THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES SATURDAY. OCTOBER 31, 1908. THE CULTURE OF HUMAN LIFE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14359, 31 October 1908, Page 8

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES SATURDAY. OCTOBER 31, 1908. THE CULTURE OF HUMAN LIFE.

The address by Professor Allen at the opening of the eighth session of the Australasian Medical Congress in Melbourne was more- remarkable for the number of topics it covored than for the comprehensiveness with, which any particular one was treated. Professor Allen reminded his hearers that the medical profession had for its special function the culture cf human life, and that it was well to ask themselves seriously from time to time how this great trust was being discharged, Such: a surrey, however imperfect, must aid them to realise the vast extent of their responsibility entering into every part of life,—birth, infancy, childhood, adolescence, maturity, decline, old ago, and death. The shrinkage in the birth rate was one of the .subjects of consideration liy Professor Allen, and the picture ho presented respecting it was somewhat, relieved by the ensuing tale of the saving of child life. The statistics for Australia have reflected only 100 faithfully the widespread tendency toward" a diminution in the birth rate, and wc read by way of comment that so far as this downward movement represents an increased recognition of responsibility on the part of parents, some extenuation may be pleaded, but so far n.s. it implies unwillingness to accept responsibility it can only receive unqualified condemnation, To illustrate

that it is not merely the question of limitation that constitutes the problem, Professor Alien quoted the estimate that in tho United States Ihero arv two million childless homes and that in Massachusetts one-sixth of the homes are childless, so that, whereas a century ago children were> one-third of the population, they now constitute less thau a fourth of it. The more cheerful story connectcd with the saving of child life .shows that in Victoria tho infantile mortality rato over the metropolitan district had fallen from l(i8 per lu( )0 in tho years 1873-80 to 112 per 1000 in the years 1901-5. Tho Australasian rates for 1901-5 havo shown a variation from 125 for Western Australia to. 74 for New Zealand. Tho saving of infant- lifo naturally lends up tc the question of pure milk, in regard to which Prcfes3or Allen gave somo interesting general information, especially with reference to the difficulties attending the supply of milk to large cities. A conference, of experts m tho Fnited Stales recently prepared a, federal text-book oil the milk question, and recommended a definite under which milk would he classified hH certified oi as inspected or as pasteurised. Certified milk would come from dairies periodically inspected, the milk being frequently analysed, tho cows tested by tuberculin and found free from communicable disease, the milk handled only by persons free from infective disease, and the milk containing not more than a certain prevalence of bacteria, and being not more, than twelve lfburs old when delivered to tho customer. Inspected milk would bo somewhat lower in standard, but would be produced under similar conditions from cows tested with tuberculin, the milk containing not more than a certain number of bacteria in a given quantity. No other milk would bo sold raw. All inferior milk or milk of unknown origin would be .pasteurised. : Tlis advisability of adopting such a programme is apparently now under .serious consideration. New Zealand, like other countries, has yet found no satisfactory solution of the pure milk problem. The Chief Health Officer has decided views on tho subject, and tho public is being educated up to its importance; but the municipal milk depot plan is not assisted much by tho experience of Liverpool, Glasgow, Bradford, and other cities, where such depots have been established but have failed, it is said, to prove a financial success.

'Die annual report of the Health Department in, New Zealand provides, as usual, a mino of' information on all subjects pertaining to the health of the people. Attention to the pages devoted to vital statistics, with valuable comments thereupon, conveys the information that., although last year the marriage rate was the highest since 1873, the.average number of children to a marriago is still declining in' this country. In this connection Dr Mason remarks: "Whatever we may think of this almost universal decline in the birth/ rate, I confess I see no way in which the State can interfere to check it. Commissioners have sat in various parts of the world and discussed the subject in all its phases. Voluminous, reports have been written, but it has all bee rl as a beating of the wind. To my mind the remedy is- not to be found in reports, but in a. national awnkeaiing and an increase in patriotism. All sorts of cures have been advocated—such as grants of land to parents having over a certain number in the family,—but I have little faith in such remedies." The conclusion that is here arrived at is certainly not very cheerful, but perhaps a more optimistic view is difficult upon such a subject. The death rate generally increased in New Zealand last year, and reached the highest level recorded since 188-3. Fortunately, however, the rate is still much below that of Engand and Wales, and, in general, below that of older countries, though on last year's figures it was slightly above that of New South Wales and South Australia. The death rate among children was heavy in New Zealand last year, ninety-seven out of every thousand male? born and eighty out of every thousand females dying before the attainment of the age of one year, j Eliminating those due to specified diseases, we have still, according to Dr Mason, 861 deaths out of a total of 1811 that were due to ignorance, to want of care, or to the use of impure milk. Yet New Zealand shows less sacrifice of child life than any other country. Russia- has an averago rate over ten years of 268 deaths under one year to every thousand births, Chili is in a- worse position with 326, Japan shows 153, England and Wales 147, and New South Wales 105, whilo New Zealand is at the foot of the list with 88.7 last year and an average of 77 over the ten years ending 1905. Study of the figures which compare the rates of mortality in the four principal oentres of population in this country reveals the interesting fact that in regard to deaths of children under one year Dunedin .showed an appreciably lower rate last year than any of the others. The explanation for this fact, it is perhaps not unreasonable to judge, is not- entirely dissociated from this special efforts, with a view to the preservation of infant life, of which this city lias been the centre.