If cow’s milk disagree with an infant—­and this is sometimes unfortunately the case, even from its birth ass’s milk,—­diluted with one third its quantity of water, may be given as a substitute.  I am now attending a lady in her fourth confinement, who is unable, from defect in her nipples, to suckle her children.  The first child had a healthy wet-nurse, and has grown a fine healthy lad.  The second, a girl, was unfortunate in her nurse, she being of a strumous and unhealthy constitution, although to a casual observer bearing the appearance of health.  The child lived only three months, and the nurse died of a rapid consumption shortly after.  This discouraged the mother from adopting wet-nurse suckling for the third child (a great error); and an artificial diet of cow’s milk was resorted to.  The third day from commencing this plan, flatulence, griping, purging, and vomiting came on, one symptom quickly following the other; the child wasted, and on the sixth day had several convulsive fits.  The diet was immediately changed for ass’s milk, and in less than twelve hours the sickness and purging ceased; the flatulence was relieved; the motions, from being green, watery, and passed with great violence and pain, became of a healthy consistence and colour, and the screaming ceased.  The symptoms did not return, the child thrived, very soon consuming regularly one quart of the ass’s milk daily, and is now a fine healthy girl two years old.  A fortnight since the parent was confined with a fourth child.  Cow’s milk was given to it for two or three days (from the difficulty of obtaining that of the ass), the same train of symptoms, precisely, came on with which the third child had been affected, which again gave way upon following up the same plan of diet—­the substitution of the ass’s milk for that of the cow.  The evident conclusion from this is, that the breast-milk of a healthy woman is incomparably the most suitable diet for the infant; but that, if she be not of a healthy constitution, it may be destructive to the child; and that where this cannot be obtained, and cow’s milk is found to disagree, ass’s milk may sometimes be resorted to with the happiest results.[FN#8]

[FN#8] An infant will generally consume a quart, or a little more, of ass’s milk in the four and twenty hours; and as this quantity is nearly as much as the animal will give, it is best to purchase an ass for the express purpose.  The foal must be separated from the mother, and the forage of the latter carefully attended to, or the milk will disagree with the child.

Sometimes the mother’s breast, and every description of milk, is rejected by the child; in which case recourse must be had to veal or weak mutton broth, or beef tea, clear and free from fat, mixed with a very small quantity of farinaceous food, carefully passed through a sieve before it is poured into the sucking-bottle.