Calcium, Magnesium and Phosphorous in Milk

A number of different procedures for the quantitative determination of the various minerals present in cow's milk are in use at the present time. While the different procedures are all based upon sound chemical principles and are, as a rule, scientifically accurate, they differ materially in the amount of time and effort used in making the determinations, and in the expense incidental to the reagents and equipment used. There are, moreover, a large number of different methods in use for determining the mineral content of blood, and it is probable that some of the methods used in blood analysis might conveniently be adapted to shortening the procedure in milk analysis.It is the purpose of this paper to discuss and summarize facts that have been learned regarding the roles of the three most important of these minerals, namely calcium, phosphorus and magnesium, in milk secretion and in the various processes to which milk is subjected; to discuss the methods commonly used for the determination of these minerals in milk; and to present original investigations involving a study of a new and shorter method for the determination of these minerals in milk.