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1908]
18
To make Barley Water.
Put a teaspoonful of well crushed barley or of prepared barley in a jug
and pour on it a half-pint of boiling water, add a pinch of salt and stand it by
the fire for an hour, stir frequently. Strain through muslin. Make it twice
a day.
TO PARENTS.
No advice can be of the slightest use unless the parents, or the guardians,
of the child honestly resolve to let no selfish motive of convenience, pleasure,
or profit divert them from that which must be their first thought in the
morning and last at night, to cherish and make happy the life which is so
unreservedly put under their control. They must make up their minds to
sacrifice themselves for it, and do as they would be done by were they equally
dependent and helpless. The mother especially must remember that at least
for the first year of the child's life she must devote herself body and mind to
it. Any reason or argument for shirking the duty of suckling must be looked
upon with suspicion, however plausible. A woman who can suckle her child
and will not. increases a hundred-fold the risk that the child runs of losing its
life, and should it die, to that extent she causes its death.
Number of Notifications received.—Up to the end of the year, from
July 16th, 3,211 notifications were received, of which 483 came from medical
practitioners, 974 from midwives, and 1,754 from parents or guardians or
other persons present at the time of birth.
Prior to the Act coming into force the following circular letter was
addressed to each medical practioner in Islington:—
METROPOLITAN BOROUGH OF ISLINGTON.
Town Hall,
Enclosures. Upper Street, N.
15th July, 1908.
Dear Sir,
NOTIFICATION OF BIRTHS' ACT. 1907.
I beg to inform you that the above Act has been adopted by the
Borough Council and that such adoption has received the consent of the
Local Government Board who have notified that the provisions of the Act
shall come into force within the Borough on 16th July, 1908.
As required by Section 2 (3) of the Act, I direct your attention to its
provisions.
Section 1 (1) provides that in the case of every child born in an area
in which the Act is adopted notice in writing of the birth must be given