A STUDY OF THE ANTIRACHITIC FACTOR IN HUMAN AND IN COW'S MILK

Abstract

Rickets is a universal disorder. It occurs with by far the greatest frequency among infants and young children in the temperate zones, but no country seems to be spared and no climate to confer absolute immunity. In considering and in studying this widespread disorder, one should always bear in mind that milk is the universal food of infants; whatever may be the differences as to detail, the basic diet of every infant is either woman's milk or that of some animal. It is therefore of prime importance, in studying the etiology of rickets, to have as complete an understanding as possible of the relation of woman's and of cow's milk and their constituents to the development and prevention of rickets. Strangely enough, no experimental study has been undertaken of human milk in its bearing on rickets, so that it seemed worth while to investigate this problem, making use of the