WHEN THE MOTHERS FAIL 21 



with the assistance of over one hundred German, 

 Swiss, and Austrian physicians, all of whom had 

 been his pupils and were selected because of their 

 reliability as observers, gathered particulars con- 

 cerning two thousand cases in the countries named. 

 His researches have convinced him that relatively 

 few mothers refuse to nurse their offspring, and that 

 by far the largest number of mothers who do not 

 nurse their infants at the breast are physically unable 

 to do so. He believes that more than half of the 

 mothers in central Europe are physically unable to 

 suckle their infants.' In other words, he admits 

 that the lacteal functions are being atrophied. 



That there are some women who are physically 

 incapable of lactation has never been seriously dis- 

 puted. Engel has made careful study of the breasts 

 of a number of women who died during lactation, 

 most of them either during or soon after labor. He 

 found a class in which the mammary gland was in- 

 completely developed, the fibrous elements far out- 

 weighing the granular portion. No cause for the 

 condition could be discovered." The significant 

 thing about Engel's researches is that they tend to 

 confirm the theory of the atrophy of the lacteal 

 functions. 



In this country, Dr. L. Emmet Holt, a well-known 

 authority upon all that relates to pediatrics, finds 

 this incapacity to nurse infants at the breast to be 



