ss that the solid constituents are
arranged in the same order as in man. On this account, therefore, asses'
milk is regarded, and with propriety, as the best substitute for the
child's natural food. Unfortunately, however, expense is very frequently
a bar to its employment, and compels the use of the less easily digested
cows' milk. But though the cost may be a valid objection to the
permanent employment of asses' milk, it is yet very desirable when a
young infant cannot have the breast, that it should be supplied with
asses' milk for the first four or five weeks, until the first dangers of
the experiment of bringing it up by hand have been surmounted. The
deficiency of asses' milk in butter may be corrected by the addition of
about a twentieth part of cream, and its disposition to act on the
bowels may be lessened by heating it to boiling point, not over the fire
but in a vessel of hot water; and still more effectually by the addition
to it of a fourth part of lime-water or of a teaspoonful of the solution
of saccharated carbonate of lime to two ounces or four tablespoonfuls of
the milk.

When cows' milk is given, it must be borne in mind that it contains
nearly twice as much curd, and about an eighth less sugar, than human
milk. It is therefore necessary that it should be given in a diluted
state and slightly sweetened. The dilution must vary according to the
infant's age; at first the milk may be mixed with an equal quantity of
water, but as the child grows older the proportion of water may be
reduced to one-third. Mere dilution with water, however, leaves the
proportion of curd unaltered, and it is precisely the curd which the
infant is unable to digest. Instead, therefore, of diluting the milk
simply with water, it is often better to add one part of whey to about
two parts of milk, which, according to the child's age, may or may not
be previously diluted.[8]

Attention must be paid to the temperature of the food when given to the
infant, which ought to be as nearly as possible the same as that of the
mother's milk, namely from 90 deg. to 95 deg. Fahrenheit, and in all cases in
which care is needed a thermometer should be employed in order to insure
the food being given at the same temperature. Human milk is alkaline,
and even if kept for a considerable time it shows little tendency to
become sour. The milk of animals when in perfect health likewise
presents an alkaline reaction, and that of cows when at grass form