24 THE COMMON SENSE OF THE MILK QUESTION 



same thing is true of our immigrant population. 

 Any one who is familiar with the tenement popula- 

 tion of our large cities will know that it is a common 

 sight to see the immigrant mothers on the streets 

 nursing their children. No matter how poorly 

 nourished they may appear to be, as a rule they can 

 nurse their offspring. But their daughters, when 

 they marry, frequently cannot do this ; and I submit 

 that, even if their dress differed radically from that 

 of the mothers, which is usually not the case, the 

 time would not be sufficient to effect such a change 

 in their physiology. A few years ago I gathered 

 particulars concerning seventy-five women of foreign 

 parentage, being mostly Slavs and Italians, whose 

 babies were being fed artificially. Of the seventy- 

 five there were twenty who had never had any milk 

 of their own to give their babies ; fourteen who had 

 been able to nurse their babies less than a month; 

 twenty-seven who had nursed their babies for periods 

 ranging from one to three months, all the rest having 

 been compelled to give up in less than six months. 

 And there was only one woman among the number 

 who had herself been "bottle-fed." 



With regard to the influence of food there is likewise 

 very little evidence. Upon the whole, dietetic stand- 

 ards are probably higher to-day than ever before. 

 Certain it is that the majority of the immigrants who 

 come to this country adopt a much better standard 



