DR. A. E. NAISH'S PAPER 319 



birth, over 1,800 before they reach one month old, 

 and over 3,300 before three months. (This estimate 

 is probably a little low, since weaning is least common 

 in the class from which the statistics are drawn.) 



It is the desire of all of us to increase the propor- 

 tion of breast-fed infants, but in view of the facts that 

 there is no unwillingness, but rather the contrary 

 among the poorer mothers, and that in Sheffield there 

 is a minimum of industrial employment for married 

 women, it is not likely that for some years at any rate 

 there will be a material improvement over the figures 

 given above ; though increasing knowledge of the 

 causes of weaning may effect a gradual change. Any 

 scheme then which aims at improving the nutrition of 

 the infant population by means of altering the arti- 

 ficial food in common use, must be prepared to deal 

 with large numbers. Considerable modifications of 

 cow's milk, such as whey, cream, milk and sugar 

 mixtures are rendered inapplicable on any large scale by 

 reason of the expense of manufacture and distribution. 



There is general agreement that, as far as our 

 knowledge goes at present, cow's milk in some form 

 or other should constitute the basis of the feeding of 

 the great majority of infants who cannot be breast- 

 fed, yet it is futile to deny that cow's milk has fallen 

 into some disrepute among the mothers themselves. 

 Not all the wiles of the patent food advertisers would 

 suffice if feeding with cow's milk were such plain 

 sailing as some would have us believe. The maternal 

 mind is often unable to trace nutritional diseases such 

 as rickets, or bacterial infections, to their true source, 

 since the causal relationship is slow or indirect, but 

 an indigestible food has such immediate and obvious 

 results that the mother is a good judge on this point. 

 On the other hand, a medical man, because he has 

 excellent results with some form of food in the pre- 

 ponderating number of infants attending his clinic, 

 cannot on this evidence alone sav that this is 



