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conjoined with the favorable experience of the French clinicians with 
heated milk, must be regarded as conclusive evidence of the supe- 
riority of both sterilized and pasteurized cow’s milk present over raw 
cow’s milk in this respect. The second objection, that of causing 
infantile scurvy, I believe, can be demonstrated to reside, in all prob- 
ability, in qualities inherent in the milk used and not attributable to 
the mere fact of its sterilization. Scurvy has been seen not only as 
the result of pasteurized or sterilized milk, but also in breast-fed chil- 
dren and in those fed on raw cow’s milk. We may, therefore, infer 
that certain constituents necessary to the nutrition of the body were 
not being supplied. At Professor Budin’s clinic in Paris, at all the 
numerous milk depots (“ Gouttes de Lait ”) scattered throughout 
France, where nothing but unsophisticated, sterilized cow’s milk is 
used for the artificial feeding of infants from the earliest age, infan- 
tile scurvy is practically unknown. Budin tells us of a visiting physi- 
cian who was unable to convince himself that sterilized milk did not 
produce scurvy. Budin invited him to inspect the infants who pre- 
sented themselves with their mothers for their weekly inspections and 
weighings, as they are obliged to do. Every babe was stripped and 
the visit ory was able to verify for himself that not one presented signs 
of scurvy or even of rickets in the slightest degree. 
I would put forth tentatively the following development of Ralfe’s 
theory as to the causation of scurvy as a possible explanation in this 
connection of the etiology of infantile scurvy and tending to remove 
this odium from whole, sterilized cow’s milk, not too rich in fat. On 
theoretical grounds, scurvy may be regarded as a pathological condi- 
tion caused by the diminution in the body of those alkaline bases 
which are necessary for the maintenance of a normal condition of 
health. These are ordinarily supplied in our food in the form of 
salts of the alkaline bases, especially potassium. Now, I would go a 
step farther and say that in order to undergo absorption during 
digestion, these salts must be supplied in combination with an acid 
radical which can be set free by the action of the digestive juices, such 
as phosphoric, citric, malic, and similar acid radicals. The negative 
proof of this contention is the rapidity with which scurvy is cured 
when the system, is freely supplied with such salts. 
I think two causes often going hand in hand are mainly responsible 
for the production of scurvy in infants. The first is an absolute in- 
sufficiency of the salts alluded to and the second is a relative insuffi- 
ciency of these salts when compared with the fat present in the diet. 
In regard to the latter condition we have seen how a diet excessive 
in fat may draw upon the alkaline bases of the body for the purposes 
of saponification. When they are being inadequately supplied in the 
food as well it is easy to see that the time would not be long in coming 
when the available supply would be depleted, radical changes 
