REMEDIAL THEORIES AND EXPERIMENTS 193 



infantile death-rate has been lowered in consequence 

 of the work of the milk depots. 



As a rule, the French Gouttes de Lait have served 

 as the models for other countries. They are usually 

 philanthropic organizations, supported by voluntary 

 contributions and managed by volunteer committees. 

 Frequently they are subsidized by the municipalities 

 in consideration of the economic value of their work, 

 while in some instances, notably Nantes and Elbeuf, 

 they have been altogether taken over by the mu- 

 nicipalities. Three classes of children are served at 

 most of the Gouttes de Lait : (1) Those whose parents 

 are too poor to pay anything, for whom milk is pro- 

 vided free of charge ; (2) those whose parents can pay 

 some part of the cost, usually one-half; (3) those 

 whose parents are perfectly able to pay the full price, 

 and who use the milk supplied by the depots simply 

 because they recognize its superiority over the com- 

 mercial product. Often very wealthy persons avail 

 themselves of this advantage. The proportion in 

 which the three classes are found among those served 

 at the Gouttes de Lait varies greatly, according to the 

 localities in which they are situated. In thus cater- 

 ing to the indigent as well as to those who can 

 afford to pay, the French system is very much like 

 that adopted in this country at the Straus depots. 



At the Fecamp Goutte de Lait, which has served as 

 the model for hundreds of others in all parts of the 



