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infantile mortality. 49
It has been recorded* that the homes of 8(55 children were visited shortly after birth, and.
that the proportions of children fed naturally, artificially, and mixed were 77, 12, and 11
respectively. The deaths of 20 of those children were recorded during the year, the
proportions of the deceased fed naturally, artificially, and mixed being 50, 20, and .50 per
cent, respectively. The rates of mortality per 1,000 children of each class were—
Naturally fed, 15 ; artificially fed, 39 ; and mixed,† 01;
the total mortality being only 23 per 1,000. These figures require to be received with much
reservation, but nevertheless it is impossible to refuse to regard them with some satisfaction.
As the information necessary to enable the visits to be made is received after intervals
ranging from 1 or 2 weeks to nearlv 2 months, it is not surprising to find that none of the
deceased children were under one month. On distributing according to age at death, it is
found that there were
3 aged 1 month, 7 aged 2 months, G aged 3 months, and 4 aged 4 months.

Two-thirds of the deaths among those fed on a mixed diet were from diarrhœal diseases,
one-half of those among children entirely artificially fed and one-fifth of those among children
naturally fed.
From enquiries made regarding 78 deaths of children under two years of age, from the
diarrhœal diseases, (60 of the deceased being under 10 months old, it appears that—
Among those under 10 months
6 were fed naturally ; 29 were fed artificially ; and 25 had a mixed diet.
Stated as percentages, the figures are—
10 p. c. had natural food ; 49 p. c. artificial diets ; and 42 p. c. both varieties.
Of those who died at ages between 10 months and 2 years (18 in all)—
11 (61 per cent.) had been fed naturally for at least 6 months ;
4 (22 „ ) „ „ artificially from birth; and
3 (17 „ ) had a mixed diet from birth.
In 50 of the 78 families the long tube bottle was in use, and of the 78 houses, only 11
had proper accommodation for the storage of food. The families were found to occupy
1 room—23 families ; 2 rooms—28 families ; 3 rooms—19 families ; 4 rooms—4 families ;
5 or more rooms—4 families.
The nuisances discovered and dealt with numbered 20, viz.:—
Dirty premises 5 Defective dustbins 9
Dirty cisterns 5 Doubtful drainage 1
In the course of visiting these houses 10 other cases of diarrhoea not ending fatally were
discovered.
* See p. 6. † Here " mixed " includes early weaning.