A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE PROBLEM 165 



cities — are due to the presence of dirt in the milk. 

 It is natural that the mothers who swelter in the 

 tenement homes of our cities during the torrid sum- 

 mer heat, as they watch their babies pine and wilt like 

 flowers in parched earth, should think the heat respon- 

 sible for the suffering and death of their little ones. 

 But the heat is not the only cause, nor even the most 

 important cause, of summer diarrhoea, though it 

 doubtless is a factor. That this is the case can be very 

 readily seen by comparing the nmnber of deaths from 

 acute diarrhoeal diseases in New York State in the 

 two years, 1900-1901, in the period from May 1 

 to November 1, inclusive. The summer of 1901 

 was exceptionally hot, but the deaths from diarrhoeal 

 diseases in the state, outside of Greater New York 

 City, numbered little more than half of the deaths 

 recorded during the same period, in the same area, 

 in 1900, when the heat was much less intense. On the 

 other hand, the number of deaths in Greater New York 

 and suburbs from the same diseases was very nearly 

 doubled. The figures were : — 



Table VI 



Deaths from Acute Diarrhoeal Diseases, May 1 to 



November 1, Inclusive 



