure an in- 

 crease of proteids, and the meat and drink reduced 

 in order that the amount of fat might be decreased. 

 The effect of ten days of this treatment is clearly 

 shown by the following figures: — 



Result of First Analysis 



Pee Cent 



Fat 6.04 



Sugar 7.00 



Proteid 1.05 



