68 Hattie Plum Williams 
greatest toll, with enteritis closely following, while contagious 
diseases, chiefly diphtheria, and accidents form an appreciable 
factor. 
It is significant to note that the diseases producing infant 
mortality in the foreign settlements in Lincoln are in general the 
same as elsewhere. In Newman’s exhaustive study of the sub- 
ject in England the fatal diseases of infancy are shown to be: 
wasting diseases, 31 per cent. of the total; diarrhoeal, 21 per cent., 
and respiratory, 16 per cent. ;>! while in the intensive study made 
in Johnstown, Pa., by the Children’s Bureau, these diseases 
claimed 27, 26, and 25 per cent. respectively of the total infant 
mortality.°? In the Russian German settlements in Lincoln, the 
proportion for these diseases in the same order as stated is 32.9, 
27.2, anda25.Onpen Cento 
Even after this analysis is made, the core of the matter is not 
touched; for positive and accurate information can result only 
from the tracing of each individual case, and intelligent action on 
the part of the community can come only after such a study has 
been made for the entire city. It is certain, however, that the 
causes for infant and child mortality are both social and indi- 
vidual ; and that the community has it in its power through sanita- 
tion and education to reduce materially the number of such deaths. 
So far as sanitation is concerned the Russian Germans have done 
nearly all in their power to improve their living conditions, and 
no great change can occur until the city gives to the settlements 
better drainage of streets and alleys and removes the garbage 
deposits from their midst. How much harm results from water 
standing in cellars of the homes where there is no drainage, cannot 
be said; and though it is probably never the direct cause of 
death, it undoubtedly lowers the vitality of those who live in such 
51 Newman, Infant Mortality, 45. 
2 Duke, “Infant Mortality, Results of a Field Study in Johnstown, 
Pennsylvania, Based on Births in One Calendar Year,” 37, in United States 
Department of Labor, Children’s Bureau, Infant Mortality Series, number 
3, Bureau pub. number o. 
58 The registration area for the United States shows the same order for 
the diseases producing infant mortality. Bureau of the Census, Mor- 
tality Statistics, 1911. 
194 
