A Unique Preventative of Race Suicide.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 422, 26 May 1904, Page 5

A Unique Preventative of Race Suicide.

One of the latest attempts to arrest the decreasing population in France is a unique institution, which is called " The Drop of Milk," founded several years ago, in Paris, b/ Doctors "Variet and Budin, assisted by a wealthy Parisian philanthropist. This institution is for the maintenance of children dur» ing the first six months of their-lives, and its care is that they shall receive the proper nourishment until they have safely passed the danger of early infancy. The children, mostly of the labouring classes, are brought up to the institution upon stated days for exam* inaiioa, and the mothers receiveja #ard of admission entitling them to a certain number of bottles of sterilised milk. This is to be given at home in accordance with the directions given by the physician at the institution. In general, the infants are left with their parents, but the conditions require that the mother bring the child regularly—first, to have it weighed, that the efiect of the alimenation may be ascertained ; second, that the mother may take part in the school of instruction; and third, for the tegular distribution of milk. Infants of all classes, are admitted, There is a^ a reduced rate section, an'' tion. For the tion of the mothers,,, labelled (tht institu- ; a duplicate of each l & ssL&fef instruo tions to the mother, of the condition of the weight, by date. In a descripw*-a of the work of this in the Revue verselle, Gustave Lejeal says :—" Of the 850,000 children who are born every year in Paris, at least 148,000 die before completing their first year; that is, at the rate of 16 per hundred, for almost half of the total mortality of the first year occurs in the first two months. It is, therefore, especially during the first two months that the infant needs to be carefully nourished. From these, figures one can judge of the important influence this ' Drop of Milk,' will have on future generations, and it is not an exaggeration to characterise this work of Dr. Variot as an important contribution to social progress."