THE WELFARE OF THE BABY.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXX, Issue 3587, 29 July 1912, Page 6

THE WELFARE OF THE BABY.

ADDRESSES BY DR. TRUBY KING.

“SCIENCE AND THE CHILD/’

“Science and the Child’’ WAS thd subject of a lecture delivered by Dr. Truby King at the Holy Trinity Schoolroom on Saturday afternoon. There was, a very large attendance of ladies, the building being packed and great interest was in the lecture.

Dr. Truby King said that lie realised that most of his audience was composed of ladies and he was rather surprised to see so many present, . because women were not often anxious about anything that involved the name of science. It seemed, to be generally assumed that science was dry, remote and uninteresting, and these matters were more for men than women. As Professor Huxley had remarked the purpose of science was not to complicate but to simplify matters and this was essentially true. If they once learned about a thing and understood the basis it was very much easier to get at what was necessary. He Pointed out the manner in which science was brought to bear in regard to oiaily pursuits such" as dairying and agriculture and said that owing to competition by other countries they had to adopt in New Zealand more scientific methods than formerly. They had: to study and think, and if they did not do that' there were other countries who would do the thinking and the people who practised system, which science involved. would undoubtedly oust those that did not. The same arose in regard to nations. The nation that had the best men and women must stand in the van with regard to the question of national supremacy and so forth. The question of armaments, however, appeared to be more particular at present than the question. of the upbringing of children. After dealing with the origin of life, which, he said, made its appearance in micro-organisms in the ocean some millions of years ago, Dr. Truby King went on to explain the essential necessities of life- He pointed out that fresh air was the main factor in sustaining life, for where, they could live for 4Q days without food they could only live four minutes without air. Children should be absolutely imbued with the idea of taking plenty of air. If fresh air was more freely taken by the. community consumption and other diseases would be wiped out and the vitality of the people would be enormously increased. He strongly condemned tile present education system whereby children were sent to school at four and five years of age and said that the whole medical profession held that this was wrong. It affected girls more than it did boys and restricted their growth. The children should he turned out of school every three-quarters of an hour under the present system, but no child in his opinion should be sent to school before 9 years of age, arid then only for three hours a day. The sooner the disease known as*“modern education', was got over the better. Continuing, Dr. King pointed out that the question of the future lay with the women. Their work was of a higher-nature than that of men and there were certain aspects that could not be undertaken by men. They were man’s betters and there was "o. use denying the fact. If it was the lot of a woman not to be married she would •enjoy her life if she had had that training that would best fit her for married life. On all hands it would be admitted that she would be better off if she were married. He dealt at some length with food for babies-and pointed out that some patent foods were not suitable for children. He instanced the value oi humanised milk and showed that it laid the foundation for a healthy constitution. It took very little time to prepare and was well worth the trouble. . , _ In conclusion Dr. King said that he hoped that they would form a branch of the Society for the Promotion of the Health of Women and Children. If a.committee were formed of earnest women and they had a trained nurse —one whom a woman might consult as a ‘friend —it would be of immense benefit to women and a great blessing to the children horn in the futureA hearty vo L e of thanks was accorded Dr. Trilby King for his address.

“RACE CULTURE.”

THE EVENING LECTURE

lii the evening Dr. King spoke again, in the schoolroom, which was crowded, the subject lifting “Dace Culture." Tile lecturer dealt with his subject in an intelligent manner and ia series of excellent lantern slides served to illustrate his arguments. Rev. F. \V. Chatterton was chairman in the absence of Dr. Reeves, who found it impossible to attend. Following a brief preamble on the purpose of his visit and the work of the Society with which he is connected. Dr. King went on to deal with the subject of the educational system of the day, in its relation to the upbringing of girls on the lines of his previous lecture. He said that the woman who readied the highest stage, physically, mentally and morally, was the woman wlvo was developed all-round and not immediately developed or treated during her period of girlhood. Turning to the subject of general physical fitness Dr. King proceeded to show why modern days made it not absolutely necessary that a mail should reach such a perfect physical state as woman. In the case of a woman such a perfect state "was absolutely essential, however, not only for the sake of her fitness, but for her happiness- . He and his wife were in Japan (5 years ago, when that nation was in the throes of war with Russia. The Japanese then, lie said, were in a high state as modern civilisation goes. That nation claimed remarkable prowess, fitness as soldiers and great endurance. There were 25,000,000 people in Janun who got their living off the soil, the average holding for a family of five being two acres. A family was well supported, on this amount of land and the ■tools"’ used to work the soil were primitive. In spite .of this, the nation could build railways, telephones and armaments and everything necessary for the Warfare in which they proved so successful. “The difference which struck us between the Japanese women and our women,” said the lecturer,” was the healthy lives they lived. They had to do all their own work and were very fit from the point of view of maternity. They nurture their own offspring.” . On the .subject of the necessity for having healthy boys, Dr. King gave the advice * that a boy should tako &

cold bath every morning ancl a certain amount of physical exercise every day. . Such a habit would be useful to every person. The most essential form of exercise for the attainment of physical fitness was sensorial exercise, by .which means the will was unconsciously exercised. Mental trouble was nearly always to physical unfitness.

Dr. King went on to point out that a. start must be made with the children and a point mads of seeing that the children were not unduly exercised during the extremely rapid formative period. Our system of education was devitalising the children. In Germany the regulation, age for children to go to school was six yearsChildren at that age were subjected to a medical inspection to see if they were fit to go to school and an average of o to 10 per cent, were culled out as being unfit to go. .These unfit children grew in the succeeding year when they were kept away from school, something like 20 per cent, in weight and 40 per cent, in height more than those strong children, who went to school. “It greatly stunts a boy to send him to school too soon,” he" added, “but it stunts a girl a great deal worse.” The natural and normal expression of happiness in a child was play. Three weeks or a month at the seaside resulted i.v, as much growth for the child as the other eleven months of the year. The mental power, the moral power and everything that was highest depended to a large extent on the fitness of the bodily organs. A .person had not ~'ie same power of control and was more selfish when he or she was not well. People said" that these things were materialism, but it was the Creator Who divined this association between body, mind and morals. People were actually driven insane because of thenohysical unfit’'ess. Some came to him and said they had lost regard for religion. It was common for the melancholic man to sav “I cannot pray.” Surely we had wandered too far ! Sometimes we forget the first essential in Christianity that bodily fitness was necessary. A number of lantern slides were thrown on the screen, dealing with various phases of the subject and including some charming snapshots .01 babies in Karitane Home, Dunedin, the institution managed by the Society for the Promotion of the Health of‘Women and Children and which has gained a wide reputation because of the number-of infant lives saved by treatment there. A view was shown indicating, by means of a plate containing myriads of small dots, the number of children which dies annually in the United Kingdom. “I say it is four times as large as it should be,” said Dr. King- “In Dunedin, when we started five years ago, the infant mortality was S per cent, and it is now 4 per cent. I am confident that it can be reduced.to 3 per cent.” The next series of slides showed the intricate formation of the brain and the nerve cells, by means of which every sense is governed. In. conclusion, the Doctor urged on those present to foster the movement here and establish a Plunket Nurse. A vote of thanks was accorded the lecturer.