INFANT MORTALITY 



2989 



INFANTRY 



everywhere die at an alarming rate. The in- 

 vestigation of the causes of this condition and 

 efforts to find a remedy for it are occupying 

 the attention of government bureaus, infant 

 welfare societies, visiting nurse associations and 

 similar organizations in * nearly all civilized 

 countries. As a result, the death rate for 

 babies is slowly but steadily falling. 



Causes. A large percentage of babies that 

 die are born in the homes of the very poor, 

 where poverty and ignorance are leagued 

 against the little unfortunates from the start. 

 Social workers in the tenement districts have 

 found mothers who were accustomed to feed 

 their young babies everything from beer to 

 solid foods. Aside from improper feeding, ob- 

 servation proves that overcrowding, dirt, lack 

 of ventilation, lack of sanitation and especially 

 the prevalence of flies are common causes of 

 diseases that carry off young babies by the 

 thousands. Diarrhoea and other intestinal 

 troubles, occurring mostly during the hot sea- 

 son, head the list of special infant diseases, and 

 bronchitis and pneumonia follow. 



Another important cause of infant mortality 

 is heredity; the offspring of alcoholic or dis- 

 eased parents, for instance, come into the 

 world lacking in vigor, and hence are especially 

 susceptible to the various diseases that attack 

 infants. Statistics show also that bottle-fed 

 babies die in greater numbers than those fed 

 at the breast. This is due largely to the fact 

 that it is often difficult to find the artificially- 

 prepared food that is best suited to the child 

 in question. 



The Remedy. Education, the great enlight- 

 ener; is responsible for much that has been 

 accomplished in lowering the infant death rate. 

 Health officers and visiting nurses are sent out 

 by boards of health and various infant welfare 

 societies to instruct mothers how to care for 

 their babies, and the nurses give active assist- 

 ance in the homes they visit. Some cities 

 maintain stations for dispensing pasteurized 

 milk (see MILK) free or at small cost to poor 

 families. Diphtheria antitoxin, now supplied 

 free to those unable to pay for it, has greatly 

 lowered the death rate from diphtheria. Im- 

 proved sanitary conditions, more careful in- 

 spection and supervision on the part of health 

 authorities, and the merciful work of fresh 

 air and other aid societies, have all served to 

 diminish the number of deaths among the 

 babies. 



The reader who wishes to study the subject 

 in more detail can profitably consult G. B. 



Phelps' Statistical Study oj Injant Mortality; 

 G. B. Mangold's Child Problems; Annual Re- 

 ports of American Association for Study and 

 Prevention of Infant Mortality (Baltimore, 

 ' Md.) ; Mortality Statistics issued by the United 

 States Bureau of the Census. S.C.B. 



INFANTRY, in'jantri, the most important 

 branch of an army, consisting of men who 

 march and fight on foot and are armed with 

 hand weapons. The armies of the ancient 

 Greeks were composed of infantry, and when 

 in the formation known historically as the 

 phalanx they proved everywhere invincible. 

 The phalanx was eight to sixteen ranks in 

 depth, either forming a triangular wedge or 

 a solid square arranged in subdivisions, each 

 consisting of a company of 120 men. The 

 phalanx was also adopted by the Romans, who 

 undoubtedly produced the finest infantry the 

 world has ever seen. Mounted troops or cav- 

 alry played a very subordinate part in old 

 Roman warfare. In the Middle Ages and the 

 days of chivalry horsemen had come to be re- 

 garded as the only real fighting men, and foot 

 soldiers were regarded as a mere mob. 



The great battles of Crecy (1341), Poitiers 

 (1356) and Agincourt (1415) were, however, 

 won by English infantry, or archers, fighting 

 in conjunction with mounted men who had 

 previously regarded all foot soldiers as almost 

 useless. Infantrymen were afterwards esteemed 

 not only as good fighting men, but as the most 

 essential part of* an army. The weapons of 

 the Romans and Greeks were adapted to close- 

 quarter fighting, but the perfection of the bow 

 and the introduction of the crossbow or ar- 

 balest necessitated great alterations in tactics. 

 English archers became so expert that from a 

 distance they could pour into the enemy's 

 ranks a galling fire of arrows which prepared 

 the way for cavalry charges. 



The introduction of modern artillery again 

 made necessary many changes in tactics and 

 formation. The solid mass of men who might 

 withstand the fire of bows and arrows could 

 be swept off the earth by the fire of artillery, 

 projectiles from which would plow through 

 rank after rank. Gunpowder made all troops 

 equal. The mailed knight found no protection 

 in his armor, so he discarded it. 



Modern infantry has been developed on lines 

 demanding the abolition of close formation and 

 the adoption of tactics embodying open for- 

 mation or "extended order," with intervals 

 between men to render the enemy's fire less 

 effective than if directed against a mass. In 



