WHY cow's MILK? 73 



thus develops considerable bactericidal powers, en- 

 abling the animal to resist the attack. Now, if it 

 be true that these anti-bodies are secreted in the lacteal 

 fluid of the mother and carried into the digestive 

 tract of the infant, to be distributed throughout the 

 body, we have another very important reason for 

 the superior advantages enjoyed by breast-fed over 

 bottle-fed babies in the struggle for existence. For 

 while the milk of the cow may likewise contain these 

 useful anti-bodies, they are effective only in protecting 

 its own offspring and of no advantage whatever to the 

 human infant, its parasite.' ' Far from protecting 

 the baby against disease, there is an astounding mass 

 of convincing evidence that cow's milk is frequently 

 the medium by which the human infant is infected, 

 many of the deadliest diseases being conveyed by 

 means of milk, especially among young infants wholly 

 dependent on a milk diet. 



Summarizing, briefly, the principal points in this 

 discussion thus far, it is evident that as a substitute 

 for mother's milk some other milk is desirable, though 

 there is no other milk which is as good as mother's 

 milk and able to serve the infant in so many ways. 

 While foods may eventually be made, consisting 

 wholly or largely of vegetable matter, in which the 

 proportions of protein and other food elements are 

 perfectly balanced, still, they cannot take the place 

 of milk, which must form the basis of any satisfactory 



