On the wasting diseases of infants and children / by Eustace Smith, M.D.

  • Smith, Eustace, 1835-1914.
Date:
1899
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the wasting diseases of infants and children / by Eustace Smith, M.D. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by University of Bristol Library. The original may be consulted at University of Bristol Library.

    43/440 (page 17)
    Analysis of breast-milk taken from different nursing mothers shows remarkable variations in the proportion of the several constituents. In the course of an inquiry, in which ninety-four samples were examined, Dr. A. H. Carter and Mr. H. D. Richmond found that the fat varied from 8-802 per cent, to 0'47 per cent.; the proteids from 4-05 to T02 ; and the sugar from 8'89 to 4-38 per cent. On account of this wide diversity in the composition of human milk we cannot wonder that infants do not always thrive at the breast or that the choice of a wet nurse is often dis- appointing. The milk may be good enough in itself and yet fail to nourish the infant who takes it; indeed, a breast- milk which suits one child may upset another, for if from excess of proteids or fat the milk prove too heavy for a child's digestion, the result as regards that particular nurseling cannot be satisfactory. Still, all we can do in choosing a wet-nurse is to ascertain the state of her health and the quality of her milk, leaving the suitability of her milk to the individual infant to be determined later by actual experience. For practical purposes we may make a guess at the goodness and quantity of the milk by inspection of the breasts of the mother or nurse. They should be pear- shaped, hardish, and mottled with blue veins. On pres- sure of the gland the milk should squirt out. The milk itself should be opaque and of a dull white colour. Under the microscope it should present fat globules of medium size, not too small. As a rule, the number of fat globules is a rough indication of the quantity of casein and sugar, although this is not always a trustworthy guide. The best test, however, of the goodness of the milk is derived from observation of the child. He should be watched while at the breast, and if he sucks vigorously, finishes the meal with the milk running over his lips, and requires to suck but a few times in the day, wo may infer that the milk is sufficiently abundant. If, on the other hand, he 2