The following table from Holt shows at a glance the comparative average composition of human and cow’s milk:
HUMAN AND COW’S MILK COMPARED
| Human Milk | Cow’s Milk | |
| Fat | 4% | 4% |
| Sugar | 7% | 4.5% |
| Proteins | 1.5% | 3.5% |
| Salts | 0.2% | 0.75% |
| Water | 87.30% | 87.25% |
| Total | 100.00% | 100.00% |
Gruels
Barley, rice, oatmeal, corn meal and soy-bean flour are generally used. If the grains of the cereals are used, they must be cooked from three to four hours.
As a rule, cereal gruels are made by cooking the flour and water for from fifteen to twenty minutes. Two ounces to the quart is about as strong as plain gruels can be made.
Dextrinized gruels may be made as high as eight ounces to the quart. Four level tablespoonfuls of the cereal flour weigh one ounce.
As the soy bean contains no starch, it does not thicken when cooking.
About 1 level tablespoonful to 3 ounces of soy-bean flour are used to the quart. One or 2 tablespoonfuls of barley, oat, or wheat gruel may be added before cooking to increase the nutritive value. One ounce of soy-bean flour, or 2 ounces of barley flour, to 1 quart of water makes a very good standard gruel. It contains 2 per cent. protein, 0.6 per cent. fat, 5.1 per cent. carbohydrates, giving a food value of ten calories per ounce, just one-half the value of milk. In certain forms of intestinal trouble in which cow’s milk is not assimilated, this gruel is valuable used with condensed milk.