On the Nature of the Cellular Elements Present in Milk. Part III. The Milk of Animals other than the Cow

Extract

The general consideration of these results only tends to confirm the conclusions already arrived at. A uniform type of life evidently tends to a fairly uniform excretion of tissue cells from the udder. The case of Goat II also emphasises the effect of outside causes in increasing temporarily this excretion, while some of the samples of human milk show plainly that very high cell counts are not by any means necessarily connected with any diseased or disordered condition of the mammary gland.

We again emphasise the view we have already stated, viz. that in the cow the udder must be looked upon as an organ which has by breeding and selection been brought to an artificial condition of milk secretion and that this has been accompanied by a stimulation of the tissues to cell proliferation and that this proliferation may quite easily be caused to become abnormally great, leading to the appearance of an increased number of cells in the secretion. In support of this view we lay great stress on the fact constantly noticed by us, viz. that when the cell count is high for any reason, the cells themselves are always well-defined, showing little signs of degeneration, and also stain in a much more characteristic and definite manner, a fact which is diffcult to explain if they are to be considered to be blood elements.