i wanted to post this to the list for the emails i got from members
expressing interest in the answer. thanks to karen for pointing me in the direction of
'milk, money and madness'.
 the portion referring the milk of an ass actually says,
 "Around the turn of the eighteenth century, limited chemical analysis of
milk was possible; from this it was determined that asses' milk was closest in
composition to human milk. Goat's milk came in second. Cow's milk came into
popular usage only because it was inexpensive and easy to come by, not because it
was particularly high in quality or particularly appropriate for infants."
(p. 59).
i also found the table comparing the milks of various mammals on page 68.
that table indicates that of the animals compared, a horse makes the closest
milk. the comparison is based on percentage of fat, protein and lactose in the
milks as well as how many days it takes each newborn to double its birth weight.
the animals used for this comparison are as follows (in order of closeness to
human milk composition) horse, cow, reindeer, goat and sheep.
since rats were not included, i don't think i have my answer yet! if only i
could r/m where i read that rats have the closest milk to humans... still
researching and will keep you updated on progress!
~jacqui gruttadauria, wondering if there would be so many formula feeders if
it were a rat's milk based recipe...~

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