EDUCATION OF WOMEN.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 165, 6 April 1908, Page 3

EDUCATION OF WOMEN.

(By Dr. Saleeby.)

Hitherto in this country we have -been' I educating all sorts and oonditions of

people in all sorts and conditions of ways, but wo have carefully excepted the mother, though her education for her supremo duties is the most momentous that can bo named or conceived. Tho .truth is that there exists among us, rivalling many other pestilent superstitions, the notion that a mother is ipso facto instructed by Nature ill the caro of her child. Now of all mothers, with tho solitary exception of women, that is true. The cat, for instance, has nothing to learn from the wisest man of scienco alive as to tho nursing and nurture of her children. Nay, more, the wiso cat cannot merely feed her kittens, hut can educate them, and that without the help of Spencer or Froebcl or any other. In playing with her kittens she educates them, and does so perfectly and to the delight of all concerned. ,

MAN'S LOST INSTINCT. To thoso who have made no study of tho human mind it might appear possible that what a, cat knows so well a woman-must know even better, if that be possible. But that is wholly untrue, and its untruth constitutes one of the greatest paradoxes of Nature, for of the young of all animals, man, who is to be their master, is at birth tho most helpless, and therefore tho most in need of maternal wisdom. Now, that which in the lower animals provides them with all the knowledge needed for tho wisest possible conduct of their children's lives is cplled instinct, and tho capital fact of man as against all the lower animals is that in him instinct has almost entirely lapsed and has been replaced by intelligence. That this instrument is superior man's empire of the earth sufficiently demonstrates, but it is as needy as it is superior. Instinct is capable of 110 intelligence, and needs none. It is perfect from the first within its limits. Intelligence ,has no limits, but it has everything to learn. •

This is the case of motherhood. The maternal instinct in a woman has been" reduced ■to the irreducible minimum. The -natural woman naturally loves babies, but that is all that Nature endows her with. She-has no information innate or instinctive within her as to whether gin or milk or pickles will form tho best food for a baby. Nothing within her compels her to wash a baby wisely, often, and well,.as tho cat is compelled to, lick her kittens. Still more remote is she from tho cat's instinctive knowledge, if knowledge it can bo called, that the baby's playfulness is educative. Tho cat mother can learn nothing, and has nothing to learn. The human mother has limitless capacity for learning, has no less love, but she lias everything to learn. A PROPHECY. The superstition that the mother needs no - advice, except perhaps from other women; who have made the awful boast that they have "buried seven," is one of the curses. of; our terribly wronged -childhood. It is perhaps the .capital imbecility of our : educational system. Wo must end it, or it will end us. Our neighbours across the way are now proceeding-to end it, and ; I will make a prophccy. . I predict that if this ordinance of Mr. Clemenceau's (a provision for the establishment of proper milk depots, and "consultations" for babies) is carried out, the infant mortality of France will bo halved withjn five years. Even then, of course, it will ■remain disgraceful and superfluous, but that will bo something. . . . . , I beseech those among us : in • high places and in low who spend a largo part of their time talking and .writing about the birth-rate,. which in any case they will not affcct in tho slightest degree, to turn to tljo real scandal which is'destroying human life around us, and what is worsev-clestroying, the best ■ elements', in .human nature; and.that is the scamtyl of our child mortality. ' That anyone who knows how our . children are at present slain should; preserve silcnco on this subject and go preaching that more children should bo .born t-o bo slain—this-is. ii thing Which would amaze mo if tho continued, spectacle' of our fatuousness in social questions had not long' ago exhausted my capacity for wondor. \

ANSWER TO YOUNG. MOTHER.

Now let us .ret.urn' to the, practical question subriiitted by "Young. Mother." . Formulae'" should not be changed unless .'for sopie clear and distinct reason, and I- am of opinion that' if . you .try the standard humanised milk again-you will find it agree all right; indeed, you do not say that it disagreed.' Firstly, let us consider the supposed overrichness of the milk. If the cream has risen w.ell you. really have nearly all tho fat in the top 7oz. which you are, at preseiit removing, and the layer immediately below that would-be little, ■if at all, richer in fat. than ordinary milk." The topmost ounce would contain from 20 to 25 per cent, of fat, whereas the twelfth ounce should not contain moro than 1 or ,2 per cent. You will realise 'from this that tne fewer ounces you skim off the richer, proportionately, you make your humanised milk in fat relatively to proteid or flesh-forming material. It ■ would bo better to'skim off at .least 90z..0f tho top milk from tho 40oz. set, and to uso 15oz. of, -whey.. If your milk is really tqo rich in fat this can be reduced by settjng 350z. instead of 40oz. of milk, and taking off tho top 9oz. as before. It is best to uso a conical dipper for removing the cream. You do not say how you arrived at tho conclusion that your milk was too rich. There might bo too f much fat; it is very improbable that'there would be appreciable excess in proteid. The best plan would be to send an ounce, of the ■ humanised milk you prepare and an ounce of the milk from which you derive your'cream; in both .cases make quite sure that the specimens ; are from thoroughly mixed' samples, so as to be fair averages; add three or four drops of formalin to each phial to prevent decompose tion. Address to .Nurse M'Kinnon, Taieri and Peninsula Co., King Street, Dunedin, and mark "For analysis." Wo will let you know the result. ' By using only 7oz. you reduce the allowance of flesh-forming material below tho best standard. Evidently your baby is doing well, but increase of weight is, of course, not the only criterion; and it is safer to keep up the proteid. If the teeth' should be cut early, as you anticipate, that would be one of the best, signs of perfectly normal growth. When a child is increasing so quickly in weight one would be inclined to give less food rather than more. Where growth is very rapid the digestion ■ sometimes becomes over-taxed; and, as the late Professor Budin, a great French authority, always insisted, "Underfed babies tend not to suffer from indigestion." Babies'tend to be overfed in the great majority of cases. If procurable,. it would be ! wiser to use the mixed, milk of a herd instead of the milk of ono cow. There is no more widespread popular error than the idea that-it is advisable to use "0110 cow's milk" for a, baby. The milk of a particular, cow may contain much more or much less than the average of fat or proteid, whereas the mixed milk of a given herd varies very little, except thiit it would be decidedly poorer than tho annual average in spring and richer in autumn.- Further, tho milk drawn off after a long interval is poorer than the milk drawn off after a short interval. Thus in winter the average morning milk contains 3 per cent, of fat; while evening milk contains about 4 per cent., owing to the long night interval causing reabsorption of the fat from tho milk retained over-long in the udder. Where women suckle their babies only twice a day one sometimes finds, on analysis, that ; there is less than half the proper percentage of fat' iu their milk. This is the strongest argument against the irregular feeding of babies often resorted to by mothers who ' allow social calls to outweigh the rightful claims of progeny. . In such cases one not infrequently finds that the mother's mill; causes vomiting, while prepared milk . agrees quite well. This is. not an argument in favour of artificial feeding, but against ' treating tho baby as a secondary consideration*