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under one year of age is directed to be included
under the heading of Diarrhoea. It shows a great
increase from the preceding year, when only one
case was registered, and from the average of the six
preceding years, when only 4-1 deaths took place.
Most of these deaths occurred in September, and I
think they may be, and probably were, due to the
extremely hot weather that then prevailed. This
fact, if it is a fact, seems to require investigation, and
is referred to further on. Is it just because we have
a few weeks of hot weather that the deaths from
diarrhoea in this District go up from an average of
4.1 to 15? Why does this hot weather act so prejudicially
to infants? If causation is admitted, I
think that one way in which a solution may be
sought for is in the food. That a spell of inordinate
heat is prone to cause diarrhoea is well known. A
general relaxation, the gratifying of thirst by all
sorts of drinks, and with infants the possibility of
milk being given that is undergoing fermentive
changes may be taken as possible exciting causes,
and there is also the probability that the additions
that are frequently made of preservatives to keep the
milk from "turning" may be injurious to infants.
Milk is more sensitive to atmospheric conditions
than most people think; how many, for instance, are
aware that onions in a dairy will in a short time
affect all the milk, and, if this is so, it can be and
is, equally absorbent of germs if brought in contact
with tainted food. The ordinary working man's
house has next to no suitable accommodation for
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