8 A REPLY TO CRITICISMS OF THE 



This applies to both the Manchester and Edinburgh data 

 alike. Roughly this ratio may be taken as 4/5, or an excess 

 of 1/5 in the deaths of children of drinking father or mother 

 has to be accounted for. Now how did we write about 

 this excess? Quite undogmatically and as follows (p. 27) : 



' Some of this excess of child deaths is certainly due to 

 accident, to overlaying, to burns, and to other causes 

 arising from carelessness, but we should be inclined to 

 attribute it, at least in part, to the same causes, probably 

 to want of home care, to food defects, perhaps to other 

 factors possibly toxic, which show themselves in slightly 

 less height and weight among the children of the drinking 

 mothers when these children reach a school age.' 



When we remember that there is a fairly high correlation 

 between the use of a ' dummy teat ' or ' baby pacifier ' and 

 infantile mortality, the reader will understand what we 

 mean by the carelessness or uncleanliness that leads to the 

 death of a child. 



Our final conclusion on this subject was (p. 31): 



* There is a higher death-rate among the offspring of 

 alcoholic than among the offspring of sober parents. This 

 appears to be more marked in the case of the mother than 

 the father, and since it is sensibly higher in the case of the 

 mother who has drinking bouts than of the mother who 

 habitually drinks, it would appear to be due very consider- 

 ably to accidents and gross carelessness, and possibly in 

 a minor degree to toxic effect on the offspring.' 



Why did we not attribute it to toxic effect, or only to 

 that source in a minor degree ? Because our statistics 

 showed no such differentiation in general health between 

 the children of the two classes, and because the effect in- 

 creased with the 'bouting'. Notwithstanding that we 

 directly appealed to carelessness and neglect in the home 

 environment as a source of the higher death-rate, what 

 statement do Sir Victor and Dr. Sturge put into our 



