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109
The following are the kind of cases in which the Weighing
Machine has often been of great value:—
(1) An adopted baby aged 6 months, said to be suffering from
indigestion, and not thriving. The child was fed on cow’s
milk diluted with very thick barley-water (in the proportion
of 5 of milk to 9 of barley-water) and was 4½ lbs. below the
normal weight. The milk was properly diluted and cream
was added, and the child gained 10 oz. the following week.
(2) A baby aged 3½ weeks weighed 6 lbs. 10 oz. and was fed on
a patent food. The food was changed to properly diluted
milk and the child gained an average of 7 oz. a week for rhe
next 15 weeks.
(3) A baby aged 5 weeks weighed 7 lbs. 8 oz. and was put out to
nurse. The child’s food consisted of very weak condensed
milk. The milk was gradually given stronger, and later on
this was substituted by diluted fresh milk and cream. The
child gained in weight from its first visit an average of over
6 oz. a week.
The largest amount gained by a baby in one week was 1 lbs.
The average gain was nearly 5 oz.
“Most of the children brought to be wieghed have been very insufficiently
clothed, particularly about the neck and shoulders, and it
is not uncommon to find very young infants clothed entirely in cotton,
even in the cold weather. To mitigate this evil I have been able to
arrange, through the kindness of some of the Head Teachers of the
Schools, for the elder girls to knit woollen vests for babies. The wool
for these is supplied by us and the vests are sold to the mothers at
cost price, and are much appreciated.”
The extent to which Public Health work has concentrated upon
the problem of Infantile Mortality during recent years is due not only
to the marked decline in the birth-rate, but also to the realisation of
B2