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3. A grandmother rubbed the baby every day from neck to
foot, during the cold weather, with tallow and camphorated oil to
"keep the cold out."
4. The baby was a first child, illegitimate, and sent into
hospital for "the blight," due, it was alleged, to a "distemper of
the father." The grandmother said she "put it on a penny
insurance for burial, and hoped the Lord would see fit to take it
when it was teething."
5. A baby was attending hospital for sickness and diarrhœa.
It had been left in the care of its grandmother, and, when seen,
was unwashed and in a filthy condition. It was sucking a dummy
teat, which was extremely dirty. The milk bottle was foul, and
the teat smelt very offensively. The child was being fed on condensed
milk, although the grandmother admitted that she had
been told at the hospital to feed the baby on cow's milk, and not
to give it condensed milk. It is quite a common occurrence to
find that parents or others are taking a child to hospital, but are
ignoring the advice they have received. Sometimes they carry
out no treatment, and allege that "they did not understand what
the hospital doctors said."
6. The mother and her illegitimate child occupied one room.
When the health visitor called, the grandmother was seen, and
stated that the mother had gone to work, and had "put the baby
out." It was found on the second floor back room, lying asleep
on a very foul bed. In the same room lived a dirty woman—a
reputed widow—her two children, a crippled, tuberculous girl, 10
years, and a child of 2 years, and her grandchild of 2 years. The
house was said to be a den of thieves. Some of the male adult
occupants returned home between 2 and 3 in the morning, "bringing
with them bags of stuff," and prevented the others from
sleeping. 1 hey had never been known to work, but were always
well dressed and well fed.
The Mothers.-In the poorer parts of the borough the mother
is sometimes the chief or even the only support of the family.
She feeds and clothes the children; she pays for feeding and