The Developing Period 69 



rectly with all lines of social inquiry, — hous- 

 ing, food, parenthood, the wage problem, 

 faulty hygiene in tenement or town, educa- 

 tion and every other factor in community 

 life. 



One of the most fruitful social movements of 

 the day is thus connected with the saving and 

 conserving of infant life. There has been a 

 marked lessening both in morbidity and mor- 

 tality of infants as the result of these efforts. 

 Thus in New York City there has been a reduc- 

 tion in the infant mortality rate from 273.6 per 

 1000 children bom in 1885 to 81.6 in 1919, and 

 71.1 in 1921. This decline has been aided by 

 such factors as more breast feeding, baby 

 health station service, careful oversight of 

 cows' milk, visiting nurses, improvement in 

 municipal sanitation and better control over 

 conunmiicable disease. A lower death rate al- 

 ways predicates less sickness and more vigorous 

 vitality in the infants who live. "While deaths 

 among older babies have decreased, the number 

 of infant deaths during the first month has not 

 lessened, but at times has even increased, which 

 shows that the prenatal and natal periods have 



