Donkey milk knowledge archive · Historical source

Diderot’s Encyclopédie (1765): donkey milk in Venel’s article “Lait”

In volume IX of the Encyclopédie, published in 1765, the physician and chemist Gabriel-François Venel devotes a separate section to donkey milk. He describes how the she-ass was led to the sickbed and milked there, and soberly concludes that, as a “last resort”, it very rarely cured.

Historical account: The information reproduced here reflects the knowledge of its time. It is not scientifically substantiated, is not a recommendation and cannot be applied to today. Donkey milk is a food, not a remedy.
1765France (Paris; imprint Neufchastel)Encyclopaedia (specialist article: chemistry, materia medica, dietetics)
Author
Gabriel-François Venel (1723–1775)
Work
Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, ed. Diderot and d’Alembert, vol. IX
Passage
Article “Lait”, pp. 199–210; section “2°. Du lait d’ânesse”, pp. 206–207 (vol. IX, 1765)
Time & place
1765 · France (Paris; imprint Neufchastel)
Type of source
Encyclopaedia (specialist article: chemistry, materia medica, dietetics)

In the original words

What the original says

Selon la méthode ordinaire, le lait d'ânesse se donne seulement une fois par jour, à la dose de huit onces jusqu'à une livre.

According to the usual method, donkey milk is given only once a day, in a dose of eight ounces up to one pound.

FrenchEncyclopédie, t. IX (1765), Art. „Lait“, S. 206

Pour cela, on amene l'ânesse à côté du lit, ou à la porte de la chambre du malade, où on la trait dans un vaisseau de verre à ouverture un peu étroite, plongé dans de l'eau tiede

For this purpose the she-ass is led to the bedside or to the door of the patient’s room, where she is milked into a glass vessel with a rather narrow opening, set in lukewarm water.

FrenchEncyclopédie, t. IX (1765), Art. „Lait“, S. 207

un remede extrème, une derniere ressource, sacra anchora ; que par cette raison, on voit très-rarement réussir, du moins guérir.

[In severe chest diseases it is] an extreme remedy, a last resort, a “sheet anchor”; which is why [according to Venel] one very rarely sees it succeed, or at least cure.

FrenchEncyclopédie, t. IX (1765), Art. „Lait“, S. 207

English rendering: our own translation by the DON DONKEY’S editorial team, following the sense of the text.

Background

Who, when, what kind of text

The Encyclopédie of Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d’Alembert was the great collective work of the French Enlightenment. Text volumes VIII to XVII were issued together in 1765, under the false imprint Neufchastel because of censorship. The long article “Lait” (milk) in volume IX is signed with the mark of the Montpellier physician and chemist Gabriel-François Venel.

Venel treats milk first chemically, then dietetically and medically, by animal species. He reports older analyses by Friedrich Hoffmann and Wilhelm Homberg but says himself that these experiments were made with “beaucoup de négligence & d’inéxactitude”. The section on donkey milk follows the one on cow’s, goat’s and sheep’s milk; Venel then goes on to human milk, whey and milk sugar.

Content

What the source reports about donkey milk

Venel derives the properties of donkey milk from its composition: it contains little cheesy matter and butter but much “substance sucrée”. It is therefore very thin yet nourishing; adding sugar is “assez inutile”, since it is naturally very sweet. He even thinks it worth trying it as the sole food and suspects this could become “très-salutaire”.

He describes the usual dose precisely: once a day, eight ounces to one pound, in the morning on an empty stomach or at bedtime, as warm as when freshly milked. For this the she-ass was brought to the bed or the room door and milked into a glass set in a lukewarm water bath. It was taken mainly in spring and autumn; the animal should get green fodder, barley and grooming several times a day.

At the same time Venel qualifies this: in most chronic chest diseases donkey milk was given only as a “derniere ressource”, which is why one very rarely saw it cure. Used early, it was thought at the time to do better.

At a glance

Figures & facts from the source

1765year of publication of volume IX of the Encyclopédie
pp. 206–207section “Du lait d’ânesse” in the article “Lait”
8 oz – 1 lbusual daily amount, given once a day
12 → 1ounces of donkey milk and dry residue in Hoffmann’s evaporation test
2seasons for its use: spring and autumn

Critical assessment

How reliable is this source?

Source value

The text is available in the scholarly ARTFL edition with page facsimiles; the quotations can be checked on pp. 206 and 207 of the original edition. The article is signed and written by an expert author of its time.

Enlightenment scepticism

Venel criticises the inaccuracy of older milk analyses and openly states that donkey milk hardly cured in severe cases. This sets his text apart from mere collections of recipes, even though he still argues within humoral theory.

Today’s assessment

The uses and explanations given reflect 18th-century medicine and cannot be applied to today. The observation that donkey milk contains little fat and comparatively much lactose remains accurate.

Our assessment

The article is one of the most vivid descriptions of how donkey milk was actually given in the 18th century: fresh, warm, milked right at the sickroom door. We are struck by how openly Venel also names the limits of the expectations of his time.

References

Sources to check

More sources and studies in the research archive. Summarised by the DON DONKEY’S editorial team, as of November 2026.