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49
proper feeding and bringing up of a baby, causes much infant suffering,
and if not premature death, serious and often permanent enfeeblement.
Death in such cases is usually the result of Gastro-Enteritis, or even
starvation.
The enormous and sudden increase in Infant Diarrhæa at the
approach of hot summer weather points strongly to an infectious origin.
This increase generally coincides with an elevation of the earth's
temperature. It is rare to see Diarrhæa assuming an epidemic form in
rural districts or outside of large towns. Milk is undoubtedly the chief
medium by which the germs find their way into the alimentary canal.
The absence of Diarrhæa in some of the rapidly fatal cases strongly
confirms the septic nature of the disease. To prevent this infantile
diarrhæa, mothers should, where possible, be induced to suckle the baby
When this is impossible, as it is in certain cases, humanized cow's milk
in bottle, and sterilised, should be given, as ordinary milk in liable to decompose,
especially in hot weather and when little attention is given to
the proper cleansing of the vessel in which it is stored and to the feeding
bottle.
Particular care should be given to the keeping clean of the cowsheds,
and to strict cleanliness in the milking operations, especially
during hot weather, the cooling of the milk before transit by rail, the
proper storage of the milk at the place of distribution and at the home,
the distribution of sterilised (humanised) milk, the issue to mothers of
instructions how to feed and bring up the baby, the visiting of the home
by lady visitors, and to the general attention to the sanitary state of the
home and surroundings.
The statistics appended to this report clearly demonstrate the extent
of the waste that is going on under the head of infant mortality.
The causes tending to this grave condition are: (a) hereditary taint,
(b) employment of mothers late in pregnancy and too soon after childbirth,
(c) decrease in breast feeding, (d) defective milk supply, (e) parental
ignorance and neglect, (f) the drink habit in the parents, (g) overlaying
of infants, (h) overcrowding in the dwelling, (i) insanitary conditions
The general remedies are the better housing, better feeding and the
moral and intellectual elevation of the masses.
To attain these desirable objects Milk Depots and Creches should be
established for the proper feeding and care of infants. Leaflets should
be widely distributed giving instructions to mothers, who cannot suckle