View report page

79
From this table it will be seen that only 24 out of 115 infants
who have died from Epidemic Diarrhoea in 1901 and 1902 were
fed with human milk, which is 20 per cent. The other 80 per
cent, were fed on condensed milk, or cows' milk, or either of them
as well as human milk. Thirty-five per cent, were fed wholly or
partly on condensed milk, and 45 per cent, wholly or partly
on cows' milk, in bottles. There can be no doubt in the mind of
anyone who knows how the poor live in an urban district like
Finsbury that, quite apart from the lesser suitability of
condensed milk or cows' milk for infant feeding, these two forms
of milk readily become contaminated with dirt and dust.
Such pollution may gain access to the milk at the farm, or in
transit, or in the home. Such polluted milk readily sets up
Diarrhoea, especially in warm weather. The remedy is to feed
infants on human milk, or, if that be impracticable, then on
sterilized milk.
[For further notes on the question of condensed milks see
p. 102.]
PHTHISIS
In previous reports, and in a Special Report in 1901, I have
discussed the preventive measures adopted in this Borough in
respect to Phthisis and it is unnecessary to repeat these statements
again. It will be remembered that Voluntary Notification was
commenced early in October, 1900, and that this Borough was
the first in London to adopt this system. During 1901 and 1902
many other of the Metropolitan Boroughs have adopted a similar
system. Our work in Finsbury may be most satisfactorily
considered under the two heads of Voluntary Notification and
Mortality.
The Voluntary Notification of Phthisis.—During
1901 we received 70 notifications of Phthisis, and in 1902 we
received 121, as follows:—