By Joseph Brennemann, Ph.B., M.D., Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University Medical School

The infant is a peculiarly delicate organism that responds more quickly to nutritional insults than the adult. On the breast the disturbances are rare, comparatively unimportant, and easily remedied. On any substitute food the reverse is true, and under existing conditions the mortality is nearly ten times as great during the first year. This mortality is directly proportional to the ignorance and poverty of the parents, therefore to lack of care of the baby and its food, improper food and methods of feeding, poor hygiene, etc. Under favorable conditions this mortality but little exceeds that of breast feeding.