On the basis of clinical evidence, feeding experiments and the results of investigations on animals, one of us (O. M. S.) has, for some years, considered the possibility that the biologic character of the protein of cow's milk may be a factor in the causation of nutritional disturbances in young infants. The object of this paper is to report data which have a bearing on the subject.
The conception that nutritional disturbances of infants may be due to the absorption of unaltered or slightly altered protein has been discussed by Schlossman,1 Moro,2 Finkelstein,3 Salga,4 Wernstedt,5 Lust,6 Reiss7 and others, largely on the basis of indirect evidence and without any accompanying data of significance. It is beyond the scope of this paper to discuss the literature, but that will be undertaken in a later and more complete report.
In order for foreign protein to