Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1915-01-29
ARTIFICIAL FEEDING.

Inasmuch as health Is the natura
and normal state of mankind.
should not be difficult to preserv
ones health. And it is not. But be
cause health Is inherent in us, and be
cause We are elastic and therefor
tend persistently to revert to the MOI
NAL, whatever the provocation, will
very few exceptions we obstinatel!
and fatuously cling to habits and prac
tees certain to impair our physical In
heritance. until some sharp and severe
experience lashes us into a conscious
ness Of corporal limitations and com
pels the recognition of natural laws.
Without exception i'll health. phys
ical debility. sickness and suffering II
general come through repeated viola
tons, either on one'r own part or OF
the part Of others, of the laws Of this
universe. Of which we are a constitu
ent part.
Too often irreparable damage IL
done to vital organs before we become
conscious of the breakdown, and then
1t is too late to do anything.
AS matter of fact the problem oil
life itself can be solved only by the
study of what takes place in the mi
mute portion of the cell. for 1t is in
the "centrasome"-a roundish body
alongside the nucleus of a cell that is
undergoing division-that the new for.
nation Of an individual begins. Re-
member that cells increase by divi-
sion; there is no corpse each cell
splits into two, indefinitely. We can
not all become cytologists-cell ex-
perts-but we can easily acquire a per-
sonal working knowledge from obser-
walton of any one of the lower organ
isms-such as the chicken. for instance
sufficient for all practical purposes
as safe guide to better things If we
will but open our minds to the truth.
To begin with, we do not know,
here in this country, how many chill
dren are born annually, because only q
few states require birth registration.
and we are therefore unable even to
approximate the percentage of infants
stillborn as the result of conditions
identical in principle with those that
cause the death of the chick in the
shell. But we do know from statistics
returned on approximately 60 per cent
of our population of 100,O0O,000 that at
least twenty-five per cent Of all infants
born die before they reach one year
Of age. In contrast with this condition
we know that II sitting hen is given
eggs from the same pens from which
the incubators are supplied and from
which an so per cent hatch is consid-
cred highly satisfactory, the hen will.
with but few exceptions, produce
matches approximating 100 per cent.
The mortality in the incubator is in
compared to that which
takes place among chicks under artif-
cial brooding and feeding conditions,
that is to say, during that period of. life
before the chick is sufficiently mature
to be able to look after its own needs.
If the death of forty to sixty or more
per cent of given flock of chickens
ended the matter We might content
with the idea that inasmuch
as each species tends to increase in
ordinately, the check known always to
be in action, even though we are not
able to perceive it, which Is simply
method Of preserving a bal
ance, must result in an Improvement
Of the breed. But unfortunately. this
Is found not to be true; for invariably
those survivors Of conditions which |
produce these very heavy mortalities
are themselves so shattered physically |
that under the same conditions only a |
lew generations suffice seriously to de-
teriorate a fine strain and. II persist
emily followed, quickly lead to total
Of the line.
On every hand we find these condi-
ions closely paralleled In the human
species. Deficient food supply to the
pregnant woman gives the same re-
suits following lack Of heat In any
other incubator, and an excess pro-
luces about the same effect as too
much heat in the machine; both inevi-
ably lead to deterioration In the
.hild; while artificial feeding is known
o be fully as disastrous to the child az
t is so clearly proved to be to the
thick and its descendants.
The solution is comparatively simple
nd consists in nothing more than
raining women to have a fit appreeia-
ion of the obligations Of motherhood
nd seriously and conscientiously to
prepare to meet the natural demands.