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166 AfETNODS OF SOCIAL REFORJf.
that “nhlnctation and narcotism” would bo tho trno description
of tho cause of more than half the infantiio deaths
recorded, whatever may bo the advanced symptoms” returned
to the registrar.
Hardly lese instructive is t.he previous Report of Dr.
Greenhow on tho infant mortality of certain manufacturing
districts.* It was elicited from a mnn working in a factory at
13irminghnm, where many married women mere omployed, that
ten out of cr-cry trnclrc childrcu born ::o them died within a
few znonths ttftcr birth. The man ha3 been accustomed to
collect tllc tnoncsy for tllo funeral expenses, and he ougllt to
know. In tl~e course of Dr. Greerlllom’s further inquiries it
was frqwntly f(.)und that two-thirds or three-fourths of tho
children h-n to the women had died in infancy ; and, “on the
other hnnd, it mns rcrnnrknblo horn, in other instances, tho
mnjority of thc rhildrcn wero reared when the mothers did
not Fork in factories, or discontinued doing so whilst nursing”
(p. 196).
Tho following passage (p. 192) is also very much to the
point, explaining how the system works :
“ Women, being obliged to nttend at the factory at an cnrly hour, are
alwnyvx hrlrricd in thc morning, and may be seen on tlleir way to tho
mill*, Iu1strning long the strects with their childrcn only half-dressed,
carrying tl~c
remainder of theirclothcs nnd their food for the day, to bo
left wit11 tllo pcrsou who llns charge of the child during the molllev’s
al~sc~~ee ; unci tl~is octtirncu on a cold winter’s morlling, in thc lnidst of
sleet or RIIOW. . . . Parents mho thus intrust thc mnnogcmcnt of thcir
infants so lnrgcly to strnngers become more or less coreless and indifferent
about them ; and, as many of the cl~ildrcn die, the mothers
become fnmiliariscd with the fnct, and apecrk of the deaths of their
children with a dcgree of nonchalance mrcly mct with amongst women
who devote themselves mainly to tho care of their offspring.”
Tho complete concurrence of opinion as to the inffuence of
the mother’s absence on tho health of the iufant is thus
explicitly summed up (p. 192) :
“All tho medical men mho gave sridence on the subject o€ the prcaent
inquiry, besides several clergfmen, ladies who are accustomed to visit
.. .
* Fourth Report of the Nedical Officer of the Privy Council, 1861,
pp. 187-196. Parl. Papers, 1862, No. 179, vol. hi.