HYGIENE.

White Ribbon, Volume 19, Issue 220, 18 October 1913, Page 15

HYGIENE.

To those who aie concerned with the health of the community, the annual report of the Department of Public Health contains some interesting points Ihe infantile mortality rate for the year up-’, it is stated, was 51 deaths per lono births, tin* lowest in fantiie mortality rate* recorded, show mg a decline of ]o per icoo during the past ten years. Dunedin, with a death rate of only >S. 1 per iouo, is considerably below the* aveiage, and the whole of this part of the lecord is a magnificent tribute to the work initiated by Dr. Truby kir.g and tin* Plunket nurses. The deaths from phthisis and other forms of tuberculosis were the* lowest mortality rate per 111,000 yet recorded. The most serious feature of the* report is the* noticeably high mortality rate from organic heart disease. We can with reasonable accuracy place our fingers cm the cause* of this. To-bacco-smoking, C'pet ially the deadly cigarette; alcoholism; and the craze for amusement and excitement, are all contributing causes. The human heart is a machine* wonderfully designed for its work, which it will, with reasonable care of the body, perform year in and year out. 24 hours a day, in a way that no man-made machine can do. But we c annot w ith impunity increase its burden. And the seed of the* three causes l have mentioned is generally sown in youth, beginning from the* cradle, even before it, and it is for the mothers -yes, and the fathers too to sec* that these evil causes art* < he< ked.