h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Thanks Clive.

Ergot - Not Amityville but Salem and witches it was (thanks, google).

Clive's QI reminder

What was the likelihood that as an orphan in America in the second decade of the last century you would live to see adulthood?

Actually this one's a two-parter, we got that bit - it was less than 10%

What I really want to know is this:

In 1915, Henry Chapin began surveying orphanages and paediatric hospitals in America. He generated a truly horrifying statistic.

Infant mortality in 9/10 of these institutions was 100% by the age of just two years old.

My question is what was killing them?

lead poisoning from the water pipes?

Inspired guess but wrong.

Processed milk that didn't have some nutrients that breast milk does?

Their nutrition was not the reason.

ergot

Mainly affecting rye but it was well known early farmers were aware of this.
Iron age grain storage was in deep pits to prevent the growth ergot fungus the pits were caped with a clay layer. The clay prevented the air and prevented the growth of the fungus. the top few inches of the stored grain also germinated this used the oxygen trapped in the pit and so provided airtight (almost) grain storage and preventing the danger of ergot poisoning.


Also in the past when witches were feared
A mild case of ergot poisoning was passed off as possession as the symptoms and behaviour were similar.

Feisor, Post 52: lack of affection. This got a "getting close".

I heard of a story where in one hospital which took care of premature babies, the baby in the last cot in the ward always did better. The doctors noticed this, and tried to work out why. Was it less draughty, more light, what? They eventually discovered that every night the cleaning lady gave the baby in the last cot a hug.

100% mortality in nine out of ten orphanages is a horrifying statistic.



I'm going to guess this had something to do with breastmilk, and whatever alternatives for breastmilk were used in these orphanages.

TRiG.

x 3. The last post I'd seen was Clive saying it wasn't lead.

TRiG.

Yes Feisor has been the closest so far, he omitted to mention something though which was the vital and Quite Interesting part.

Hence I figured a DGI rather than a +3 was merited.

The field is still wide open in that regard . . . what was the single most deadly thing about these places?

Lack of human contact in general?

>They eventually discovered that every night the cleaning lady gave the baby in the last cot a hug.<

You join Feisor on the "getting closer" step. DGI +1

>Lack of human contact< Mal +3

but WHY?

Language?

I know they'd been doing experiments with babies since ancient Greece to figure out which language they'd speak if nobody talked to them at all, trying to find the "original" language. But I thought the last incidence of that was in the Renaissance...

Bob for the mechanics of iron-age grain storage, a QI Bonus +6

Physiological or psychological? Or both?

I'm lost here. I find it hard to believe that psychological deprivation could lead to 100% mortality. Maybe it could.

TRiG.

No, not langauge - they were not subject to any kind of experiment.

Both.

Hard to believe and grim, but true and Quite Interesting.

I'm still waiting for the reason.