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97
danger has arisen by the placing on the market of
brands of condensed milk made from skim milk,
which recommend themselves to the poorer classes
by reason of their cheapness (?). As will be shown,
or endeavoured to be shown, children fed on such
food are all the time underfed, in addition to being
exposed to the risks of poisoning by bad milk.
The proper standard for all infant's foods is
naturally human milk. This contains in 100 parts,
2.29 of proteids (nitrogenous elements), 2.81 of fats,
6.20 of carbohydrates (non-nitrogenous elements),
and 0.30 of mineral salts. The proportion of
nitrogenous to non-nitrogenous elements is as 1 to
4.4. When lactation is at its full, i.e., in the fifth
month after delivery, about 2 litres of milk are
secreted, containing approximately 45 grammes of
proteids, 80 grammes of fats, 125 grammes of carbohydrates,
and 6 grammes of salts. These are,
therefore, the standard requirements of an infant in
its fifth month.
Cow's milk has an average composition of 3.55
parts of proteids, 3.69 of fats, 4.88 of carbohydrates,
and 0.71 of salts. The ratio of nitrogenous to nonnitrogenous
elements is as 1 to 2.5. The proper
dilution to render such milk similar to the standard
of human milk is the addition of 2 parts of water to
3 of milk, with the addition of some "milk sugar,"
about three-fifths of an ounce to a pint of mixture.
The addition of water is useful to check the