Keen observers have expressed during the last century, their belief that in a large part of the population of Europe and America, physical deterioration was seriously in progress. Herbert Spencer, writing seventy-five years ago of the bodily endurance of England's people, stated that, "Thus far we have found no reason to fear trials of strength with other races. . . . But there are not wanting signs that our powers will presently be taxed to the uttermost." Twenty years ago General Sir Frederick Maurice, in discussing the health of his nation, warned England that there were grave signs of national deterioration, made evident by the failure of nearly three out of every four young men to come up to the standard required for ordinary military home service even in time of peace (2).

The lack of physical fitness was seen to lie in the universal prevalence of under-developed and feeble jaws, and inferior and decayed teeth, poorly developed nose and throat, adenoids, weak chests and indigestion. These undermine the constitution, dwarf the body and predispose to disease. The widespread prevalence of rickets in childhood, and in later life the high incidence of tuberculosis are but two of the direct manifestations of faulty development. The leading causes of this grave tendency to deterioration in the younger generation were referred to unfitness for motherhood, lack of essential knowledge on the part of parents, bottle-feeding in early infancy, defective hygiene and too much pap-feeding of children. From what has been said in earlier chapters on the basis of animal experimentation and human experience in different parts of the world, it will be evident that this explanation does not bring out with clarity, nor emphasize sufficiently the fundamental significance of the choice of food in mother and offspring.

472. The Bottle-Feeding Of Infants

Bottle-feeding results in serious injury to infants, principally because of ignorance regarding the kind of food necessary for their normal development. Modified milks in which wrong proportions exist among the several food elements; bad bacteriological conditions of the food or of the bottle; under-feeding or over-feeding, together with the early substitution of cereal and other foods unfit for the nutrition of infants, are the actual causes of subnormal development, rather than artificial feeding in itself. These are the causes which are undermining the vitality of the rising generation, and have already markedly reduced the stamina of the present generation of adults.