4 
INTRODUCTION. 
was a total of 2,150 instances of loss of life, occurring yearly 
in a single institution, chargeable, not against any unalterable 
decrees of Providence, as some are disposed to contend as an 
excuse for tbeir own negligence; but against tbe ignorance, 
indifference, or cruelty of man. And wbat a lesson of vigi¬ 
lance and inquiry’ ought not such occurrences to convey, 
when, even now, with all our boasted improvements, every 
tenth infant still 'perishes within a month of its hirih ! ” 1 
Tbe effect of attention to cleanliness and ventilation in tbe 
reduction of an excessive infantile mortality, has been equally 
shown in tbe experience of tbe Dublin Lying-in Hospital. 
At tbe conclusion of 1782, it was found that out of 17,650 
infants born alive, no fewer than 2,944, or one in every six , 
bad died within tbe first fortnight. By tbe more efficient 
ventilation of tbe wards, tbe proportion of deaths during tbe 
first fortnight was at once reduced to 419 out of 8,033, or 
but little more than one in twenty; and it has subsequently 
been still further diminished. 
In tbe island of St. Hilda, tbe most northern of tbe Heb¬ 
rides, according to tbe statement of a gentleman who visited 
it in 1838, as many as eight out of every ten children die 
between tbe eighth and twelfth day of tbeir existence ; in 
consequence of which terrible mortality, tbe population of tbe 
island is diminishing rather than increasing. This is due, 
not to anything injurious in tbe position or atmosphere of tbe 
island ; for its a air is good, and tbe water excellent: ” but 
to tbe “ filth in which the inhabitants live, and the noxious 
effluvia which pervade their houses.” The huts are small, low- 
roofed, and without windows ; and are used during the winter 
as stores for the collection of manure, which is carefully laid 
out upon the floor, and trodden under foot, till it accumulates 
to the depth of several feet. The clergyman, who lives 
exactly as those around him do, in every respect, except as 
regards the condition of his house, has reared a family of four 
children, all of whom are well and healthy ; whereas, accord¬ 
ing to the average mortality around him, at least three out of 
the four would have been dead within the first fortnight. 
It is not a little remarkable that a recent sanitary inquiry 
carried out by order of the Danish government, into the con- 
1 Dr. A. Combe on the Physiological and Moral Management of 
Infancy. 
