AMAND ROUTH, M.D., F.R.C.P„, ON MOTHERHOOD. 



73 



as compared to breast-fed, children is as yet but little understood. 

 No doubt a mother's milk is best for her own child, but this is not 

 the cause of the mortality from cow's milk. 



It lies in the fact that when the infant is nourished from its 

 mother's breast it gets milk, when fed otherwise it gets milk plus 

 dirt. The quantity is now much less, thanks to sanitary regulations, 

 but the fact remains that dirt is seldom wholly excluded. 



Dr. Schofield again expressed his sense of the value of Dr. Routh's 

 admirable paper, and begged to propose a hearty vote of thanks 

 to him. 



Lieut. -Col. M. A. Alves said : With most of the matter contained 

 in this paper we shall all, I feel sure, be in hearty agreement ; but 

 some few points in it need consideration and perhaps a little 

 criticism. 



In Gen. i, 28, the words run, " Be fruitful and multiply — and 

 replenish the earth and subdue it." God has joined together these 

 two phrases ; and any attempt on man's part to put them asunder 

 can only lead to disaster, as I fear that this nation may soon learn to 

 its cost. We all have a natural inclination towards the first clause ; 

 not too many of us towards the second ; and we need those two 

 great prison -warders. Hunger and Exposure, to compel us to do 

 our duty ; and if the State dismisses these two valuable officials 

 she is likely soon to find herself bankrupt. 



The passage from Genesis that I have quoted teaches us, I 

 maintain, that the right to parenthood is not inherent, but something 

 to be earned ; and it seems to me that State aid, if given at all, 

 should be restricted to those cases where both parents have come 

 up to a certain approved standard of fitness in mind and body. 

 What the nation needs is Viri, not Homines, still less Homunculi, 

 of which two latter classes it has plenty and to spare. It should, 

 in my judgment, be restricted to regular unions only, except perhaps 

 in those rare cases where the bigamous party to a marriage has been 

 so unwittingly. 



Monogamy is probably the general custom of Heathens as well 

 as Christians and Jews ; and if the Old Testament permitted 

 Polygamy, it did not encourage it. Further, if a man " enticed " 

 a maid in Israel, he was bound to marry her, and forbidden to 

 divorce her (adultery was punished by death, not divorce), see 



