৫ আগস্ট, ২০১৮

"Seal milk is the heaviest, 53.2 percent fat, whereas human is 4.5 percent. Instead of passing out bottles, French orphanages..."

"... once distributed goats and donkeys for 'direct feeding.' (Kurlansky mentions an 1816 German book called 'The Goat as the Best and Most Agreeable Wet-Nurse.') Of course, the preferred wet nurse was usually human, but even then you had to be careful. Many believed a baby would take on the nature of whomever she was suckling. ('It was thought that a baby who suckled a goat would become very sure-footed.') 'A study in Berlin in 1838 compared the composition of milk from brunettes, blondes and redheads,' Kurlansky writes, 'and claimed to show definitively that redheads had the worst milk and brunettes the best.'"

From "A History of Everything, Served in a Cold Glass of Milk" a NYT review of the book "MILK! A 10,000-Year Food Fracas" by Mark Kurlansky. Kurlansky is the author of other books that take one product and run with it: "Cod," "Salt," and "Paper."

Here's the Wikipedia article, "Human–animal breastfeeding"...
Animals were used as substitute wet nurses for infants, particularly after the rise of syphilis increased the health risks of wet nursing. Goats and donkeys were widely used to feed abandoned babies in foundling hospitals in 18th- and 19th-century Europe. Breastfeeding animals has also been practised, whether for health reasons – such as to toughen the nipples and improve the flow of milk – or for religious and cultural purposes. A wide variety of animals have been used for this purpose, including puppies, kittens, piglets and monkeys.
... with this photograph:



Hey, I have my own picture:

DSC_0061

Back to Wikipedia:
The suckling of animals by infants was a repeated theme in classical mythology. Most famously, twin brothers Romulus and Remus (the former founded Rome) were portrayed as having been raised by a she-wolf which suckled the infants, as depicted in the iconic image of the Capitoline Wolf. The Greek god Zeus was said to have been brought up by Amalthea, portrayed variously as a goat who suckled the god or as a nymph who brought him up on the milk of her goat. Similarly, Telephus, the son of the demigod Heracles, was suckled by a deer. Several famous ancient historical figures were claimed to have been suckled by animals; Cyrus I of Persia was said to have been suckled by a dog, while mares supposedly suckled Croesus, Xerxes and Lysimachus.

৫৩টি মন্তব্য:

gilbar বলেছেন...

goat, cow, redhead, wolf: The important thing to remember, is that WHOLE MILK is Delicious!

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com বলেছেন...

That Cuban baby looks like it is going to get pooped on.

John Henry

Ann Althouse বলেছেন...

"When the writer Mary Wollstonecraft was dying of puerperal fever following the birth of her second daughter, the doctor ordered that puppies be applied to her breasts to draw off the milk, possibly with the intention of helping her womb to contract to expel the infected placenta that was slowly poisoning her."

(Wikipedia)

Michael K বলেছেন...

The history of using animals to nurse infants and the use of the milk by adults, is also the history of Brucellosis.

The connection was made by a British Army doctor named, David Bruce who also discovered other diseases.

he learned of the positive results linking the fever with unpasteurized goat milk,

Naturally, Wiki tries to diminish his accomplishment in favor of a nameless person named Zammit.

Wince বলেছেন...

Many believed a baby would take on the nature of whomever she was suckling.


What about a fear the kid would grow up wanting to suck a dick?

Tommy Duncan বলেছেন...

I'm detecting a theme today. This post is the blogging equivalent of facial tattoos.

Anne in Rockwall, TX বলেছেন...

I was always amused by the facial expression of the Capitoline Wolf. The woe-is-me eyebrow angle cracked me up back in art class.

Then I saw people putting eyebrows on their pets. They still crack me up.

gilbar বলেছেন...

as deliciously delicious as WHOLE MILK is, by no way should this deliciousness lead to the drinking of Raw milk. GOD made pasteurizing machines for a reason; and that reason was for them to be used.
WHOLE MILK should also be homogenized, otherwise it's not really WHOLE MILK; it's just skimmed milk with cream floating on top of it (you have to be careful what you buy up here in northeast iowa, or you won't get Real WHOLE MILK).

mockturtle বলেছেন...

John Henry observes: That Cuban baby looks like it is going to get pooped on.

That was my immediate observation, as well.

mockturtle বলেছেন...

Gilbar, I'm old enough to remember milk being delivered to our doorstep in bottles and the cream was always on top. The cream was, of course, the best part though an emulsion is better than skim.

Michael K বলেছেন...

Mock, I remember that and my aunt and uncle, who got non-homogenized milk would draw off the cream at the tip and save it for coffee.

They also had a refrigerator with the condenser on top.

It looked a lot like this one.

rhhardin বলেছেন...

That's a Pit Bull, not a wolf.

chuck বলেছেন...

> Wiki tries to diminish his accomplishment in favor of a nameless person named Zammit.

Wiki is full of that sort of thing, and it always sticks out. Does Zammit deserve credit? I have no idea, but the interpolation makes me suspicious of his contribution.

Anne in Rockwall, TX বলেছেন...

Nasal merkins, however, have peaked. Just don't peek.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/bibibarud/nostrils-but-make-em-fashion?utm_term=.wyOmkJqL1#.bsr80Zz5M

Yancey Ward বলেছেন...

That Cuban baby looks like it is going to get pooped on.

My Cuban Friend believes this was intentional.

Fernandinande বলেছেন...

My black friend says Martin Luther was raised on a diet of worms.

Ralph L বলেছেন...

My grandfather would put the cream on his cereal. That and smoking gave him his first heart attack at 53. His father and aunts and uncles lived into their 90's (mother died of 1919 flu).

The babies were added to the she-wolf sculpture centuries later, but perhaps they're replacements. Neater if the wolf was honored alone.

jimbino বলেছেন...

Seal milk is the heaviest, 53.2% fat

Since fat, like alcohol and oil, is less dense than water, seal milk will be the lightest, not the heaviest of the animal milks.

gilbar বলেছেন...

milk being delivered to our doorstep in bottles and the cream was always on top.

When i complained to my folks about the disgusting non-homogenized milk they sold at the Quillian's Food Ranch* in Postville; my dad told me about how shocked HIS father was the first time he came to town and there was no cream on the top of the bottle. So, my dad thought it was funny that i was shocked the other way.
Call me a traditionalist; but i prefer my delicious WHOLE MILK the way that GOD intended it to be: Pasteurized and Homogenized.

Quillian's Food Ranch* don't worry, the Food Ranch sells regular WHOLE MILK too; but the one in Postville apparently has people that want weird milk.

Yancey Ward বলেছেন...

Heavy can have different meanings depending on the context, Jimbino. In this case, it is perfectly fine to describe the fat content on a scale from light to heavy.

gilbar বলেছেন...

Fernandistein , I heard about ML's crazy diet too!

tcrosse বলেছেন...

There used to be a gadget that fit on top of a special milk bottle with a bulbous top. It had two spouts, one for the milk on the bottom and the other for the cream on top.

Ralph L বলেছেন...

I guess "heavy cream" came from "heavy on the cream."

Ralph L বলেছেন...
এই মন্তব্যটি লেখক দ্বারা সরানো হয়েছে।
buwaya বলেছেন...

As for lactation, I concur that brunettes do superlatively.
Granted my sample size is limited.

Ralph L বলেছেন...

A local dairy sells milk in returnable glass jugs at a stiff premium. It was nearly tasteless compared to the plastic-jugged stuff, which I couldn't stand at first after decades of paper cartons. It also made me nervous handling a half-gallon glass container.

Fernandinande বলেছেন...

tcrosse said...There used to be a gadget that fit on top of a special milk bottle with a bulbous top.

A USB speaker gadget?

Cork Speaker

Cork is a compact-sized, light and portable speaker

Brings pure and clear sound by recycling abandoned bottles

This wireless speaker works well with any kinds of Bluetooth devices, such as smartphones, laptops, tablets, etc

This product has suitable electromagnetic wave for home use and can be used in all areas

H.T.

tcrosse বলেছেন...

My Grandpa took evaporated milk in his coffee, a habit he picked up on the railroad. OTOH Grandma drank hers right out of the pot. She'd put the spout up to her lips and drink.

Saint Croix বলেছেন...

Althouse, you're standing next to the viability doctrine!

That's a happy she-wolf.

Howard বলেছেন...

Mothers milk is the #1 gateway drug leading to opioid addiction.

buwaya বলেছেন...

All over East Asia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Philippines, the traditional coffee creamer is canned condensed milk. Sweetener and creamer in one. I can't have that anymore, the coffee of my youth.

Amexpat বলেছেন...

I've Kurlansky's Salt, Cod, Paper and the book about Oysters in NY. I found all interesting reads despite his boring writing style.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM বলেছেন...

is that why they call it 'Sealtest'?

asking for a friend in the arctic circle

Michael K বলেছেন...

the traditional coffee creamer is canned condensed milk.

We had a weekend house in the mountains and kept several cans of condensed milk for coffee creamer.

Fernandinande বলেছেন...

Seal milk is the heaviest, 53.2 percent fat,

Fake news from the NNT - more fat (0.94 g/mL) means it's lighter, not heavier.

William বলেছেন...

I have always wondered where Tarzan got his preternatural ability to swing fom tree limbs and vines. Perhaps he nursed from his ape mother's milk. That would explain everything.

William বলেছেন...

Samuel Johnson suffered from scrofula. Scrofula is a tubercular disease spread by mother's milk. Nature is very perverse. Can you imagine being given a debilitating disease by your mother's milk? It's very hard to trust in God's providence when you have been poisoned by your mother's milk.

Michael K বলেছেন...

Scrofula is a tubercular disease spread by mother's milk.

It's more commonly from cow's milk but, I suppose, if you had a tubercular mother, you could get it from mother's mile. You could certainly get syphilis from mothers' milk. I'm not sure how much tb bacteremia there is.

This study is HIV positive mothers.

The magnitude of TB IFN-γ responses in maternal breast milk and blood were correlated. Elucidating the influence of TB immune responses in breast milk on infant TB susceptibility and immunity may inform future maternal TB vaccine strategies.

It sounds like they don't know either.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that moms who are newly diagnosed with active TB be separated from their babies and that they not breastfeed until they've been treated for two weeks.

This isn't because milk can transfer tuberculosis to a baby. It's because TB is spread so easily by respiratory droplets (for instance, when you cough). Even though it's terrible to separate a mother and her baby, it is far worse for a baby to get tuberculosis.

Again, the good news is that because milk does not transmit TB, moms can continue to pump and have somebody else feed their milk to their baby. As with anyone who pumps, you should wash your hands well before you do so.


So it sounds like mothers' milk is safe but respiratory transmission from mother to baby is a risk.

truth speaker বলেছেন...

Ive read 'Cod' and 'Salt'(and maybe one more) and they were well written and informative.

Thanks for the update on his work.

glenn বলেছেন...

Then there’s Bill Clinton “Hey look, t**s”.

Dave Begley বলেছেন...

Is that a $15,000 ostrich jacket Althouse is wearing?

southcentralpa বলেছেন...

"[R]edheads had the worst milk..." I knew there was something about gingers that I just. Didn't. Trust.

(And just in case anyone missed the memo, with the exception of those young enough not to be able to eat solid food, milk is utterly inessential for human nutrition.)

Howard বলেছেন...

Memo's are for tools. Humans are omnivores, most individual foods are inessential, yet most all foods can be nutritious. Food flexibility is a keen human evolutionary feature essential for long term survival in a world subject to severe climate change.

Michael K বলেছেন...

Food flexibility is a keen human evolutionary feature essential for long term survival in a world subject to severe climate change.

I was about to agree with you, Howard, until you slipped into the climate hoax.

The Indo-Europeans were probably the first to digest milk and the grazing, pastoral life along with the invention of the wheel and the wagon led to the invasion and conquering of Europe, Iran and northern India.

If you meant the end of the Ice Age as climate change, I apologize.

Darrell বলেছেন...

I couldn't find any seal-milk ice cream at the store. Perhaps I didn't look hard enough.

gilbar বলেছেন...

And just in case anyone missed the memo, with the inclusion of those young enough not to be able to eat solid food, milk is utterly delicious.)

fix it for you!

Lewis Wetzel বলেছেন...

Blogger Howard said...

Memo's are for tools. Humans are omnivores, most individual foods are inessential, yet most all foods can be nutritious. Food flexibility is a keen human evolutionary feature essential for long term survival in a world subject to severe climate change.


This has the elements of a "just so" story. If being an omnivore is such a big deal for survival, why haven't more animals evolved to become omnivores? Koalas have been in there current form since the middle pleistocene. They and several other related species were once omnivores. The related species remained omnivores and became extinct. The Koalas evolved to eat nothing but eucalyptus leaves and survived. WTF?

Jarby বলেছেন...

If being an omnivore is such a big deal for survival, why haven't more animals evolved to become omnivores?

According to my sister (an animal biology nerd), omnivores have advantages in adaptability but disadvantages in terms of nutrition intake. A carnivore can get all the nutrients it needs from meat; an herbivore can do the same from plants. But while omnivores can eat both, they are less efficient in extracting needed nutrients from their food. Omnivores can lose the ability to digest specific forms of food (ex. we can't eat grass) or have nutrition deficiencies (we cannot synthesize vitamin C, like carnivores). Having an omnivorous digestive system is a bigger energy drain and strain, too. So it's a strategy that has the wide-but-shallow problem.

It's worth noting that the process of evolution doesn't always result in adaptable species. Many, many animals on the planet have evolved to occupy tiny niches in the environment, feeding on one food source or in one specific climate, and go extinct the moment those niches disappear.

traditionalguy বলেছেন...

Listening to Milk now. His first book, Salt, is an all time favorite of mine. And in Milk he brings them together when he says pre-refridgeration butter had to be salted to last long enough to sell it. Unsalted butter was a rare luxury.

Salt FTW.

Howard বলেছেন...

Doc Mike: I'm actually referring to the extreme and sudden climate change that started with Global cooling and the beginning of Ice ages in the Miocene which coincides with the great ape explosion. Later, as the northern ice caps formed, the drought-flood cycles throughout Africa during the last 2.5-My is believed contributed to the robust adaptability of our ancestors starting with Homo Habilis. This resulted in "anti-fragile" evolution.

Howard বলেছেন...

If Delicious pasteurized Whole Milk was NOT essential, then why on Earth did G_d create Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies??

Bilwick বলেছেন...

Nice tits.

ccscientist বলেছেন...

History is just so weird....