288 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



fourth of all deaths are of children under five — those who are entirely 

 dependent on the home whose diseases in 67 per cent, of the cases 

 could be prevented by proper diet and care. We have the fact that 

 500,000 people in the United States are ill of tuberculosis and that such 

 prevalent diseases can, in many cases, be cured by diet and fresh air. 

 We have the fact that as estimated even well people lose at least five 

 days a year from colds and minor ailments which might have been 

 largely prevented by a proper diet. We have the fact that one half of 

 the women who are divorced by their husbands desert home voluntarily. 

 We have the fact that many charity workers give as their testimony 

 that much social misery is caused by the " unpreparedness " of the 

 homemakers. We have statistics to show the great waste of infant life 

 in mansion as well as in humbler home. We have the statement of Pro- 

 fessor Devine, the well-known charity expert, that in many homes we 

 find the beginnings of tendencies which often lead to crime and dis- 

 abling disease. We have the statements that innutritious food is a pro- 

 lific cause of intemperance, which of itself leads to crime. We have 

 the facts that much blindness and physical degeneracy might be pre- 

 vented by a proper knowledge made available to the masses through the 

 housemother in the home. 



In the face of all these facts it would certainly appear that woman, 

 who is the guardian of the home, is either ignorant of the proper con- 

 sumption of wealth in the home in serving human welfare or else she 

 is remiss in her duty. It is safe to say that not all women would be 

 consciously negligent or remiss in their life's work, so the natural con- 

 clusion is that woman for the most part is ignorant of many of the 

 essentials of the great mission assigned her. This ignorance is not 

 strange, since in our educational system she receives slight preparation 

 for this her real life's work. As has been said before, all the aid she 

 has are home traditions and the home magazine, and in the majority of 

 instances she is ignorant of the noteworthy investigations along her 

 own line of work. 



Ignorance of right living being so apparent in the face of these 

 statistics, it has thus been shown how woman's specialized work in the 

 home in charge of the food supply can hinder the harmonious develop- 

 ment of efficient personality through her inability primarily to main- 

 tain and increase the vitality of those intrusted to her. 



On the other hand, in order to fulfill the further purpose of this 

 paper and to show something of the manner in which woman's work in 

 the home in providing food for her family may help their harmonious 

 mental, moral and social development, and to show if possible the im- 

 portance of greater knowledge of what is best for individual welfare on 

 the part of the homemakers, three divisions of the subject are made. 



1. Since by results woman is shown so ignorant of proper methods 

 of nutrition which will prevent disease and death, methods of improv- 



