One leading authority states that “clean, fresh cow’s milk, properly modified, is the best substitute available. It is to be preferred to any prepared food, no matter how sweeping may be the manufacturers’ claim for it.” The most striking thing about the prepared foods is their tremendous excess of carbohydrates, either cane-sugar or sugar derived from starch by the process of malting. Condensed milk, in particular, contains much too large a percentage of cane-sugar for the child. Another authority states: An excess of sugar is likely to damage the organism by the production of poisonous substances in the body. This is particularly true in those infants who are already suffering from indigestion. An excess of sugar in such a baby is likely to render him severely and dangerously sick and result in catastrophe. [Sidenote: Bacteriology] The study of the bacteriology of the alimentary tract of the new-born infant reveals a most interesting fact and explains why artificial feeding is often so difficult and dangerous. In the intestinal canal at all times many varieties of vegetable organisms (bacteria) are present. These are called floral organisms. Some of these aid digestion while some others increase disturbance in the intestines, particularly if in excess, or if digestive derangements occur. The flora which predominate are those peculiar to the infant which is properly digesting human milk. This accounts for the uniform action of the bowels in breast-fed infants. As soon as the child gets milk from the breast, the intestinal flora assume this definite form. When cow’s milk or any other food is given, the intestinal flora change. When the change is made too suddenly, these new flora which live on the digested products of human milk gradually disappear and the action of the new flora often causes intestinal derangements which the infant is not strong enough to overcome. * * * * * [Sidenote: Composition of Human Milk] If artificial feeding must be resorted to, the composition should resemble mother’s milk as nearly as possible. It is impossible to duplicate it exactly and even though the elements and the proportion of them are the same, the bacterial flora will be different and consequently the effect also. If the breasts are emptied regularly, human milk varies little in composition after the first few weeks. According to Holt there is an average in mother’s milk of Fat 4% Sugar 7% Protein 1.5% Salt 0.2% Water 87.3% [Sidenote: Adaptation of Cow’s Milk] When the baby has been fed at the breast for several months, pure cow’s milk sometimes agrees very well, if overfeeding is avoided. The amount of milk taken every twenty-four hours by a healthy infant is usually about 1-1/4 ounces to the pound of the baby’s weight. A normal infant of twelve pounds would be taking between twelve and eighteen ounces of milk in its twenty-four hour mixture.