1 867. ] The Public Health. 457 



in county lunatic asylums; and that the Coroner have power to 

 hold inquests in all cases in which he deems inquiry necessary." 



Mr. Curgenven's paper, " On the Waste of Infant Life," was read 

 on the 18th of March, and gave a truthful but alarming picture of 

 the loss of infant life in England. He showed that one of the most 

 fruitful sources of death amongst infants was the practice of wean- 

 ing them at an early age and feeding them by hand. This was 

 especially the case with illegitimate offspring ; if those unfortunate 

 infants escape murder at their birth, it is only to undergo a long 

 process of painful extinction by hand feeding. Mr. Curgenven 

 showed that honourable marriage was no protection to the hand-fed 

 child. At the adjourned discussion on the 13th of May, Dr. W. 

 Farr in .the chair, the following resolutions were carried : — 



1. " That it is desirable for the checking of the excessive infan- 

 tile mortality in manufacturing towns where women are employed, 

 that a maternity fund be established in connection with each factory, 

 out of which the lying-in woman should receive a sum equal to her 

 weekly wages, and in lieu thereof, for a period of two months from 

 the birth of her child, provided it lives, to enable her to devote the 

 necessary maternal attention to it." 



2. " That every encouragement should be given to the esta- 

 blishment of infant day-nurseries, where the young children of 

 female operatives, and other working women, could be properly 

 cared for in the absence of their mothers at work." 



3. "It having been proved that very great mortality exists 

 among illegitimate children in the care of hired nurses, a fact which 

 shows the existence of much ignorance, carelessness, and culpable 

 neglect on the part of these nurses, the Health Department of this 

 Association is of opinion that protection should be accorded by the 

 State to illegitimate children, by requiring that all persons taking 

 charge of them should be registered, or licensed, and placed under 

 the supervision of the Poor Law Medical officer of the district in 

 which they reside." 



During the discussion Dr. Kogers, medical officer of the Strand 

 Union, made some valuable and practical remarks. He said, " In the 

 treatment of weaned children under his care, he always endeavoured 

 to provide some human milk, were it ever so little, for such children. 

 To children under six months of age, no food should ever be giv^n 

 which was warmer than blood heat ; warmer, in fact, than the milk 

 when it left the mother's breast. The most complete cleanliness 

 was also necessary with regard to the food of young children. He 

 believed that one- half the diarrhoea, from which young children suf- 

 fered was caused by keeping their food, especially their milk, in 

 dirty vessels. It was also important that their food should be 

 rightly compounded : a quarter of a pint of water to a pint of pure 

 cow's milk (with a little white sugar added) was the right propor- 



vol. rv. 2 h 



