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44
pose either to support herself and family or to supplement the earnings
of her husband. Seven were employed as laundresses, but in
6 instances the mothers had not been to work for some time prior
to her confinement. This period of rest varied from a month to six
weeks.
Two mothers were employed as charwomen and one as a waitress
and the three had continued to work up to within a few days of their
confinement.
These figures cannot be regarded as conclusive evidence of the
effect upon the infantile mortality, of employment in a particular
industry during pregnancy, as sufficient data are not to hand. Not
only the extent of such labour should be ascertained, but the conditions
which obtain in the different industries. It would not be feasible
to place the same restrictions upon an industry where the work is
light and married female labour is limited to 4 or 5 days a week, as
upon some of the factories in the Midlands and North of England.
DIARRHCEAL DISEASES.
The number of deaths from Diarrhoea was 80, which is equal to
a rate of 1.5 per 1,000 living.
Sixteen deaths were registered as due to Enteritis or Gastritis.
Since 1900, when the Royal College of Physicians recommended
the adoption of the term "Epidemis Enteritis" as a synonym for
Epidemic Diarrhoea, and the disuse in medical certificates of death
of such terms as Gastro-enteritis, Muco-enteritis, and Gastric Catarrh,
the number registered as due to Diarrhœa has increased, whilst the
deaths from Gastro-enteritis has apparently diminished. It would
be useless, if a comparison be made, extending over a period of years,
to limit it to deaths from Diarrhoea, as a number of deaths formerly
registered as due to Gastro-enteritis would now be certified as
Diarrhoea. The deaths from Diarrhœal diseases in 1906 numbered
96, and of these 80 were under 1 year.
As far back as 1887, Dr. Ballard included Diarrhœa among
the principal zymotic diseases, but the specific organism has not with
certainty been isolated. The vital manifestations of the organism are