The Meeker herald. [volume] (Meeker, Colo.) 1885-current, 1909-02-13

are undoubtedly hereditary whether
the habits of alcoholism, tobacco and
unnatural eating are transmissible or
not We know that the vitality Of the
infant Is determined by the vitality OF
the parents-though not altogether by
the average vitality-and the powers
Of nutrition are the fundamental pow
ers transmitted to offspring.
We may not always be able to trace
family history in eyes and lungs. but
we can always find 1t in stomach and
liver and intestines.
Tho food of the young dog. horse,
COW. apo and human. In common with
all other mammalia, 10 milk. The nat
ural food Of the mature dog il desh:
that OF the others il vegetable. The
digestive systems Of the ape and man
resemble, slightly, that Of the dog;
not, think. As some argue. because
their natural food il largely flesh. but
because nuts closely resemble hesh.
chemically. The gorilla has canine"
teeth, but 1t Is q strict vegetarian. The
boar's canine" teeth are his means
of defense.
Albumen. the chief constituent Of
flesh. is digested chiefly In the stom-
ach by the action Of the gastric auid.
Accordingly, the intestine of the dog
is short in proportion. the stomach be-
ing 60 per cent. Of the entire digestive
tract. Tho cows stomach IL very com
plicated; she has. In fact. four stom-
achs. This ia because her natural
food requires much dilution with sa-
Iva and rumination before 1t can be
passed ON to the intestine. not thai
proteid IL. the chief element Of the
cows food, a. in the dog.
Now the stomach of the COW plays
% much more important part. relatively
10 the intestinal digestion, than in
man. Cows milk is. chemically and
mechanically, adapted to this physio-
logical difference. 1t does not ~ soon
break up into small curds, and IL,
therefore. retained longer in the calls
stomach. This peculiarly partly ex-
plains the difnculty Of digesting cows
milk and should be considered in any
attempt to modify cows milk 30 ~ to
adapt 1t to infant feeding
We know that the health of the In
FAINT. its nervous moods, its physical
health and temper in general, are In
huenced by those Of the mother.
through the food. This alone would In
dictate the impossibility Of perfect
adaptation of cows milk to infant
feeding. At best 1t is unnatural. but
IS 1t is in many cases necessary, part
ly or entirely. we must make the most
Of 1t. An imperfectly nourished child
IL more liable to diseases Of child
hood and survives with greater DIFF
hculty. Food is not, Of course. the
only requirement for health, but 1t IL
fundamental.
In cases in which cows milk must
be used. care should be taken to see
that the COW is healthy. unless herd
milk is used. that no preservative is
used. that the bottles and other yes
sells with which 1t comes in contact
are washed well with boiling water.
never with river or cistern water, that
1t 10 not unnecessarily exposed to dust
or barnyard contamination, for milk
absorbs bacteria as sponge absorbs
water and they develop very rapidly
The feeding bottle should be thorough
'ly washed in boiling water after and
before using. 1t is best to have two.
the one not in use kept immersed in
solution Of common baking soda.
Cows milk can not be made iden-
tical with the infants natural food;
but 1t can be Appropriated to 1t. The
chief dimculty to be overcome is to
modify the large curds OF cows milk
that tend to remain in the stomach
longer than they should, as the de-
velopment of the calfs stomach re-
quires that It's food shall have much
heavier curd than that required by the
infant, in which intestinal digestion
Is more important. The use of Tactic
tablets. as explained In my last ar
ticle. entirely obviates this difnculty
besides overcoming other objections
to the use OF cows milk.
To reduce the proportion of the ele-
ments In cows milk to approximately
the standard Of human milk. pour on
about half OF the fat that settles to
the top Of the bottle; add as much wa
ter ~ the whole amount of milk and
tablespoonful Of sugar. Milk sugar is
to be preferred to cane sugar, always
Objectionable. The addition Of q it,
tie lime water 10, in many cases, bene-
fscial
As rule infants, like adults. are
overfed. No doubt one Of the rea-
SONS for the greater endurance and
freedom from disease Of wild animals
10 the fact that the young are less
likely to be overfed. ~ every natural
list knows. An infant probably would
starve in one-tenth the time that an
adult can subsist without food, but
eating too often and too much be.
comes . habit with the infant ~ with
tie adnlt An infant may cry for food
whsn II 10 food drunk: what 1t may
need 10 water. And children cry for
other reasons than because they are
hungry. stopping An infants cry con