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CORRESPONDENCE.

Space for correspondence is necessarily limited. Communications containing suggestions, serviceable information, criticism, and anything likely to be of general interest or value should be condensed into a short letter. Writers must in all cases give their name and address, although not necessarily for publication.

NATIONAL BABY WEEK.

SIR, The National Baby Week Council is anxious to enlist once more, for this year's campaign, the help of doctors, nurses, midwives, health visitors, and all other workers for infant welfare, to whose generous and wholehearted co-operation the success of Baby Week last year was so largely due. The Council is aware that under present circumstances it is difficult for anyone to shoulder additional burdens, but our work is so urgent that we venture to ask that your readers will give us whatever help lies in their power. Leaflets giving suggestions for a week's, week-end's, or day's celebration may be had from this office, and all possible help will be given in arranging for speakers, &c. Now is the time to form local committees and commence operations. May I take this opportunity of suggesting to your readers that in districts where new infant welfare centres or day nurseries are required the publicity and interest aroused by the holding of Baby Week celebrations might be a good means of bringing the need before the public. Practical help can be obtained from the Children's Jewel Fund, which gives grants up to 50 per cent. of the initial and first year's running expenses towards new organizations or new developments of existing centres. The Administrative Committee of this Fund is a Sub-Committee of the National Baby Week Council, and I shall be glad to send a copy of the scheme on application. SUSAN F. MUSSON, Secretary.

27A, Cavendish Square, W.1.

THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH. SIR, We all realize the urgent necessity for the establishment of a Ministry

of Health. Child welfare work will not
come into its own until we have a central
brain to co-ordinate the many existing
peripheral centres. The Education Bill
is delayed, and there is no surety that a
Bill for the Establishment of a Ministry
of Health will be speedily introduced.
All striving for national betterment and
conservation of the most valuable re-
sources of the commonwealth should con-
tinue to agitate for the establishment of
this greatly needed additional power to
safeguard British supremacy. May I be
permitted to direct attention to a very
succinct presentation of the case for a
Ministry of Health which appeared in
the Women's Supplement of the School-
master for April 13. The arguments are
there concisely summarized as follows:
"(1) Because there is no wealth but life,'
and only by saving the lives now being
lost through carelessness and folly can
we compensate for the appalling losses
of the War. (2) Because last year's birth-
rate was less than 18 per 1,000, which is
less than half the rate of forty years ago;
and among these relatively few children
born many preventable deaths occur at
all ages. (3) Because Lord Rhondda has
told us for a year, without contradiction,
that a Ministry of Health would save a
thousand babies' lives a week. (4) Because
progress in national health is impossible
while fourteen Government departments
muddle the responsibility between them.
(5) Because, even when we have won the
War, we cannot hope without such a
Ministry to win the 'great campaigns of
peace to come.'
(6) Because, in King
George's words, The foundations of
national glory are set in the homes of
the people.'"

A WORKER FOR CHILD WELFARE.
London.

WAYS AND MEANS.

Under this heading descriptions are given of preparations and appliances, new and old, likely to te of service in the study and management of child life. Every care is taken to procure reliable notices based upon practical knowledge. In this way trustworthy information is available regarding the work of inventors and the products of manufacturers, which it is believed will afford valuable guidance to all engaged in the care of infants and the protection and education of children.

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In 1869 Dr. Stephenson rescued two homeless lads from London's streets, and so commenced the work of the National Children's Home and Orphanage. After fifty years of growth there are to-day in its twenty branches nearly 3,000 children. By its ministry over 12,000 boys and girls have been rescued from destitution and peril, and trained for responsible manhood and womanhood. The value of this to child life and to the nation can hardly be overstated. The completion of the Jubilee will be celebrated in July, 1919. Between July, 1918, and that date it is proposed to raise a Jubilee Fund of at least ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS for extensions and developments. Additions will be made to the principal branches, and a new London Headquarters Branch will provide industrial and handicraft

training for elder boys and girls, a receiving house and hostel for residence, together with suitable accommodation for offices. There will thus be provided a much needed metropolitan centre where visitors from all over the world can come and see this great work for themselves. By these developments provision will be made for the care of some 600 more children at the time of great national urgency and need. Since the outbreak of war the National Children's Home and Orphanage has received more than 350 orphan children of soldiers and sailors. Further applications of a similar kind are received daily. Thus, whilst one effect of the War is to make building exceedingly difficult and costly, another effect is to make it imperative to increase the accommodation to meet the many cases of need arising directly or indirectly from the War. The value of the Jubilee Fund will be measured not chiefly by the contributions given, but by the expression it gives of a widespread desire to HAVE A SHARE in the responsibilities of the great work of the National Children's Home and Orphanage. It is proposed, therefore, to subscribe the whole of the capital of the Jubilee Fund in £1 shares. This does not, of course, preclude the larger gifts of individual donors. A subscription of five thousand £1 shares would build a new Sanatorium Wing. Two thousand would build a new House with accommodation for twenty-four additional children. One thousand would name and endow a Hospital Cot. Five hundred would name and endow a House Cot. One hundred would name a Hospital Cot. Fifty would name a House Cot. Twenty would support a child for a year. Ten would provide the balance of cost to maintain a soldier's or sailor's child for a year. Such investments in child welfare will make their own appeal. Copies of the full prospectus will be supplied on application to the Principal, National Chil

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dren's Home and Orphanage, 104-122, City Road, E.C.1. The accompanying illustration is a black-and-white design of the Jubilee Commemoration Stamp which has been prepared by an eminent artist and is being issued in attractive colouring. The stamp measures three by two inches, will be sold at a shilling, and will serve as interesting and valuable mementoes of the Jubilee of the National Children's Home and Orphanage, 1869— 1919.

INFANT WELFARE POSTCARDS.

Workers for maternity and infant welfare should secure at once a set of the twenty-four INFANT WELFARE PICTURE POSTCARDS issued by the publishers of THE CHILD (price Is. net, postage id. extra). These striking illustrations of the work carried on by the Belgian National League for the Welfare of Infancy may well be used for stimulating a like work in British centres. The postcards are being published under the auspices of the National Association for the Prevention of Infant Mortality, 4, Tavistock Square, W.C.1. The pictures admirably illustrate the practical measures which have been undertaken to conserve the life of Belgian babies and secure betterment for Belgian mothers. We hope it may be found possible to issue speedily a similar postcard album of pictures of various activities dealing with the protection of motherhood and the care of infancy and childhood in this country.

BOY SCOUT LITERATURE.

Messrs. James Brown and Son, Glasgow, are official publishers to the Boy Scouts' Association, and have issued many

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and various guides and manuals serviceable to Boy Scouts (and perhaps we may be allowed to add, Girl Guides). Among recent issues the following have reached us: "The Boy Scout's Complete Signalling Instructor" (price 6d. net), is an illustrated guide intended to assist in preparation for a qualification for the Badge of Merit for Signalling. "Camp Cookery for Boy Scouts and others," by J. Gibson (price 6d. net), is a practical manual on the preparation of food and the conduct of camp canteen work. There are numerous good recipes, practical tips, tables of weights and measures, and instructive illustrations. The Boy Scout Star Clock" (price id.) is a card for the observation and record of time by observation of the stars. "The Boy Scouts' Union Jack" (price 1d.) is a card on which is shown the evolution and composition of our National Flag and the correct way to fly it.

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MUSICAL INSTRUCTION.

Under the title of "The Five C.'s," Mr. Henry E. Pether, of 9, Hazelwood Lane, Palmer's Green, N.13, has published, through Messrs. Francis, Day and Hunter, 138-140, Charing Cross Road, W.C.2 (price 2s. net), a musical educational album which claims to be an exposition of a new and easy method of learning to read and play the whole of the notes on the piano practically at sight." There is also an explanation of a new system of instructing children regarding the time value of notes. The work merits the unprejudiced consideration of music teachers, for anything which lightens the drudgery of initial steps both for instructor and scholar is to be welcomed.

YESTERDAY, TO-DAY, AND TO-MORROW.

Under this general heading appear miscellaneous notes and records of current events and other topics relating to child welfare, and to this section it is earnestly hoped readers of this Journal will contribute.

DRIED MILK.

Dried milk has for some time been steadily growing in favour and the coming of war conditions has made manifest the many advantages which would result if milk in powder form could be provided as a reliable nutriment and at a cost which did not compare unfavourably with the existing price of ordinary milk. For long we have known that milk was oftentimes supplied to the consumer in a form prejudicial to health, that it was liable to contamination of many kinds, and that not infrequently it was a carrier of disease. Moreover, it was evident that much waste in labour, time, materials, and freightage occurred in the course of the collection and transit of milk from the cow to the consumer. Yet in spite of all professional advice public opinion has clung to the belief that raw milk is an essential for infant and child welfare, desirable for invalids, and necessary in the conduct of a dietary for the household. Ignorance regarding the nature of dried milk, national conservatism in manner of thought and methods of procedure, individual likings and prejudices, long-established customs and habits, together with the powerful influences of vested interests, have all united to keep us content with milk in such form as the milkman provides. It has, however, for some time become clear to progressive minds that the case for or against dried milk should be presented in a strictly scientific and impartial manner. This has now been done. The Government have recently issued a particularly luminous volume on the whole subject. It appears as "Reports to the Local Government Board on Public Health and Medical Subjects (New Series, No. 116)" [Food Reports, No. 24], and is issued by H. M. Stationery Office, and can be procured at Imperial House, Kingsway, W.C.2 (price 25. net). The volume contains three parts: A Report by Dr. F. J. H. Coutts, "Upon an Inquiry as to Dried Milks, with special reference to their Use in

Infant Feeding," with appendices giving particulars regarding Patents concerned with the processes for preparing Dried Milk, and Reports on the Bacteriological Examples of Samples of Dried Milk examined at the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine; A Report conducted on behalf of the Medical Research Committee by Mr. George Winfield, M.A., on "Some Investigations bearing on the Nutritive Value of Dried Milk; and a series of Records of Analyses prepared by Sir James J. Dobbie at the Government Laboratory. The volume provides a complete, scientific, and authoritative exposition regarding all essential questions relating to the production and use of dried milk. Medical officers of health, all medical practitioners, and every adviser regarding foods and the care of infants and children should make a point of studying these reports in their entirety. In the limited space at our disposal we cannot do more than provide a condensed summary of what we consider to be some of the more important conclusions arrived at. Dried milk has been known and used as far back as 1868. Since 1902 considerable improvements have been made in the preparation of dried milk. The bestknown processes bear the names of Campbell, Ekenberg, Just Hatmaker, Kunick, Merrell Soule. The nature of these and other processes are fully explained in Dr. Coutts's report, together with details regarding existing methods of distribution and sale, packing, brands, and commercial aspects of the trade. At the present time three main varieties of dried milk appear to be on the market, namely, full' cream, half-cream, and separated. A particularly suggestive section is devoted to a consideration of the bacteriology of dried milk, and the results of Professor Delépine's investigations are detailed. The following conclusions are formulated (1) It is clear that the processes used in drying milk largely reduce the number of bacteria present, but do not give an absolutely sterile product. (2) It

is also clear that a considerable proportion of the bacteria found in dried milk, as it occurs in commerce, has been reintroduced in the concluding stages of the processes, frequently during the powdering and packing of the dry product. (3) With the object, therefore, of obtaining a product as free as possible from bacteria, it is important that special precautions should be taken to avoid recontamination of the milk, and to this end the most scrupulous cleanliness should be observed in the factories in which dried milk is made. When milk is dried at the farm, special premises should be set apart for the purpose, and should be so constructed that every part can be washed down or thoroughly cleansed. It is obviously undesirable to have the rooms used for this purpose abutting on to an ordinary farmyard and exposed to contamination by dust or dirt blowing in, or by dung conveyed on the boots of the workers. (4) Further, it is desirable that the milk should be drawn from the cow with precautions to avoid access of dirt, and that it should be dried as soon as possible after milking to avoid the multiplication of germs in the liquid milk. The very important question of the use of dried milk in the feeding of infants receives the full and unprejudiced consideration which the subject demands. Evidence is presented from many reliable sources where dried milk has been used in the nourishment of infants in large numbers. The rôle of dried milk in dealing with various infantile derangements and morbid conditions in early life is discussed. The use of dried milk in the Tropics is also considered. Finally, Dr. Coutts arrives at the very definite conclusion that "dried milk is a valuable food, and one which possesses certain special advantages which are likely to lead to its use being greatly extended in the future." The advantages claimed for dried milk are explained in detail and with scientific precision. Dried milk is of great convenience in regard to its ready portability. Liquid milk is clumsy to handle in bulk and inconvenient for transport. With dried milk practically only the solids of milk are retained, hence the labour and cost of transporting the water, which represents about seveneighths of the total weight of fresh milk,

are avoided. Further, dried milk can be put up in packages which are convenient to handle and store. Delay in railway transport, which is disastrous in the case of such a perishable commodity as liquid milk, is not a serious matter in the case of dried milk. The good keeping properties of dried milk offer a notable advantage. Even under the best conditions liquid milk cannot be kept for any lengthened period without undergoing changes which render it unfit for food. Whilst it is not desirable that dried milk should be kept for a very long time after manufacture, it is capable under suitable conditions of remaining in good condition and fit for food for reasonably long periods. Dried milk is certainly very convenient, and provides for freedom from waste. Dried milk possesses a comparative freedom from bacteria. Dried milk is not germ-free, but in varieties made by passing over rollers heated above 100° C., or manufactured by some other process after a preliminary pasteurization, the number of bacteria contained is relatively extremely small as compared with ordinary milk, and there is no tendency towards multiplication of bacteria on keeping. Furthermore, the result of the hot-roller process or of the pasteurization referred to is either to destroy entirely or to render fewer and less virulent any pathogenic bacteria which may have been present in the original milk. The risk, therefore, of conveyance of disease-even of tuberculosis-by dried milk is probably exceedingly small. As to economy, Dr. Coutts regretfully points out that hitherto the retail price of dried milk usually works out at a cost rather higher than that of a proportionate amount of liquid milk. The Report is very definite in the opinions expressed as to the value of dried milk for infant feeding in many cases. Dr. Coutts expresses the opinion that when breast-feeding is impossible dried milk is a very valuable food substitute-perhaps, when all considerations are taken into account, one of the most generally useful of all the available preparations of cows' milk. This statement, of course, applies to dried milk of recent manufacture, made carefully under hygienic conditions from a good quality of cows' milk. It does not necessarily apply to a dried milk of poor quality

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