A treatise on the physiological and moral management of infancy / [Andrew Combe].

  • Andrew Combe
Date:
1847
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A treatise on the physiological and moral management of infancy / [Andrew Combe]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    alive, dies within the first month ; while at the end of five years only 5733 out of every 10 000, or little more than one- helf are still alive.* In Manchester, indeed, matters are still worse, for it appears from the Registrar’s Second Report, that out of 9276 deaths which occurred in that city in 1839, 2384, or about one-fourth, were of infants under one year; 3680, or more than one-third, under two years; and 5145, or consi- derably more than a half, under five years of age. In these returns, it must however be kept in mind, that the deaths in infancy are compared with the total deaths at all ages. Butas the proportion of chil- dren to adults varies very much in dif- ferent communities, this is obviously a fluctuating é teeter: To estimate fair- ly the actual rate of mortality in in- fancy, we must compare the number dying with the total number alive at the same age. This we are enabled to do very easily by means of a calcula- tion given in the Registrar-General’s Fifth Report (p. xv.), in which, assum- ing the accuracy of the data collected in the returns of the immediately pre- ceeding years, and supposing, for the sake of easier calculation, that 100,000 of the children belonging to 1841 were born on Ist January of that year, the Registrar shews that on Ist January 1842 only 85,369, and on Ist January 1843 only 80,102, would be alive; so that in the first year 14,631, and in the second 5267, of them must have perish- ed. Or, in other words, of all children born alive in England, 14} per cent. die within the first year, and 20 per cent. within the first two years. From these incontrovertible facts, andfrom the returns derived from other countries, the reader may conceive how many elements of destruction must still be in activity, even in those parts of Europe where science has made the greatest advances, and where the treat- ment of the young is considered the most rational, when one out of every seven infants ushered into the world perishes within the first year, and one in every * Quetelet sur l*homme et le developpe- ment de ses facultés, Paris 1835, vol. i, PP. 161-7. jive within the first two years of exist- ence! Looking? then, to the fact that a great mortality prevails i in infancy, even un- der what are considered the most fa- vourable circumstances, the question naturally presents itself, Does this mor- tality constitute a necessary part of the arrangements of Divine Providence which we can do nothing to modify; or does it, on the contrary, proceed chiefly from secondary causes, purpose- ly left, to a considerable extent, under our own control, and which we may partially obviate, or render innocuous, by making ourselves acquainted with the nature of the infant constitution, and carefully adapting our conduct to the laws or conditions under which its different functions are intended to act ? The following considerations will en- able the reader to answer the spn oi for himself. If we consult the past history of mankind, there will, I think, be little difficulty in determining, that the ap- palling waste of infant life is not a ne- cessary and intentional result of the Divine arrangements, but is produced chiefly, though not by any means whol- ly, by our own ignorance and misma- nagement, and consequently may be expected to diminish in proportion as our knowledge and treatment improve; or, in other words, in proportion as we shall discover and fulfil the laws which the Creator has established for our guid- ance and preservation. But,as the con- sequences tlowing from this proposi- tion are of great interest and import- ance in a practical point of view, I shall venture into some detail in its farther elucidation. If the prevalent destruction of life in early infancy is a part of the esta- blished order of Nature, and is merely such as may be expected to result from the accidents and vicissitudes insepa- rable from human existence, it is plain that we shall never be able to diminish it by any exertions of our own; and, consequently, that it can be. of little use to inquire into its causes, or at- tempt their removal. If, on the other hand, it be true that ignorance of, and disobedience to, the laws of God im-
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