to the fact that Jewesses are
better mothers. "The Jewish children in the slums," says William
Hall (_British Medical Journal_, October 14, 1905), speaking from
wide and accurate knowledge, "were superior in weight, in teeth,
and in general bodily development, and they seemed less
susceptible to infectious disease. Yet these Jews were
overcrowded, they took little exercise, and their unsanitary
environment was obvious. The fact was, their children were much
better nourished. The pregnant Jewess was more cared for, and no
doubt supplied better nutriment to the foetus. After the children
were born 90 per cent. received breast-milk, and during later
childhood they were abundantly fed on bone-making material; eggs
and oil, fish, fresh vegetables, and fruit entered largely into
their diet." G. Newman, in his important and comprehensive book
on _Infant Mortality_, emphasizes the conclusion that "first of
all we need a higher standard of physical motherhood." The
problem of infantile mortality, he declares (page 259), is not
one of sanitation alone, or housing, or indeed of poverty as
such, "_but is mainly a question of motherhood_."

The fundamental need of the pregnant woman is _rest_. Without a large
degree of maternal rest there can be no puericulture.[4] The task of
creating a man needs the whole of a woman's best energies, more especially
during the three months before birth. It cannot be subordinated to the tax
on strength involved by manual or mental labor, or even strenuous social
duties and amusements. The numerous experiments and observations which
have been made during recent years in Maternity Hospitals, more especially
in France, have shown conclusively that not only the present and future
well-being of the mother and the ease of her confinement, but the fate of
the child, are immensely influenced by rest during the last month of
pregnancy. "Every working woman is entitled to rest during the last three
months of her pregnancy." This formula was adopted by the International
Congress of Hygiene in 1900, but it cannot be practically carried out
except by the cooeperation of the whole community. For it is not enough to
say that a woman ought to rest during pregnancy; it is the business of the
community to ensure that that rest is duly secured. The woman herself, and
her employer, we may be certain, will do their best to cheat the
community, but i