Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1896-10-14
BABY INCUBATORS.
:. PHYSICIAN TELLS OF THE CON-
sTRucTIoN AND OPERATION.

The Apparat1s IL very Simple end Inex-
pe.sive. but Atsendasee Il Cossiy-l.
Additioa 70 Sewing . Life. Each l,cubs-
ton Contribatss Useful Knovledc>.
In sharp contrast to the lavish reck-
lessness with which noble, splendid
lives are often sacrificed to some futile.
ignoble cause. is the infinite vigilance
and care, the ingenuity and skill that
are sometimes expended upon preserving
and tanning into fame o little spark
that has hardly attained the dignity of
being called . life.
Doubtless most are familiar with the
metal receptacle 4 by 9. standing on
four legs about waist high, with small
water pipe and heating apparatus ON
one side and q cold air pipe and addi-
tional apparatus ON the other known as
the infant incubator. But perhaps few
realize the patient skilled watching and
the consequent expense necessary to the
bringing forward Of the little inmate,
until it shall be able to take its place in
the world as . real ''live and kicking"
baby.
AT the first appearance upon life's
stage of this speck Of humanity scarce
half made up" it is swathed in a bun
die Of absorbent cotton and laid ia its
little nest, with nothing to distract its
attention but perfectly accurate Their
mometor, to which il, however. seems
wholly Indifferent. The glass LID is then
almost closed. Experience has taught
no nh l.nt a- A..
it open "a little space. A trained nurse
at once takes her place by the side of
this unique object and keeps constant
guard over temperature, conditions q
air, etc. Absolute quiet ard n subdrcd
ligh. are among the requirements. The
temperature may range from 90 to 9s
degrees. In cases Of low vitality il Is
kept at 9S, and with the most robust il
never allowed to go below go degrees.
Then every hour the little charge must
be fed. This is sometimes accomplished
by means of u dropper. but more often
a little rubber tube is passed through
the mouth and esophagus into the stom-
ach, and into This tube is slowly poured
a dram, about u teaspoorful. Of pre-
pared food. Thus in the "a hours about
three ounces Of food arc absorbed. This
food is made after formula arranged
by n most expert chemist and changes
from day to day according to the devel-
opment of tie baby.
Every 36 hours the little gown Of alb
sorbent cotton is exchanged for a per-
fectly fresh one Of the same material.
The food and clothing of this embryo
parsonage are not, therefore, great bills
of expense, but its lodgings, its physi-
clan and nurses make up pretty sum
for its indulgent parents
1t Will easily be seen that the only
requirements for raising a baby in an
incubator are a perfectly even. high
temperature. pure air and food the
nearest approach possible to its natural
food. But simple as this sounds it has
taxed every resource of the best cnyi-
neering and sanitary authorities, the
finest psychologists and chemists in
the country to arrive at the present
state OF advancement. An incubator a
1t is now perfected costs about $500. a
few firms have them to rent. and az the
demand for them is naturally small one
NC AtHtcu ally tl1uc.
DIR. Rotch, who is responsible for
many of the recent improvements Of the
incubator. has been very successful in
its use. He insists upon having always
two trained nurses, SO that no moment
may there be the risk Of "A change in
conditions which might turn the scale
the wrong way. This Of itself means
$50 a week, and the time of incubation
is usually from two months to ten
weeks. But the baby SO saved comes in
time to be quite the equal of his fellows
who followed the good, old fashioned
ways.
Hospitals cannot boast rs great sue
cess from their experience with incu.
bators. although several include ono
among their appliances. In the firs,
place II Is often a case where the tiny
Mohammed must go to the mountain.
and 1t Is almost impossible to accomplish,
this without some little exposure. Then
III most cases the child has not only
| premature birth to struggle with. bui
the worst factor Of having come from Ill
conditioned, badly nourished and often
lntemperate parents Besides, no nurss
IN a hospital, no score Of nurses. can &c
arrange that one shall always have an
eye on the thermometer; and the 30 OF
moro full blown babies will not upon
demand refrain their voices from weep
ing out Of consideration for the scnsi.
tiveness of their delicate little cornrade.
The hospital people are sometime.
asked why they make so great an effort
to save the lives of these poor Iitfl,
creatures who, at the best. must enter
the race Of life fcarfully handicapped.
Their argument. of course, l. that TN,
tiniest life in embryo has a right tn 10.
chance: but their interest Is douh,Ies,
largely scientific. Physicians from
Maine to California. from the ~. Law
renee to the gulf, are constantly lookins
to these hospitals for the latest and hes,
results Of their researches and expert.
ments. and by studying the treatment
and watching the developmenr of case.
here. the incubating process included.
they may be able to cave may "a lif,
nearer home. Besides. who can fore,cl
| whether the tiny atom may not turn out