SCIENCE AND THE COMMUNITY 503 



by a combination of the scientific and research workers in co-operation 

 with men of affairs. Who can say what changes are to follow upon such 

 a combination backed by close and practical application of an instructed 

 popular interest in nourishment ? Let me glance at some definite results 

 which may well follow. The discovery of the satisfactory menu is one 

 thing, the provision and use of it is another. The first result will be that 

 we ask ourselves how agriculture is to adapt itself to the demands which 

 vitamins, for instance, make upon it because the nourishment upon the 

 table must depend on what is supplied by the field. I think that that is a 

 good scientific conclusion. On that may follow a study of some new 

 problems in the machinery of those necessary marketing schemes with 

 which we have been experimenting for some years ; the question of prices 

 will have to be examined with a new meaning and urgency, especially 

 retail prices, for, as it happens, the most valuable foods in the new regime 

 of nourishment are also the most expensive ; the expansion of consump- 

 tion following that of production will have to be dealt with in new lights 

 and from new angles in accordance with scientific methods ; our domestic 

 arrangements should also be affected, for the function of the housekeeper 

 should now have new interests and responsibilities which will endow it 

 with new dignity and importance, so that it will be regarded as of higher 

 value, rather than little, if anything, more than mechanical drudgery 

 throughout a long day, as it is too often regarded at this moment. 



I lay emphasis upon this last point, for, to me, it is of supreme import- 

 ance. The care of the family will thus be regarded as of the greatest 

 importance in the life of the community, and its income and expenditure 

 will be considered with more concern by the public. There is good 

 evidence that children now being brought up in many Poor Law institu- 

 tions are better fed, and therefore have better physical development and 

 health, than corresponding children in private homes living with their 

 parents. This is a serious reflection, for it would be pathetic if it became 

 possible, and this is by no means mere phantasy, in later years to pick 

 out for special approval those brought up under Poor Law conditions 

 from those brought up at home. I cannot imagine anything more 

 deplorable than that, from the point of view of community health and 

 community well-being. A formidable barrier to the deterioration of family 

 life, which is becoming one of the most disturbing tendencies in modern 

 social evolution, would be thus erected. Be that as it may, however, 

 the scientific investigations into nourishment, as has been plainly pointed 

 out in the last Report of the Mixed Committee appointed by the League 

 of Nations to study Nutrition, should bear rich fruits. The report I have 

 in mind is called ' The Relation of Nutrition to Health, Agriculture, 

 and Economic Policy.' All this research has led to the widening of our 

 conception of public health, and has tended to raise the value which the 

 community places on the fitness of the human body. 



I must further point out, however, that already so effective has been the 

 work done by various scientific workers that the problem of nutrition has 

 advanced through two well-marked stages. 



The first is illustrated by the public-spirited labours of Mr. Seebohm 

 Rowntree and his followers who roused a widespread interest in the 

 question of diet. They based their contentions upon the simple fact 



