ful being added
to each twenty ounces of food.
_How is the sugar best increased?_
By adding milk sugar to the food; one ounce to each twenty ounces of
food will give the proper quantity for the first three or four months.
This will make the proportion about the same (between 6 and 7 per
cent) as in mother's milk.
_How should the sugar be prepared?_
Simply dissolved in boiled water; if the solution is not clear, or if
there is a deposit after standing, it should be filtered by pouring
through a layer of absorbent cotton, half an inch thick, which is
placed in an ordinary funnel.
_Will not cane (granulated) sugar answer as well?_
Not as a rule; however, there are many infants who get on very well
when cane sugar is used. It has the advantage of being much cheaper. A
good grade of milk sugar is somewhat expensive, costing from
twenty-five to sixty cents a pound, and cheap samples are apt to
contain impurities.
_If cane sugar is used, what amount should be added?_
Considerably less than of the milk sugar. Usually about half the
quantity (half an ounce to twenty ounces of food) is as much as most
infants can digest If the same quantity is used as of the milk sugar,
the food is made unduly sweet, and the sugar is likely to ferment in
the stomach and cause colic.
_Is not the purpose of the sugar to sweeten the food in order to make
it palatable?_
Not at all; although it does that, its real use is to furnish one of
the essential elements needed for the growth of the body, and the one
that is required by young infants in the largest quantity.
_How do we know that this is so?_
By the fact that in good breast milk the amount of sugar is greater
than that of the fat, proteids, and salts combined.
_We have seen that cow's milk has nearly three times as much proteids
(curd) and salts as mother's milk. How are these to be diminished?_
By diluting the milk.
_Will it be sufficient to dilute the milk twice (i.e., add two parts
of water to one part of milk)?_
Not for a very young infant. Although this will give about the
quantity of proteids present in mother's milk, the proteids of cow's
milk are so much more difficult for the infant to digest, that in the
beginning it should be diluted five or six times for most infants.
_If cow's milk is properly diluted and lime-water and sugar added does
it then resemble mother's milk?_
No; the mixture contains too little fat.
_What is the easiest way of o
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