WHY cow's MILK? 59 



infant, and there were two candidates apparently 

 equally desirable in all other respects save this one, 

 both being plentifully supplied with good milk, but 

 one of them the victim of an active and malignant 

 disease, is there any intelligent being who doubts 

 what the choice would be? Yet, in the case of 

 choosing an animal to be virtually the wet-nurse 

 of the nation, we have chosen the one infected with 

 disease and constantly passing on the infection to the 

 little ones. 



Goat's milk is superior in richness and fiavor to 

 that of the cow, but what of its digestibility? In 

 the milk of both animals the percentage of casein 

 is very much greater than in human milk, the averages 

 being : — 



HvuAN Cow Goat 



1.0 per cent 3.0 per cent 3.2 per cent 



This indicates a tougher and harder curd, casein 

 being the curd-forming element in milk. Now, 

 note the reason for this difference in the toughness 

 and hardness of the curd in the three milks: both 

 the cow and the goat have four stomachs, while man 

 has only one! The digestive apparatus of the human 

 infant is adapted to the assimilation of a soft-curded 

 milk, while the young of the cow and the goat have 

 digestive systems equally well adapted to the assimi- 

 lation of milks containing hard, tough, fibrous curds. 



