OUR BABIES

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 14833, 26 November 1913, Page 13

OUR BABIES

("Weekly Press and Referee.")

2>RIED MILK FOR BABIES. In this column a lew weeks ago I showed the harmful influence of the excess of proieid present in cow's milk, whether gjven puro or in the iorin of condensed or dried milk with water. It will be remembered that while humair milk was seen to average from 1.1 to 1.5 per cent, of proteid, a dried cow's milk such as Glaxo yielded, on dilution for use, 3 per cent., or about two or three times more than the proper percentage; in other words, practically the percentage found in ordinary "cow's milk. However, in the proprietor's letter ho says: —"We could boast that there is no result_to bo found, in using dried cow's milk, as there would be in using even humanised mill:. The difficulty of the digestion of proteids is absolutely overcome." . The meaning of this is somewhat obscure, but, assuming that the word residue -was intended, and not result, it would appear to be contended that humanised milk loaves an undigested residue in the alimentary canal, and that dried milk does not. A gratuitous assumption of this kind is quite absurd. All • foods, even mother's milk, leave some undigested residue, but German scientific investigations go to show that, if not given in excess, the absorption of the casein of properly modified cow's milk is not inferior to that of mother's milk. However, grant for a moment "that our correspondent is right, and that there is really complete absorption of the proteid of Glaxo into the blood: this would do away •with the only argument we have ever heart! advanced in justification of the use of cow's milk in which tho proteid has not been reduced so as to approximate it to the low percentage found- in human milk. The stock reply made in extenuation of giving too much proteid is, "Oh, yes, but possibly Nature docs not require the baby's digestive organs to digest and absorb more of the proteid than is needed —some may remain undigested in the intestine." Of course, such a stagnation of any large proportion of tho most putrescible of the constituents of milk would be highly dangerous, especially in summer, and is, indeed, regarded as a factor in the causation of that fatal malady—summer diarrhoea. But in order to escape the imputation of danger from excessive intake of proteid and consequent over-taxing of the kidneys, or poisoning of the system, those who do not happen to advocate tho "humanising" of cow's milk have frequently, in my own experience, fallen back in argument on tho hypothesis of incomplete absorption of the excess of proteid. Now, the proprietor says that when Glaxo is used the whole of the proteid is absorbedt every particle of it, and if this is really the case there is no escaping from the conclusion that the baby's poor little kidneys must be called on to do daily two or threo times as much work as Nature has designed Ihem to carry out. When the constituents of any food are given in entirely erroneous proportions "imperfect absorption" is, of course, the most obvious way out of the difficulty, and when this explanation is rejected and complete absorption is claimed there is nothing to fall back on—the inevitable conclusion being that the food will prove more or less injurious. Actual experience confirms this. Excess of proteid has been long recognised as the main objection to the use of unmodified cow's milk for babies—the main cause for its disagreeing. Our correspondent says, in criticising a statement I made some time ago as to the ready digestion of emulsifisd cod liver oil by babies:—"l also notice that you make use of the words, 'the baby digested completely.' "Well, I would like-to point out that the highest authorities that wo consulted, and under whom we are acting, have pointed out to us that fats are not Digested in tho ordinary senso, but are Absorbed. That is why 'Glaxo' ia a much better preparation and much easier of digestion than any 'humanised milk.' " I need not pause to ask what is meant by the remark that in Glaxo "the character of the cream has been changed into a fat"; and I fail to see what importance there is in splitting hairs on a technical question of terms in physiology, which falls within tho province of the physician and somewhat outside that of myself as a housewife or the proprietor of Glaxo as a merchant. However, we will ask his own authority, Dr. Robert Hutchison, to decide for us whether it is rip;ht or •wrong to speak of the Digestion of Fats. In iris latest bock, "Applied Physiology," page 34. Dr. Hutchison says, under tho heading FAT. "The fr.t molecules of the food, having been, split up by Digestion into fatty acids and glycerine, arc absorbed in that form." I shall conclude this subject next week.

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