656 
that this is not the case. Many basic substances, some of them poi- 
sonous, have been described as ptomaines; but their relation to the 
poisonous properties of milk is very doubtful. Tyrotoxicon, one of 
the chief of these, studied by Vaughan, is now admitted to be rare in 
milk and cheese and its chemical composition undetermined. The 
ptomaines contain nitrogen and have generally been looked upon as 
products of decomposition of the proteid substances in milk. 
Cholin is a base which can readily be split off from the fatty body 
lecithin. Milk contains about one-tenth of 1 per cent of lecithin. 
While cholin itself is not very poisonous, Hunt has shown that acetyl- 
cholin is 100,000 times more toxic than cholin itself and that there are 
other poisonous cholin compounds. While acetylcholin has never 
been demonstrated in milk, theoretically it is possible to have a small 
quantity of this and allied poisons formed. Lecithin may be decom- 
posed by bacterial action, and it is not unlikely that a similar action 
is responsible for poisonous bodies of this group. 
Sulphur compounds . — Sulphur compounds, such as hydrogen sul- 
phide, while poisonous, are not present in sufficient quantity in milk 
to give serious concern. 
Aromatic products, such as the phenols and cresols, skatol, indol, 
etc., result from the putrefaction of albumins of the common proteid 
foods. Milk yields considerable quantities of tvrosin from its casein. 
The phenols and cresols are derived from the breaking down of the 
tyrosin. Herter thinks that the phenols can not be regarded as im- 
portant toxic agents; moreover, they are produced by putrefactive 
processes in the intestinal tract and are not contained in any quantity 
in milk when it is consumed. 
To sum up our knowledge, we find that certain bacteria contained 
in milk, such as tubercle, cholera, dysentery, typhoid, diphtheria, etc., 
may induce specific diseases. Other organisms, such as the virulent 
streptococci and staphylococci, are capable of causing sever inflam- 
mations of the gastrointestinal tract. The spore-bearing organisms 
set up putrefactive and proteolytic changes, and may produce poisons. 
This occurs in milk, both within and without the body. The nature 
of these poisons is not known. So far as we know, the true bacterial 
toxines play little if any role in milk poisoning. 
INFANT FEEDING. 
Prepare cow’s milk as we may, we can not shut our eyes to the 
fact that it is out of the question to anticipate such good results from 
artificial feeding as from breast feeding. It is well known that the 
lowest death rate for the first year of life is shown among those in- 
fants who are fed on good human breast milk. 
It is the milk of other animals, usually the cow, which directly 
or indirectly kills the greatest number of infants. All are agreed that 
