▁and ▁was ▁passed ▁into ▁the ▁sy ph il it ic ▁b ab ies ▁when ▁they ▁su ck led ▁at ▁the ▁go ats ' ▁te ats . ▁This ▁method ▁did ▁have ▁some ▁effect ▁of ▁impro ving ▁the ▁inf ants ' ▁mort ality ▁rates , ▁though ▁the ▁go ats ▁t ended ▁to ▁die ▁prem ature ly ▁of ▁mer cur y ▁poison ing . ▁ ▁In ▁France , ▁homes ▁for ▁found lings ▁( ab andon ed ▁b ab ies ) ▁often ▁kept ▁large ▁numbers ▁of ▁go ats ▁to ▁feed ▁the ▁inf ants , ▁as ▁they ▁were ▁considered ▁less ▁problem atic ▁than ▁lower - class ▁wet ▁n urs es . ▁In ▁some ▁institutions , ▁n urs es ▁( n ann ies ) ▁carried ▁the ▁inf ants ▁to ▁the ▁go ats ; ▁elsewhere , ▁the ▁go ats ▁came ▁to ▁the ▁inf ants . ▁Al phon se ▁Le ▁Roy ▁described ▁how ▁go ats ▁were ▁used ▁at ▁the ▁found ling ▁hospital ▁in ▁A ix - en - Pro v ence ▁in ▁ 1 7 7 5 : ▁" The ▁c rib s ▁are ▁arranged ▁in ▁a ▁large ▁room ▁in ▁ 2 ▁ranks . ▁Each ▁go at ▁which ▁comes ▁to ▁feed ▁enters ▁ble ating ▁and ▁goes ▁to ▁h unt ▁the ▁infant ▁which ▁has ▁been ▁given ▁it , ▁push es ▁back ▁the ▁covering ▁with ▁its ▁horn s ▁and ▁str add les ▁the ▁c rib ▁to ▁give ▁su ck ▁to ▁the ▁infant . ▁Since ▁that ▁time ▁they ▁have ▁raised ▁very ▁large ▁numbers ▁[ of ▁inf ants ] ▁in ▁that ▁hospital ." ▁ ▁In