22 Hitman Physiology. 



assured Dr. Playfair, that he sold, in retail alone, above five 

 gallons per week of " Quietness," and half a gallon of " God- 

 frey;" the former preparation being so strong as to contain 

 100 drops of laudanum in an ounce; a single teaspoonful is 

 the prescribed dose; so that, allowing one ounce weekly to 

 each family, that one druggist supplies 700 families every week. 

 Narcotics are used in all the manufacturing districts. 

 Mothers are obliged to leave their children to go to the mills 

 and manufactories, and they are left drugged until they return. 

 Great numbers of such children die. Burial societies equalise 

 funeral expenses. The children are a burthen, instead of a 

 blessing. 



In Preston, according to the report of the Rev. J. Clay, 

 twenty-one chemists sold in a week the following quantity : 



Godfrey's cordial, ^23 5 5 



Child's preserver, ... ... ... 1840 



Syrup of poppies, ... ... ... 16 9 o 



Opium, i i 6 



Laudanum, ... ... ... ... 782 



Paregoric, ... 090 



66 17 i| 



The reverend gentleman observes on this statistical account r 

 "The system of drugging children is quite common; it is 

 one of the principal causes of the mortality to which they are 

 subject. The consequences of this homicidal custom are 

 lunacy, caused by an effusion of blood on the brain, and a 

 series of mesenteric and glandular affections; the child falls 

 into a state of stupor, his body becomes a mere skeleton, 

 except the stomach, which swells out like a balloon. Those 

 who survive this treatment remain weak and withered." 



Have we anything worse than this in the Baby farming, 

 about which a short time since there was so much interest? 

 On this subject I can scarcely quote higher authority than 



