A Social Study of the Russian German 67 
an increased death rate. The poverty and overcrowding incident 
to the life of the raw immigrant and the homesickness and hard 
work of the mother must necessarily affect her physically and 
mentally. If figures were available, they would undoubtedly show 
that infant and child mortality decreases with the length of resi- 
dence in America, even though the birth rate remains the same 
for a generation. 
The direct causes for death assigned in the death certificates 
are not always reliable; and moreover, as has been stated, one 
needs to know the causes for the disease itself before a remedy 
can be suggested. Frequently the secondary cause of death is the 
one to be guarded against, e. g., measles seldom prove fatal but 
pneumonia following measles is a common cause of death in 
children. The health records for the years 1912 to 1914 in- 
clusive, show the following attributed causes for death among the 
Russian German children under five years of age: 
Taste XIII. Distrrpution oF Dreatus or RussIAN GERMAN CHILDREN 
UNDER ONE YEAR OF AGE AND FROM ONE TO Five YEARS (EXCLUSIVE), 
ACCORDING TO PRIMARY CAUSE 
Infant Mortali Child Mortality 
(Under One Vear) | Getorat | (EremOneto | Ue aay 
Cause of Death Infant Five Years) Child 
Mortality Mortality 
rgi2 | 1913 | ror4 T9I2 | 1913 | 1974 | 
PMICATISESis sess ae 2s 20 36 88 24 19 iy) | 60 
Respiratory diseases. . 6 BK0) 6 25.0 12 6 zB | 35-0 
Diarrhoeal diseases... 4 iit 9 27.4 7 5 6 | 30.0 
Congenital debility . | 
Premature birth.... a 4 TS an i ; =o 3-3 
PNCCIGENE src. clsniccs cre ena ae a a 0.0 | it I B | 6.7 
Other causes (13)..... 2 4 6 13.6 Beal 6 5 | 25.0 
The diseases producing infant mortality fall into three groups, 
the largest number being due to the perils attending birth, such 
as prematurity, malformation, inanition, etc., which are largely 
ante-natal in their origin.°® Enteritis and pneumonia are the two 
other principal causes for deaths of babies during the first year. 
Among children from one to five years, pneumonia demands the 
50 Thirty per cent. of all the infant deaths in England are due to this 
same cause. Newman, /nfant Mortality, 62. 
193 
