There is no milk which is so agreeable and so little disagreeable to the taste as cows' milk, for it has a fuller flavour than human milk, or that of the mare or ass, while it lacks the strong flavour of the milk of the buffalo or goat, and is not so surfeiting as that of the sheep. Some of these peculiarities in other kinds of milk depend upon the quantity of a nutritive material, which may be readily determined; but others, as the flavour of goats' and buffaloes' milk, depend upon an acid, which is not so easily measured and is not nutritious.

"The following is the chemical composition of several kinds of milk: -

Table IV

Specific Gravity 1.000

Water.

Solids.

Casein and Nitrogenous Compounds.

Sugar.

Fat.

Salts.

Goat

33.53

84.49

15.51

3.51

3.69

5.68

0.61

Sheep

40.98

83.23

16.77

6.97

3.94

5.13

0.71

Mare

33.74

90.43

9.57

3.33

3.27

2.43

0.52

Ass

34.57

89.00

10.99

3.56

5.05

1.85

0.54

Woman

32.67

88.90

10.92

3.92

4.36

2.66

0.13

Cow

33.38

86.40

13.59

5.52

3.80

3.61

0.66

"As milk is so essential a food for infants, and particularly when the mother's milk cannot be obtained, it is desirable to prepare a kind which may resemble the latter in composition. (See Diet of Infants, p. 73.) Cows' milk differs from human milk chiefly in having a larger proportion of fat and casein, and a less proportion of sugar. If, therefore, a mixture is made of two-thirds of cows' milk and one-third of warm water, to which half an ounce of sugar of milk is added to the pint, we shall obtain a composition very similar to that of the mother's milk. If sugar of milk is not obtainable, it may be substituted by somewhat more than half the quantity of refined cane sugar. Asses' milk differs from human milk chiefly in having more sugar and less fat, so that whilst it is not equal to human milk as a nutrient, it is the best natural substitute for it; but its use is recommended rather in cases of disease than of health, when it is desirable to modify the composition of the mother's milk. Equal parts of asses' milk and cows' milk approach closely in composition to human milk." - Dr. Edward Smith "On Foods," pp. 315, 316.