Human Milk Studies

As a part of a series of studies involving the chemical and biological aspects of human milk production these data on the standardization of procedures for estimating quantitatively the vitamin content of breast milk have been compiled.The methods used here have included the newer technique of Steenbock and his collaborators (l-3), Evans and Bishop (4), Sherman and associates (5-7)) and others, who have elaborated upon the classic methods of Osborne and Mendel as described by Ferry (8).Using a combination of the above methods, the standards for growth, reproduction, and lactation have been worked out for the conditions existing in these laboratories, in respect to breed of rat, character of food, method of feeding, type of cage, etc., factors which may vary somewhat from other laboratories.The experiments have not been conducted with the purpose of determining the "minimum amount of the material under examination which suffices to produce a standard result in or for a statidard time," as suggested by Sherman and Munsell (5), but with the purpose of obtaining optimal physiological behacior, such as growth, reproduction, and lactation in the rat with an attempt to learn more about ideal nutritional conditions for comparable functions in the human species.In this paper most of the data concerning the deportment of animals on the purified regimens, complete or otherwise, are presented for purposes of comparison with the subsequent, work on the quantitative determinations of vitamins in human milk.