OUR BABIES

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3118, 23 June 1917, Page 5

OUR BABIES

FBT HYGEIA.I

) Published under the auspices of tho Society for the Health of Women and Children. "It is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a pmipico than to maintain an ambulance at tho bottom." ■ A WIDESPREAD FALLACY. Strangest of all adverse criticisms of the j<5 k / nc , h * being dono for motherhood and.babyhood throughout the Dominion is c-ne not infrequent remark: I think it, is much better for babies to have a light for their lives: then it they are weaklings and unfit to live they go,under, while those who ought to survive aro rendered stronger by the contest. ITy attention was pointedly drawn to this particular fallacy recently by a It had been quite seriously urged on Him, Tvitn some warmth, that th.o society was liable to do babies a grievous wron" by melting things too easy for them-by giving them too good a time. It was contended that- on Darwini6tic principles babies would suffer through being deprived of. the boon of their natural struggle for existence." , Of course, the special struggle of our civilisation to which babies have really been subjected during the past halfcentury, and which has brought about so much all-round disease and degeneracy, nas been a most artificial and damaging contest to all concerned. It is absurd to suppose that any baby is benefited by having to contend against foul air, lack of .sunshine, lack of exercise, irregular habite, etc. All such artificial stresses damage the babies who survive—tho originally strong, as well as the originally delicate. The child, who has been through this mill comes out with all hie organs and faculties dwarfed and weakened by the process—a result quite the converse of that contemplated by Darwin as the outcome of the natural struggle for existence.

Our farmers don't set about improving their crops and raising the standard of ■ their Socks and herds by subjecting them to a struggle against the results of starvation, neglect and carelessness; •why, then, should parents be more hopeful as to the resulte of such measures when applied to their own offspring? They should surely realise that maltreated babies make inferior men and women.

A NATURAL STRUGGLE. When two stags or two game cocks nit tliemeelves against one another two benefits to the race may bo expected:— ' (11 Each combatant dcvolops . his muscles, and, indeed, his -whole organism and powers, in the contest. (2) The progeny tends to be that of the victor. People who talk glibly about the "Striigglo for Existence" should remember that certain simple and primary conditions have to bo fulfilled iu order to. ensure that the result shall be beneficial and not harmful to the race. Bearing on this matter, 1 may quote a passage from "The Feeding and Care o[ the Baby" (page 148), which will make the matter still clearer. Effects of Baby Ailments. During illness of any kind all work in the direction of building and repair is imperfectly done. Hence it is that the nails are always marked by a Eroovo after fever—the bottom of each groove consisting of the portion of the nail which waa formed during the ill- ■ ness. For the time being all the nails aro thus locally "thinned; but this matters little, since the nails are constantly growing, and being cut oft. Not eo with the enamel of the teeth. Enamel is formed once for all, in infancy and childhood, and if there are thin portions,'due to debility, indigestion, attacks of diarrhoea, etc., during the time wlieu the enamel is iu course of formation, the teeth will tend to decay wherever there has been an inadequate deposit of the necessary protective covering. Dental surgeons are always tolling ns that nowadnys the coating of enamel is exceedingly thin-often, indeed, almoßt absent In places. Can wo wonder at this, seeing that few children enjoy uninterrupted good health during their early and most important growing years! The mother who wants to ensure her baby sound, long-lasting teeth must see to it that ho is kept as healthy as possible throughout. Every illness should be regarded as at least a temporary victory for tho microbes—a defeat which retards the growth and development of the whole organism, and renders it an easier prey to most other germs iu the future. Pitched battles waged with miorobes arc a, waste of timo and energy precious to the growing child, anil leave his tissues weakened, not strengthened, by tho fight. Yet as soon as tho baby lias "recovered" from any illness, tho mother thinka the roHilKs of her mistakes are at. an end; but this is not sa-more or' less ot lire-long damage bus been done. A chock sustained in wirly life always loaves a permanent' impress on tho organism, whether plant or animal. Farm crops which havo been blighted in thn needling stage, may flourish afterwards and givn a gooil yield, but, not w> good as if tho plants had gone straight ahead. Trees which have been transplanted or diseased In "infancy," though they may afterwards crow "remarkably well," do not attain the ultimate stature or perfection of trees whoso progress has boon subjected to no such temporary inter- - niption.