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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



" Popular Science "), while granting the 

 soundness of Dr. Oswald's position as to the 

 " millions of infants who from the moment 

 of birth are overfed and drug-poisoned," viz., 

 that we have here a sufficient cause of dys- 

 pepsia, asks : " Well, what of the millions 

 that are not ? Are they the ones who do 

 not show any such tendency, despite the 

 fact that some of their progenitors do ? " 

 Would Dr. Black have us believe that, out- 

 side of " baby -farms," a single babe, of all 

 the millions who live to be born, escapes 

 being constantly overfed and (in conse- 

 quence) occasionally medicated ? I assert 

 that, as to the first count in the indictment, 

 an infant is about as sure to be excessively 

 fed as he is to be born. The only excep- 

 tion in general practice is where the babe 

 is nourished at the breast, and the supply 

 happens to be short of an excess, and even 

 in these cases all haste is made to supple- 

 ment his natural aliment with the bottle ; 

 for mothers are unhappy unless their babies 

 are growing obese at the rate of a pound 

 or more a week. Infants usually measure 

 more round the body, arms, and legs, and 

 weigh more, at some period during their 

 first year — often at six months — than at the 

 age of two and a half or three years. No 

 growing thing, in either the animal or vegeta- 

 ble kingdom, can, under natural conditions, 

 exhibit anything of this sort. Parents, no 

 more than the average " druggist," are aware 

 of the fact that the normal or true growth 

 of an infant is never more than three to five 

 ounces per week, and that all the gain 

 above this is from fat, representing excess, 

 though seldom all of the excess — more or 

 less being daily purged away by the bowels, 

 or excreted through other outlets. All this 

 produces or constitutes disease, leads on to 

 sickness, and probably dosing. While we 

 have to admit that only about forty or fifty 

 per cent are, before the age of five years, 

 stamped out by this combination — a method 

 of getting rid of the weakling* far more 

 cruel than the Spartan plan, of freezing 

 them, or the African, of feeding to the 

 crocodiles — ^ninety-nine in every hundred 

 are made sick by overfeeding, and few of 

 these escape being more or less drugged. 

 Having made the question of infant die- 

 tetics a specialty for the past ten years, I 

 find that to hold to cow's milk as the exclu- 

 sive diet of bottle-babes (a portion of the 

 cream to be removed in case the milk is 

 very rich in this constituent), limiting the 

 number of meals to three, and somewhat re- 

 stricting the amount at each meal, and allow- 

 ing nurslings three to five meals (according 



* Quoth Dr. Black, " Now, we nurse them (the 

 weaklings) to adult life 1 " In fact, only about fifty 

 to sixty per cent of all infants arrive at adult ape, 

 and these have been fitly described as " too tough 

 to kill." Even these, to the last one. would make 

 healthier men and women, if saved the abuses we 

 have named. 



as the breast may or may not require the 

 "stimulation " of frequent drawing), is an al- 

 most absolute guarantee against the gastro- 

 intestinal disorders which are popularly sup- 

 posed to be unavoidable at this period of 

 life. 



Considerable restriction is essential with 

 bottle - babies ; for a greedy infant will at 

 any age swallow at two " sittings " a full 

 physiological ration for twenty-four hours, 

 and, if there is to be no restriction as to the 

 quantity taken at each meal, no more than 

 two should be offered. Furthermore, every 

 infant who is not fed ad nauseam will be 

 " greedy." In case of infants nourished at 

 the breast, the flow, if excessive, must be 

 diminished by regulating the mother's diet; 

 for in such cases the excess is due to an 

 over-stimulating or slop diet, which affects 

 the nursing-woman as a " driving" diet does 

 our dairy cows, causing a large yield of un- 

 naturally constituted, though perhaps "rich" 

 milk. In order to show the wide contrast 

 between the universal cramming and a truly 

 wholesome diet, I will cite the case of my 

 own infant, now a " stout, strapping boy " 

 of twelve months, who is one of a number 

 known to me as having enjoyed a really fair 

 chance for proving their fitness to survive. 

 His allowance at this time is a coffee-cup- 

 ful, or about eighteen tablespoonfuls, at 

 each meal. It is usual for infants to swal- 

 low as much, often more than three such 

 cupfuls, every day, at the aue of three or 

 four months, except when nausea or lack of 

 appetite prevents. They are either "con- 

 stantly " fed, or at least have a meal every two 

 or three hours. This is the practice with the 

 " million," by which I presume Dr. Oswald 

 meant all " civilized " infants, including Dr. 

 Black's, if he has been blessed with such 

 " troublesome comforts," as they are univer- 

 sally called — a term, by - the - way, in itself 

 very significant in this connection ; for, again 

 referring to the few infants who have been 

 exceptinoally fed, " breathed," clad, and 

 exercised, i. e. — 1. Fed in the manner I have 

 described as constituting a physiological 

 diet ; 2. Given the breath of life, viz., out- 

 door air twenty-four hours a day, whether 

 the babe is in-doors or out ; 3. Saved from 

 sweltering clothing — allowing the skin to 

 " breathe " ; 4. Piationally " neglected," or, 

 in other words, instead of being constantly 

 held, tended, or wheeled, early allowed the 

 opportunity, on the floor or lawn, of rolling, 

 tumbling, stretching out, and learning to 

 creep at an early age, thus earning a good 

 digestion, and avoiding one of the principal 

 causes of infantile dyspepsia, by being, like 

 kittens, puppies, and young monkeys, large- 

 ly " self-supporting," and like them develop- 

 ing naturally in all parts of the frame — by 

 these means, I would say, it has been shown 

 to be entirely practicable to insure for the 

 " infant race " a condition as comfortable. 



