56 



Scientific Proceedings (79). 



strum. Antitoxine taken in milk by infants appears to a large 

 extent in their blood-serum. I reasoned that the administration 

 of the blood-serum of these goat kids, obtained from them shortly 

 after they had taken the colostrum, would be beneficial to infants 

 in need of natural antibodies to overcome the hereditary dystrophy 

 of children born of tuberculous mothers. This blood-serum I 

 have here referred to as colostral blood-serum. 



Tests of this serum were then made, and it was found to be harm- 

 less. Thirty to sixty c.c. of this colostral blood-serum were given 

 every two to four days over a period of two weeks. These doses, 

 each of which had been mixed with a pint of goat's milk, were fed 

 to a scrofulous infant two months old, with a prognosis of extreme 

 gravity. This infant was born of a tuberculous mother. The 

 results indicated undoubtedly a marked benefit. A striking 

 improvement took place during the two weeks following the ingestion 

 of this blood-serum and continued thereafter, until the infant ap- 

 peared to be about normal. The first dose consisted of 30 c.c. of the 

 colostral blood-serum, used in two days, the second, of 60 c.c. fed 

 in two days, the third of 60 c.c. in four days, the fourth of 50 c.c. 

 in four days, and the fifth of 50 c.c. in two or three days. A total 

 of 250 c.c. was given in about two weeks. This infant was on 

 goat's milk from directly after birth, but did not definitely 

 improve until after the colostral blood-serum had been employed. 



The colostral blood-serum, in order to be effective in older 

 infants, when the intestinal wall has become more impervious, and in 

 adults, must most probably be injected, subcutaneously, intra- 

 venously or subdurally. Direct absorption of protein may, 

 however, occur late where the condition of the alimentary canal 

 is abnormal. Although the result was obtained in a scrofulous 

 infant, this practical method of obtaining natural and artificial 

 antibodies gives promise of being effective in syphilis and other 

 diseases influenced by antibodies. 



We must, besides the antibody aspect, also take the activation 

 concept of colostrum into consideration. The mother of this infant 

 did not furnish it with colostrum. It may well be since constitu- 

 ents of ingested colostrum, especially proteins, pass into the blood- 

 serum, that by this technique we have found a way of using these 

 important constituents and the functions of colostrum. This 



