REMEDIAL THEORIES AND EXPERIMENTS 231 



42 per cent in 1895, 39 per cent in the year following, 

 and 44 per cent in 1897. The death-rate seemed to 

 remain in the neighborhood of 40 per cent as if fixed 

 by some terrible fatalism. 



In consequence of the results obtained through the 

 depots he had established in various parts of the 

 city during the two or three years previous, Mr. 

 Straus, who had formerly been president of the 

 Board of Health, secured permission to establish a 

 complete pasteurization plant on the island in con- 

 nection with the asylum. That was early in 1898. 

 Immediately the spell was broken and the terrible 

 death-rate of babies began to show a well-marked 

 decline. Mr. Straus was proving to the great city 

 and to the world that the power which exacted a 

 death-toll of 40 per cent was the power of ignorance. 

 As stated, the death-rate in 1897 had been 44 per 

 cent, and in 1898, the first year of the experiment, the 

 rate dropped to less than 20 per cent ! The follow- 

 ing table shows very clearly the results attained dur- 

 ing a period of seven years, proving that the decrease 

 was not a temporary or accidental one. It should be 

 said that, while there were some changes in the later 

 years, during the first two years at any rate, there 

 were no other changes of any kind, either in respect 

 to hygiene, management, or feeding. So far as human 

 intelligence could perceive, the improvement was due 

 solely to the better milk supply. 



