200 ADULTERATED MILK. cents, was one third water. But the others disputed this statement, and said he put in far more water than that proportion, which was, at least, a virtual admission that such was their own custom. Mixing water with milk is by many esteemed a venial offence, because they regard it merely in a pecuniary point of view. But it should be considered as involving interests of far greater magnitude. It is the deterioration of an indispensable article of food, which in its best condition as furnished by the slop establishments is insufficient to support life; and by relying upon it in this depraved and diluted state, as is done in thousands of instances, as the staple diet of young children who are incapable of understanding or of expressing their wants, the most serious consequences ensue; for without adequate nourishment they must inevitably perish of exhaustion. Besides, we see not why the vending of such a drugged mixture, or merely diluted with water, is not as fraudulent and more iniquitous, than to pass pewter for silver. A man is sent to prison for uttering a spurious piece of coin, which cannot damage the receiver beyond its pretended value. But here, by basely counterfeiting an indispensable article of food, and imposing it upon the unsuspecting for that which is not what its name imports, health is deranged, lingering and distressing diseases are induced, and life itself is destroyed with impunity. CHAPTER XXIII. DELUSIONS ON THE SUBJECT OF MILK. Instructions of experience.—Prevalence of popular mistakes.—A knowledge of our ignorance important.—Diseased food always unhealthy.-Illustrated in the case of the human infant-Influence of drugs on the child when taken by the mother.-Sensibility of the infant system.-Analogous inferences.-Practical importance thereof.-Water, as a diluent.- Milk the natural food of the in fant. As this subject, in its relations to health, addresses itself chiefly to observation and experience, a labored exposition of the principles of dietetics would be irrelevant to our object. No fact in physiological science is more clearly ascertained, than that health and life are affected by the quality and condition of the food received into the system. The instructions of experience on this subject are so uniform, that the multitude, though unaccustomed to investigate the intricate relations of cause and effect, and uninstructed in the principles and phenomena of life, are yet in many cases not necessarily betrayed into very serious or dangerous mistakes. But the origin of some popular errors which have proved extensively mischievous, has been more involved in mystery, or so far removed from casual observation, that men intelligent on other subjects, have regarded the evils resulting therefrom as the inevitable condition of humanity; when, in fact, they were the penalty of ignorance, which a knowledge of organic and physical laws would have enabled them to remove. Witness the delusion which until recently prevailed, in the use of alcoholic beverages, to an extent that threatened to desolate the nation. Many saw and deplored the evil; all in some way were sufferers by it; and some few were intent upon the discovery and application of a remedy. But the great mass of mankind, both learned and unlearned, were so effectually entrenched behind their ignorance or their prejudices, that the ravages of the destroyer continued unchecked; and the annual sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of victims failed for successive generations to secure the practical appreciation of a few plain physiological truths, which were of sufficient efficacy to have arrested the evil. A knowledge of our ignorance, therefore, is the first step to its removal. Every reform that has ever been projected, whether physical, moral, or political, has progressed pari passu with the conviction that some new truths were to be learned, or some new principles were to be developed, which while they deeply concerned the individual, would on their adoption confer important benefits upon society. That the public, at present, is beguiled into the support of a system which is replete with injurious consequences, cannot, we think, be doubted. So far as the subject relates to health, how many are there who seem to act on the principle, that it is of little consequence what they eat, or what they drink, provided they do not indulge to excess— than which a more irrational and destructive doctrine was never propagated. Improper or diseased food is always inimical to health. The positive injunction of the Mosaic law, which prohibited the eating of diseased flesh, or of cattle that died of themselves, was founded on this principle, and was as much a humane dietetical regulation, as a matter of civil polity in regard to the Hebrew nation. There is no danger of overrating the importance of this subject. And as it is essential to the desired reform, that correct opinions prevail on this point, it will be useful briefly to illustrate the principle; for all, on reflection, will be convinced, that the milk of diseased animals, kept on unnatural food, when used as an article of diet, must be inconsistent with the principles of organic life, and is contrary to all our knowledge of the connection which subsists between living bodies and the appropriate forms of matter by which they are sustained. Who does not know, for illustration, that the health of the infant is affected by the condition of the sustenance it receives from its mother? We speak not now of hereditary disease, by which the iniquities of the parent are visited upon the children, or of infectious diseases by which a healthy body becomes diseased by contact or otherwise; but of those induced by the noxious qualities of the infant's aliment consequent upon the deranged health of the mother. Is the mother diseased? The virus generated in the vitiated secretions, taints the nourishment, and is communicated to the child. The influence which many medicines have over the sucking infant when taken by the nurse, is well known. "Children," says Pereira, "may be salivated by sucking nurses under the influence of mercury, or purged by the exhibition of drastics, or narcotized by the administration of opiates to the nurse. These are facts," he remarks, "of the greatest moment in reference to the frequency of disease in cows, and to the possible morbific character of their milk."* * Mat. Med., Part II. p. 1407. So sensible, indeed, are the delicate organs of the babe, as to be injuriously affected even by the strong mental emotions of the mother, (see page 97,) and in a greater degree by almost the slightest changes or irregularity in her diet. Acidulated draughts, as every nursing mother knows, when taken by herself will produce pain and irritation in the system of the infant; while tepid herb beverages, which are slightly anodyne, will produce their appropriate effects by assuaging pain and inducing sleep. If wine, beer, or toddy is used by the nurse, the narcotic properties of these liquors on the child are manifested by the drunken lethargy that ensues, which is as pernicious, unnatural, and unrefreshing as is the stupor of opium.* If these facts cannot be disproved in the relations of the child to its mother, neither can they be when its food is derived from any other source. Unwholesome aliment, * Indulgence in the use of stimulating beverages by mothers has probably been more destructive to their own health, and to the health and lives of their offspring, than any other cause that can be mentioned. Whilst any desirable amount of medical evidence might be adduced in support of this position, it must here suffice to quote the testimony of Dr. Courtenay, of London, who in a period of about eight years attended 1127 mothers, as their professional adviser; and he invariably found, other circumstances being equal, that those who never tasted malt liquors, wine, or spirits, enjoyed the best health. Mothers," ," he affirms, "who could never nurse their children under the ale and porter system, without greatly suffering in health, after relinquishing the use of these baneful stimulants, have experienced perfect freedom from disorder during lactation. Nor was this all: the offspring of such mothers have enjoyed an unprecedented immunity from disease also." He carefully informs us that he refers to "the ill effects of the moderate, not the immoderate use of these falsely denominated strengthening beverages." He adds:"thousands of children are annually cut off by convulsions, etc., from the effect of these beverages acting through the mother."-London Lancet, Feb. 1840. |