INFANTS' FEEDING.
What is the best food for an infant? Mothers' milk.
What is the composition of mothers' milk? About thirteen parts solids and eighty-seven parts water.
Name the solids? Fat, sugar, proteids and salts.
What is sugar? Milk sugar or "lactose."
What are the proteids? The curd of the milk, which is very similar to the white of an egg, and is the muscle making element in the milk.
Is it necessary to have all these elements? Yes.
What benefit is the fat? It is needed for the growth of the bones, nerves, fat of the body and also for producing heat.
Give the use of sugar? It is needed to produce heat and make fat in the body.
Use of the proteids? They are needed for the growth of the cells of the body, such as those of the blood, the various organs of the muscles.
What do the salts do? Help in the growth of bone.
What is the use of water? Water keeps the food minutely subdivided or in solution, so that the infant's delicate organs can digest it. It also enables the body to get rid of the waste material.