THE DELETERIOUS EFFECT OF THE ALKALIZATION OF INFANTS' FOOD

At the present time little regard is paid to the reaction of the milk preparations that are fed to babies. It is considered quite immaterial, for example, whether sodium bicarbonate is added to a milk formula, or whether a proprietary food is more or less alkaline in reaction. To such an extent is this the case that in stating the composition of proprietary foods, the textbooks on children's diseases content themselves with a statement of the protein, fat and carbohydrate content of the various popular preparations, giving no consideration whatsoever to their reaction. In such tables the salts are expressed in terms of percentages of total ash, the nature of the inorganic constituents being not specifically mentioned. This is true of American, English, French and German textbooks. This neglect is all the more remarkable as for some years it has been appreciated that the salts play an important rôle in