COLUMN FOR WOMEN

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 127, 1 February 1915, Page 3

COLUMN FOR WOMEN

OUR BABIES. (By Hygeia.) Published by the special request of the Taihape Plunket Nurse Society. THE NEED OF SOME UNCOOKED FOOD FOR BABIES. The use of Patent Foods and Condensed and Dried Milks for baby-feed-ing may be regarded as dating back practically about 40 years. Since that time there has been a steady increase in the use of sterilised foods coming under one or other of these several headings. - The great fact to bear in mind about ready-made artificial foods put up for sale in tins is that they have all been subjected to excessive heating in the process of manufacture, and that this has killed the natural vitality inherent in, fresh foods. Fresh milk, fresh eggs, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, all contain active “leavening” substances which exercise a most important influence not only over the digestion and absorption of feed, but also on the nourishing and growth of the body by means of the various food substations aftQr they have become absorbed into the blood. The importance of this fact as bearing upon the feeding of infants can scarcely be overestimated When the use of sterilised artificial feeds had been extensively practised for some years in the rearing of babies, Dr Barlow (now Sir Thomas Barlow) made the startling discovery that a considerable proportion of the children so fed suffered from a painful and grave disease affecting especially the blood and bones. The malady was a new onej, but it suggested both scurvy and rickets, and it came to be known as “scurvy-rickets” or Barlow’s disease. Its occurrence was traced to the habitual use of sterilised foods, and the disease was found to be extremlely rare exfeept where a child was fed on some form of superheated food. Further, the most essential point in treatment was found to be the giving of some raw natural material, such as fresh, unheated milk, raw white of eggs, or the juices of fresh, uncooked fruit or vegetables'— In other words, the very substances which would have prevented the occurrence of scurvy-rickets . had they been present in the child’s daily food.

The inference from all this is clear enough. The omission from a baby’s food of fresh vital substances, the absence of which is liable to be followed by such grave consequenoes, cannet be regarded as. anything but a serious wrong even where the .harmful effects do not gio the length of bringing on actual disease. There are vital substances in fresh foods, especially in raw foods, which cannot be left out of the daily ration with impunity either in the case of adults or babies. The most striking damage seen in ordinary practice nowadays is in the case of babies fed on foods put up in tins; hut we know that similar harmful effects occur where adults are kept for any length of time without some proportion of healthy raw food. Scurvy is still the scourge of Arctic explorers if their supply of fresh food runs out. The fate of the Scott Expedition would have been quite different had there been a few r dogs left on the return journy to afford the men a small daily allowance of fresh meat.

THE BEST RAW FOODS FOR BABIES.

I—MOTHER’S MILK. The best of all raw foods for babies is mother’s milk. Coming as it does warm and full of life direct from the source, it stands pre-eminent before all other digestive and nutritive tonics. This is why every drop of mother’s milk is precious for the baby, and why partial suckling should be continued for at least nine months if possible, where complete breast-feed-ing fails. An ounce of mother’s milk a day added to the 20oz or 30oz or more of prepared milk that a baby needs may make all the difference in the world. A great French authority says: “Mother's milk has been called the DIGESTIVE of cow’s milk, because the presence of even a small quantity of human milk in the baby’s daily food facilitates the digestion and absorption of the rest.”

lI—FRESH COW’S MILK. This stands second to fresh breast milk drawn direct from suckling, and this is why the use of a few ounces of raw cow’s milk is recommended on page 29 of the Society’s book, “Feeding and Care of Baby,’’ in cases where the main quantity of food has to be prepared with the use of heat, however moderate.

lII.—RAW WHITE OF EGG. This is another excellent addition to the daily food where artificial feeding of babies has to be resorted to; or it can be given two or three times a week. At first half the raw white of a perfectly fresh hen’s eggs (laid at longest not more than a week) may be mixed with the day’s food, and this can be gradually increased until the whole white is taken in the 24 hours. Unless for some special reason it is better not to allow more than the white of three eggs per week to a baby in the first six months of life, as

the use cf any larger proportion of albumen would disturb the proper balance of the food constituents. White of egg is specially valuable and convenient as an adjunct in baby-feeding because fresh eggs are v’heap and readily got in summer,' and the. slight increase in the proportion of albumen as compared with fat is found to be frequently beneficial in hot weather.

Care should be taken to clean and scald the outside of the egg by plunging it into boiling water fox’, a few mordents before breaking it. The basin or cup should, of course, have been cleansed and scalded, and if the white of egg is not mixed a.t once with the day’s allowance of it must, of course, be kept covered and in a cool place. Some mothers prefer to add a part of a teaspoonful to each feedei’. If this is done, the best plan is to thoroughly blend the white of egg with about an equal quantity of boiled water, so that it will be no longer too “ropy” to take up and mix uniformly with the milk.

TV.—FRUIT OR VEGETABLE JUICE. Her© the choice is very wide, as shown on page 40 of “Feeding and Care of Baby,” to which the reader is referred for practical advice. T shall have more to say on this subject later, but may mienticn in the meantime that we find potato-juice the expressed juice of a good fresh, raw potato) fo*rms a safe and useful substitute for fruit juice where it is impracticable or too expensive to get fresh fruit for the baby every day. There is a little raw starch in potatojuice, but the quantity is not enough to do any harm provided the baby does not receive more than tw r o or three teaspoonfuls of the juice in the course of the day.

It has come to the knowledge cf “Hygeia” that many readers of this column are being misled by the proximity of the “Glaxo” advertisements to the column, and think that the Society approves cf “Glaxo” as a food for babies. The Society makes no distinction between “Glaxo” and any other patent foods. The, Soceity recommexxds no patent food whatever.

THE STORIES OF MISCONDUCT.

——————— -JP' ' NEW ZEALANDERS BEHAVING - THEMSELVES V ELL. The Wellington correspondent of the “New Zealand Herald” says: In reference to the statements that have been published regarding the alleged murder of a' member of the Australasian expeditionary force in a low house in Cairo and of the stabbing to death of another member of the force for pulling the veil from the face of a Turkish woman, the officers of the troopship Orafi, which has just returned from Alexandria could give no information as to the ajcjluracy pi. these statements. Captain Weston stated that when he was ashore at Cairo the New Zealanders appeared to be behaving themselves very well. He had seen misbehaviour by Australians, but New Zealanders were taking good care of themselves and were not getting into trouble. Captain Bean, the war correspondent with the Australian force, comparing the New Zealanders and Australians, says: “In physique one can see no differep.ee between their men and ours. Both are much bigger than most of the Territorials here, although there is a great difference between the different Territorial regiments, the country regiments and the cavalry being far bigger than the city-born infantry. In drill our men are perhaps smarter than the New Zealanders; certainly as well trained. In neatness and general appearance, when on leave in town, the New Zealanders are excellent. It is partly a matter of uniform. One would say the New Zealand cloth is probably even better than ours —a wonderfully good brownish woollen khaki, their'tunics fit fairly close and they retain their bright brass buttons and a streak of red or other colour in the hat bands and facings. These things are of doubtful military value, but possibly their effect on some of the men wearing them, is worth reckoning with. Certainly the New Zealanders give the impression of keeping their uniforms well. As to discipline, I have heard statements made on very high authority both ways; but I do not know that any real distinction can be drawn. The New Zealanders are mentioned on all hands as having looked particularly well. ‘Well turned out,’ ‘Smart,’ ‘Splendidly mounted,’ were some of the words used when they marched past General Sir John Maxwell, the Commander of the troops in Egypt to-day.”

I may add that Captain ( Bean/whom I know personally, is one cf the ablest and most reliable journalists in Australasia, and his words on naval and military matters can be taken as well weighed. From his remarks in regard to the Australians themselves he makes it quite clear that a small percentage of them are not behaving in a manner likely to do credit to their native country. A few undesirables have also managed to get into the 4000 troops who are at present in camp at Trentham. In nearly every case drink has been the cause of the trouble. There have been a few scenes in Wellington that have made most decent people regret very much that so much liquor should be procurable by the troops on leave. Quite a number of them have broken