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of infants is very exceptional, only one instance having been
found among over 300 infants: two others were fed on cheap
condensed milk along with cows milk in one case, and goat's
milk in another.
3. The cause of artificial feeding in the great majority
of cases is the weakness of the mothers, causing loss or
insufficiency of milk, or the weakness or defect of the child
disabling it from suckling.
In three cases only was the mother's going out to work
given as a reason of her not suckling her child.
In one case a landlady stated that the mother found it too
much trouble to suckle.
4. Artificial feeding enormously increases the liability
to diarrhœa.
Prevalence of the Disease.—The house to house enquiry
showed that 44 out of 211 children had had diarrhœa. If these
are taken as a sample of the infantile population it follows
that 20 per cent. of the whole number of children living under
one year were affected by the recent epidemic. As the poorer
streets are usually chosen for house to house inspection this
estimate is probably in excess of the actual prevalence of the
disease, but it undoubtedly shows a very widespread occurrence.
At 40 out of the 136 houses where diarrhœa occurred a
history was obtained of other members of the family or near
neighbours having had non fatal attacks of the same malady.
In many cases the majority of the family had recently
suffered from some degree of diarrhœa.
Fatality.—The proportion of deaths to cases of diarrhœa
(if any reliance can be placed on the figures given above) is
about 15 per cent. in children under one year of age. The
fatality in older children and adults must be much less than this