192 TEE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



through existing organizations to compel public attention to this vital 

 matter. The final responsibility lies with the public, and the outcome 

 of successful private work is usually that sufficient municipal funds are 

 appropriated to take it over. This has been accomplished in Bridge- 

 port, Conn., Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Rich- 

 mond, Va., and in many other cities and towns. 



While methods vary in different localities, the program for a baby- 

 saving campaign, as outlined by the Bureau, is something like this : 



1. Insistence upon complete and prompt birth registration as a ba- 

 sis of work. In some cities, a letter or card is sent each mother upon 

 the birth of a child, thus securing her interest, and with the letter of 

 congratulation a folder may be enclosed, containing advice on the care 

 of infants, and printed, if desirable, in several languages. A strong 

 appeal for breast feeding is always a feature of such advice. 



2. Eigid inspection of the milk supply, with frequent tests for fat 

 contents as well as for dirt and bacteria. Eecognized grades of whole- 

 some milk include : (a) certified milk ; (6) inspected milk ; (c) pasteur- 

 ized milk. 



3. The establishment of pure-milk stations, where such milk may 

 be obtained at or below cost, and to mothers unable to pay the price may 

 be furnished free. Such milk must be supplied only on proof of ina- 

 bility to nurse the child, if too young for proper weaning. 



4. Baby clinics, and the employment of trained nurses to visit the 

 homes, especially of the very poor, both before and after the birth of a 

 child, to care for sick babies, and to instruct mothers in the care of 

 infants. 



5. Improvement of bad housing conditions; the fight against flies 

 and the breeding of flies; and general educational work. 



Dr. Josephine Baker, of the New York City Board of Health, has 

 stated that 



babies may be kept under continuous supervision at a cost of sixty cents per 

 month per baby, and the death rate among babies so cared for has been reduced 

 to 1.4 per cent. In other words, the solution of the problem is twenty per cent, 

 pure milk, and eighty per cent, care and training of mothers. 



The American Association for Study and Prevention of Infant 

 Mortality owes its existence to the American Academy of Medicine, 

 which called the first conference on that subject ever held in the United 

 States. The association was organized at the close of this meeting, 

 held at Yale University in 1909, and in 1910 an office was opened in 

 Baltimore, from which the work has since been directed. Its func- 

 tions are chiefly educational, and its work is carried on by general propa- 

 ganda, by investigations and special work in committees, through an 

 annual meeting and the publication of its transactions, and through a 

 traveling exhibit. Any person interested in the aims of the society may 

 become a member, and the dues are three dollars a year and upward. 



