The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1905-08-06
CARE Of INFANTS
ABLY DISCUSSED
Ignorance in Feeding Causes
Loss Of Lite.
IMPURlTY OF THE MILK
Lady Somerset Tells of Her Investiga-
items and Beneficial Results
Derived.
IMPURlTY OF THE MILK

LONDON, Aug, 5.-There is a growing
impression in this country that every
year an enormous sacrifice of infant
life is made, owing to the astonishing
ignorance of the feeding of the infants
In the report OF the recent royal com
mission. appointed 10 inquire into the
physical deterioration OF our people,
there is a recommendation that a sys-
tematie course Of instructions be given
| to girls in their continuation classes on
the processes of infant feeding and man
agement
Evidence was given that in the over
populated parts of our city the women
had no time TO nourish their infants,
and that the mortality among children
artfffctaIly fed was very great This
neglect arises from the fact that moth
erS have TO work as soon as possible
after the birth of a child, and that any
| thing that detains them from their
bread-winning occupations reduces the
| family often to the starvation point
Under these circumstances it is obvi-
Gus that the alternative food becomes
of the utmost Importance.
Impure Milk Sold.
Inquiries have lately been set ON foot
as TO the purity of the milk sold to the
poor, which has led TO startling reveIa-
lions. OF the milk sold 10 the London
poor, 80 per cent Of the shops in enc dis
trict are found TO have sanitary defects.
OF twenty-five samples Of milk exam
ined in another place. % per cent con-
tanned the worst forms of contan7iaa-
/ ton.
again, when the milk arrives at the
house of the buyer, it is exposed to
every sort of injury. one fertile source
OF disease being the bottle with me long
feeding tube, which in The opinion OF one
of our expert physicians should be made
Illegal as 1 believe it is in France and
in some States of America.
With all this in my mind. I deter
mined to visit London's latest hospital
We are as q people justly proud Of our
hospitals, The trouble is that We have
not Yet learned TO be ashamed Of our
diseases and vigorously to attack the
cause, and certainly this last addition to
our great charities is an instance that
the old maxim that Prevention is bet
ter than cure stnI needs TO be widely
preached
The hospital. which is the first of It's
kind in England is for infants 1t is
unique. because the drug and the dis
pensary have no place within its walls.
with perhaps the only exception of the
j.ume-honored nursery dose of castor oil
and orange juice.
MIX is the medium of cure, milk
which at the Model Farm Dairy in
Sudbury has under aseptfc conditions
been divided into its constituent parts
and then brought together again in
varying proportions. to simulate as far
as possible the living liquid" supplied
by nature through her appointed source.
Science has recently shown Us that
the old idea that the nourishment pro
vided for a creature which is endowed
with four stomachs IS hardly likely TO
be suitable for a feeble infant who pos
sesses but one BY a happy coinci-
dence the new hospital is built on the
breezy uplands of Hampstead. known
as the vale OF health"
Rows of Sick Babies.
Never was a more pathetic sight sure
~ than the occupants of the twenty
cots The Whitehead babies who lie
within these white curtains are too
young and often TOO IL TO notice" as
We say in nursery language.
The coverlets Of each little bed and
The ribbons on the drapery are of light
blue Why is this color associated with
infants, 1 wonder? Is il because. it is
the color of the sky above us. or is II
because tradition has dedicated it to
the one who pre-eminently in Christian
countries stands as the great prototype
of motherhood?
As i looked on the waxen faces and
tiny forms, I felt that were II not for
the sacred hands that have forever
blessed child life one would be led to
say that it would be better to let these
little flickering sparks of human life
sdrift back Into the home whence they
came
Among the loveliest things in creation
are the hands and feet Of a healthy
baby, but these limbs are maciated to
uglineas, transparent skin covering only
bone AMI cartilage.
Whereas the weight Of a normal in
FAINT at birth should be about eight
pounds. a baby has been admitted
Weighing only two pounds thirteen
ounces A four-month baby should
double its weight, but a seven-mouth
child was brought into this hospital
weighing six pounds. The basket scales
play an important part in every ward.
and one Of the most impressive cere-
monies In the babies daily round is the
taking of weight.
Food IN Shelves.
But, 10 my mind, the most interest
ing feature in the hospital is the corri-
dor, where, ranged on shelves. is the
Hourishmcnt prepared for each tiny
patient. ready for the next tWenrv-
four hours 1t IS kept in large wooden
cases containing six or eight bottles. as
the case may be. Each bottle is nlIed