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40
A dessertspoonful of the mixture was directed to be put into
a basin to be mixed to the thickness of a smooth cream with cold
milk or water; to this was to be added half-a-pint of milk and
water in equal parts, and it was then to be brought to the boil.
It was contended by the chemist that the boiling would convert
the starch into sugar, and, I regret to say, this view was supported
by a member of the Society of Public Analysts. There are some
artificially prepared infants' foods in which the conversion of
the starch into saccharine bodies is complete, but they do not
contain 70 per cent. of starch. It is not very satisfactory that
the harmfulness or otherwise of the preparation should be left
to the decision of a local bench of magistrates-- a course which
may well be compared with that which it is now possible to adopt
in Queensland under the provisions of the Health Act of 1911.
Section 17 of that Act enables the Health Commissioner to
cause to be examined any food which is advertised, for the
purpose of ascertaining its composition, properties or efficiency.
He may then report the result of the examination to the Government and publish his report in any newspaper which circulates
in the colony. Moreover, the Governor in Council may, on
the recommendation of the Health Commissioner, prohibit the
advertising or sale of any food which, in the opinion of the
Commissioner, is injurious to life or health.
As will be seen from the tables on infantile mortality, the
two diseases of special importance as factors in raising the death
rate are bronchitis and pneumonia, either with or without
measles and whooping cough as a primary cause. Without
counting those deaths resulting from the complications of the
two infectious diseases, the number is large and the majority of
such cases are traceable to unhealthy homes where large families
are pent up in small ill-ventilated rooms, often with hermetically
sealed windows and smoky chimneys. Probably no condition
is more associated with "unqualified practice" than bronchitis
in infancy and childhood. An infant develops a cough, and the