1331THE FEEDING OF CHILDREN ATTENDING PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.

the notice of the Board of Trade but with little or no

result. It might be supposed, however, that care wouldat least be taken to see that the present regulationsregarding space, ventilation, and lighting, inadequatethough they are, receive recognition in the construction

of new vessels. Some observations made by Dr. WILLIAMS

regarding a steamer built as lately as 1900 seem to showthat this is not always the case. The inspector’s visit wasmade in the Upper Pool in broad daylight. Going to thecrew’s quarters he found that all the available lamps, fourin number, had been lighted in order to provide sufficient

light for the crew to see by. The only way in which

daylight could be admitted into the quarters on either sidewas by two seven-inch glazed ports, and as usual the bunks

occupied the same side of the quarters as the glazed portsand greatly obstructed what little light conld be admittedby this means. To representations by the port sanitaryauthority the owners returned the usual answer that the

quarters ’’ had been built to the requirements of the Board ofTrade and duly passed by them." Representations then madeto the Board of Trade that such inadequate lighting trans-gressed official regulations elicited the reply that at Cardiff,where the vessel had gone, the Board of Trade inspectorconsidered that no breach of official regulations existed.

Dr. WILLIAMS will receive the support of all who have

practical experience of the subject when he urges that theBoard of Trade should take powers to improve the condi-tions of life of the seamen in the following directions:

(a) crews’ quarters should not be placed in the fore part ofthe ship ; (b) improved and efficient ventilation, lighting,and heating ; (c) increase of cubic space ; and (d) separatemessroom and washhouse. Dr. WILLIAMS points out that ifcrews were berthed aft all these requirements could be

carried out with the greatest facility. This is a matter to

which the attention of Parliament should be directed in con-

nexion with the Government’s Merchant Shipping Bill. One

clause in this Bill confers powers on the Board of Trade to

appoint committees of experts on any questions relating tothe working of the Merchant Shipping Acts. It is to be

hoped that the Board of Trade will take an early oppor-tun’-ty of utilising these new powers to obtain advice and

guidance on elementary sanitary principles which at presentappear to receive too little recognition in official regulationsregarding the construction of vessels and too little con-

sideration in the everyday practice of the Board’s officers.

The Feeding of Children attendingPublic Elementary Schools.

ON March 2nd the Education (Provision of Meals) Bill

passed its second reading in the House of Commons and wasreferred to a Select Committee. In our issue of March 10th

we commented upon the provisions of the Bill and pointedout that the local authorities, in whose hands the organisationfor the providing of food for the children is left, would haveno easy task. Two points have especially to be considered:firstly, the selection of recipients of meals, and secondly,the organisation for the distribution of such meals as it maybe determined to give. The Select Committee which is now

sitting to consider the provisions of the Bill will have itstask considerably lightened by the information contained in

a White paper, Cd 2926, which has recently been presentedto Parliament by command of His Majesty and whichcontains information collected by the Board of Educationand the Foreign Office regarding methods adopted in

great continental and American cities for dealing with

under-fed children. The Foreign Office began to collect thisinformation at the request of the Board of Education in

March, 1905, and the return is dated April llth, 1906. A

schedule of questions was drawn up covering all the pointswhich seemed likely to arise in a discussion of the subject,the most important being the following:-What meals areprovided (i.e., breakfast, dinner) ? Are meals given to allchildren attending elementary schools ? If not, how are those -

to be fed chosen ? Are any steps taken to recover the costfrom parents who can afford to feed their children but donot? Another question was a request for information cover-

ing the last three years as to (a) the school population,(b) the number of meals given, (c) contributions from

public funds: (i.) imperial, (ii.) local ; (d) voluntary con-tributions, (e) payments by parents, and (f) total cost.

The countries included in the return were Austria and

Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany (includingWurtemberg and Luxemburg), Holland, Italy, Norway,Sweden, Spain, and Switzerland, and of cities in the

United States, New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago.The lessons to be learned from the replies form an interest-

ing document. In all the countries mentioned some attemptis made to provide food or other form of assistance for

children presumably in need thereof. Stated broadly, in onlyvery few instances were any funds received from the State

towards the expense of feeding children, but in nearly allcases assistance was received from the local funds. If there-

fore we in this coaniry determine to feed our children uponthe same lines as have been adopted by certain of our neigh-bours it seems pretty sure that the money for the purposewill be an additional charge upon the already overburdened

ratepayer, and equally sure that such a proposal will meetwith considerable opposition on both sides of the House. It

is interesting to note that in giving evidence before theSelect Committee upon April 26_h Mr. JOHN SooTT, head-master of the Wood Close School, Bethnal Green, a man of23 years’ experience as a teacher, said that in his view the

under-feeding question was, on the whole, " quite trivial,the question of clothing and boots was much more im-

portant." From their very birth the children of our poorare fed in too many instances wrongly, even where the wagesof the breadwinner are good and where a proper proportionof those wages is devoted to the sustenance of the family.This has been strongly commented upon by medical men and

by all whose charitable work brings them into close relationswith the poor, and sta.tisttcia.ns have employed the fact in

explanation of the figures of mortality, but the similar

ignorance that is prevalent with regard to the clothing ofthe young, perhaps because it leads to less obvious and im-

mediate consequences, has somewhat escaped attention. This

point must be noted as forming an obvious argument for the

regular inspection of school children by a medical officer,since popular ideas of what constitute sufficient and suitablefood and clothing for children seem to be confused to thesame degree.

Ideals are all very well in theory but they have to give

1332 THE OUTBREAK OF YELLOW FEVER IN BRITISH HONDURAS IN 1905.

way to hard facts. In a properly organised society allchildren would be fed by their parents with as much

regularity as are young animals or birds, or as children

are to this day in primitive communities. But the

conditions of modern life in what are called-some would

say ironically called-civilised communities have led to the

breaking up of the home, to the loosening of the bonds of

. parental responsibility and to children being " draggedup" anyhow, instead of being brought up by a carefulparent. It is for the medical profession, so far as

possible, to help modern society in the awkward fixin which many complex conditions have placed it. The

reformation of the home is the most obvious remedy,but it is far easier to name a remedy than to find it. The

schemes included in the return are but makeshifts, but

at present they seem to be the best which can be made

use of and if the Select Committee will carefully considerthe information it may be able to provide a really useful’measure. The country will have to pay a bill in some wayto meet any charges found necessary and it is well that this

should be recognised even before the machinery to meet thecharges is proposed. The education of our children no less

than their physique is bound up in the larger affairs of theirenvironment and the schoolmaster, the physician, and thesanitarian should work together to arouse a public sense ofthe vast national importance of the whole question. Carefullytabulated medical statistics would assist our legislators tological conclusions and practical action. " The children

want bread and the suggested remedy is figures." we hearmany kind-hearted people say ; but it must be remembered

that as yet no two people are agreed as to how many childrenwant bread, much less to what extent the nation is therebyweakened in its effective population. Such a method of

universal and systematic inspection of school children

as is advocated by the National League for Physical Educa.tion and Improvement would supply at this junction informa-tion that would be simply invaluable to our legislators.

The Outbreak of Yellow Fever inBritish Honduras in 1905.1

"Professor RuBERT W. BoYCE visited British Honduras

in the autumn of 1905 whilst yellow fever was prevalentand we are now favoured with a report of his observationsand a statement of his plans for prevention of the disease.

From so astute an observer we expect a masterly reportand in this expectation we are not disappointed, for Pro-fessor BOYCE’S publication is succinct in its statements,

wonderfully complete, and written in a manner at

once clear and convincing. Starting with the definite

knowledge that yellow fever is conveyed by the stego-myia fasciata mosquito, a fact proved conclusively in

1900 by REED, CARROLL, LAZEAR, and AGRAMONTE,Professor BoYCE proceeds to show the distribution of

stegomyia, its constant presence in all districts in which

yellow fever prevails, and the sanitary conditions whichobtain and serve as factors in favouring the continuance of

1 Report to the Government of British Honduras upon the Outbreakof Yellow Fever in that Colony in 1905; together with an account ofthe Distribution of the Stegomyia Fasciata in Belize and the Measuresnecessary to stamp out or prevent the Recurrence of Yellow Fever.By Rubert W. Boyce, M.B., F.R.S. Messrs. J. and A. Churchill, 7, GreatMarlborough-street, London, W. Pp. 104. Illustrated. Price 3s. 6d. net.

this species of mosquito. That the town of Belize is infested

by the stegomyia is not to be wondered at when the

habits of this mosquito and the sanitary conditions in

Belize are considered. The stegomyia fasciata is essen-

tially a " domestic mosquito ; its larvae are found in thereceptacles used for the storage of water near houses

and in the rain water collecting in tins, bottles, or

crockery thrown out from the houses and allowed to lie

about the gardens, yards, or outhouses, where it flourishes

to the exclusion of other mosquitoes. Rain water storedin barrels is the commonest form of water-supplyboth for washing and also to a large extent for drinkingpurposes in the town of Belize and as these barrels have no

lids they are a favourite and constant habitat of the larv2eof stegomyia. Water is also stored in vats and tanks; ofwells there is a fair number but as almost all these

are unprotected they constitute, in addition to the barrels,breeding places for this mosquito. It is plain, therefore,that if yellow fever is to be fought in Belize a controlledand protected water-supply is necessary ; all vats, tanks,and barrels must be screened permanently with wire gauzeor temporarily with cheese cloth. The eradication of malaria,to which Belize is also liable, can also be effected but, of

course, on different lines. The most prevalent anophelesmosquito which transmits malaria in Belize is the Cellia

albipes, although another undetermined species is also pre-sent. This mosquito is absent from the water receptacles nearhouses but is met with in the marsh land around the town, inthe mangrove swamps, in the shallow weed-grown gutters ofthe streets, in shallow pools, in waste places, and in thecattle ponds. To free Belize from yellow fever and malariawould seem, therefore, a simple problem, for the areas ofdistribution of stegomyia and anopheles are patent and theireradication is only a matter of destroying their breedinggrounds in and around the town.The early recognition of yellow fever and the early notifi-

cation.of the disease are points upon which Professor BoycE

lays great stress. In British Honduras the stegomyiafasciata can live all the year round owing to the countrybeing within the zone of the permanent distribution

of this mosquito ; there is therefore no season duringwhich yellow fever may not prevail. Sporadic cases of thedisease are liable to occur at any time, the only element

required in addition to the stegomyia to produce an outbreak

being a person or persons suffering from yellow fever. As

the disease may be introduced at any season of the yearfrom some one of the neighbouring countries, it behoves themedical authorities to be constantly on the alert. The

clinical symptoms being the only readily available means ofdiagnosis, seeing that no parasite is demonstrable in yellowfever, as in the case of malaria, filaria, and other ailments,it is not always possible to come to an early diagnosisas to the nature of the illness, and in many cases of

malaria and influenza the clinical signs and symptomsclosely resemble those present in yellow fever. Fortunately,the post-mortem signs of yellow fever are characteristic

and require no microscopical confirmation, and Professor

BoYCE very rightly draws attention to the importance andimperative necessity of obtaining a post-mortem examina-tion in the first suspicious deaths. In this way alone can

the medical practitioner feel justified in declaring in the