HANDBOOK
of
DRESS AND CHILDHOOD
SCHOO
AMERICAN SCHOOL OF HOME ECONOMICS
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
The University of Chicago
Libraries
Cres Vita
CatSci Exco
entia latur
GIFT OF
Mrs. William B. Serbing
-
HANDBOOK
OOL OF A SOLO
OF
DRESS AND CHILDHOOD
--
A COMPLETE HOME-STUDY COURSE
COMPRISING
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
BY
KATE HEINTZ WATSON
FORMERLY TEACHER OF HOUSEHOLD ART,
LEWIS INSTITUTE, CHICAGO
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE
BY
MARIAN FOSTER WASHBURNE
EDITOR OF MOTHERS MAGAZINE
AUTHOR, LECTURER
CARE OF CHILDREN
BY
ALFRED CLEVELAND COTTON, A. M., M. D.
PROFESSOR DISEASES OF CHILDREN, RUSH MEDICAL COLLEGE,
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
CHICAGO
AMERICAN SCHOOL OF HOME ECONOMICS
1915
0
T
Т? С
A5
COPYRIGHT, 1912-1915
BY
HOME ECONOMICS ASSOCIATION
SCHOOL SOWO
35571
Textiles and Clothing
BY
KATE HEINTZ WATSON
GRADUATE ARMOUR INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
FORMERLY INSTRUCTOR IN DOMESTIC ART
LEWIS INSTITUTE
LECTURER UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
*HOMES
CHICAGO
AMERICAN SCHOOL OF HOME ECONOMICS
1914
COPYRIGHT 1906, 1907, 1910, 1914, BY
HOME ECONOMICS ASSOCIATION
Entered at Stationers Hall, London
All Rights Reserved
CONTENTS
3
14
29
29
37
43
53
59
69
72
78
81
83
85
86
PRIMITIVE METHODS
WEAVING
FIBERS.
COTTON
Wool
FLAX
SILK
MODERN METHODS
WEAVING
WEAVES
BLEACHING AND DYEING .
PRINTING
FINISHING
COTTON GOODS
LINENS.
WOOLENS AND WORSTEDS
Sulks
NAMES OF FABRICS
BIBLIOGRAPHY ON TEXTILES
HAND SEWING
ORNAMENTAL STITCHES
HEMS
TuCKS AND SEAMS
PLACKETS
SEWING ON BANDS
FASTENINGS
PATCHING
DARNING
Mitering EMBROIDERY, JOINING LACE
MACHINE SEWING
88
90
94
103
107
114
123
I 28
135
138
141
149
155
158
162
iii
iv
CONTENTS
167
171
172
182
185
194
198
200
201
DRESSMAKING
PATTERNS
SKIRT MAKING
MAKING SHIRT WAISTS
FITTED LININGS
SLEEVES
COLLARS
SEAMLESS YOKES
PRESSING
CONSTRUCTION AND ORNAMENT IN DRESS
ORNAMENT OF TEXTILES
COLOR
CHILDREN'S CLOTHES
CARE OF CLOTHING
CLEANING
REPAIRING
BIBLIOGRAPHY ON SEWING AND DRESSMAKING
REFERENCES: HISTORY OF COSTUME; ORNAMENT AND
DESIGN
PROGRAM FOR SUPPLEMENTAL STUDY
INDEX
203
212
214
216
219
221
225
229
234
236
241
一
"THE THREAD OF LIFE"
Spinning with the Distaff and Spindle. From a Painting.
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Origin
of Textile
Arts
PINNING and weaving are among the earliest
arts. In the twisting of fibers, hairs, grasses, and
sinews by rolling them between the thumb and fingers,
paims of the hands, or palms and naked thigh, we have
the original of the spinning wheel and the steam-driven
cotton spindle; in the roughest plaiting we have the
first hint of the finest woven cloth. The need of
securing things or otherwise strengthening them then
led to binding, fastening, and sewing. The wattle-
work hut with its roof of interlaced boughs, the skins
sewn by fine needles with entrails or sinews, the matted
twigs, grasses, and rushes are all the crude beginnings
of an art which tells of the settled life of to-day.
Nothing is definitely known of the origin of these
arts; all is conjecture. They doubtless had their be-
ginning long before mention is made of them in his-
tory, but these crafts-spinning and weaving-modi-
fied and complicated by inventions and, in modern
times transferred largely from man to machine, were
distinctively woman's employment.
The very primitive type of spinning, where no
spindle was used, was to fasten the strands of goats'
hair or wool to a stone which was twirled round until
Primitive
Methods
co
ITALIAN WOMAN SPINNING FLAX
Spindle and Distaff.
From Hull House Museum. (In This Series of Pictures the
Spinners and Weavers Are in Native Costume.
RUSSIAN SPINNING
Flax Held on Frame, Leaving Both Hands Free to Manage the Thread
and Spindle
From Hull House Museum.
6
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Spinning
with the
the yarn was sufficiently twisted when it was wound
upon the stone and the process repeated over and over.
The next method of twisting yarn was with the
spindle, a straight stick eight to twelve inches long
on which the thread was wound after twisting. At
first it had a cleft or split in the top in which the
thread was fixed; later a hook of bone was added to
the upper end. The spindle is yet used by the North
American Indians, the Italians, and in the Orient. The
bunch of wool or flax fibers is held in the left hand;
with the right hand the fibers are drawn out several
inches and the end fastened securely in the slit or hook
on the top of the spindle. A whirling motion is given
to the spindle on the thigh or any convenient part of
the body; the spindle is then dropped, twisting the
yarn, which is wound on the upper part of the spindle.
Another bunch of fibers is drawn out, the spindle is
given another twirl, the yarn is wound on the spindle,
and so on.
A spindle containing a quantity of yarn was found
to rotate more easily, steadily and continue longer
than an empty one, hence the next improvement was
the addition of a whorl at the bottom of the spindle.
These whorls are discs of wood, stone, clay, or metal
which keep the spindle steady and promote its rota-
tion. The process in effect is precisely the same as
the spinning done by our grandmothers, only the spin-
ning wheel did the twisting and reduced the time
required for the operation.
Spindle
Whorl
SPINNING WITH CRUDE WHEEL AND DISTAFF
Distaff Thrust Into the Belt.
"GOSSIP" IN THE OLDEN TIMES
THEN
COLONIAL WOOL WHEEL
The Large Wheel Revolved by Hand Thus Turning the Spindle and Twisting the Yarn,
Which Is Then Wound on the Spindle; Intermittent in Action.
COLONIAL FLAX WHEEL
Worked by a Foot Treddle; Distaff on the Frame of the Wheel;
"Fliers” on the Spindle, Continuous in Action; Capacity
Seven Times That of Hand Spindle.
DUTCH WHEEL
Spinner Sits in Front of the Wheel-Spinning Flax at Hull
House.
12
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Distaff
Later the distaff was used for holding the bunch of
wool, flax, or other fibers. It was a short stick on
one end of which was loosely wound the raw material.
The other end of the distaff was held in the hand,
under the arm or thrust in the girdle of the spinner.
2000 B.C.
Birth of Christ
1500 A.D.
Time during which the hand spindle was the only form of spindle kaowa.
Spinning wheel also kaown.
Steam has been applied to spinning.
Graphic Diagram Showing Time During which Different Methods of
Spinning Has Been Used.
Wheel
Spinning
When held thus, one hand was left free for drawing
out the fibers.
On the small spinning wheel the distaff was placed
in the end of the wheel bench in front of the "fillers" ;
this left both hands free to manage the spindle and
to draw out the threads of the fibers.
The flax spinning wheel, worked by means of a
treadle, was invented in the early part of the sixteenth
SYRIAN SPINNING
Spinner Sits on the Floor, Wheel Turned by a Crank; Spindle
Held in Place by Two Mutton Joints Which Contain
Enough Oil for Lubrication, At Hull House.
14
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
century and was a great improvement upon the dis-
taff and spindle.
This it will be seen was a compara-
tively modern invention. The rude wheel used by
the natives of Japan and India may have been the
progenitor of the European wheel, as about this time
intercourse between the East and Europe increased.
These wheels were used for spinning flax, wool, and
afterwards cotton, until Hargreaves' invention super-
seded it.
WEAVING
Someone has said that “weaving is the climax of
textile industry.” It is an art practiced by all savage
MMA-
PUEBLO WOMAN WORKING HEDDLE IN WEAVING A BELT
tribes and doubtless was known before the dawn of
history. The art is but a development of mat-making
and basketry, using threads formed or made by spin-
ning in place of coarser filaments.
In the beginning of the art the warp threads were
stretched between convenient objects on the ground
A NAVAJO BELT WEAVER
ZUNI WOMAN WEAVING CEREMONIAL BELT
WEAVING
17
or from horizontal supports. At first the woof or
filling threads were woven back and forth between
the warp threads as in darning. An improvement was
the device called the “heald” or “heddle,” by means of
which alternate warp threads could be drawn away
from the others, making an opening through which
the filling thread could be passed quickly. One form
Tho
Hodala
PRIMITIVE HEDDLES
of the heddle was simply a straight stick having loops
of cord or sinew through which certain of the warp
threads were run. Another form was a slotted frame
having openings or "eyes” in the slats. This was
carved from one piece of wood or other material or
made from many. Alternate warp
threads passed
through the eyes and the slots. By raising or lower-
ing the heddle frame, an opening was formed through
which the filling thread, wound on a rude shuttle, was
thrown. The next movement of the heddle frame
NAVAJO LOOM
One of the Earliest Types of Looms. At Hull House.
WEAVING
19
crossed the threads over the filling and made a new
opening for the return of the shuttle. At first the
filling thread was wound on a stick making a primi-
tive bobbin. Later the shuttle to hold the bobbin was
devised.
SIMPLE COLONIAL LOOM
The Reed
Before the “reed” was invented, the filling threads
were drawn evenly into place by means of a rude comb
and driven home by sword-shaped piece of wood or
"batten.” The reed accomplished all this at one time.
It is probable that the European looms were de-
rived from those of India as they seem to be made on
the same principle. From crude beginnings, the hand
loom of our grandmothers' time developed. A loom
2
A JAPANESE LOOM.
A FOUR HARNESS HAND LOOM
Weaving Linen in the Mountains of Virginia.
(Photograph by C. R. Dodge).
scale
TYPICAL COLONIAL HAND LOOM
Two Harnesses in Use; Weaving Wool at Hull House.
WEAVING
23
has been defined as a mechanism which affects the
following necessary movements:
1. The lifting of the healds to form an opening,
or shed, or race for the shuttle to pass through.
Definition
of a Loom
C
W
w
DIAGRAM OF A HAND LOOM
A-Warp Beam; B-Cloth Beam; DD-Lees Rods; H-Harness,
7-Treddle.
2. The throwing of the weft or filling by means
of a shuttle.
3: The beating up of the weft left in the shed by
the shuttle to the cloth already formed. This thread
may be adjusted by means of the batten, needle, comb,
or any separate device like the reed.
4 & 5. The winding up or taking up of the cloth
as it is woven and the letting off of the warp as the
cloth is taken up
SWEDISH HAND LOOM
Norwegian Woman Weaving Linen at Hull House.
WEAVING
25
Colonial
Loom
No essential changes have been made since our
grandmothers made cloth a hundred years ago. The
“harnesses” move part of the warp now up, now down,
and the shuttle carries the weft from side to side to be
driven" home by the reeds to the woven cloth. Our
grandmothers did all the work with swift movements
D D
H
DIAGRAM OF THE WORKING PARTS OF A LOOM.
S-Suttle for carrying the woof; R-Reed for beating up the woof;
H-Frame holding heddles, with pullies (P) making the
harness; 7-Treddles for moving the harness.
of hands and feet. The modern weaver has her loom
harnessed to the electric dynamo and moves her fin-
gers only to keep the threads in order. If she wishes
to weave a pattern in the cloth, no longer does she
pick up threads of warp now here, now there, accord-
ing to the designs. It is all worked out for her on
the loom. Each thread with almost human intelli-
gence settles automatically into its appointed place,
and the weaver is only a machine tender.
FLY SHUTTLE HAND LOOM
The Pulling of the Reed Automatically Throws the Shuttle Back and forth and Works
the Harness, Making a Shed at the Proper Time.
WEAVING
27
Primitivo
Fabrics
No textiles of primitive people were ever woven in
"pieces” or “bolts” of yards and yards in length to be
cut into garments. The cloth was made of the size
and shape to serve the particular purpose for which it
was designed. The mat, robe, or blanket had tribal
outlines and proportions and was made according to
the materials and the use of common forms that pre-
vailed among the tribes. The designs were always
conventional and sometimes monotonous. The decora-
tion never interfered with its use. "The first beauty
of the savage woman was uniformity which belonged
to the texture and shape of the product.” The uni-
formity in textile, basketry, or pottery, after acquiring
a family trait, was never lost sight of. Their designs
were suggested by the natural objects with which they
were familiar.
PICKING COTTON
From Department of Agriculture Bulletin, "The Cotton Plant.”
FIBERS
Both the animal and vegetable kingdoms furnish
the materials for clothing as well as for all the textiles
used in the home. The fleece of sheep, the hair of the
goat and camel, silk, furs, and skins are the chief
animal products. The principal vegetable fibers are
cotton, flax, ramie, jute, and hemp.
Cotton linen, wool, and silk have heretofore formed
the foundation of all textiles and are the principal
fibers used for clothing materials. Ramie or China
grass and pineapple fibers are sometimes used as
adulterants in the manufacture of silk. When woven
alone, they give soft silky textiles of great strength
and beauty.
Chief
Fibers
COTTON
Cotton is now our chief vegetable fiber, the yearly
crop being over six billion pounds, of which the
United States raises three-fourths. Texas is the
World's Crop.
United States.
Texas.
PRODUCTION OF COTTON
largest producer, followed by Georgia, Alabama, and
Mississippi. The remainder of the world supply comes
chiefly from India, Egypt, Russia, and Brazil. The
Hindoos were the first ancient people to make exten-
sive use of the cotton fiber. Not until the invention
of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1794 did the
cotton begin to reach its present importance. Only
29
30
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Native
Homo
Sea Island
Cotton
four or five pounds of the fiber could be separated by
hand from the seed by a week's labor. The modern
saw gins turn out over five thousand pounds daily.
Cotton is the white downy covering of the seed of
several species of cotton plant. It is a native of many
parts of the world, being found by Columbus growing
in the West Indies and on the main land, by Cortez in
Mexico, and Pizarro in Perii.
The value of cotton depends upon the strength, and
evenness of the fiber. In ordinary cotton the individual
fiber is about an inch in
length. The sea island cot-
ton grown chiefly on the
islands off the coast of
Georgia, Carolina, and
COTTON FIBER ATTACHED
TO SEED
Florida is the most valu-
able variety, having a fine fiber, one and one-lialf to
two inches in length. Some of the Egyptian cotton be-
longs to this species. Sea island cotton is used chiefly
for fine laces, thread and knit goods and for the finest
lawns and musiins.
The short fiber or upland cotton is the most common
and useful variety. It is grown in Georgia, North
and South Carolina and Alabama. Texas cotton is
similar to upland, but sometimes is harsh with shorter
fiber. Gulf cotton occupies a position between upland
and sea island cotton.
The Brazilian and Peruvian cotton yields a long
staple and is sometimes used to adulterate silk and
Upland
Cotton
UPLAND COTTON PLANT WITH FULLY DEVELOPED BOLES
From Bulletin No. 31, Georgia Experiment Station.
COTTON BOLE FULLY DEVEL-
OPED
From Year Book of the Department
of Agriculture, 1903.
BOLE OPENED, COTTON READY FOR PICKING
Year Book of 1903.
34
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Nankin
Cotton
other fibers. Some varieties of this cotton are harsh
and wooly and are prized for use in mixing with wool,
The Nankin cotton grown in China and India and
in the southwestern part of Louisiana is characterized
by its yellow color. It is used in weaving cloth of
various kinds in the "fireside industries” which have.
become popular in the United States and England.
کے لیے درکار
B
ap
B
Spinning
Qualities
COTTON FIBERS
A A Unripe Fibers; B B-Half-ripe Fibers; C C-Ripe Fibers.
Very fine yarn can be spun from cotton because of
the spiral character of the fibers. This twist of the
fibers is peculiar to cotton, being present in no other
animal or vegetable fiber. On account of this twist,
cotton cloths are much more elastic in character than
those woven from linen, the fibers of which are stiff
and straight.
After the removal of the seed, no other fiber is so
free from impurities—5 per cent is the loss sustained
COTTON
35
by cleaning and bleaching. In its natural condition,
cotton will not dye readily because of a waxy sub-
stance on the surface of the fibers. This must be
removed by washing.
Cotton should be picked only when it is fully ripe Picking
when the pods are fully burst and the fibers expanded. Ginning
The unripe fiber is glassy, does not attain its full
and
COTTON BALES
strength and resists the dye. After picking, the cotton
is sent to the ginning factory to have the seed removed.
It is then pressed into bales by hydraulic presses, five
hundred pounds being the standard bale in the United
States.
Purified bleached cotton is nearly pure cellulose.
It resists the action of alkalis well, but is harmed by
hot, strong acids, or if acid is allowed to dry on the
fabric. It is not harmed by high temperature, and so
may be ironed with a hot iron.
Physical
Character.
istic3
3
2
5
6
4
WOOL FIBER AND SUBSTITUTES
1, South American Wool; 2, Noil from the Same; 3, Tangled
Waste, 4, Waste Combed Out; 5, Lap Waste; 6, Shoddy.
WOOL
37
WOOL
Character
of Fiber
Wool is the most important animal fiber. Strictly
speaking the name applies only to the hairy covering
of sheep, but the hair of certain goats and of camels
is generally classified under the same terms. The
wool fiber is distinguished by its scale-like surface
which gives it its felting and spinning properties. Hair
MICROSCOPIC APPEARANCE OF WO
FIBERS
as distinguished from wool has little or no scaly struc-
ture being in general a smooth filament with no felting
properties and spinning only with great difficulty. Fur
is the undergrowth found on most fur-bearing animals
and has in a modified way the scaly structure and felt-
ing properties of wool.
The great value of wool as a fiber lies in the fact
that it is strong, elastic, soft, very susceptible to dye
stuffs and being woven, furnishes a great number of
Value for
Clothing
38
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Quality
of Wool
air spaces, rendering clothing made from it very warm
and light.
Climatę, breed, and food influence the quality of the
wool. Where the pasturage is barren and rocky, the
wool is apt to be coarse.
Varieties
of Sheep
MERINO RAMS
The Variety of Sheep Giving the Finest Wool.
There are supposed to be about thirty distinct varie-
ties of sheep, nearly half of which are natives of Asia,
one-third of Africa, and only four coming from Eu-
rope, and two from America. Wool is divided into
two general classes—long and short staple, according
WOOL
39
to the average length of fiber. The long fiber wool is
commonly carded, combed and spun into worsted yarn.
The short fiber is usually carded and spun into woolen
yarn. The short fiber obtained in combing long staple
wool is called "noil." It is used for woolens..
Alpaca, Vicuna and Llama wools are obtained from
animals which are native to the mountains of Peru
Goat
Woola
ANGORA GOATS
and Chile. The Angora goat, originally from Asia
Minor, furnishes the mohair of commerce. This
fiber does not resemble the hairs of common goats in
any respect. It is a very beautiful fiber of silky luster,
which constitutes its chief value.
40
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Fur
The fur of beavers and rabbits can be and is used.
in manufacture, either spun into yarn or made into
felt. The fibers of both animals enter largely into the
manufacture of felt hats.
The fleece of sheep after being sheared is divided
into different parts or sorted, according to to the qual-
Sorting
Wool
a
b
с
d
WOOL FIBERS
a-Medium Wool; 6—Camel's Hair; c-Diseased Fiber; d-Merino Wool;
Mohair.
Scouring
Wool
ity of the wool, the best wool coming from the sides
of the animal.
As it comes from the sheep, the wool contains many
substances besides the wool fiber which must be re-
moved before dyeing or spinning. This cleansing is
called scouring. Before scouring, the wool is usually
dusted by machines to remove all loose dirt. The
scouring must be done by the mildest means possible
in order to preserve the natural fluffiness and bril-
liancy of the fiber. The chief impurity is the wool
WOOL
41
grease or "yolk” which is secreted by the skin glands
to lubricate the fiber and prevent it from matting.
In the scouring of wool, soap is the principal agent.
Soft soap made from caustic potash is generally used
Scouring
Agents
HEAD
3
3
31
2
2
TAIL
ONE METHOD OF WOOL SORTING
1-The Best Grade; 2-Lowest Grade;3—Fair; 4-Medium Grade.
as it is less harmful than ordinary hard soda soap.
Potassium carbonate—"pearl ash"-is often used in
connection with the soap. If the water for scouring is
hard, it is softened with pearl ash. The temperature
42
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
of wash water is never allowed to go above 120° F.
The scoured wool weighs from a little over a half to
one-third or less of the weight of the fleece.
Wool has the remarkable property of absorbing up
to-30 per cent or more of its weight of water and yet
not feel perceptibly damp to the touch. This is called
Hydroscopic
Moisturo
WOOL SORTING
"hydroscopic moisture." To this property wool owes
its superiority as a textile for underclothing.
The thoroughly cleansed fiber is made up chiefly of
the chemical substance keratin, being similar in com-
position to horn and feathers. In burning it gives off
a characteristic disagreeable odor. It is a substance.
very weakly acid in its nature, for which reason it
combines readily with many dyes. Wool resists the
action of acids very well, but is much harmed by the
alkalis, being dissolved completely by a warm solution
of caustic soda. High temperature harms wool.
FLAX
43
FLAX
Next to wool and cotton, flax is used most largely
in our textile manufactures.
The linen fiber consists of
the bast cells of certain spe-
cies of flax grown in Eu-
rope, Africa, and the Uni-
ted States. All bast fibers
are obtained near the out-
er surface of the plant stems.
The pith and woody tissues
are of no value. The flax
plant is an annual and to ob-
tain the best fibers it must be
gathered before it is fully
ripe. To obtain seed from
which the best quality of lin-
seed oil can be made it is
usually necessary to sacrifice
the quality of the fibers to
some extent.
FLAX
Unlike cotton, fax is contaminated by impurities
from which it must be freed before it can be woven
into cloth. The first process to which the freshly
pulled flax is submitted is that of “rippling" or the
removal of the seed capsules. Retting, next in order,
is the most important operation. This is done to
remove the substances which bind the bast fibers to
each other and to remove the fiber from the central
Treatment
of Flax
A FIELD OF FLAX IN MINNESOTA
The Flax Must Be Pulled Up by the Roots to Give Fibers with Tapered Ends.
(Photograph of C. R. Dodge).
FLAX
45
woody portion of the stem. This consists of steeping
the stalks in water.
(1) Cold water retting, either running or stagnant
water.
(2) Dew retting.
(3) Warm water retting.
Retting
MWA MW
RETTING TANK
A-Inlet; B-Undisturbed Water; C—Bundles of Flax.
--
Cold water retting in running water is practiced in
Belgium. Retting in stagnant water is the method
usually employed in Ireland and Russia. The retting
in stagnant water is more rapidly done, but there is
danger of over-retting on account of the organic mat-
ter retained in the water which favors fermentation.
In this case the fiber is weakened.
In dew retting, the flax is spread on the field and
exposed to the action of the weather for several weeks
1
1
RETTING FLAX IN THE RIVER LYS, BELGIUM
From the Government Bulletin, "Flax for Seed and Fiber."
FLAX
47
a n d
without any previous steeping. This method of retting
is practiced in Germany and Russia. Warm water
retting and chemical retting have met with limited
success.
When the ret-
ting is complete,
the flax is set up
in sheaves to
dry. The next
operations con-
sist of "break-
ing,” "scutch-
ing,”
“hackling” and
are now done by
machinery.
FIBERS OF FLAX
Breaking removes the woody center from the retted
and dried flax by being passed through a series of
fluted rollers. The particles of woody matter adher-
ing to the fibers are detached by scutching.
Hackling or combing still further separates the
fibers into their finest filaments—“line" and "tow."
The "flax line" is the long and valuable fiber; the tow,
the short coarse tangled fiber which is spun and used
for weaving coarse linen.
When freed from all impurities the chief physical
characteristics of flax are its snowy whiteness, silky
luster and great tenacity. The individual fibers may
Hackling
Character-
istics of
Linen
B
D.
FLAX
A, Unthrashed Straw; B, Retted; C, Cleaned or Scutched; D,
Hackled or Dressed.
(Photograph of C. R. Dodge).
HACKLING FLAX BY HAND
The "Tow” Is Seen at the Left and a Bunch of “Flax line' on
the Bench.
(Photograph of C. R. Dodge, Special Agent U. S. Department of
Agriculture.)
50
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Ramie
be from ten to twelve inches in length; they are much
greater in diameter than cotton. It is less pliant and
elastic than cotton and bleaches and dyes less readily.
Linen cloth is a better conductor of heat than cotton
and clothing made from it is cooler. When pure, it is,
like cotton, nearly pure cellulose.
Besides the linen, there is a great number of bast
fibers fit for textile purposes, some superior, some in-
ferior. India alone has over three hundred plants
that are fiber yielding. One-third of these furnish
useful fibers for cordage and fabrics. The next in
importance to linen is ramie or rhea, and China grass.
China grass comes from a different plant but is about
the same as ramie. The staple is longer and finer than
linen. The great strength of yarn made from it is due
to length of the staple.
The variety and great value of the ramie fibers has
long been recognized, but difficulties attending the
separation and degumming of the fibers have pre-
vented its employment in the manufactures to any
great extent. The native Chinese split and scrape the
plant stems, steeping them in water.
The common
retting process used for flax is not effective on account
of the large amount of gummy matter, and although
easy to bleach it is difficult to dye in full bright shades
without injuring the luster of the fibers.
Jute and hemp belong to the lower order of bast
fibers. The fiber is large and is unfit for any but the
Jute
and
Hemp
JUTE GROWING IN LOUISIANA
From Çulture of Hemp and Jute, Report of U. S. Department of
Agriculture,
DRYING HEMP IN KENTUCKY
From “Culture of Hemp and Jute.
9
SILK
53
Olona
coarsest kind of fabrics. Jute. is mainly cultivated
in Bengal. The fiber is separated from the plant by
retting, beating, etc.
Olona, the textile fiber of Hawaii, is found to have
promising qualities. This plant resembles ramie and
belongs to the nettle family also, but it is without the
troublesome resin of the ramie. The fiber is fine, light,
strong, and durable.
The Philippines are rich in fiber producing plants.
The manila hemp is the most prominent, of which
coarse cloth is woven, besides the valuable cordage.
The sisal hemp, pineapple, yucca, and a number of
fiber plants growing in the southern part of the United
States are worthy of note. These fiber industries are
conducted in a rude way, the fiber being cleaned by
hand, except the pineapple.
SILK
The silk fiber is the most perfect as well as the most
beautiful of all fibers. It is nearly faultless, fine and
continuous, often measuring from 1000 to 4000 feet
long, without a scale, joint, or a blemish, though not
of the same diameter or fineness throughout its entire
length, as it becomes finer as the interior of the cocoon
is approached. Silk differs from all other vegetable or
animal fibers by being devoid of all cellular structure.
Southern Europe leads in the silk worm culture- Where
Produced
Italy, southern France, and Turkey, with China and
India. Several species of moths, natives of India,
China, and Japan, produce the wild silk. The most
54
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Silk
Worm
important of the "wild silks" are the Tussah. Silk
plush and the coarser varieties of buff colored fabrics
are made of this silk. While manufacturers do not
favor the wild silk, the coarse uneven weave and soft-
ness make it a favorite with artists and it is being used
for interior decoration as well as for clothing.
The silk of commerce begins with an egg no bigger
than a mustard seed, out of which comes a diminutive
caterpillar, which is kept in a frame and fed upon
mulberry leaves. When the caterpillars are full grown,
they climb upon twigs placed for them and begin to
spin or make the cocoon. The silk comes from two
little orifices in the head in the form of a glutinous
gum which hardens into a fine elastic fiber. With
a motion of the head somewhat like the figure eight,
the silk worm throws this thread around the body
from head to tail until at last it is entirely enveloped.
The body grows smaller and the thread grows finer
until at last it has spun out most of the substance of
the body and the task is done.
If left to itself, when the time came, the moth would
eat its way out of the cocoon and ruin the fiber. A
few of the best cocoons are saved for a new supply of
caterpillars; the remainder are baked at a low heat
which destroys the worm but preserves the silk. This
now becomes the cocoon of commerce.
Next the cocoons go to the reelers who wind the
filaments into the silk yarn that makes the raw ma-
Reeling
Silk
SILK
55
Telecom
terial of our mills. The cocoons are thrown into warm
water mixed with soap in order to dissolve the gum.
The outer or coarser covering is brushed off down to
SILK:-CATERPILLAR, COCOON, CHRYSALIS, MOTH
the real silk and the end of the thread found. Four
or five cocoons are wound together, the sticky fibers
clinging to each other as they pass through the various
guides and are wound as a single thread on the reels.
56
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Organize
and
Tram
The silk is dried and tied into hanks or skeins. As
the thread unwinds from the cocoon, it becomes
smaller, so other threads must be added.
At the mill the raw silk goes to the “throwster” who
twists the silk threads ready for the loom. These
threads are of two kinds—“organize” or warp and
"tram" or filling. The warp runs the long way of
woven fabric or parallel with the selvage and it must
be strong, elastic, and not easily parted by rubbing.
To prepare the warp, two threads of raw silk are
slightly twisted. Twist is always put into yarn of
any kind to increase its strength. These threads are
united and twisted together and this makes a strong
thread capable of withstanding any reasonable strain
in the loom and it will not roughen. For the woof or
tram which is carried across the woven cloth on the
shuttle, the thread should be as loose and fluffy as
possible. Several threads are put together, subjected
to only a very slight twist-just enough to hold the
threads together so they will lie evenly in the finished
fabric.
After the yarn leaves the spinners it is again run off
on reels to be taken to the dye house. First the yarn
is boiled off in soapy water to remove the remaining
gum. Now the silk takes on its luster. Before it was
dull like cotton. The silk is now finer and harder
and is known as “souple."
The silk fiber has a remarkable property of absorb-
ing certain metallic salts, still retaining much of its
Boiling
Off
Loading
Silk
SILK
57
luster. This process is known as “loading" or "weight-
ing,” and gives increased body and weight to the silk.
Silk without weighting is known as "pure dye,” of
which there is little made, as such goods take too
much silk.
SUPPORT
BASIN
REELING SILK
For the weighting of white or light colored silk
goods, tin crystals (stanous chloride) are used and for
dark shades and black, iron salts and tannin. By this
means the original weight of the fiber may be increased
three or four hundred per cent. This result is not
attained, however, except through the weakening of
the fiber.
58
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Action of
Common
Salt
Artificial
Silk
Character.
istics
of si
Common salt has a very curious action on weighted
silk. It slowly weakens the fiber. A silk dress may
be ruined by being splashed with salt water at the sea-
shore. Most often holes appear after a dress comes
back from the cleaners; these he may not be to blame
for, as salt is abundant in nearly all the bodily secre-
tions,—tears, perspiration, urine.
Artificial silk is made by dissolving cellulose ob-
tained from cotton. It is lacking in strength and water
spoils all kinds manufactured at present.
Silk, like wool, has the property of absorbing con-
siderable moisture without becoming perceptibly damp.
Like wool and all the animal fibers, it is harmed by
alkalis. The important physical properties of silk are
its beautiful luster, strength, elasticity and the readi-
ness with which it takes dyes. Silk combines well with
other fibers, animal and vegetable.
A comparison of the relative value of textile fibers
may be seen from the following approximate prices :
Cotton—$.07 to $.14 per pound; loss in cleaning and
bleaching 5 per cent.
Flax-$.12 to $.30 per pound; loss in cleaning and
bleaching about 20 per cent.
Wool—$.15 to $.30 per pound; loss in scouring 20 to
60 per cent.
Raw Silk-$7.00 to $10.00 per pound; loss in “boiling
off” about 30 per cent which is made up and much
more by "loading."
Value of
Raw Fibers
MODERN METHODS
All the complex processes and machinery of the
textile industry are but developments of the old-time
methods of the home. Brief outlines only will be given
here for the processes are most intricate in detail.
SPINNING
Picking
and
Carding
The spinning of cotton yarn (thread) is typical of
all the fibers. The stages may be divided into-
1. Opening and picking.
2. Carding.
3. Combing
4. Drawing
5. Spinning
The picking and carding have for their object the
removal of all foreign substances with as little damage
to the fiber as possible. The foreign substances in
cotton are sand, dirt, pieces of leaves, seed, husk, etc.,
which have become mixed with the fiber during the
process of growing, ginning and transportation.
The cotton bales are opened and thrown into the
automatic feeder which carries up a layer of cotton on
a spiked apron from which it is removed by a rapidly
revolving "doffer" underneath which is a screen which
catches some of the dirt. It is next fed between rolls
in front of a rapidly revolving blunt-edged knife which
throws out more of the dirt through a screen. There
is a suction of air through the screen which helps
remove the foreign substances. The cotton passes
Cleaning
59
60
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Carding
through several of such machines, being formed into
a soft web or "lap” which is wound into a roll.
The carding machine further cleans the fibers and
lays them in a general parallel position. From this
machine the web is formed into "sliver," a loose rope
M
MWILI
10:00
COTTON OPENER AND PICKER
The cotton from the bale is thrown into A, carried by the spiked aprons
Band ç, evened by E, removed from the apron by F (some of the
dirt falls through the screen into box C) is beaten by the revolving
“knife,” NP, more dirt being removed through screen N, then
goes through the flue Cto the next machine.
Combing
of cotton fiber about two iriches in diameter. This is
received in circular cans.
The combing is omitted for short fiber cotton, but
is used in worsted spinning and with long staple cotton
to remove the short fibers. Cotton to be used for
SPINNING
61
making yarn suitable for hosiery, underwear, sewing
thread, lace, and for very fine cotton fabrics is carded.
In drawing, from six to sixteen "slivers" are run
together and the fibers drawn out in several stages
until the soft rope is about an eighth of an inch in
diameter, called "roving." This tends to get rid of any
unevenness and makes the fibers all parallel. From
this machine the roving is wound on a bobbin ready
for the spinning frame.
CYLINDER SO DIA OVER WIRE
REVOLUTIONS PER MIN. 165.
.DOFTER
24 DIAOVER WIRE
Spinning
COTTON CARD
The roll of webbing A is beaten and transferred to the cylinder HH,
carded by the spiked belt E, removed by the “doffer” and formed
into a "sliver" which runs into the can M.
The spinning frame may have a hundred spindles
or more, each one of which is drawing out its supply
of “roving” to the required size of yarn and giving it
the twist necessary to bind the fibers together. The
yarn to be used for the warp is given a harder twist
so that it may be strong enough to stand the strain in
weaving. The yarn for filling is usually left soft.
DEE
WORKS
AUNTON
COTTON COMB, USED FOR LONG STAPLE
RECEIVING THE "SLIVER" AT THE BACK OF THE DRAW.
ING FRAME,
DRAWING FRAME
Drawing the Roving Finer.
*1941:41.
LLL
A FLY SPINNING FRAME
The Spools of Roving Above Are Being Drawn Out, Given the Twist by the Fliers, and
Wound on Bobbins Below.
2
MULE DRAWING AND SPINNING FRAME
Always used for wool. Part of the machine moves away from the frame, thus drawing out the
thread, which is then twisted.
NEGA
MODERN RING SPINNING FRAME FOR COTTON. SIXTY-EIGHT SPINDLES
Gives the Largest Production.
A PLAIN POWER LOOM WEAVING LINEN
WEAVING
69
Modern
Loom
The yarn for warp is now usually given a coating or
“sizing” of starch and gums so that the thread may
not become unwound and break during weaving.
The process of spinning is much the same for flax
and for wool, although somewhat differently con-
structed machines must be used. Flax is usually spun
wet.
WEAVING
The modern power driven loom is a wonderful piece
of machinery. The principle of its operation is essen-
tially the same as the hand loom, but it is almost per-
fectly automatic in its action, a man or woman being
able to tend from ten to fifteen looms weaving plain
cotton goods.
The yarn coming from the spinning frame is some-
times dyed before weaving. The warp is formed by
winding as many threads as the width of the fabric is
to contain on a slowly revolving drum, called a "beam,”
in the same relative position in which they are to ap-
pear in the finished cloth. From its position on the
beam at the back of the loom, each thread is brought
through its particular loop or eye with the heddle,
then passes through its own slot in the reed, and down
to the roller or "cloth beam” that is to take up the
woven cloth. This is called "drawing in the warp.”
If there is a piece of cloth coming from the loom, the
work is very simple, for the ends of the new warp are
tied to the ends remaining from the warp that has
been woven out.
Warping
70
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING.
The
Harness
The shuttle with its bobbin, containing the yarn of
the filling, is much the same as is used in the hand
looms, except for form and size, which varies accord-
ing to the requirements and size of the warp being
used. At first only one shuttle was used, but in 1760
Robert Kay invented a mechanism by which several
shuttles containing different grades or colors of yarn
might be used. Each throw of the shuttle across the
width of the goods is called a "pick.”
In making a cloth with plain weave, that is, with
every thread interlacing with every other, as in darn-
ing, only two harnesses are required, but the modern
loom may have up to about twenty-four harnesses so
that an infinite variety of weaves may be obtained.
Various cams and levers move the harness frame and
so raise or lower the threads required for the design.
The Jacquard loom is arranged on a different prin-
ciple. In this loom, all kinds of fancy weaves may be
obtained as in table linen, tapestries and carpets. Each
warp thread is supplied with a separate hook and by
means of perforated card the desired threads are raised
or depressed at each throw of the shuttle. The cards
are worked out by the designer. A set of a thousand
or more cards may be required to produce the desired
design. Jacquard looms are sometimes to be seen at
fairs and expositions weaving handkerchiefs with some
picture design.
Jacquard
Loom
JACQUARD HAND LOOM
Weaving Ingrain Carpet at Hull House.
WEAVES
The great variety of weaves found in the textiles
of to-day are modifications of a few fundamental
weaves invented in the earliest times.
The chief fundamental weaves are:
(1) Plain weave.
(2) Twills,
(3) Sateen.
To which may be added the derivatives,
(4) Rib weave.
(5) Basket weave.
These do not include the many fancy weaves, too
RA
PUUHUNSUB SUUBUVE
DIAGRAM OF FANCY KNIT GOODS
numerous to classify, and the open work weaves, made
in the Leno loom, in which some of the threads are
crossed. Knit goods are made by the interlooping of
a single thread, by hand or on circular knitting ma-
72
WEAVES
73
chines and lace by an analogous process, using several
systems of threads. Felt is made up of matted fibers
of fur and wool and has no thread structure,
Plain
Twill
IN
Cassimere Twill
Saleen
WEAVE DIAGRAMS
The plain weave is the most common, nearly all
light weight goods being thus woven. In plain weav-
ing, each thread of both warp and filling passes alter-
nately over and under the threads at right angles.
This makes a comparatively open cloth, requiring the
Plain
Weavo
74
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
smallest amount of yarn for the surface covered. This
weave is used in nearly all cotton goods, as in muslins,
sheetings, calicoes, ginghams, and thin woolen goods.
Even in the plain weave variety is obtained by having
a
b
d
SECTIONS OF WEAVES
2-Plain weave; 6—Prunella twill; C—Cassimere twill; d–Swans-
down twill.
some of the threads larger than others, either in warp
or filling or both, thus producing stripes and checked
effects.
After the plain weave the twill is the most common,
being much used for dress goods, suitings, etc., as
well as some of the thicker cottons. In this weave
the intersections of the threads produce characteristic
lines diagonally across the fabric, most often at an
angle of 45°. The twill may be hardly visible or very
Twills
WEAVES
75
pronounced. The simplest twills are the so-called
"doeskin” and “prunella.” In the doeskin the filling
threads pass over one and under two of the warp
threads and in the prunella twill over two and under
one. The most common twill is the cassimere twill
in which both the warp and filling run over two and
under two of the threads at right angles.
Rib
W
Z.
Double Cloth
UIT
Basket
DIAGRAM OF RIB AND BASKET WEAVE AND DOUBLE CLOTH
Uneven
Twills
A twill made by running both warp and filling under
one and over three threads is called a swansdown twill
and the reverse is known as the crow weave. In these
the diagonal twilled effect is much more marked.
Various twills are often combined with each other
and with plain weave, making a great variety of
texture. Numerous uneven twills are made, two over
and three under, etc., etc.
76
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Sateen
Weave
In the sateen weave, nearly all of either the warp or
the filling threads are on the surface, the object being
to produce a smooth surface fabric like sateen. With
TEXTILE DESIGN
A-On cross-section paper; B-Graphic diagram.
this weave it is possible to use a cotton warp and silk
filling, having most of the silk appear on the surface
of the fabric.
The rib and basket weaves are derivatives of the
plain weave, two or more threads replacing the single
Rib and
Basket
Weaves
WEAVES
77
Double
Cloth
strand. In the rib weave, either the warp or the fill-
ing threads run double or more, thus making a corded
effect. In the basket weave, both warp and filling are
run double or treble, giving a coarse texture. This
weave is sometimes called the panama weave.
In the thicker fabrics like men's suitings and over-
coatings, there may be a double series of warp threads,
only one series appearing on the face of the goods,
and in the still thicker fabrics, there may be a double
set of both warp and filling threads, making double
cloth, the two sides of which may be entirely different
in color and design.
In weaving plush, velvet and velveteen, loops are
made in the filling or warp threads which are after-
wards cut, producing the pile.
Volnot
BLEACHING, DYEING, PRINTING, FINISHING
Madder
Bleach
When the cloth comes from the loom it is by no
means ready for the market. Nearly all kinds are
washed and pressed and in some classes of goods the
finishing process is very elaborate.
BLEACHING AND DYEING
The fiber may be dyed in a loose or unspun state,
as is customary with wool; after it has been spun and
is in the form of yarn, as in the case of silk and linen;
and when it has been woven to form cloth, as is most
commonly the case with cotton.
The bleaching of cotton involves a number of steps,
the most thorough process being called the “madder
bleach," in which the cloth is (1) wet out, (2) boiled
with lime water, (3) rinsed, (4) treated with acid,
(5) rinsed, (6) boiled with soap and alkali, (7) rinsed,
(8) treated with bleaching powder solution, (9) rinsed,
(10) treated with acid, (11) finally rinsed again. All
this is done by machines and hundreds of yards go
through the process at a time. The product is a pure
white cloth suitable for dyeing light shades and for
white goods. When cloth is to be dyed a dark shade
the treatment is less elaborate.
If the cloth is to be printed for calicoes, before
bleaching it is singed by passing through gas flames
or over a red hot plate and then sheared in a shearing
machine constructed somewhat on the principle of the
Singeing
and
Bhearing
78
DYEING
79
Mordant
Colors
lawn mower, the cloth being run close to the rapidly
revolving knives.
Although cotton is usually dyed in the piece, it may
be dyed in the form of yarn, as for ginghams, and
sometimes before being woven, in the loose state.
Cotton is more difficult to dye than wool or silk.
Although there are now what are called “direct” cotton
colors, the usual process is to first treat the cotton
goods with a "mordant"-various salts of aluminum,
chromium, iron, tin and copper, fixing these on the
fiber by means of tannin or alkali. The mordanted
cloth is then entered into the dye bath and boiled for
an hour or longer, until the desired shade is obtained
or the dye bath exhausted. The salts of aluminum are
used as mordants for the lighter shades, the salts of
chromium for the medium shades, and iron for the
dark shades. In general, chromium mordants give the
fastest dyes.
The discovery of the so-called aniline dyes has
greatly increased the variety of colors available. Al-
though some of the first aniline dyes to be made were
not fast to washing or to light and they thus received
a bad reputation, they are now to be obtained which
compare favorably in fastness with the natural dye
stuffs such as cochineal, madder, etc., provided suf-
ficient time and care are given to dyeing. The chief
trouble is that in the endeavor to furnish cheap goods,
processes are hurried and results are unsatisfactory.
Aniline
Dyes
80
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Home
Dyeing
Home dyeing is practically confined to the use of
direct aniline colors. These are put up in small quan-
tities and sold in many places. Directions for their
use are given on the packages. The chief precautions
are to have the goods perfectly clean and thoroughly
wet before entering into the dye bath (this is by no
means as easy as one might think), and to keep the
goods in motion while dyeing so as to prevent un-
evenness of shade. Wool and silk dyes cannot be used
for cotton and linen, nor the reverse. Of course cloth
already colored cannot be dyed a lighter shade of the
same color and the original shade must be very light
to enable one to change the color, say from red to
blue, etc. The original color always modifies that of
the dye somewhat and it is best to experiment first with
a small portion of the dye and cloth. Rather dark
shades are apt to be most successful.
Indigo for blue, madder for Turkey red, logwood
with fustic for black, cutch or gambia for browns on
cotton are about all the natural dyestuffs which are
used to any extent commercially at the present time.
The artificial product alizerin, the active principle of
madder, has about superseded the natural dyestuff,
and artificial indigo is gaining on the natural product.
Linen is bleached and dyed in much the same man-
ner as cotton. This weakens linen more than cotton and
the finest table linens are whitened by grass bleaching or
a combination of grass and chemical bleach.
Woolen and silk may be dyed directly with a great
variety of dyes without the addition of a mordant,
Natural
Dyestuffs
Dyeing
Woolen
and Silk
PRINTING
81
although they are often mordanted. Both must be
well washed or scoured before dyeing. When white or
delicate shades on woolen or silk are desired they are
bleached. The bleaching is usually done with sul-
phurous acid gas, the cloth or yarn being exposed in
a damp condition to the fumes of burning sulplur.
Were it not for the expense, hydrogen peroxide
would be the ideal bleaching agent for the animal
fibers.
PRINTING
Block and
Machino
Printing
A great variety of colored designs are produced on
the loom by using different cciored warp and filling
yarns and different weaves, but in all these the designs
are easily made only in somewhat rectangular patterns.
Print goods have doubtless evolved from the deco-
ration of fabrics with the brush. Block printing was
first used, the design being engraved in relief on blocks
of wood. These are dipped in the colored paste,
spread thinly, and applied to successive portions of the
cloth by hand. These blocks are now replaced in the
printing machine by engraved copper rolls, the design
being such that it is repeated once or a number of
times in each revolution of the cylinder. There is
a printing roll for each color of the design. Sometimes
both the background and the design are printed on the
cloth, but the more common process is for the design
only to be printed on the cloth which may be dyed
afterwards. In the paste of the printed design there
82
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Fixing
the Print
is some chemical which prevents the portions printed
· from taking the dye, consequently these remain white
or a different color. This is called the “resist’ process.
Another process is to first dye the cloth and then print
on some chemical which, when the calico is steamed,
discharges the color. This is called the "discharge"
process. Sometimes this weakens the goods in the
places where the color has been discharged.
The color paste used for printing contains both the
dye and the mordant. After the calico has been
printed it is steamed to develop and fix the color,
washed, sometimes very slightly bleached, to clear the
whites, and usually given a sizing of starch or gum,
and then pressed and dried by passing over slowly
revolving, steam-heated drums.
In general print goods are not so fast to washing
and to light as those that have been dyed in the regu-
lar way, although the better grades are reasonably fast.
Prints are sometimes made in imitation of the more
costly gingham or other goods in which the color
design is made in the weaving. It is easy to detect
the imitation as the design of printed fabrics does not
penetrate to the back of the cloth.
Sometimes the warps are printed before the cloth
is woven, thus giving very pretty indefinite designs,
especially in silk.
Warp
Printing
FINISHING
83
FINISHING
Burling
and
Mending
Fulling
The finishing of woolen and worsted goods has much
to do with their appearance. No cloth comes from the
loom in a perfect condition, therefore inspection is the
first process. Loose threads and knots are carefully
cut off by the “burler” and imperfections in the weav-
ing rectified by the "menders.” The goods may now be
singed and sheared.
Woolens, and sometimes worsteds, are next “fulled”
or felted by being run round and round in a machine
while moistened with soap. The friction of the cloth
on itself produces some heat which, with the mois-
ture and soap, causes the goods to shrink in length and
width while increasing in thickness. During this proc-
ess, "flocks" are often added, especially for smooth
finished woolen goods. These flocks are fine fibers of
wool obtained from the shearing machine or made by
cutting up old woolen cloth. They are felted with the
fibers of the goods and add weight and firmness.
After the fulling, the goods is washed to remove the
soap, dyed, if desired, and often “speck dyed” with a
special dye which colors the bits of burs, remaining
in the cloth, but not the wool. The next process is
the "gigging” which raises the nap. The cloth is run
close to rapidly revolving "teazels” and also may be
run through a napping machine. It may be sheared
again and then steamed and pressed. This is but a
brief outline; there are generally more processes.
Woolen cloth coming from the loom may be so
Flocks
Raising
the Nap
84
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
treated in the finishing room as to produce fabrics
entirely different in appearance. One of the chief ob-
jects of the finishing is to give to the cloth as fine an
appearance as possible to attract the buyer. Much of
the fine finish disappears through wear, especially with
inferior goods made from poor materials. The wear-
ing quality of the goods is primarily dependent upon
the strength and quality of the fibers of which it is
made, so that the yarn of the filling and the warp
should be examined when selecting materials. In gen-
eral, hard twisted yarn wiii give the better wearing
cloth.
FABRICS
The present day shops offer such a great variety of
fabrics that only a few of the most important can be
mentioned here.
COTTON GOODS
Cotton is cool and heavy, is a non-conductor of heat,
crushes easily, but like all vegetable fibers it may be
laundered without injury to the fibers. Cotton does
not take the darker dyes as well as animal fibers and
for this reason it does not combine satisfactorily with
wool. As an adulterant it wears shabby and loses its
brightness. It is only when cotton does not pretend
to be anything else that it is our most useful and dur-
able, textile. The readiness with which cotton takes
the lighter dyes and improved methods of ginning,
spinning, and weaving have made cotton goods supe-
rior to any other for summer use.
Muslin, calico, and gingham must always head the
list of cotton goods. Muslin is coarse and fine,
bleached, unbleached, and half bleached, twilled or
plain weave. Under the head of muslin brought to a
high degree of perfection in weave and finish will be
found dimity, mull, Indian lawn, organdie, Swiss, and
Madras, and a host of others equally beautiful. Mad-
ras muslin has a thin, transparent ground with a heav-
ily raised pattern woven of a soft, thick thread unlike
the ground work. Waste is used for the pattern. Or-
gandie muslin is soft, opaque, white, or colored, with
Maslin
85
86
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
raised dots of pattern and plain weave. Dimity has a
fine cord running with the selva ge.
Gingham is a smooth, close cotton usually woven in
checks or stripes. The yarn is dyed before being
woven, making the cloth alike on both sides, and the
weave is either plain or twilled. Ginghams are also
woven of silk and cotton mixed or of silk and ramie.
Cretonne, chintz, dress linings, crape, velveteen, and
iace are made of cotton.
Flannelette, which is woven to imitate flannel, is
soft and light and is preferred by many who find
woolen irritating. It does not shrink as woolen does
and is made in beautiful, soft colors and the best
grades do not fade. For nightdresses, underwear,
and sheets, during cold weather this inexpensive fabric
is unequaled.
Among the heavier cotton fabrics may be mentioned
denim and ticking which are now printed in beautiful
designs and colors and used for interior decoration
as well as for clothing and bedding.
The great variety of fibers, the many different ways
of preparing each for manufacture, the differences in
the preparatory processes in spinning, weaving, or
in any of the later processes of finishing produce the
varied appearance of the finished product in cotton as
in other fabrics.
LINENS
Linen is one of the oldest textiles; it was used by
the early Egyptians for the priests' garments and for
LINENS
87
Tablo
Linen
the wrappings of mummies. Many housekeepers think
that there is no material for sheets and pillow cases
comparable to linen, but it is not an ideal dressing for
beds, for in spite of its heavier body, it wrinkles and
musses much more readily than good cotton. For
table service, however, for the toilet, and for minor
ornamental purposes linen has no equal. Its smooth-
ness of texture, its brilliancy which laundering in-
creases, its wearing qualities, its exquisite freshness,
make it the one fabric fit for the table.
Table linen is woven plain and figured, checked and
diapered. In the figured or damask cloth the patterns
stand out distinctly. This is due to the play of light
and shade on the horizontal and vertical lines. In some
lights the pattern is scarcely noticeable. When buy-
ing a cloth, let it be between the observer and the light,
for in this position the pattern will show to the best
advantage. There is a certain amount of shade on all
horizontal lines or of shadow cast by them, while the
vertical lines are illuminated, thus although the warp
and woof threads are of the same color, the pattern
seems to stand out from the background.
Linen should not be adulterated. It should be for
use and not for show, for use brightens and whitens it.
Linen adulterated with cotton becomes fuzzy
through wear because of the much shorter cotton
fibers. The tendency can often be seen by rolling the
goods between the thumb and fingers.
88
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Crash of different widths and quality furnishes tea
towels, “huck,” damask and other weaves come in vari-
ous widths and may be purchased by the yard. Russia
crash is best for kitchen towels.
WOOLENS AND WORSTEDS
Standard
Goods
The many grades of wool with the great variety of
weaves and finish make an almost infinite variety of
woolen and worsted fabrics. New goods are con-
stantly being put upon the market, or old goods
with new names. Standard goods, such as serges,
cashmere, Henrietta cloth, and covert cloth, are
always to be found in the shops. These are all
twilled goods. The serges are woven of combed wool
and are harsh, tough, springy, worsted fabrics of me-
dium and heavy weight, with a distinct twill, rather
smooth surface, and plainer back. There are also
loosely woven serges. Cashmere and Henrietta cloth
have a fine, irregular twill—the finest made. They
are woven with silk, wool, and cotton warp, but the
latter gives an inferior textile.
Tweeds and homespuns are names given to coarse
cloth of which the wool is spun by hand and woven
on hand looms. These goods vary according to the lo-
cality in which they are made. The wool is mixed
without regard to color, the yarn being spun and
twisted in the most primitive manner, giving the cloth
an uneven, unfinished appearance. These are among
the best wearing cloths on the market and are espe-
Tweeds
WOOLENS AND WORSTEDS
89
Harris
Tweede
cially suitable for suits that will receive hard wear.
Scotland and Ireland are famous for their tweeds and
homespuns and what are known as the "cottage indus-
tries" have been recently revived in those countries
as the products of their hand looms have become de-
servedly popular abroad.
The "Harris Tweeds," made on the Island of Lewis
and Harris, north of Scotland, are in the old style by
the "crofters." After weaving the goods are
“waulked”—milled or felted—with the bare feet, ac-
companied by singing the waulking song and beating
time with the feet. The dyeing is done in pots in the
old-fashioned way and until recently the dyestuffs
were obtained from mosses, lichens, heather, broom,
and other plants. Now, however, some of the best
aniline dyes are being used. A peculiar characteristic
of the Harris tweed is the peat smoke smell caused by
the fabı ic being woven in the crofters' cottages, where
there is always a strong odor of peat “reek” from the
peat which is burned for fuel. The ordinary so-called
Harris tweeds sold in this country are made on the
southern border of Scotland, in factories, and are but
imitations of the real Harris tweeds.
The light colored tweeds—natural color of wool-
come from the island of St. Kilda. This island stands
out in mid ocean, barren and wild, devoid of plants
or shrubs of any kind for making dyes. The crofters
content themselves without dyestuffs. The industry
90
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
is maintained by nobility to help the islanders and the
fabrics are fashionable and high priced.
The foregoing represent the worsteds. Among the
heavy woolens are covert cloth, a twilled fabric of hard
finish and great durability, melton, doeskin, broadcloth
and cassimeres. The light weight woolen goods are
represented by crepe cloth, with crinkled, rough surface,
nun's veiling, flannel, which is woven in many ways and
given various names, wool canvas, and poplins. The
list might be extended, but these fabrics are always to be
found in the shops of good color and are the best of the
all wool fabrics for wear.
Mohair is a material made from the hair of the
angora goat, woven with silk, wool, worsted, or cotton
warp. It is a dust-shedding material, does not shrink,
and bears hard wear well. Alpaca, on account of its
Alpaca softness, elasticity, and exemption from shaggy defects,
combines admirably with cotton in the manufacture of
fine goods, which attains almost the glossy brightness
of silk. The yarn is used for weaving alpaca linings
and light coatings for warm climates.
Mohair
SILKS
Many silks can be washed without injury to the fi-
bers, but they cannot be boiled without destroying the
luster. Silks may be had in various widths and end-
less variety of weaves. Many are reversible.
Silks are adulterated with cotton and ramie fibers.
The chemicals used in "loading” or “dynamiting” to
give the weight lost by cleaning or removing the gum
Loading
Bilk
SILKS
91
Wash
Silks
from the raw silk give to the cheaper grades the stiff,
harsh feeling and cause the splitting and cracking of
the silk, hence the quality of the fiber should be con-
sidered when selecting a silk, not the weight. Taffeta
is often heavily loaded.
Foulard and surah are twilled silks. Corded silks
are woven with a cord running from selvage to selv-
age. To this class belong the grosgrains, Ottoman,
faille Francaise—a silk resembling grosgrain, but
softer and brighter. Irish poplins and bengalines have
wool for the filling instead of silk.
Great improvement has been made in the manufac-
ture of wash silks. They are fine in color and have a
glossy surface. Pongee is a beautiful, durable silk in
different shades of natural color. It is woven in dif-
ferent widths. This silk is especially valuable for un-
derwear. The first cost is greater, but it outwears
muslin or linen. It is also used for children's gar-
ments and for outside wraps. For many purposes, no
better textile can be found.
Crepe de Chine is an incomparable textile possess-
ing as much softness as strength. It is always supple,
never creases, launders well, and comes in the most
beautiful soft shades as well as in black and dark colors.
Satin is distinguished by its glossy, lustrous surface,
obtained in the weaving.
Piled fabrics are rich, thick materials made of silk,
wool, mohair, and cotton, comprising the velvets, vel-
veteens, plushes, corduroys, and wilton and velvet car-
Piled
Fabrics
92
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Velvet
pets. The soft, raised pile is first woven in loops-
Brussels carpet is a good example—and the loops are
cut. The back of the goods is plain.
Velvet has always and justly been regarded as the
most beautiful of textiles. No matter how fashions
change in regard to other materials, velvet never loses
its vogue. For robes and cloaks, for mantles and jack-
ets, for hats and bonnets, for trimming and decoration,
velvet has been popular for a greater period than the
life of any living mortal, but never before has it been so
cheap, so varied and so beautiful as it is now. One
can in the passing throng of pedestrians on any
crowded street see the use and abuse of this noble
material. There is scarcely an article of dress into
whose composition it does not enter and it is worn
upon all occasions. Many things have brought about
this result. The tendency of fashion is towards the
decorative and picturesque and in these qualities vel-
vet excels all other fabrics. Silk waste and thread are
cheaper than ever before so that velvet costs much less
than formerly. The men behind the looms have
evolved more designs and novelties in the making of
velvet than has ever been known and colors beautiful
in themselves are seemingly enhanced when applied to
velvet.
All that has been said in favor of velvet applies
equally as well to the best velveteen, in fact it is a
textile of even greater value and beauty than velvet
The best grades are not cheap, but they wear better
Velveteen
FABRICS
93
Widths of
Fabrics
than silk velvet, are fine and silky, excellent in color
and sheen, launder well, and do not press-mark as
does silk velvet. Velveteen takes the dye so beautifully
and finishes so well that it has taken rank with our
best standard fabrics. It is made entirely of cotton.
It varies in width but is always wider than velvet.
A knowledge of the various widths of textiles is im-
portant in buying. Transparent fabrics are usually
wider than heavier goods made of the same fiber.
Muslin is wider than calico or ordinary print, and thin
silk fabrics such as mull and chiffon are wider than
velvet.
In wool dress goods various distinct widths are
known as single-thirty and thirty-six inches-double
fold (forty-five and fifty-four inches), etc. Silk, vel-
vet, and velveteen are single width. The velvet ranges
from eighteen to twenty-four inches in width and vel-
veteen twenty-seven. Bodice linings vary from thirty-
five to thirty-eight inches; skirt linings come in both
single and double fold.
Household linen including bedding varies in width
from one yard to two and one-fourth and two and one-
half yards for sheeting and from thirty-eight to fifty-
four inches for pillow case muslin.
Table linen is woven in both square and circular
cloths of various sizes, and napkins vary in width
from the small sizes to a yard square.
No fixed widths can be given for any textile as
width often changes with the weave.
94
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
NAMES OF FABRICS
Textiles usually take their names from the country,
city, port, or province from whence they originated;
from the names of the makers; and methods of weav-
ing, dyeing, ornamentation, etc. The fixing of locali-
ties, methods, etc., is oftentimes guesswork. The tex-
tiles of to-day bearing the same name as those of the
iniddle ages have nothing in common. Buckram was
originally made in and called from Bokkara. In the
middle ages it was costly, fine, and beautiful, used for
church vestments, veils for covering lecterns, cathe-
dral flags, and in the 16th century for the lining of vel-
vet gowns. The coarse, heavy, plain-woven linen or
cotton material known as buckram today is used for
stiffening, etc.
Fustian, a kind of corduroy or velveteen, was orig-
inally woven at Fustat on the Nile. The warp was
stout linen, the woof of cotton so twilled and cut that
it gave a low thick pile. Chaucer's knight in the four-
teenth century wore fustian. In the fifteenth century
Naples was famous for the weaving of fustians.
A cloth made in France at a town called Mustre-
villiers was known as “mustyrd devells."
China is supposed to be the first country to weave
patterned silks. India, Persia, Syria, and Byzantine
Greece followed. Those were known as "diaspron"
cr diaper, a name given them at Constantinople. In
the twelfth century, the city of Damascus, long famed
Fustian
Damask
FABRICS
95
Muslin
for her beautiful textiles, outstripped all other places
for beauty of design and gave the Damascen or da-
mask, so we have in modern times all fabrics whether
of silk, cotton, wool, or linen, curiously woven and
designed, known as damask, and diaper, which means
pattern, is almost forgotten, or only a part of the elab-
orate design on damask. Bandekin, a costly cloth, took
its name from Bagdad. Dorneck an inferior damask
woven of silk, wool, linen, thread and gold, was made
in Flanders at the city of Dorneck.
From the Asiatic city Mosul came the muslin used
then as it is now throughout the world. So skilled
were its weavers that the threads were of hair-like
fineness. This was known as the invisible muslin, the
weaving of which has become a lost art. To this beau-
tiful cloth were given many fanciful and poetic names.
It was woven with strips of gold and silver.
Calico derives its name from the city of Calicut in
India. The city is scarcely known to-day; it was the
first Indian city visited by Europeans.
In the thirteenth century Arras was famous for its
areste or tapestry, “the noblest of the weaving arts”;
in it there is nothing mechanical. Mechanical weaving
repeats the pattern on the cloth within comparatively
narrow limits and the number of colors is in most cases
limited to four or five.
Silks and cottons are distinguished through their
colors and shades. Tarsus was a purple silk. Other
cities gave their name to various shades, according as
Calico
96
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
they were dyed at Antioch, Alexandria, or at Naples.
Watered or moire silk takes its name from the finish.
From "canabis," the Latin name for hemp or flax,
we have the word “canvas” to mean any texture woven
of hempen thread.
To this list of fabrics might be added many others of
cotton, linen, wool, and silk with new names, closely
resembling the old materials, having greater or less
merit.
The following lists of fabrics and terms may be help-
ful for reference:
Art linen-With round, hard twisted threads.
“Albert cloth”—Named for England's prince, is a reversible
all-wool material each side of different colors and so finished
that no lining is required. It is used chiefly for overcoats
and better known as “golf cloth,” “plaid back," etc.
Armure-A cloth woven in miniature imitation of feudal metal
armor plates, heraldic devices, diamonds, birdseye, and
seeded effects.
Astrakhan-A woolen or silk material with a long and closely
curled pile in imitation of the fur from which it is named.
Backed-cloth worsteds or other fabrics which are woven with
an extra layer of warp or other filling underneath the
face, usually for increased weight and bulk.
Batiste—The French word for lawn, fine white cotton or
linen fabric. Sometimes printed.
Batting or padding, cotton or wool prepared in sheets for
quilting or interlining.
Beaver-Similar to Kersey, but with a longer nap, soft,
thick nap inside.
Bedford cord-A closely woven woolen or cotton cloth having
a raised corded surface similar to pique, used for women's
suits.
Bonde-A loosely woven fabric with a curly, hairy surface,
usually made with a jersey or stockinet body.
FABRICS
97
Bourette-An effect of weaving produced by fancy yarns
showing in lumps at intervals over the face of the cloth;
used for women's and children's suits.
Beverteen-A heavy cotton cloth used for men's hunting
garments.
Broadcloth-A fine woolen cloth with a glossy finished surface,
the better grades being woven with a twilled back. It
takes its name from its width. It is used for men's and
women's wear.
Buckram-A coarse, heavy, plain-woven linen or cotton ma-
terial used for stiffening.
Buckskin-A stout doe skin with a more defined twill.
Butternut—The coarse brown twilled homespun cloth woven
of wool prior to the Civil War-colored brown with dye
from the butternut or walnut tree; used for men's wear
and for decorative purposes.
Cambric-Fine white linen, also made in cotton in imitation.
Camel's hair-A beautiful, soft, silky fabric, usually woven
like cheviot of hair of camel and goat.
Canvas-A linen, cotton, silk, or wool cloth of different
weaves and widths, used for many purposés-clothing, as a
background for embroidery, hangings, spreads, etc.
Canton fannel-A stout, twilled cotton cloth with a nap on
one or both sides, used for clothing and decorative pur-
poses.
Cassimere-A general term for all-wool fabrics woven either
plain or twilled, coarse or fine, of woolen yarn. The pat-
tern is always woven plain and distinct and the cloth is
never napped.
Castor Beaver-A heavy, milled, face-finished, all-wool cloth
lighter in weight than ordinary beaver.
Chinchilla—A thick, heavy, double woven fabric with a
long napped surface curled up into little tufs in imitation
of chinchilla fur; used for coats.
Clan Tartan—The plaids of the various highland clans of
Scotland.
Clay-A name given to serges, worsteds, and diagonals woven
after a process of J. & P. Clay of Haddersfield, Eng-
land.
Coating-Those woolen and worsted fabrics most especially
adapted to men's dress and overcoats.
98
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
re-
Corduroy–A thick cotton pile material, corded or ribbed on
the surface; used for men's, women's, and children's wear.
Corkscrew-worsted goods-So-called from its fancied
semblance to the twists of the corkscrew.
Cotton worsted-All cotton or part cotton worsted-wove
cloth.
Cottonade—Stout cotton cloth in imitation of woolen or
worsted cloth; used for men's trousers.
Covert-A twill-woven cloth sometimes with full face, some-
times sheared to imitate whipcord.
Crape cloth—A stout worsted fabric with surface in imitation
of silk crape, used for dress coats.
Crash—A strong, coarse linen cloth of different widths, used
for towels, suits, table linen, hangings, bed spreads; in
fact, there is no end to the uses to which this textile can
be adapted.
Cravenette-Cloths treated and finished before weaving by
an improved process which renders them rainproof. Á
secret process owned by the Cravenette Company and by
Priestly & Company of England and the United States.
Crepe-A light weight silk, silk and wool, or all wool or cot-
ton cloth of irregular weave.
Diagonal-A worsted cloth with prominent diagonal ridges.
Doeskin-A compact twilled woolen, soft and pliable.
Drap D’Alma-A fine, close, flat-ribbed, twilled fabric of
wool or silk and wool, finished on but one side.
Drap D'Ete—A fine, light worsted fabric woven in longitudi-
nal cords.
Drilling—General term for various twilled cotton stuffs used
for lining, men's wear, and general purposes.
Empress cloth-A heavy dress goods with napped or corded
surface, named for the Empress Eugenia; sometimes called
Electrol cloth or Beretz.
Etamine-A light woolen cloth similar to batiste and nun's
cloth, used for women's and children's wear.
Faille Francaise-A soft, lustrous silk of wider cord than
grosgrain, but narrower than ottoman.
Farmer satin-A lining of cotton chain or warp and wool
filling, finished with high lustre, also called Italian cloth.
Flannel-A soft, light weight woolen fabric of which the
yarn is but lightly twisted, plain weave or twilled; used for
clothing, etc.
FABRICS
99
Flannelette-A half cotton or all cotton flannel-like fabric.
Frieze-A thick, shaggy, heavy nap woolen overcoat cloth.
Gingham was first manufactured in Gonghamp in France and
was known as Madras gingham. Seersucker gingham was
originally a thin linen fabric made in the East Indies.
Zephyr gingham is a soft fine variety of Scotch and French
ginghams, are superior qualities, heavier in weight.
Fur Beaver-A long napped cloth imitation fur.
Grass cloth-A fine, smooth, linen woven in checks of blue
and white, red and white, etc., used for dish towels; also
a thin dress material of ramie and cotton, etc.
Grenadine-A thick silk gauze, either plain with a solid design
or pattern upon it or combined in stripes with other weaves,
as satin, moire, etc.
Grosgrain-A close-woven, finely ribbed or corded silk with
but little lustre.
Haircloth-A cloth woven of horse hair, from which it takes
its name, for weft with cotton or linen warp; used for
facings, linings, furniture cover, etc.
Holland-A stout, plain-woven, unbleached, linen cloth used
for linings, window shades, etc.
Homespun-A cloth woven on hand looms or made in imita-
tion of such cloth for both men's and women's wear.
Hop-sacking—A plain woven canvas dress fabric of wool.
Huchaback-A corruption of huckster-back, meaning orig-
inally pedler's ware-Toweling made of all linen, linen and
cotton, cotton and wool, either by the yard or as separate
towels; the part wool huck always separate towels.
Irish linen-Full bleached, fine, plain woven linen used for
shirts, collars, cuffs, etc., of different widths.
Jersey cloth-Woolen stockinette.
Kaikai–A thin Japanese silk.
Kersey-A heavy, closely woven cloth with a smooth face
and glossy finish.
Kerseymere-A fine, twilled, woolen cloth of peculiar tex-
ture, one thread of warp and two of woof being always
above.
Khaki-A light, yellow-brown colored cotton cloth used for
army service in hot countries.
Ladies' cloth-A fine, wide, wool flannel, slightly napped,
similar to broadcloth.
100
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Lusterine-A thin, twilled, cotton lining finished with high
lustre in imitation of silk.
Marseilles—A sort of figured pique, used for women's and
children's clothes and for men's coats.
Matelasse-A silk and wool or all wool brocade, usually for
coats.
Melton-A stout woolen cloth, 'fulled, sheared, and finished
without a nap; like Kersey, but without a gloss.
Merino-A thin woolen fabric made of the fine wool of the
marion sheep, generally used for women's and children's
wear, vestings, and underclothing.
Mohair-A shiny fabric of great durability, made from the
wool of the Angora goat; used for both men's and women's
clothing.
Moire—The water effect produced on silk, moreen, and like
fabrics. The finest watered silks are known as Moire
Antique. Moreen is a woolen or mixed fabric to which the
same process has been applied.
Moleskin—A medium heayy twilled cotton cloth, napped in-
side; used for men's wear and ornamental purposes.
Muslin-A cotton fabric of various classes and names;
bleached and unbleached, half bleached, cambric, book mus-
lin, long cloth, mull, organdie, lawns, etc.; used for all
purposes.
Nankeen-A peculiar fabric of a pale dull yellow or orange
color, woven out of the fibrous tissue which lies between
the outer and sap-wood of a tree or shrub that grows in
the East Indies and especially in China. The name is de-
rived from the city of Nankin. An imitation is made out
of cotton, colored with Annato. The genuine nankeen
is never more than eighteen or twenty inches wide and is
used for light summer clothing.
Overcoating-Fabrics woven especially for overcoats-covert,
kersey, melton, beaver, frieze, vicuna, whipcord, cheviot,
chinchilla, etc., made of both wool and worsted.
Pique-A heavy cotton cloth having a surface that is corded
or having a raised lozenge pattern; used for women's and
children's suits, men's vests, etc.
Prunella-Lasting cloth.
Sateen-A close twilled cotton fabric, soft and glossy, used
for lining.
102
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Cord–The general term is applied to any fabric in which the
lines run in the same direction as the selvage.
Count-In spinning, the number given to any thread or yarn,
except silk, to indicate its relative fineness, based on the
number of yards required to weigh one pound.
Felt-A cloth of wool, hair, fur, etc., not woven, but felted
together; used for hats, slippers, boot tops, etc.
Flock-Finely divided woolen waste used in finishing cheap
woolens.
Kemps—Fibers of hair like structure that sometimes come
in wool, always in goat hair. They do not take the dye.
Mercerized-A term applied to cotton fabrics of which the
yarn is chemically treated with a strong solution of caustic
soda, giving the appearance of silk, more or less permanent;
named after Mercer, discoverer of the process.
Mill ends-Trade term referring to short lengths, seconds,
damaged pieces, etc., of cloth, embroideries, etc., that ac-
cumulate in mills and shops and are usually sold at a
nominal price.
Narrow cloth—Trade term for fabrics less than 29 inches
wide. Wider cloths are called broad cloths.
Oil-boiled-Trade term for colors so treated to insure per-
manence.
Oiled silk-The plain silk boiled in oil. Silk boiled in oil
and dried, becoming translucent and waterproof; used as a
perspiration guard.
Pepper-and-salt-A black and white or grayish mixture, ef-
fected in weaving.
Rubber cloth—Usually cotton sheeting or drilling with a
coating of rubber on one side; used as protective cloth for
various purposes.
Shepherd check-Tiny checks, usually black and white.
Twilled-Woven in such a manner as to produce lines or
ribs diagonally or across the surface of the fabric.
Woolens-Name of fabrics of carded wool, usually soft
woven.
Worsteds–Fabrics made of combed wool, usually hard
woven. The combing is the process of arranging the
fibers of wool, mohair, cotton, linen, into a parallel con-
dition, preparatory to spinning into a smooth, even and
regular yarn.
The perfected application of the combing
principle.
BIBLIOGRAPHY ON TEXTILES
Historical and Art
Arts and Crafts' Essays
Morris, Crane, et al.
Colonial Days in Old New England
Alice Morse Earle.
The Primitive Family
Starcke.
Man Before Metals
Joly.
Origin of Inventions
Mason.
Woman's Share in Primitive Culture
Mason.
Textiles—The Lesser Arts
William Morris.
Industrial Evolution of the United States
Carroll D. Wright.
$1.00
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Postage ,12
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Postage .12
1.75
Postage .14
1.50
Postage .16
1.75
Postage .16
1.00
Postage .10
1.25
Postage .16
Technical Books
Through a special arrangement with the American School
of Correspondence we are able to lend or sell to our students
some of their textile books, which are technical though simple.
Price 50 cents per part, postage 4C.
Textile Chemistry and Dyeing. 4 Parts.
Part I. Textile Fibers.
Part II. Bleaching.
Part III. Mordants and Natural Dyes.
Part IV. Artificial Dyestuffs.
Cotton Fiber.
Cotton Spinning. 5 Parts.
Weaving. 3 Parts.
103
104
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Textile Design. 5 Parts.
Woolen and Worsted Spinning. 4 Parts.
Woolen and Worsted Finishing. 4 Parts.
Textile Fibers
$3.50
Mathews.
Postage .16
Textile Fabrics
.90
Rock.
Postage .08
Dyeing of Textile Fabrics
1.75
Hummell.
Postage
Bleaching and Calico Printing
4.00
Duerr.
Postage .14
Note.-Books may be ordered through the School or may
be borrowed by members for one week. Send postage with
request.
.12
U. S. Government Publication
Free of the Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.:
Flax for Seed and Fiber, Farmers' Bulletin No. 27.
Cotton Seed and Its Products, Farmers' Bulletin No. 36.
Raising Sheep, Farmers' Bulletin No. 96.
The Angora Goat, Farmers' Bulletin No. 137.
Silk Worm Culture, Farmers' Bulletin No. 165.
Essential Steps in Securing an Early Crop of Cotton,
Farmers' Bulletin No. 217.
The Cotton Seed Industry, Reprint No. 239. ·
The Hemp Industry in U. S., Reprint No. 254.
Improvement of Cotton by Seed Selection, Reprint No.
279.
The Growing of Long-Staple Upland Cotton, Reprin!
No. 314.
Principal Commercial Plant Fibers, Reprint No. 321.
BIBLIOGRAPHY ON TEXTILES
105
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington,
D. C. Send coin or money order,-stamps not accepted:
Sheep and Wool, Report No. 66, Office of the Secretary.
Price 5c.
The Cotton Plant: Its History, Botany, Chemistry, Ene-
mies, and Uses. Bulletin No. 33. Office of Experi-
ment Stations. Price 6oc.
Cotton Culture in Egypt. Bulletin No. 42. Price 5c.
OFFICE OF FIBER INVESTIGATIONS.
Uncultivated Bast Fibers. Report No. 6. Price 1oc.
Cultivation of Ramie. eport No. 7. Price foc.
Culture of Hemp and Jute. Report No. 8. Price loc.
Fax Culture for Seed and Fiber. Report No. 10. Price
LOC.
TEST QUESTIONS
The following questions constitute the "written reci.
tation” which the regular menībers of the A. S. H. E.
answer in writing and send in for the correction and
comment of the instructor. They are intended to
emphasize and fix in the memory the most important
points in the lesson.
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
PART I
Read Carefully. Place your name and address on the first
sheet of the test. Use a light grade of paper and write on
one side of the sheet only. Leave space between the answers
for the notes of the instructor. Answer every question fully.
Read the lesson paper a number of times before attempting
to answer the questions.
I. Give a brief outline of the craft of spinning,
primitive and modern.
2. Outline the same for weaving.
3. Describe the hand loom.
4. Describe the cotton fiber. What kinds are there?
5.
Who invented the cotton gin and how did this in-
vention affect the cotton industry?
6. Give the chief characteristics of wool. Name the
wool and fur bearing animals. How does
wool differ from hair?
7. Trace briefly the prepartion of wool from the
fleece to the finished product.
8. Describe flax and outline the method for the
preparation of the fibers. What is the name
of the manufactured product of flax?
9. Name some other bast fibers and their products ?
10. How do the textile fibers compare in the raw
state in condition and price?
II. Give a brief description of silk from the egg to
the woven cloth.
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
12. (a) What is the chief constituent of the vege-
table fibers? (b) How does their affinity for
dyestuffs compare with wool and silk? (c)
How do the alkalies affect wool?
13. Describe the principal weaves and give examples
of each.
14. (a) How are cotton and flax bleached? (b)
What is a mordant? (c) How should mate-
rial be prepared for dyeing ? (d) State what
you know about old time methods of dyeing.
15. How are print goods made? Name some print-
ed fabrics.
16. Define woolens and worsteds.
17. Describe the finishing of woolen and worsted
cloths.
18. What is noil; shoddy; felt; flocks?
19. With what dress goods have you had experience,
and with what results ?
20. What factors determine the use of fabrics ?
21. Of what value is the study of textiles ? What
have you gained by the study of this lesson?
Note. After completing the test sign your full name.
Textiles and Clothing
Part II
gg
B
60
D
La
8
EMBROIDERED INITIALS
W and L-Sewed on initials; B-Satin stitch in wreath of feather
stitches; C-Outline and seed work; D-Chain and French knots; H-
Cross stitch; L-Chain; H-At the right, and the cross stitch H are
made over canvas and the canvas threads drawn.
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
PART II
Kinds of
Sewing
HAND SEWING
Good sewing, good pressing, well finished ends
and corners, lightness of touch which holds the work
without apparently touching it, thus giving to the fin-
ished garment a fresh look-all these are important
considerations.
The sewing done on wool, silk, and dresses of all
kinds differs from that on underwear and white work.
Muslin underwear requires frequent washing and iron-
ing, hence the first essential is durability; close, small
stitches, all raw edges carefully turned and stitched
securely. Seams that are to come close to the body
should lie perfectly flat. A round seam would wear
out sooner by coming into frequent contact with the
washboard and iron, besides irritating the skin. In
dressmaking, unless the stitching is used for orna-
mental purposes, it should never show on the outside.
Periods of beautiful and dignified costume have been
periods of fine needlework-one art leading to and
helping on the production of the other.
Stitches may be divided into plain and ornamental.
The plain stitches are the (1) basting, (2) running,
(3) the running and back stitch, (4) half back stitch,
(5) back stitch, (6) overhand or whipping stitch, (7)
overcast, (8) hemming, and (9) blind or slip stitch.
Plain
Stitches
107
108
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Ornamental
Stitches
The ornamental stitches most frequently used are
(1) outline, (2) chain, (3) cat or herringbone, (4)
blanket or loop, (5) feather, coral or briar, (6) hem-
stitching, (7) French knots, (8) button hole, and (9)
cross stitch. Excepting the cross stitch, these are all
variations of the plain and button hole stitches.
The plain stitches may be used for ornamental pur-
poses. The basting stitch is known as Queen Anne
darned work. The back stitch, known as "seed work,'
is used in embroidering letters and monograms. The
overhand stitch is used as an ornamental stitch for
joining selvages and in hemming. The chain stitch,
besides being ornamental, makes one of the best darning
stitches, reproducing the stitch in knitting. The cat
stitch is also useful in binding down open seams for
flannel hems, patching, etc.
(1) Basting proper is used only in the preparation
of work to hold the stuff and lining, or any two or
more parts of the work together while it is being
stitched, none being left in the finished garment. It is
also used as a guide for sewing, feather stitching, etc.
The slanting basting stitch or “tacking" is used in
dressmaking for holding linings. The needle is pointed
towards the worker. Even basting is used for holding
several thicknesses of cloth and if the garment is to be
fitted, the stitches should be placed rather close. Un-
even basting is used for hems and seams to be machine
stitched. Several short stitches with one long one are
Basting
Tucking
STITCHES AND THEIR USES
109
used to baste crape and wiry fabrics, for this method
holds them better than stitches of equal length.
All basting should be fastened at start with a knot
or knot and back stitch and finished with two or three
back stitches. The length of thread may be broken or
Fastening
the Thread
a
b
:-
C
d
BASTING STITCHES
a-Even; 6-Uneven;. c-For wiry fabrics; d-Tacking; e-Over-
casting; f-Double or tailor overcasting.
cut from the spool, but should always be cut from the
work. Breaking weakens the fastening and biting off
soils delicate work with the moisture from the breath,
to say nothing of the injury to the teeth. Basting for
large work should usually be done with the goods ly-
ing flat on the sewing table.
IIO
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Drawing
Basting
Threads
For ordinary work, basting threads should be cut
every few inches and drawn out. In velvet, every al-
ternate stitch should be cut and drawn out on the right
side with the pile of the goods. In the basting for vel-
vet where the slanting stitch is used, only one end of
the stitch touches the line of the seam—the rest is on
the outside of the seam. Silk thread should be used
POSITION OF THE HANDS IN RUNNING
Running
Stitch
to baste velvet and gauze; fine thread should be used
for basting delicate work.
(2) Running is closely related to basting. It is not
used for any seams that have to bear great strain, but
for joining seams in this material, gathering, tucking,
making cords, etc. The stitches are usually of equal
length on both sides. Take one stitch in the seam
and hold the goods between the thumb and first finger
of each hand, as shown in the illustration, with the
back of the thimble on the eye of the needle. Then,
with as free wrist motion as possible, run or shake the
needle through the material. The motion of the hand
should come from the elbow joint.
STITCHES AND THEIR USES
I11
Gathoring
Gathering, gauging, casing, etc., are used for draw-
ing up the fullness of skirts, ruffles, flounces, etc., into
a given space. The running stitch is used for these.
For gathering, the cloth is held in the same manner
as for running. The needle, ordinarily, need not be
taken out of the work, the stitches being pushed back
over the eye as they are made; but for running long
skirt seams in delicate material which would crinkle at
the line of sewing and roughen the seam, the needle
should be drawn through and the line of sewing
smoothed on the thread at each needleful of stitches.
Never use a double thread for gathering, as it is apt
to knot, but put in two lines of gathering threads-
one a full one-eighth of an inch below the other-and
slip the stitches along the needle as described above.
This method is a saving of time in the end. When
the gathering threads are in, remove the needle, place
a pin vertically close to the last stitch, and wind the
thread around it a few times in the form of a figure
eight. Use a coarse needle for stroking. Hold the
work between the thumb and fingers of the left hand
with the thumb on the gathering threads. To place
the gathers, put the point of the needle under the lower
gathering thread and press the plait or gather under
the thumb, drawing the needle down, or simply press-
ing on the needle. Care must be taken not to scratch
or tear the material. Continue entirely across the
gathers, putting the needle under each stitch and hold-
ing the plait firmly between the thumb and finger: turn
Stroking
112
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Gauging
Running
and Back
Stitch
the material and stroke the upper edge of the gathers.
The gauging stitch is usually longer on the face than
on the back, draws the material up into distinct plaits,
making it easy to dispose of the fullness neatly, regu-
larly and securely by overhanding the top edge of each
plait to the bottom edge of the band. The right side
of the skirt and the right side of the belt are placed
against each other and each gather oversewed to the
belt. The space into which the material is to be gath-
ered determines the length of the long stitch. The
succeeding rows of stitches should be directly under
those of the first.
(3) The running and back stitch is made by taking
a few running stitches, drawing out the needle and
making a back stitch over the last running stitch to
strengthen the seam. Care must be taken not to hold
the side next the worker too full and not to miss the
under material, but to take the stitches even on both
sides.
(4) The half-back stitch is made by taking one
stitch and placing the needle half way back, then bring-
ing it out twice the length of the stitch and placing
the needle half way back each time from where the
last stitch ended. The appearance on the right side
will be of regular space as in the running stitch.
(5) The back stitch is made by placing the needle
back to the last stitch, bringing it out once the length
of the last stitch, then placing the needle back into the
Half Back
Stitch
Back
Stitch
STITCHES AND THEIR USES
113
last stitch, and so on, making the stitches follow each
other with no space between. This is used in places
that are to bear great strain as in sewing in sleeves.
(6) Overhanding, oversewing, whipping, top sew-
ing are one and the same—small stitches taken over
Whipping
Stitch
b
u
PLAIN STITCHES
a-Running; 6–Running and back; c-Half back; d-Back stitch.
edges, to join folded edges or selvages, for sewing
bands on gathers, sewing lace and insertion, and for
sewing carpet strips together. The pieces for an over-
hand seam should be pinned carefully, placing the pins
at right angles to the edge. The folded edges or sel-
vages are placed together, the right side of the goods
114
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Position in
Overhanding
being in. Do not use a knot to begin sewing, but leave
the knot end of the thread and sew it in with the first
stitches, carrying the thread on top of the seam. To
finish off the seam, overhand back over the last few
stitches.
In sewing this seam, the goods should be held be-
tween the thumb and first finger of the left hand par-
allel with the chest, not over the end of finger. Point
the needle towards the left shoulder, thus giving a
slanting stitch. Care should be taken not to pucker or
draw the seam. When the seam is finished, it should
be opened and pressed flat.
(7) Overcasting is a slanting stitch used to keep
raw edges from ravelling. This stitch, like oversew-
ing, may be worked from right to left or from left to
right.
The hem stitch and blind or slip stitch will be con-
sidered under hems.
Overcasting
Outlino
Stitch
ORNAMENTAL STITCHES
Never use a knot in any embroidery, but start by
running a few stitches along the line which is to be
covered.
(1) The outline stitch is the simplest of all embroid-
ery stitches. Take a long stitch on the surface, with
the needle pointing towards the chest in the line to be
covered, and a short back stitch on the under side of
the material. The effect of the under or wrong side
of the material is exactly that of an ordinary back
stitch. The beauty of this stitch depends upon its
کو شروع
9
ORNAMENTAL STITCHES
a–Outline; b-Chain ; C—Cat; c'—Catch; d–Single Feather; e-Double
Feather; f-Tripple Feather; g-Modified Feather; h-Double Feather
with Knots; i-French Knots and Outline; j-Herrine Bone; k-Fancy
Feather; 1-Catch Stitch with French Knots.
116
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Chain
Stitch
regularity and in always keeping the thread on the
same side of the needle.
(2) The chain stitch when perfectly done should
look like the stitch made by a single-thread machine.
This stitch is made by taking the thread toward the
worker, and before the needle is drawn out of the
cloth the thread is held by the thumb under the point
of the needle, as in a buttonhole, making a loop. The
needle is inserted in the last loop for the next stitch.
The chain stitch is used in modern embroidery as an
outline and for darning, but in old embroidery, the
outline and chain stitches were used for filling as well.
They are found in Persian, Indian, and Italian Renais-
sance work. Like the feather stitch, the chain stitch
is worked towards the worker.
(3) The cat stitch or herringbone stitch is an alter-
nate slanting back stitch, the needle being placed first
to the right and then to the left. This stitch must be
worked evenly to be effective. It is used to finish flan-
nel seams and hems, fasten down linings, opened
seams, and canvas facings and featherbone, in milli-
nery—in fact, this stitch is one of the most useful in
sewing. The catch stitch is a variation of the cat
stitch. Instead of pointing the needle towards the
chest, the stitch is taken parallel with the chest. It is
used for about the same purposes as the cat stitch. As
with the outline stitch, the cat stitch is worked from
the worker.
(4) Blanket or loop stitch, used to ornament the
edge of blankets, etc., and for finishing the edge of
Cat
Stitch
Loop
Stitch
bo
78
KO
HEM STITCHING
2-Position of Needle; a'-Finished Hem Stitch; 6–Ladder Stitch;
Example of Drawn Work Finished with Loop and Cat Stitches,
118
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
er.
Feather
Stitch
stockinet or web material, is worked from left to right,
the edge of the material being held towards the work-
Start with three or four running stitches along
the edge so the line of stitching will cover them. In-
sert the needle the desired width from the edge, draw
it towards you down over the thread, being careful not
to draw the thread too tightly over the edge of the
flannel. Fasten the thread by taking running stitches
under the last blanket stitch on the wrong side.
(5) Single, double, and triple feather or coral stitches
may be made very ornamental and are used in all
kinds of sewing and on all materials. They are al-
ways made towards the worker, the stitches being
taken alternately to the right and left of the line of
the design. The thread should always be carried un-
der the needle as in a buttonhole stitch. The design
may be varied by taking the stitches diagonally or
straight, by making them close or separated, etc.
(6) Hemstitching is used for ornament in making
hems and tucks. The first step in hemstitching is the
drawing of threads. Rubbing the cloth along the line
of threads to be drawn will make the drawing easier if
the cloth is sized. After the threads are drawn, the
hem is turned and basted even with the lowest edge
of the drawn space. Insert the needle into the edge of
the hem and material, taking up a cluster of threads
bring the thread under the needle to form a button-
hole stitch or make a simple stitch in the edge of the
fold. The number of threads drawn and the number in
a cluster must be determined by the coarseness or fine-
Hom
Stitch
ORNAMENTAL STITCHES
119
ness of the material, the greater number being drawn
and taken in fine material. There are several methods
of hemstitching, but the results are about the same.
French
Knots
EMBROIDERY STITCHES
Eyelet Embroidery. Embroidery Button Hole, Flat Satin Stitch.
(7) French knots are used in connection with other
stitches for borders enclosed in outline and chain
stitches, in initials, centers of flowers, and as a filling-
in stitch. The simplest method is of taking a small
back stitch, bringing the thread from the eye of the
needle under the point from right to left and drawing
I 20
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Embroidery
Buttonhole
Cross
Stitch
the needle perpendicularly from the cloth. Place the
needle back of the knot and bring the point out in the
place where the next knot is to be made. The size of
the thread will determine the size of the knot.
(8) The embroidery buttonhole stitch has many pos-
sibilities and many variations. It is worked from left to
right instead of from right to left as in a buttonhole.
The thread from the work is carried under the point
of the needle from left to right, just the reverse of the
buttonhole. This stitch is used on flannel and in eni-
broidery of all kinds ; it may be padded or worked flat
and the stitches may be taken a distance apart or near
together.
(9) The cross stitch is worked on linen, scrini, can-
vas, or any open-meshed material. If done on a flat,
smooth surface, it will be necessary to work over can-
vas, afterwards drawing out the canvas threads. The
canvas should be well basted on the material, the warp
threads of the canvas lying perfectly straight on a line
with the warp threads of the material on which the
pattern is worked. The stitches should always run the
same way. If the first ground stitches are made from
left to right, from bottom towards the top, the cross
stitches should be made from right to left from the top
towards the bottom. All the ground stitches run one
way and the cross stitches in the opposite way.
This stitch is used for marking table linen, under-
wear, and embroidery designs. When marking linen
and unlined work, make the under side very neat by
running the thread under the stitches already made,
ORNAMENTAL STITCHES
I21
Batin
Stitch
instead of taking a long stitch when beginning in an-
other part of the letter or design.
(10) The satin stitch is an over and over stitch and
is used on materials of all kinds for marking linen, etc.
The padding is the first step and should be done in
long even stitches placed closely and over one another
in the center. The size and proportions of the figure
or letters determine the size of the thread. Fine thread
gives the best results. The outline should be run
EMBROIDERY BUTTON HOLE AND BLANKET STITCHES
Scallops Outlined and Padded.
twice; this keeps the edge firm. An even darning or
basting stitches, chain stitches or outline stitch may be
used if the space is not too small. The padding may
be worked in an embroidery hoop to keep it smooth
and even. Scallops may be padded in the same way,
or worked flat.
In large figures the stitches are laid closely and ex-
actly parallel the entire length of the form. They may
be straight across or at an angle, but the one slant must
be maintained throughout. In small curved figures,
122
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
the stitches may be placed more closely at the inner
edge and spread slightly at the outer edge. In flat
work where the leaf or petal is large, two or three
stitches taken in the cloth, back of the face stitch,
AA
ARROW HEAD. DOUBLE ARROW HEAD AND CROW'S FOOT.
Eyelet
Embroidery
holds them even and prevents misplacement in launder-
ing. (All embroidery should be ironed on the wrong
side.)
Eyelet embroidery is a simple over and over stitch
forming a smooth, round edge. Like satin stitch, all
outlines are run with an even darning stitch, except
the very small eyelet holes, made with a stiletto. Long
or oval openings must be cut through the center.
HEMS
123
Shadow
Embroidery
Arrow
Heads
Shadow embroidery is worked on the wrong side
of thin material, using the cat stitch. The outline of
the design only shows on the right side, the body of
the design being seen dimly through the material.
The arrow head and crow's foot are ornamental
fastenings used in fine tailoring as endings for seams,
tucks, plaits, and at corners. They are made as shown
in the illustration.
Mercerized cotton, linen, or any of the embroidery
silks can be used for these stitches, in all sizes and
colors, or they can be worked with ordinary thread,
cotton or linen, sewing silk, or twist. Cotton thread
wears better than linen.
HEMS
Hems
A hem is a fold of goods twice folded to protect a Folding
raw edge. The first turn or fold of the hem is the
most important. It should be straight and even, folded
to a thread, for upon it depends the beauty of the hem.
The hem should always be turned towards the worker
and creased firmly, but never pleated along the fold.
First crease the narrow fold, then crease the second
fold the desired width, marking by a measure and
baste not too near the edge. The first fold along the
woof threads should be at least one-fourth of an inch
in width, as the woof threads give or stretch more than
the warp threads; otherwise it will not lie flat.
In sewing the hem, the needle should take up only Sowing
the edge to be hemmed down and just enough to hold
on the cloth or lining. In white work the stitches
shouid be fine, showing as little as possible.
Homs
124
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Bics Hom
Facod Hom
All bias and curved edges should have the first fold
basted. In cloth or silk this first basting thread should
match the material and not be taken out.
A facing or faced hem is also used as a protection
to the edge of a garment. A true bias or fitted facing
should be used for a facing if the edges of the garment
are curved. An extension hem is one in which the
whole width of the hem is used.
FORETRETERA LSID ORDER SENARE MESAS
HEMMING
a-Shows method of cutting to do away with a clumsy corner.
HEMS
125
Slip-stitching or invisible hemming is done on silk, Slip-Stitching
wool, and thick material. The hem is pressed with an
iron, a stitch as fine as possible is taken on the surface
of the cloth and the needle slipped under and through
the first fold, drawing the thread lightly. The needle
and thread used in this stitch must be very fine.
MITERED CO NERS
Method of Folding and Cutting.
126
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Rollod Hom
Rolled hem and whipped gathers are made with the
wrong side of the material next the worker. Make a
tiny roll of the edge towards the worker, using the
GEN
ROLLED HEM AND WHIPPED GATHERS
a-Rolled Hem Gathered ; 6—Whipped Roll; c-Double Whipped;
d-Roll Hommed; e-Gathers Sewed to Band.
left thumb and index finger, rolling an inch at a time
(and no more) before hemming. Make fine, even
stitches in the roll and goods. Keep the hem perfectly
round, firm and not too large. This hem is adapted
HEMS
127
Gathers
only to fine material and the edge across the warp is
the more easily rolled.
To gather, whip the rolled hem without hemming, Whipped
making overcasting stitches towards you, even and not
too fine. Use coarser thread than for hemming. This
gathering thread is used to hold down the edge as well
as for drawing up the gathers and is not to be taken
out, as is the ordinary gathering thread. It should
not catch in the roll. Have the thread the length of
the plain space to which it is to be sewed and regulate
the gathers as you do the gathering. After the edge
is rolled, whipped and gathered, it is sewed to the
garment by the little scallops or raised parts made by
the whipping. This is used only for making ruffles
or gathering on very fine hand work.
The French hem is used for table linen. Fold as
in an ordinary hem, then fold the hem back on the
right side and overhand the edge formed, taking fine
stitches. Press the hem flat from the right side.
Flannel hems should not be twice folded, for there
Flannel
will be a ridge instead of a flat surface after the gar-
ment has been laundered, owing to the felting proper-
ties of the wool. Hems on flannel should not be
stitched by hand or machine, but cat stitched on the
wrong side and finished on the right side with any
ornamental stitch.
Hems in infants' clothing may be turned on the
right side and made ornamental by feather stitching.
No selvage should ever be used on a hem. The sel-
vage is more closely woven and will draw or pucker
in laundrying
French
Hom
Homs
128
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
TUCKS
Tucks are folds made on thin material for orna-
ment, to shorten or to provide for lengthening a gar-
ment. If done by hand, a card measure is preferable
to a tape measure for marking the space and width
of the tucks. The folds should be creased to a thread,
basted and sewed with a running stitch showing but
little on the face, or stitched on the machine. Fine
thread should be used.
SEAMS
Felled
Seam
A seam is the line of sewing that joins material; it
may be plain or ornamental. The most important are
the overhand, felled, French, slot, lapped, flannel, and
beaded.
The overhand seam is described under the overhand
stitch.
A fell is a seam hemmed down to the goods to pro-
tect the raw edge. It is usually made in night dresses,
drawers, corset covers, etc. Baste with the piece
farthest from the worker extended one-eighth of an
inch beyond the other and sewed with the grain of
the goods, beginning at the widest part of any bias.
Press the seam with the nail on the right side, turn
the wide edge down flat to cover the raw edge and
line of sewing, and hem flat either by hand or ma-
chine. Care should be taken to keep the seam flat on
the right as well as on the wrong side. If the felling
is done with the machine hemmer, the wide edge must
be on the opposite side. The seam may be basted with
LI
b
a
SEAMS
Full; 6-French Screen.
BEADED AND TAPED SEAMS
A-Tapo basted on one edge, and the other edge turned and stitched; B-Beading whipped to the folded edges ;
a-Stitched hem; 6-Hem finishsd with feather stitching.
SEAMS
131
French
Seam
Beaded
Seam
both edges even if preferred, cutting off one edge
after stitching
A French seam is sewed twice—first on the right
side as near the raw edge as possible. Cut off all
frayed edges, turn the material by folding on the seam
or line of sewing, so the seam is folded inside and
the second sewing is on the wrong side below the raw
edges. This is not a good seam for underwear worn
next the body, as it leaves a ridge on the wrong side,
but it is useful for skirts of thin material, etc. It is
more easily made than a fell.
Beaded seams used for fine white work have a line
of beading overhanded between gores, hems, or
gathers. The hem along the seam should be folded on
the right side, leaving a perfectly flat surface to iron
on the wrong side, and finished with an ornamental
stitch covering the hem.
The slot seam, used in cloth dresses and jackets, re-
quires exact basting with silk or very fine thread with
small, even stitches. If a coarse thread is used, the
material will be badly marked. After basting, press
the seam open as if it had been stitched, and baste the
strap or under strip of the dress material (which has
been cut perfectly straight and even) over the wrong
side of the seam, having the center of the seam on
the center of the strap. Stitch any width desired be-
yond the center through the three thicknesses. This
will hold the seam in position. Now remove the bast-
ings from the seam and the slot effect is complete. If
Slot
Seams
SLOT SEAM FINISHED WITH ARROW HEAD
SEAMS
133
desired, there may be a double row of stitching, an
extra row on the edge of the fold or plait. These
seams may be finished at the bottom with arrow heads
or stitched designs. The lines of machine stitching
co
MITITIT
FLANNEL SEAMS AND HEMS
Finished with various Ornamental Stitches.
should not end without some ornament to appear to
hold the plait.
In the lapped seam the edges are folded each within
the other or one over the other so that both sides are
alike. If made of heavy material, the raw edges ate
Lapped
Seam
B
PLACKETS
A--Made by folding a wide hem over a narrow one; B-Tape faced sewing for the purpose of a gusset.
Method of folding the tape shown,
PLACKETS
135
Seams
left unturned; in muslin or linen the edges are in-
turned, lapped, basted and the hem stitched on both
edges or hemmed down on both sides by hand.
Flannel seams should be stitched, opened and pressed Flannol
flat, either on the right or wrong side of the garment.
If on the right side, taffeta ribbon should be basted
over the seam, so that the raw edges of flannel will
not show, and cat stitched or buttonhole stitched on
both sides of the ribbon, or any fancy stitch—not too
long-may be used. This is the Dorothy seam. For
the seam on the wrong side, the edges should be cat
stitched with fine thread. Any ornamental stitch may
be used on the right side of the seam. Always press
flannel seams and hems before finishing. Flannel
should never be hem stitched.
PLACKETS
A placket is an opening in a garment allowing it to
be put on.
The simplesi placket is made by cutting a.
slit and folding a wide hem over a narrow one turned
on the face of the goods; this makes a pleat below
the vent. There should be a double line of stitching
across the bottom of the hem to strengthen the placket.
The tape faced placket is stronger and may be used
in children's drawers, etc., in place of a gusset to
strengthen the end of the opening. A single piece of
tape folded back as for a loop is stitched along all
edges, making an opening without a lap. This offers
as much resistance as a gusset and is more quickly
done.
Tape Facod
Placket
A
b
-
2
FACED PLACKET
A-Wrong side, opened, showing tape; B-Right side showing on-set
piece; aa and bb the same ends of the tape; 1-2 method of folding and
cutting end of on-set piece.
PLACKETS
137
Faced
Plackot
In a third kind of placket, the opening is faced with
a continuous piece of tape on both sides and finished
with a piece of material on the outside. See illustra-
tion. This makes a strong and simple placket. When
SKIRT PLACKET WITH LAP
a tape cannot be used, a hem or facing may be made
on the under side of the opening and a facing on the
upper side, over which the on-set piece is stitched.
The on-set piece and facing may be cut from one piece,
but the fitting is more troublesome. In figured goods,
the piece set on should match the pattern exactly,
138
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Gathering
A simple placket for underwear is made from a
single strip of the goods put on like an extension
hem. On drawers it may be turned in at the button-
hole end, but not stitched down except at the band.
The placket of a skirt should have an underlap ex-
tending well below the opening:
SEWING ON BANDS
Divide the top of unhemmed edge of the garment in
halves and mark with a cross stitch, notch or pin.
Gather from the placket to the middle of the front
gore, if a skirt, apron, or dress. Take a new thread
and gather the remainder. Put in a second gathering
thread one-eighth to one-fourth of an inch below the
first. Two gathering threads are better than one and
they should be longer than the length of space to be
gathered. Stroke or lay the gathers above and below
the threads. Divide the band and pin the middle to
the center of the garment, placing the right side of
the band on the wrong side of the garment. Pin in
the middle and at each end, secure the gathering
threads by winding around the pin, adjust the gathers,
and baste between the gathering threads. Stitch just
below the line of basting. Fold the band over on the
right side, press, baste over the line of stitching, press
again, then stitch on the right side after having turned
in both ends and over-sewed. Turn the top of the
band over on the right side one-eighth or one-fourth
of an inch and stitch securely. This upper fold keeps
FINISHES
4-Bias Facing; 6-Band on Gathers: 6-Corded edge.
140
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
the edge from wearing and stretching and is a stay for
children's skirts and drawers where button holes are
used and serves as a finish for the top of the band.
For flannel, pleating or gathers may be used to put
fullness into a band. Two rows of gathering threads
DRAW TAPE FINISH FOR UNDER SKIRT
Drawing
Tapos
should be used and the stitches should not be too fine.
The band should be made of cotton or at least lined
with it to avoid clumsiness and prevent shrinking.
Ruffles are set in hems, etc., in the same manner.
In finishing the top of an underskirt, many like to
dispense with the placket and fitted band. This may
be done by using drawing tapes at the back. The up-
per edge is faced with a piece of material which should
be bias in front to accommodate it to the curve, but
may be straight across the back. Work a button hole
FASTENINGS
141
Bias
Facings
at each side of the back, insert a tape through one
button hole and draw it over an inch beyond the oppo-
site one and fasten securely by two lines of stitching
across the tape. A second tape is put through the other
button hole and fastened in the same way. By pulling
the tape on each side the fullness may be adjusted.
All facings around curves, such as arm holes and
neck, should be a true bias which is cut by holding the
warp threads diagonally across the woof threads.
These strips for facings, pipings, ruffles, etc., should
be cut exactly even in width. All bands, ruffles, etc.,
of serge, twilled, or diagonal materials should be cut
across the twill and not with it, in order to have the
ruffle hang well.
FASTENINGS
The standard fastenings are buttons and button
holes, hooks and eyes or hand made loops, lacings
through rings and eyelet holes, loops over buttons, and
fancy frogs, clasps, studs, ball and socket, "notta-
hooks," etc.
Button holes should be carefully measured and
Making
marked before cutting. They should be a little longer Button
than the diameter of the button for flat buttons and one
and one-quarter the diameter for round buttons. Hav-
ing decided upon the distance apart they are to be
placed, cut a marker from a piece of cardboard and
measure off the space, marking with pins, French
chalk, pencil, or thread. The distance from the edge
(one-fourth inch), as well as the length of the button
Holos
142
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
hole may also be marked with the card. The scissors
should be sharp, the hand must be steady, and the cut
should be made with one firm slash, not with two or
three jerks. Great care must be taken that each but-
ton hole is of the same length. The goods should be
cut to a thread, for it is impossible to make a neat
buttonhole if it is improperly cut. In cutting a round
end buttonhole for thick goods, a punch may be used
for the end, after which the remainder of the button-
hole is cut directly on a line with the center of the
circle.
The same marker may be used to mark the position
for the buttons. All markings for buttons and button-
holes, or for hooks and eyes, should be made at one
time.
After cutting, the button holes are overcast. This
should always be done directly after cutting, espe-
cially if the goods ravels easily, otherwise it will be
impossible to work a neat buttonhole. Overcasting
should be done with very fine thread (No. 150 for
white goods), split silk for wool and silk. Three
overcast stitches on each side are sufficient for an ordi-
nary size buttonhole.
A very good plan to follow in cutting a buttonhole
in heavy material or material that frays easily is to
chalk the position and length of the buttonhole, then
stitch a row of machine stitching each side of this
mark, the two rows being a little more than one-eighth
of an inch apart. This holds all the thicknesses to-
Ovorcasting
Buttonholes
1
ܓܓܕ
BUTTONS, BUTTON HOLES, EYELETS, LOOPS
144
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Making
Buttonholes
gether and the buttonhole may then be cut easily. It
also serves as a guide in working the buttonhole
stitches.
The buttonholing is begun at the inner side of the slit.
Always place the knot on the outside of the garment a
short distance to the right of the buttonhole, leaving a
long stitch underneath which can be cut off when the
buttonhole is finished. A buttonhole should be com-
pleted with one thread if possible as it is difficult to
mend the thread securely and neatly. Letter D for
twist is usually employed.
Insert the needle in the edge of the material and
when half way through, take the two threads at the
eye of the needle, bringing them towards you at the
right and under the point of the needle, and draw the
thread from you, making the purl or loop stitch di-
rectly on the edge of the buttonhole. The stitches
should be about the width of the needle apart to allow
for the purl. Be careful to complete each stitch with a
uniform movement so that the line will be perfectly
straight and not wavy. The stitches are placed more
closely together in the rounded end of the buttonhole
where the chief wear comes.
Many workers, particularly tailors, always "stay" or
"bar" around a buttonhole before working. This may
be done with several threads of twist or with a cord
so that the worked edge of the buttonhole will be firm
and distinct. Tailors usually use a cord as this makes
the edges heavier. It is always well to stay button-
Staying
146
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Cloak
Buttons
it. If a button is much concaved, the pin may be
placed underneath. The pin is removed before
winding.
In sewing on a four-hole button, the stitches should
be made symmetrically, either parallel or crossed, but
not both. If parallel or in a two-holed button the
stitches should run in the line of the buttonhole. The
thread should always be fastened securely at the begin-
ning and at the end of the work. Place the knot upon
the outside of the garment where it may be cut off
when the button is sewed securely. The knot is some-
times placed under the button.
In sewing buttons on a cloak or coat an extra strip
of canvas or silesia over the canvas interlining should
be placed the entire length of the buttoning for
strength. This should be applied before the work on
the garment is too far advanced and if cut sufficiently
wide, will allow of any slight alteration. The sewing
should go through the canvas facing and stay, but not
through the under side or facing of the material.
In sewing buttons on bodices a tape should be sewed
over the front basting for a stay. If sufficient material
has not been allowed for a lap, this should be added,
as a lap is necessary under the opening of such but-
tonholes.
Buttons may be sewed through lining having a small
button on the wrong side. This method prevents the
cloth from tearing and makes an ornamental finish as
well as a substantial one.
FASTENINGS
147
Hooks
and
Eyos
Buttons which are supplied with wire shanks should
be sewed down firmly as the shank already provided
permits the buttons to set up well from the material.
They should be placed in such a position that the wire
shank will run parallel with the buttonhole and not
cross it.
The position for hooks and eyes should be marked
before sewing on. The simplest, though least desira-
ble, method of sewing on these fastenings is to place
the eye at the edge of the seam or facing and the hook
sufficiently far back from the opposite side to give a
lap. A much preferable method is to baste a bias strip
of crinoline along the positions to be occupied by the
hooks and eyes; this gives strength to the finish. Suf-
ficient material should be allowed for folding over the
shanks after the hooks and eyes have been sewed on,
or they may be covered with silk ribbon, slipping the
edge under the beak of each hook and then catstitched
in position.
The hooks and eyes are sewed securely through the
crinoline and one thickness, but the stitches should not
show on the outside. Over and over stitches are taken
through the small rings in the line of the full and
again on each bar of the eye and on the shank of the
hook so that they may be held in position securely.
In many cases, it is advisable to have an underlap of
the material. This should be slip-stitched in position
on the garment after the eyes have been sewed in
place.
HOOKS AND EYES
Sewed on tape, Shanks covered with taffeta tape and with fold of the goods.
PATCHING
149
Eyelets
Underset
Patch
Eyelet holes are made with a stiletto which forces
the threads aside, but does not cut them. The edge
is finished with over and over stitches placed closely
together, or with a buttonhole stitch making the purl
on the outer edge of the stitches. Loops are made by
buttonholing very closely over several foundation
threads, making the purl on the outside edge. The
needle may be run under the loop eye first if preferred.
PATCHING
With the underset patch have the part to be patched
pressed smooth, baste the patch on the wrong side of
the garment before cutting out the worn place. (If
the garment or article to be mended is worn or faded
and shrunken by laundering, boil the piece in soap,
soda and water to fade the patch, if of cotton or linen.)
After basting, cut away all the worn cloth, making a
square or oblong hole. Cut to a thread. Cut each
corner, diagonally, one-eighth or one-quarter of an
inch, turn all four edges of the garment towards the
wrong side. Begin at the center of one side and hem
all around the square, taking slanting even stitches, not
too close together. Remove the basting, trim the
edges of the patch, press the patch on the wrong side
and catch stitch to the garment. This shows less on
the right side and does not make a hard line as if the
patch were turned back on the edge. If the cloth has
a pattern or stripe, match it perfectly, having the warp
threads of both running the same way. Cut both hole
and patch square. An oval or round patch is un-
UNDERSET PATCH, RIGHT SIDE, EDGE TURNED AND
HEMMED TO PATCH
M
My
mo
wa
tus
WRONG SIDE OF PATCH, CAT STITCHED
152
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
WRONG SIDE OF PATCH IN TABLE CLOTH-RAW EDGE
OVERCAST
workmanlike and does not wear well. Keep the cor-
ners square and hem down well. The object of press-
ing is to keep both garment and patch flat and even.
Flannel patches should be cat-stitched on the right
side. No flannel edges should ever be inturned.
The onset patch is used on lined garments and lin-
ings. The patch should be rectangular and larger than
Onset
Patch
LINEN PATCH; CROSS STITCH INITIAL
154
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
the worn place. Fold the four edges on the wrong side
of the patch, place the patch with its wrong side on
the right side of the garment directly over the center
of the hole. This will bring the folded edges of the
WN
W
RIGHT SIDE OF FLANNEL PATCH
Edge cat stitched but not turned, back cat stitched in the same way.
patch between the two pieces of cloth and both right
sides towards the worker. Do not baste, but pin care-
fully. After the garment has been folded back until
there are two folded edges side by side, overhand the
DARNING
155
Patch for
Trowsers
seam with even slanting stitches. See that the corners
are well sewed, that warp and woof threads run in the
same direction, that pattern and stripes match.
The worn part of the garment under the patch is
cut away, leaving one-fourth of an inch on the three
sides. Cut the corners diagonally and turn back the
edge quarter of an inch, overcast and press. If this
patch is sewed on a lining, the worn part is not cut
away. If this patch is used to repair skirts near the
band, only three sides are oversewed, the upper edge
should be gathered into the band. A large patch is
less conspicuous than a small one.
An onset patch may be used for the seats of trousers
by shaping the patch like the pieces on the seats of
bicycle trousers and stitching on the machine. Heavy
cloth will need no inturned edges. The same precau-
tions are necessary regarding warp and woof, pattern,
etc.
DARNING
Darning is usually done with a running stitch, with
or without a piece of net or cloth underset. Thread
for darning should be as near as possible the size of the
threads in the garment. Whenever it can be done, a
warp thread of the garment should be used. No sew-
ing silk is fine enough to use without separating the
thread and using one of the strands. Never use the
thread as it is, as it is too hard twisted. Cotton and
linen thread of the finest quality, untwisted, should be
used for darning stockings and underwear. Linen may
Thread for
Darning
156
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Bias
Dara
be darned with linen or mercerized cotton. Cotton is
preferable.
A long slender needle with a large eye should be
used. Darning should never be commenced with a
knot, nor finished with a back stitch.
A bias or diagonal cut and a three-cornered tear
are the most difficult to repair. If the place is badly
pulled and frayed, a piece of the same material should
be basted on the wrong side of the material and darned
in even stitches. Always darning parallel with the
warp threads and the woof threads. In the diagonal
tear, as the threads are cut diagonally, to prevent draw-
ing apart, the darning threads must cross each other.
The stitches around any darn should not end in a
stiff even line ; this makes a hard edge which does not
wear and is unsightly, and uncomfortable if on under-
wear.
The three-cornered tear may be darned in two ways.
Begin by darning diagonally through the center, darn-
ing back and forth towards the end of the tear until
one-half has been finished; then begin at the center
and work in the opposite direction.
At the corner,
the stitches should form the shape of a fan. The
other method, which is the stronger, is done by darn-
ing a square in the angle, first with the warp threads,
then with the woof threads and finishing each end
across the tear.
Stocking darning may be done on the right side.
Begin by picking up the stitches and drawing the
Darning
a Throo
Cornered
Toar
DARNING
157
edges together. This should always be done in any
kind of stocking darning, but not so close as to make
a wrinkle.
In knees and heels of stockings, or knitted under-
STOCKINET DARNING OVER NET
Interlaced Stitches and Chain Stitches.
wear, a piece of net large enough to extend beyond the
thin part should be basted carefully; then darn down
the outer edges of the net and finally the hole or thin
place. This makes a strong, neat piece of mending.
If the hole' je large, the net may be covered with the
158
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
1 Purposes, may be
chain stitch, thus imitating the knitting stitch. This
should be done on the right side of the garment.
If the hole is to be filled in with the interlaced
stitches, draw the edges together, darn beyond the thin
places, lengthwise of the knitted garment, making each
line of stitches longer until the center of the hole is
reached, then decrease in the same manner, making a
diamond in shape. Darn across the hole in the same
way, taking up every •alternate stitch as in weaving.
Leave a tiny loop at the end of each row of darning,
so that the threads will not draw,
Darning, satisfactory for some
done quickly on a double thread. sewing machine. It
is best done in an embroidery ring, first drawing the
edges together. Loosen the 'tension on the presser
foot, use fine thread with light tension. Sew back and
forth, first along the warp threads and then at right
angles along the woof threads. The machine will be
sewing backwards part of the time, but if the pressure
is light, there will be no difficulty. For large holes,
paper may be placed underneath.
*
Machino
Darning
MITERING EMBROIDERY OR LACE
The mitering of lace or embroidery is often neces-
sary in making collars and in finishing corners. Be-
fore applying, plan carefully and select a scallop or
portion of the embroidery which will produce the best
effects when finished. This can be accomplished by
folding the embroidery over at various portions of the
A
C
MITERING AND JOINING EMBROIDERY
A-Finished with a stitched seam ; B-Edge hemmed down and clotlı cat
away underneath ; C-Joinod with lapped seam.
160
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
pattern until a suitable point is found. Fold over at
right angles and mark along the line to be mitered.
The triangle may now be cut, but an extra width must
always be allowed for the seam, as there is frequently
a slight unevenness and one side may have to be held
a little full or stretched to make a perfect match. The
mitered seam is over-sewed.
After the corner is properly made, cut away the
cloth of the embroidery, allowing only enough for an
inturned seam on the edge. This seam may be stitched
on the machine on both edges, or oversewed to the
goods, or the embroidery may be securely sewed on
the plain part, after which the underlying cloth may
be cut away. This will make an almost perfect corner.
Lace may be matched and mitered in a similar way.
MATCHING AND JOINING LACE
In joining lace, avoid a seam if possible. Select por-
tions of the design that will match, placing one pat-
tern of the same design over the other. Cut away
a portion of the thick part of the pattern underneath
and hem the edges and inner part of the design down
with fine thread.
Smyrna or Torchon lace is more difficult to hem or
join when very open or very fine. A small, felled
seam is better than lapping and trying to match the
pattern
Embroidery can be matched in the same way. Never
let two heavy designs lap over each other. The one
MATCHING AND MITERING
161
TOSTERONENSER
INSERTION WITH MITRED CORNER, TAPED AND FACED;
EMBROIDERY ROLLED WHIPPED AND GATHERED
on the wrong side should be cut out and the edge
sewed securely to the upper part of the design.
The plain material above the embroidery can be
joined by a lapped seam, turning first the right side
and then the wrong side and hemming on both sides
of the seam.
MACHINE SEWING
Types of
Machines
The sewing machine has taken away much of the
drudgery of home sewing, but its use does not lessen
the need of skill in hand work. No machine can finish
ends of belts, collars, sew on trimming, fastenings, and
like work and the finish has much to do with the gen-
eral appearance of a garment.
All the prominent makes of sewing machines were
invented in the decade following Howe's patent in
1846. The two chief types of machines are the lock
stitch, using double thread, and the chain or loop stitch,
using a single thread. Whatever the make of machine
it should be run in accordance with the rules accom-
panying it. The worker should familiarize herself
with the directions for setting and threading the needle,
winding the bobbin, regulating the tension and the
stitch and all other technicalities of the particular ma-
chine she has to operate. Agencies of the various
machines usually have skilled workers to give instruc-
tion to beginners. While it is not always an economy
of time to use the attachments for hemming, tucking,
etc., unless much work is to be done, it is worth
while to know how to use them if desired. As much
or more skill is required for neat machine work as for
hand sewing. Results will not be satisfactory without
careful basting
The machine should be kept well oiled, free from
dust and gum and it should be run evenly. In case
it becomes "gummed” a drop of kerosene on the parts
Care of the
Machine
162
MACHINE SEWING
163
Noodlo,
and
Thread
that have been oiled will cut the gum. Remove the
shuttle and run the machine rapidly for a moment, then
wipe off all the kerosene and oil the machine carefully
with good machine oil-only the best should be used.
A machine should always be wiped thoroughly before
any work is placed upon it.
As in hand sewing, needles and thread should be
selected with care. A blunt or bent needle should
never be used, it should have a fine sharp point and
the eye should be sufficiently large to carry the thread
easily. The needle and thread should be suitable for
the material to be sewed. Glazed thread should never
be used in a machine. The best quality of thread and
silk should be purchased but only enough for imme-
diate use, as it loses strength with age, chiefly because
of the action of the dyes and chemicals. Even white
thread may become "tender” from the chemicals used
in bleaching it. Sewing silk and cotton should be kept
in a closed box to exclude the light and air.
For sewing cotton or linen the best cotton thread
should be used. Woolen, silk, and velvet should be
stitched with the best machine silk. The thread should
match the material in color. Cotton thread fades or
loses its brightness when exposed to the light, there-
fore for stitching that will show it is always better to
use silk. The thread on the bobbin should be wound
evenly and carefully to insure an even stitch and the
tension of both threads should be equal, otherwise the
stitch will not be perfect. As a lock stitch machine
164
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Fastening
Throads
requires two threads while in hand sewing only one is
used, the two need not be as coarse as the single
thread. For ordinary home sewing, underwear, thin
gowns and the like, No. 70 to No. 100 will be found
satisfactory Finer thread may be used when the ma-
terials demand it, but no coarser than No: 50 should
be used in the machine and this only with the coarsest
material.
Much time may be saved in fastening the threads
at the ends of tucks, hems on sheets, towels, etc., by
careful manipulation of the machine. For example, on
sheets begin to stitch along the hem at the selvage, or
if the end of the hem is over-sewed, begin an inch
from the edge and stitch the hem towards the selvage,
then lift the presser-foot so as to turn the work, and
retrace the bit of stitching, continuing across the whole
hem. When the end is reached, release the presser-
foot, turn the work, and stitch back for an inch or
more in the same line, as was done at the beginning of
the hem. By this method the threads are fastened
much more easily and quickly than by drawing them
through on to the wrong side and tying or sewing
them by hand and, of course, it is more satisfactory
than the "shop" way of cutting them off short. Tucks
or seams may be fastened in the same way. If fine
thread is used the double stitching at the ends is hardly
noticeable.
When stitching a seam having one bias and
straight side, let the bias side come next to the feed,
Bias Sido
Next Feod
MACHINE SEWING
165
Stitching
Gathers
that is, on the underside. This is especially impor-
tant in thin materials. If the material is very sheer,
strips of soft paper-newspaper will answer for or-
dinary purposes-should be sewed in the seam. This
will insure a seam free from puckers and when fin-
ished the paper can be pulled away easily.
In sewing gathers on a band they should also come
next the "feed," as it takes up the side next to it a
little faster than the upper side. When the bias, or
cross-way side of the seam, or gathers are next to
the "feed" the material runs along smoothly, but if the
straight side is towards it there is apt to be a pucker.
Stitching can be done more easily on the right of
the presser foot with the bulk of the material lying to
the left. The tendency of the “feed” or teeth is to
crowd the work off the edge as well as forward and
the stitching may be guided better on the right side
All straight seams should be stretched to the full
extent of their straight edge in stitching, as the work
passes under the presser foot .
When a large amount of machine sewing is to be
done---such as household linen, sheets, pillow cases
and underwear-it is a good plan to do all the basting
and hand work first and keep the machine stitching
for a rainy or a damp day, as the thread is then less
apt io break. A current of air or a breeze from an
open window on a dry day will often cause the
thread to snap. For the same reason the machine
should never stand near the fire or radiator.
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
PART II
Read Carefully. This test consists of two parts,-an-
swers to the questions and the making of models. Both
should be sent to the School for inspection and correction.
All models should be made about 4 by 6 inches so that
they may be put into the envelope provided without being
folded. Two series of models are given; either or both
may be made.
1. What instruction have you ever had in sewing?
(b) Has the subject any, educational value ?
2. What are the common basting stitches, and for
what are they used ?
3.
Can
you make the running stitch properly? How
is it done?
4. For what purpose may the cat stitch be used ?
5. Hems and Seams : Describe the different kinds
for thick and thin materials, including those
for flannel and state when they should be used.
6. Describe three kinds of plackets.
7. How are gathers made, and how sewed into a
band ?
8. What can you say of fastenings?
9. With what sewing machine are you most famil-
iar, and what are its peculiarities?
IO. What sti hes or methods described in this les
son are new to you?
Note: After completing the answers, sign your full
name.
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
MODELS, FIRST SERIES
I. STITCHES. On a piece of cotton about 4 by 6
inches, make with colored thread (1) a line
of even basting stitches, (2) uneven basting
stitches, (3) tacking, (4) running, (5) back
stitch, (6) running and back, (7) half back.
With embroidery silk make a row each of (1)
cat stitch, (2) single feather, (3) double
feather, (4) chain, (5) rows of French knots
with border of outline stitch.
Make your
initial in one corner, using any
stitch preferred.
Overcast one long edge of the model, double
overcast the opposite side, finish one end with
plain loop or blanket stitch, and the other end
with some fancy loop stitch. Fasten all
threads as described in the text.
II. SEAMS AND Hems. (a) Join two pieces of fine
cotton with a French seam at the long edge,
about 2 by 512 inches, with warp running
lengthwise. (b) Cut a piece of muslin on a
true bias and attach the bias edge to a with a
felled seam. (c) Trim the model and hem all
sides so that the finished model may measure
4 by 6 inches.
III. DARNING AND PATCHING. (a) In gingham or
figures cotton, make an underset patch of a
square hole, matching the goods. (b) Darn
a three-cornered tear.
IV. FASTENINGS. The proper distance from the
edge of folded goods make (a) button hole,
one end rounded and the other finished with
a bar tack. (b) Under it make a partly fin-
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
ished, barred buttonhole. (c) Below this
make an eyelet hole, (d) below the eyelet hole
a loop, and sew on an eye.
On a second piece of folded goods opposite the
first buttonhole, (a) sew a four-hole button,
corresponding in size to the buttonhole. (b)
Opposite the second buttonhole sew on a two-
hole button; (c) below, on other side of the
goods, sew on two hooks for the loop and eye.
Make the two parts of the model so that the
corresponding fastenings will join.
APRON. Using fine muslin, make a doll's apron,
gathering into band at top. Above hem at
the bottom, make two clusters of tucks of
three each.
V.
MODELS, SECOND SERIES, FOR EXPERIENCED WORKERS
I. ROLLED HEM; HEM STITCHING. Make a doll's
apron of fine muslin, attach top to band with
rolled, whipped gathers. Make tivo clusters
of tucks of three each at the bottom and hem
stitch the bottom hem.
II. SLEEVE PLACKET. Make a taped sleeve placket
as shown in the illustration
III. MAKE A Slot SEAM, using dress goods and
finish with an arrow head. (b) Make a large
cloak buttonhole.
IV. MITRE EMBROIDERY and finish as shown in the
illustration. (b) Match and join the same.
V. EMBROIDERY: Make something small and use-
ful—a doily, stock, collar-illustrating some
style of embroidery, or make a model of the
first series which will afford you the most new
experience.
Textiles and Clothing
Part III
MAKING MEXICAN DRAWN-WORK
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
PART III
Good
Tools
Necessary
DRESSMAKING
The greatest obstacle to home sewing of any kind
is the failure to provide suitable materials with which
to do the work. To do good work-to make attractive
gowns the simple tools which the work requires must
be provided. First, there should be needles and pins
of the best quality and make. They should be fine
and well pointed. The needle should be suitable to the
material to be sewn and sufficiently large to carry the
thread easily. A blunt or bent needle should never
be used. Long or milliner's needles are preferred by
many for basting.
A good supply of thread should be kept on hand-
Thrond
not too great a quantity, but the stock should be added
to as it is used. There should be both silk and col-
ored cotton, also twist for button holes, loops and
arrow heads and knitting silk to sew on and finish
feather bone.
Two pairs of scissors are required-one with long, Sclagore
sharp blades, and a pair of medium sizes for snipping
machine stitches.
Among the other necessary articles are a tape meas-
ure, cake of wax, pencils or tailor's chalk, tracing
wheel, emery, lap board.
168
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Tapes
Cutting
Tablo
Canvas, scrim, or any like material should be kept
in the sewing room, as these are invaluable for fac-
ings, linings of collars, cuffs, etc. Hooks, eyes, but-
tons, tape, linings, featherbone and shields are requis-
ites not to be forgotten.
Tape is constantly needed. Linen tape is thinner
and makes a neater finish for some purposes than cot-
ton tape. The bias tape or binding now kept by the
larger stores is very useful for binding curved edges
and for other purposes.
If a regular cutting table is not available, the din-
ing room table should be used. Skirts, bodices, rufe
fles, and bias bands should be cut on firm, even, and
large surfaces. If cut upon the floor or bed and
pressed on a coarse crash towel, the garment will
have the undesirable home-made look.
A good pressing board should be provided and if
possible a sleeve board. In the process of garment
making of any kind too much stress cannot be laid
upon constant and careful pressing.
The ironing board should have for its outside cover
a finely woven, perfectly smooth cloth, tightly
stretched, free from wrinkles, and securely tacked.
Where there is gas, a small, portable stove should
be kept near the sewing table with a medium-sized flat
iron. Lacking gas, one of the single burner oil stoves
may be used. An electric flat iron is especially con-
venient.
A bust form is a great convenience in fitting and
Pressing
Board
Bust Form
PADDED BUST FORM
(From Dressmaking Up-to-Date, Butterick Co.)
169
170
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
almost a necessity for one who does much home dress-
ing. These may be purchased at department stores,
Some kinds are adjustable, but it is always best to
make a carefully fitted lining for it and pad out to the
correct shape and size. The pattern should be one
that extends well over the hips and heavy unbleached
muslin may be used. After padding firmly, the front
opening should be oversewed. Special care should be
taken with shoulders and neck and the neck band
should be carefully adjusted on the figure.
A padded sleeve lining is also very useful in mak-
ing sleeves.
Dressmaking never should be begun until each
needed article required for the work has been pur-
chased. The sewing room should be in order; the
machine well oiled and wiped before any work is un-
dertaken.
If the finished garment is to be perfect, careful at-
tention must be given to every detail of the cutting
and making up. To possess mechanical skill alone is
not sufficient. A successful garment depends not only
upon the dexterity with which the worker manipulates
the actual tools of her craft, but upon all her faculties
and her power of applying them. She must have a
comprehension of the laws of beauty in dress, con-.
struction, ornament, color, selection, economy. The
artisan knows the technical part only, and looks upon
each dress—each piece of lace and velvet—as so much
material to be snipped and cut and sewed, copying
from the fashion plate, making gown after gown
alike. The artist, on the other hand, makes the gown
Skill
and
Taste
PATTERNS
171
to suit the individual wearer, considering each dress
no matter how simple—and the simpler, the more art-
istic—as a creation designed to suit the woman for
whom it was planned.
People who study economy from principle will
never adopt anything extreme in weave, or color, or
make. These extreme fashions are never lasting;
they are too conspicuous and are vulgarized by bad
copies, while a thing which is known to be good and
beautiful once will remain so for all time. Those who
are beginners in the art of dressmaking should select
plain designs until skill is acquired. The making up
and finishing of new fabrics and new or untried meth-
ods are problems that often dismay even the most
experienced dressmaker.
PATTERNS
The makers of good and reliable patterns are many.
Always buy patterns of firms that make proportion
of figure as well as fashion a study. These patterns
state length of skirt, waist and hip measure and quan-
tity of material required in all widths. Buy a skirt
pattern with correct hip size, as it is much more diffi-
cult to change this than to alter the dimensions of
a waist. Adjust the pattern to the figure for which
the garment is to be cut and see that it is right in all
of its proportions. Always follow the notches indicated
in the seams of the pattern, and thus avoid putting
wrong pieces together. Be sure that the pattern is
Selection
of Patterna
172
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
What the
Pattern
Gives
placed correctly upon the material with the straight
grain or warp threads of the goods running directly
on a line with the straight perforations indicated in
the pattern.
Lay the entire pattern upon the cloth.
This gives an idea just where every piece is to come
out.
In symmetrical dresses the pattern gives one-half
of the waist and the skirt, from center of back to
center of front. The number of pieces in a plain pat-
tern vary according to styles. The sleeve may be cut
in one piece with the waist, as in kimona sleeves; the
back of the waist may be all in one piece or have a
side back when fitted waists are in vogue. Likewise
skirts may have few or many gores. Most patterns
allow for seams and state what that allowance is.
All pieces are notched to show how they should go
together. On the skirt pieces the front gore has one
notch, the front side of the next gore one notch, the
back side two notches, etc.
The best patterns now are accompanied by charts
showing the different pieces and the method of put-
ting them together. Directions are given which, if
followed carefully, enable one to cut and make the
garment correctly.
SKIRT MAKING
Fashions in skirts vary greatly, but a well-fitted
skirt should hang in graceful folds, be even around
the bottom, should fit easily without being strained
and without defining the figure too closely.
The object of goring the skirt at the top is, of
SKIRT MAKING
173
course, to take out unnecessary fullness. In draped
skirts this fullness is partly taken care of by the
folds. Skirts should allow perfect freedom in walk-
ing, but prevailing styles do not always permit this.
A skirt for street wear should be short enough not to
pick up the dirt of the street—the narrow skirt may
be longer than the wide one without becoming a
"street sweeper."
PLAN OF SKIRT MAKING
Shortening or lengthening of pattern if neces-
sary.
Placing of goods.
Pinning on of pattern so there is no waste.
Cutting
Removing and care of patterns.
Finishing placket hole.
Basting seam-fitting.
Stitching
Pressing
Finishing of seams.
Making and putting on waist-band.
Marking length and finishing the bottom.
Fastenings, loops, braids, hooks and eyes.
To lengthen or shorten a skirt pattern, measure the
figure and regulate the length of the patterns by mak-
ing a fold in each gore two-thirds of the way from
the top of the pattern if too long. This is for the
simplest skirt pattern. The shape of the skirt may re-
quire two folds, one two-thirds from the top and a
small fold near the bottom to preserve the outline.
If too short, pin the pattern on the material, cut
Lengthening
or Shortening
Patterns
174
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Testing
Patterns
around the top of gore and on each side two-thirds of
the distance from the top of gore. Unpin and draw
the pattern down to the bottom and cut the required
length. Except for wash material, or when the skirt
is moderately narrow, do not turn a gored skirt up
at the bottom to form a wide hem, as the fullness
made by turning is hard to dispose of neatly and the
right curve at the bottom of the skirt may be lost.
Another way to lengthen the pattern is to cut it in
two, two-thirds the distance from the top. See that all
pleats or tucks are exactly the same width and at the
exact distance from the top, or bottom of the gore,
also that all seams are of the right length. A shorter
skirt must be proportionately narrower.
It is well to test the skirt and waist patterns by
using inexpensive materials, such as calico, gingham,
or cheap lining. Cut, baste, fit and make this as care-
fully as if it were the best cloth or silk. If the skirt
and waist are satisfactory, the pattern will do duty
for several seasons. The plain waist pattern is the
foundation for any waist and many changes can be
made easily with a well-fitting skirt and plain waist
pattern as a basis.
As paper patterns soon wear out, after a waist and
skirt have been perfectly fitted, it is a good plan to
cut an exact pattern of cambric, both skirt and waist,
tracing seams and notching the parts. This will en-
able the home dressmaker to cut and make all ordi-
nary dresses with little trouble and with but one try-
ing on. It is always well to try on once, as materials
differ and a slight change may be necessary.
Cloth
Patterns
h
0103
d
0703
PLACING PATTERNS.
At the left, on plain or symmetrical designs; at the right, on figured
or napped goods. a–Half of front gore; 6–Second gore; c-Third gore;
d-Back gore; e-Front waist; f-Under arm piece; g-Side back; h-
Back; ;-Outside sleeve; j-Under sleeve; c d'—Piecing of goresc, d.
176
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Placing
Patterns
If the material is plain, has no nap, or if the de-
sign is perfectly symmetrical, the gores may be alter-
nated, the top of one gore coming opposite the bot-
tom of the next. The half pattern of the front gore
is always laid on a lengthwise fold of the goods. If
the goods is wide, the other gores may be cut double
with the cloth folded lengthwise. With narrow goods
the cloth may be folded end to end after the middle
gore has been cut out, and the other gores cut double.
Care should be taken that the line of holes in the
middle of the gores runs exactly in a line with the
warp of the material—i. e., parallel to the selvage.
If the goods has a figure, the design should run up-
wards. Any nap should run downward, except with
velvet or velveteen, in which it should run upwards.
With such goods, the gores if cut double must be
placed on a lengthwise fold, with the lengths running
the same way. If the goods is narrow, the gores may
have to be cut single, reversing the pattern (turning
it over), so that both pieces may not be for the same
side.
If piecing is necessary on wide gores, it should
always be done along the warp thread, with the usual
care that any figure be made to match perfectly.
Pin the middle of the pattern to the goods and
smooth towards each end, pinning securely at top and
bottom. Avoid too many pins and pin carefully,
otherwise the pattern will be displaced.
After the pattern is securely pinned, cut out the
gores, using long, sharp shears. Care should be taken
not to lift the material from the table, not to have
Pinning
Patterns
Cutting
Out
SKIRT MAKING
177
Making
Placket
jagged, uneven edges, as both time and material will
be wasted in straightening them. Open the shears
as wide as possible, taking a long sweep of the mate-
rial, and do not allow the points of the shears to come
together. Mark all notches with basting thread,
tailor's chalk, or notch the goods if it does not ravel.
Now remove the pattern, pin carefully all pieces to-
gether and fold as little as possible. The trinity-pin,
baste, press—should be written in large letters in every
sewing room, for much of the beauty of the gown de-
pends upon these three.
The placket, which may be at the back, side or
front, may be finished before the gores are put to-
gether. The placket is easier to finish in this way,
may be pressed better, and the other gores are not
crushed. On the left side of the opening sew an
underlap of sufficient length to extend well below the
end of the opening. Face the right side of the open-
ing with a piece of the goods, or tape not too wide,
hem or cat-stitch to the skirt, and finish with hooks
and eyes, loops, or any fastening that will secure the
placket.
To join the skirt, pin the side gores to the front
gores, beginning at the top, with pins running across
the seams, then begin at the top of the skirt and baste
downward, allowing all unevenness to come out at the
bottom. Baste straight and evenly, with the gores
laid flat on the table, taking one stitch at a time.
Several stitches should never be taken at once on
thick or piled goods, as the side next to the sewer
is apt to be fuller in that case. When all seams are
Joining
the Skirt
178
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Lined
Skirt
Stitching
Skirts
basted, try on the skirt and make all changes neces-
sary before stitching. Both the outside skirt and any
under or "drop” skirt should be fitted as carefully as
a waist.
If the skirt is to be lined the lining should be made
and fitted first, then ripped and the outside carefully
basted on the lining, being well stretched over the lin-
ing, care being taken to have the warp of the outside
and the lining run the same way. This will prevent
the lining from drawing the goods.
A stitch of medium length should be used on all
seams whether white goods or cloth. If the stitch is
too long, the seam will "gap" and will show the thread;
if too short, the seam is apt to draw. The line of stitch-
ing must be absolutely parallel inside or outside of the
basting or the curve will be ruined. Use silk or the
best cotton for stitching skirts and be sure that the
needle is not too coarse.
After stitching, all bastings along the seams should
be taken out by cutting the thread in several places.
Never pull a basting the length of the skirt. The
seams should be opened and pressed according to direc-
tions. The seams may be finished with a taffeta bind-
ing, overcast, stitched flat or notched, as the case de-
mands.
Fashion at times calls for lined skirts with stiffen-
ing at the bottom. In such skirts the stiffening should
be fitted to each lining gore separately and securely
stitched before the lining and outside are put to-
gether. Heavy cloth skirts with rows of stitching at
the bottom should have a light canvas stitched in.
Finishing
Seams
Stiffening
SKIRT MAKING
179
Putting
on Band
The skirt is now ready for the band, which should
be narrow. Always cut parallel with the selvage and
the length of the underlap longer than the waist meas-
ure, allowing for turning at the ends. The band should
never be thick and clumsy and not too tight.
Excellent webbing bands which are ready to be put
on the skirt may be purchased—these are firm and
not clumsy.
Try on the skirt and fit the band carefully, mark-
ing the seam with pins, a line of basting, or chalk.
Hold the skirt easy on the band and baste with small
stitches, then stitch on the machine. If the skirt is
too tight around the hips, it will draw. If the skirt
is stretched on the band, the seams will not fall in a
straight line.
For a high-waisted skirt without a band use a firm
piece of belting one and one-half to two inches wide.
Sew hooks and eyes on this belt, then baste skirt
carefully to the top of the belt; try on. Stitch about
one-fourth of an inch from the top, being sure that
the skirt conceals the belt. Fasten skirt and belt
separately, leaving the skirt free from the belt except
at the top.
Before finishing the seams be sure that the skirt
fits the figure smoothly but does not draw anywhere;
that the seams fall in a straight line, and that gathers
and draping take graceful lines becoming to the figure.
The draped skirt requires skill in handling material
and is more difficult to make than the fitted skirt.
While patterns may be followed in draping, the best
results are obtained when it is done on the figure.
Fitting
and
Draping
180
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Finishing
REPAIRING
Fabrics are so much cheaper and so much easier to
Economical
obtain that patching has almost become one of the lost
Monding
arts. The twentieth century woman feels that her
time is too valuable to be spent in mending the old
clothes and that she can better afford to buy new.
However that may be, no one disputes the utility of
mending. Like so many other duties, mending is half
done when well begun. A well made garment of good
material should not be discarded when slightly worn,
for a patch well put in or a neat piece of darning de-
tracts in no way from the value of a garment and may
even be a work of art. The children's clothes particu-
larly should be kept in good order, for they are made
uncomfortable by wearing garments that are out of re-
pair, to say nothing of the demoralizing effect upon
their characters.
Laundering is the great ally to tears and not only
Laundering
doubles the size of the hole, but pulls the threads apart and Repairs
so that it is impossible to make the mended place neat
and smooth, therefore all clothing should be mended
before washing. Stockings and woven underwear are
much worn by the rubbing on the washboard and thin
places going into the washing frequently come out as
holes, so that it is true economy of effort and time to
"run" or darn the thin places before they are worn
through. It requires much less time and the garments
last longer.
226
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Boys'
Trowsers
Sleeves
It is a good plan, especially in knees of stockings
and knitted underwear, to baste a piece of fine net over
a worn or broken place and darn over it. (See Darn-
ing.) Thread used for darning should be as near as
possible the size of the threads in the garment. Darn-
ing cotton, linen, wool, and silk of all shades can be
bought, so that the problem of matching is no longer a
difficult one.
In mending the knees of boys' trousers a round patch
should never be used. The seams should be ripped and
the piece set in then, if the seams are pressed well, the
patch will scarcely be noticeable.
When bodices are worn under the arm, rip the seams
and set in a new “under arm” piece. A good plan for
one whose dresses are apt to wear through quickly is
to have the under arm pieces and the adjacent parts of
the front made of two thicknesses of the goods; then,
as the outside wears through, the edges can be hemmed
down or taken into the seam.
When table cloths begin to wear in the middle fold or
along the edge of the table, a few inches cut off one
end and one side of the cloth will change the fold and
the place where it falls over the table and give it a new
lease of life. If the hem is turned down once and cat
stitched, it will resemble the selvage more than a twice
turned hem.
In repairing or lengthening garments that have be-
come too short, much can be done by adding to the
bottom of the skirt and sleeves material of different
Table
Cloths
Lengthening
Garments
REPAIRING
227
Extension
Hem and
Tucks
texture. A cloth or serge skirt may be lengthened by
facing with velvet of the same shade, covering the
line of sewing with cord, braid, or passementerie of
the same shade or black. There should be an under-
facing of light-weight crinoline to make the bottom of
the skirt firm and to give strength. The same facing
and passementerie may be used at neck and sleeves.
Thin gowns of lawn, dimity, etc., can be lengthened
with a faced or extension hem, the line of sewing to be
covered with feather stitch or any of the fancy stitches
of white or colored thread. If the lawn or dimity has
a colored figure, the embroidery silk or cotton may
match this. Under skirts and drawers may be length-
ened in the same way or rows of tucks may be
added.
In waist repairing, the sewing silk should match the
material. Set the patch into the seams when possible
and trust to careful pressing. If the material begins to
wear near the end of the bones, cut off the bones an
inch and take in the dart or seam. If the silk wears
off around the hooks and eyes, move them along ever
so little.
Make a virtue of worn out seams by taking
them in and covering them with fancy stitching. If the
garment is lined, the outside should be carefully basted
to the lining before stitching to take in the seam. It
has been said that silk waists are serviceable as long
as the upper parts of the sleeves remain good.
If garments have not been well cared for from the
first and beyond a certain point, “making over” is poor
Waist
Repairing
228
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Mending
Blankets
Use of
Tape
economy. Never attempt cleaning and making over
old clothes unless the material is good enough to make
it worth while to do the work well.
The mending basket is an important adjunct of
mending and should be well supplied with darning cot-
ton of all colors and sizes, good English tape, black and
white, of different widths, linen tape, bias tape, differ-
ent kinds and sizes of needles,—sewing, darning, shoe,
carpet, and tape needles.
For repairing bands and facings, where buttons have
been torn off by wringer or iron, and for strengthen-
ing weak places, tape is invaluable. It saves the time
required to turn in the edges of the cloth and is less
clumsy and bungling.
The mender should use good judgment as to the
amount of work to be applied to each garment. She
should substitute the machine needle whenever possible
and not put tiny stitches by hand into half worn gar-
ments or in unseen places. Ripped tucks and bands
can be sewed in a few minutes on the machine. Serv-
iceable darning can be done on the machine.
Before putting away freshly laundered clothes it is a
good plan to take out the clothes already in the draw-
ers and lay the ones washed last on the bottom, thus
all garments will wear alike, each article in its regular
turn.
Use of
Judgment
In Mending
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
229
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Home and School Sewing, Frances Patton, ($.60, postage 6c).
School Needlework, Olive C. Hapgood, ($.75, postage 6c).
Sewing Course for Schools, Mary Schenck Woolman, ($1.50,
postage 14c).
Sewing Tablets-Graded Sewing Texts with all Materials. Seven
parts, by Margaret L. Blair, ($.50 each, postage 8c each).
School Garment Drafting, Jennie M. Haner, ($1.00, postage 6c).
Lessons in Garment Drafting, Mae Gingles, ($.60, postage 6c).
Progressive Lessons in Needlework, Catharine F. Johnson, ($.90,
postage 8c).
Dressmaking Up-to-date, Butterick Pub. Co., ($.25, postage 8c.)
When Mother Lets Us Sew, Virginia Ralston, ($.75, postage 6c).
The Art of Millinery, Anna Ben Yusuf, ($2.00, postage 14c).
Practical Millinery Lessons, Illustrated Milliner Co., ($1.00,
postage 8c).
Dressmaking Self Taught, Curens, ($1.00, postage foc).
Household Textiles, Charlotte M. Gibbs, ($1.25, postage 1oc).
TEST QUESTIONS
The following questions constitute the “written reci.
tation” which the regular menībers of the A. S. H. E.
answer in writing and send in for the correction and
comment of the instructor. They are intended to
emphasize and fix in the memory the most important
points in the lesson.
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
PART III
Read Carefully. To make this test of greatest value to
you, write fully from your personal standpoint and experience.
Try as many methods given in the text as your time will
allow so that you may ask for explanation if the descriptions
are not clear to you. Methods are many; if you do not agree
with these given, suggest better ones.
2.
I. (a) What are the requisites for good dress-
making ? (b) How does dressmaking dif-
fer from white sewing in make, finish, and
ornamentation?
From your point of view what do you consider
a successful garment ?
3. Give methods of altering patterns.
4. Give briefly the method of cutting and making
from patterns; (a) a shirt waist, with cuff open
opposite seam: (b) a woolen skirt, including
method of stitching, pressing, and finishing.
5. How may pressing be done to give the best re-
sults ? What garments require little or no
pressing, and why?
6. (a) State some of the principles and purposes
of ornament. (b) What is your idea of orna-
ment applied to garments ? (c) Give some
errors in ornamentation not named in text.
231
232
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
7. Cut from magazines illustrations showing your
idea of good and faulty ornamentation in
dress. Give reason for your opinion.
8. Illustrate in some way, either by picture, draw-
ing, embroidery, braid, or stitching, some de-
sign appropriate for ornament work on neck
or sleeve.
9. Where should ornament be placed, and why?
10. (a) Give your idea of appropriate design on tex-
tiles. (b) The advantage and disadvantage
of plain materials.
II. Make a color card of silk, wool, paper or raffia
showing colors that contrast. (b) Colors that
harmonize.
What colors do you find satisfactory for your
own wear, and why?
13.
What materials are best suited for infants' gar-
ments ? (b) What can you say in regard to
children's clothing?
14. What is your opinion of the care of clothing?
(b) What experience have you had in clean-
ing (a) cotton, (b) wool, (c) linen, (d) silk,
(e) velvet ?
15. Do you consider it economy to repair garments ?
Can you suggest better methods than those
given in the text?
12.
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
233
16. If possible make some garment, shirt waist,
skirt, or simple dress while studying this les-
son and describe in detail how you went about
it, the result, time taken, total cost. Tell why
you selected the design, the color, the mate-
rial.
17. Have you found the ready made garments satis-
factory in underwear and dresses ?
18. Tell of some of your failures in dressmaking and
give the reasons for your lack of success.
19. What methods, new to you, have you tried in
connection with this lesson? What questions
have you to ask?
Can you add any suggestions that would be help-
ful to others in this work?
21. Wherein have the lessons been of practical value
to you?
22. For Teachers. Draw up an outline for a course
in sewing to combine two considerations: (a)
adaptability to the child's interests and capaci-
ties, (b) orderly sequence in the technica!
part.
Note: After completing the answers, sign your full name.
20.
234
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
REFERENCES: ORNAMENT AND DESIGN
Bachelder-Principles of Design in America. ($3.00.)
Brown-History of Decorative Art. ($1.25.)
Carter, Mrs. H. J.-Historic Ornament in Color. (150. a
sheet). Prang.
Clifford-Period Decoration. ($3.00.)
Crane-Claims of Decorative Art. (Out of print.)
Crane-Line and Form. ($2.25.)
Daniels—Teaching of Ornament. ($1.50.)
Day-Application of Ornament. ($1.25.).
Day-Nature in Ornament. ($4.00.)
Day-Ornamental Design. (Out of print.)
Day-Planning of Ornament. (Out of print.)
Day—Decorative Design of all Ages. ($0.40.)
Day-Ornament and Its Application. ($3.25.)
Day-Ornamental Design, Anatomy of Pattern, Planning
of Ornament. ($3.00.)
Day-Some Principles of Everyday Art. (Out of print.)
Glazier—Manual of Historic Ornament. (New edition in
press.)
Hulme—Birth and Development of Ornament. (Out of
print.)
Jones—Grammar of Ornament. ($18.00.)
Prang-Art and Ornament in Egypt. ($1.50.)
Note—The books out of print may be found in some
public libraries.
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
235
2
REFERENCES: HISTORY OF COSTUME
Earle-Costume of Colonial Times. ($1.25.)
Earle—Two Centuries of Costume in America, vols.
($2.50 each.)
Evans—Chapters on Greek Dress. (Out of print.)
Fairholt-Costume of England, 2 vols. ($1.50 each.)
Hill-History of English Dress. (Out of print.)
McClellan–Historic Dress in America. ($10.00.)
Planchet—History in British Costume. ($1.50.)
Quegly-What Dress Makes of Us. ($1.25.)
Racinet—Costume. ($2.00.)
Rhead-Chats on Costume. ($1.50.)
Schild-Old English Peasant Costume from Boadicea to
Queen Victoria. (Out of print.)
SUPPLEMENTARY PROGRAM
ARRANGED FOR CLASS STUDY ON
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
MEETING I
(Study pages 1-59)
Primitive Methods
Endeavor to obtain a Colonial spinning-wheel in working
order, and get some one to operate it.
If possible, obtain samples of weaving done on
a hand
loom.
Examine a hand-loom if possible. They may be seen at the
manufacturers of rag and remade carpets.
References: Woman's Share in Primitive Culture, Mason,
Chapter III, The Weaver. ($1.75, postage
16c.)
Colonial Days in Old New England, by Earle.
($1.25, postage 12c.)
Textile Fibres
Collect an exhibit of raw fibres and fibres in process of manu-
facture. Send to the U. S. Department of Agriculture,
Department of Botany, Washington, D. C., for small sam-
ples; to manufacturers of thread; to friends in manufac-
turing towns.
Test the various fibres by burning. Examine under a mi-
croscope with a small hand-glass, if greater power cannot
be obtained. Try warm acid-sulphuric, hydrochloric, or
oxalic—on the fibres; let the fibres dry Also try a solu-
tion of caustic soda on the fibres.
References: The Textile Fibres, by Matthews. ($3.50,
postage 16c.)
Textile Fibres and Cotton Fibre, pamphlets of
the American School of Correspondence.
(500. each, postage 4c. each.)
236
PROGRAM
237
Send for all the Government Bulletins men-
tioned in the Bibliography, page 104 Note
that. the free bulletins are obtained simply
by addressing the Department of Agricul.
ture, Washington, D. C., but the sale bulle-
tins only by sending coin or money order
to the Superintendent of Documents, Wash-
ington, D. C.
MEETING II
(Study pages 59-102)
Modern Methods
Visit a textile mill if possible, after studying the text.
Practice home dyeing. Read carefully the directions given
by the manufacturers of the dyes. See the booklet “Dia-
mond Dyes,” to be obtained at many drug stores, or send
for it to Wells Richardson, Burlington, Vermont.
References: Text-books of the American School of Corre-
spondence – especially Textile Chemistry
and Dyeing. (Parts I, II, III, and IV, post-
age 4c. each.)
The Dyeing of Textile Fabrics, by Hummell.
($1.75, postage 12c.)
Bleaching and Calico Printing (containing
samples), by Duerr. ($4.00, postage 14c.)
Weaves and Fabrics
Show as many different kinds of weaves as possible. Separate
rate the threads and examine under a hand microscope.
Get the local dry-goods or department store to co-operate
with you in getting up an exhibit of samples of standard
goods--cotton, woolen, worsted, linen, and silk. Label
each cample with the width and price.
238
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Test some of the samples of wash goods for fastness to wash-
ing and light, by washing in warm water and soap (or
boiling in the soap and water) and expose to sunlight all
day for three or four days. Keep a part of each sample for
comparison.
(Select a composite set of answers to the Test Questions on
Part I and send to the School, with report on the supple-
mental work done and Meetings I and II.)
MEETING III
(Study pages 107-123)
Sewing: Plain Stitches
Send to manufacturers for samples showing the process of
manufacture of pins, needles, etc.
Demonstrate different ways of making the same stitches;
discuss best methods.
Embroidery
Show how all the embroidery stitches are made.
Get up an exhibit of all kinds of enbroidery, including
Oriental, Japanese, old samplers, etc.
Have members make Model I, First Series.
References: Home and School Sewing, by Patton. ($0.60,
postage 6c.)
School Needlework, by Hapgood. ($0.75, post-
.?
age 6c.)
Topic:
Manual of Exercise in Hand Sewing, by Blair.
($1.25, postage roc.)
Educational Value of Sewing in the Public
Schools.
Methods. See “A Sewing Course,”by Mary
S. Woolman, Introduction ($3.50, post-
age 20c.), and 'The Teaching of Domestic
Science in the United States of America,"
by Alice Ravenhill, pages 9-10, 43-46.
($0.75, postage 12c.)
PROGRAM
239
MEETING IV
(Study pages 123-165)
Hems, Seams, Fastenings, Darning, Patching
Have all members make models II, III, IV, and V.
Previously assign members to furnish models or examples
of all other hems, seams, fastenings, patches, darns, etc.,
illustrated or described in the text, and as many more as
possible.
Machine Sewing
Get the local sewing machine agent to give a demonstration
of the workings of the attachments of the machine.
(Select models and answers to Test Questions on Part II and
send them to the School, with a report of Meetings III and
IV.)
MEETING V
(Study pages 167-200)
Dressmaking
Get the local dry-goods or department store to lend different
kinds of dress forms.
Collect parterns from different makers.
Show how patterns are altered to suit the figure. (See text
and “Dressmaking Up to Date.")
As many as possible cut out and begin making a simple shirt-
waist or skirt. Show finished garment at next meeting,
giving accurate account of cost and time spent.
References: Dressmaking Up to Date, The Butterick Co.
($0.25, postage 8c.)
Sewing and Garment Drafting, by Margaret
L. Blair. ($1.25, postage 12c.)
INDEX
Adulteration of linen, 87
Alpaca, 90
Altering sleeve patterns, 194
Angora wool, 39
Aniline dyes, 79
Arrow heads, 123
Aack stitch, 112
Basting, 108
Bibliography, 103, 229 .
Bleaching, 78
Bobbin, 19
Boning waist, 192
Bow, the, 208
Burling, 83
Bust form, 168
Button holes, 141
large, 145
making, 144
Buttons, sewing on, 145
Cotton goods, 85
home of, 30
Nankin, 34
sea island, 30
upland, 30
Cross stitch, 120
Cuffs, 196
Cutting table, 168
Darning, 155
on machine, 158
over net 157
Decorations, placing, 208
Distaff, 12
Double cloth, 77
Draped waist, 192
Drawing tapes, 140
Dressmaking, 167
Dyeing, 78
home, 80
Dyes, aniline, 79
Dyestuffs, natural, 80
Embroidery, 204
as ornament, 204
eyelet, 122
shadow, 123
stitches, 114
Extension hem, 227
Eyelet embroidery, 1 2 2
Eyelets, 149
Fabrics, 85
list of, 96 - 102
names of, 94
primitive, 27
width of, 93
Facing, bias, 141
skirt, 179
Fastening the thread, 109
Fastenings, 141
.
Carding, 59
Care of clothing, 219
Cassimere twills, 73, 75
Cat stitch, 116
Catch stitch, 116
Chain stitch, 116
Checks, 213
Children's clothes, 216, 217
Cleaning, 59, 221
Collars, 198
putting on, 199
Color in dress, 214
Colors, mordant, 79
Combing, 60
Conventional designs, 213
Costumes, references, 234
Cotton, 29
boles, 32
fibers, 34
241
242
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Feather stitch, 118
Fibers, 29
cotton, 29
flax, 43
silk, 53
wool, 37
Finishes, 139
Finishing skirt, 179
seams, 196
waist, 192
Finishing, woolens, 83
Fitting, 173; 193
sleeves, 190
waists, 190
Flax, 43
fibers, 47
hackling, 44, 47
Flocks, 83
Folding garments, 220
French hem, 127
knots, 119
seam, 131
Fulling, 83
Fur, 40
Gathering, III, 138
Gathers, whipped, 127
Gauging, 112
Gigging, 83
Gingham, 86
Grease spots, 122
Hand sewing, 107
Harmony in dress, 215
Harness, the, 70
Heddle, 17
Hemp, 50
Hem stitch, 118
Hems, 123
bias, 124
faced, 124
flannel, 127
French, 127
folding, 123
Hems, rolled, 126
Herringbone stitch, 116
Home dyeing, 80
Hook and eyes, 147
Hydroscopic moisture, 42
Jacquard loom, 70
Joining lace, 160
Jute, 50
Knit goods, 72
Lace, design of, 208
Laces, use of, 207
Laundering, 225
Lengthening garments, 226
Linen, 86
adulteration of, 87
characteristics of, 47
Lining, cutting, 188
Loading silk, 56
Loons, 17
Colonial, 19, 21, 22
development of, 19
diagram of, 23
fly shuttle, 26
four harness, hand, 21
Jacquard, 70
Japanese, 20
modern, 25, 69
Navajo, 18
Swedish hand, 24
Loop stitch, 116
Madder bleach, 78
Machine darning, 158
sewing, 162
Mending, 83, 225
Mitering embroidery, 758
Modern methods, 59
Mohair, 90
Mordant colors, 79
Muslin, 85
Nankin cotton, 34
Natural dyestuffs, 80
-
INDEX
243
Repairing, 225
Retting flax, 45
Roving, 61
Running stitch, 110
Olona, 53
Ornament, 203
embroidery as, 204
fitness of, 209
flowers as, 205
of textiles, 212
Ornamental stitches, 108, 114
Ornamentation, errors in, 204
Outline stitch, 114
Overcasting, 114, 142
Oversewing, 113
Packing clothing, 220
Passementerie, 206
Patching, 149
Patterns, 171
altering, 173
cloth, 174
lengthening, 173
pinning, 176
placing, 176
selection of, 171
testing, 174
use of, 172
Picking, 59
Piled fabrics, 91
Plackets, 135
faced, 137
Plaids, 213
Plain material, 212
Plush, 77
Pressing, 201
board, 168, 201
wet, 202
Primitive methods, 3
Printing, 81
block, 81
machine, 81
Sateen weave, 79
Satin, 91
stitch, 121
Scouring agents, 41
Sea island cotton, 30
Seams, 128
beaded, 131
felled, 128
flannel, 135
French, 131
lapped, 133
slot, 131
Serges, 88
Seven-gored skirt, 172
Sewing, hand, 107
machine, 162
Sewing machines, 162
care of, 162
types of, 162
use of, 164
Shadow embroidery, 123
Sheep, 39
Shirt waists, cutting, 182
plan for making, 183
Shuttle, 19
artificial, 58
boiling off, 56
fiber, 53
loading, 56, 90
production, 53
raw, 56
twilled, 91
Silk, wash, 91
Silk worm, 54
Silks, 90
Singeing, 78
Skirt, 172
band, 179
Silk, 53
warps, 82
Ramie, 50
Raw silk, 56
Reed, 19
Reeling silk, 54
244
TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Tucked waist, 185
Tucking, 108
Tucks, 128
Unity in dress, 211 •
Upland cotton, 30
Velvet, 92
weave of, 77
Velveteen, 92
Skirt binding, 180
braid, 180
making, 177
placket, 178
plan of making, 173
stiffening, 178
Sleeve making, 183
patterns, 194
Sleeves, cutting, 194, 195
finish of, 197
pressing, 198
putting in, 197
Slip-stitching, 125
Slot seams, 131
Speck dye, 83
Spindle, 6
whorl, 6
Spinning, 3, 59
primitive, 3
wheel, 12
with spindle, 6
Stains, 221
Stitches, 107
ornamental, 108, 114
plain, 107
Stockinet undergarments, 216
Stripes, 213
Stroking gathers, III
Waists, 185
lined, 186
plan for making, 187
repairing, 227
tucked, 185
Wash silk, 91
Warping, 69
Weave, 72
diagrams, 73
plain, 73
basket, 76
double cloth, 77
rib, 76
sateen, 76
twill, 74
velvet, 77
Weaving, 14, 69
Wet pressing, 202
Wheel spinning, 12
Whipping stitch, 113
Whori, spindle, 6
Widths of fabrics, 93
Wool 37
Table linen, 87
Teazels, 83
Textile arts, origin of, 3
Textiles, 85, 212
design of, 212
list of, 96, 102
ornament of, 212
weaves, 72
Texture, 214
Trimming, 210
Tweeds, 88
Harris, 89
Twills, 74
Cassimere, 73, 75
uneven, 75
characteristics of, 37
fiber, 36
quality of, 38
scouring, 40
sorting, 40
value for clothing, 37
Woolens, 88
Worsteds, 88
Yokes, 200
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE
SCHON SOLO
BY
MARION FOSTER WASHBURNE
ASSOCIATE EDITOR MOTHER'S MAGAZINE
AUTHOR "EVERYDAY ESSAYS"
"FAMILY SECRETS, ETC.
LECTURER TO CHICAGO FROEBEL ASSOCIATION
E HOME
CHICAGO
AMERICAN SCHOOL OF HOME ECONOMICS
1913
COPYRIGHT, 1905, BY
AMERICAN SCHOOL OF HOUSEHOLD ECONOMICS
COPYRIGHT, 1906, 1910, BY
HOME ECONOMICS ASSOCIATION
Entered at Stationers Hall, London
SU Rights Reserved
CONTENTS
V
AN OPEN LETTER
DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILD
.
3
FAULTS AND THEIR REMEDIES
26
CHARACTER BUILDING
59
PLAY
76
OCCUPATIONS
90
ART AND LITERATURE IN CHILD LIFE
100
119
STUDIES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
FINANCIAL TRAINING
126
RELIGIOUS TRAINING
131
APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES
141
OTHER PEOPLE'S CHILDREN
145
.
149
152
157
THE SEX QUESTION
FATHERS
THE UNCONSCIOUS INFLUENCE
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
SUPPLEMENTAL STUDY PROGRAM
160
.
.
170
175
INDEX
179
ži
AMERICAN SCHOOL OF HOME ECONOMICS
CHIOACO
January 1, 1907.
My dear Madam:
In beginning this subject of the
"Study of Child Life" there may be lurking doubts
in your mind as to whether any reliable rules can
really be laid down. They seem to arise mostly
from the perception of the great difference bem
tween children. What will do for one child will
not do for another. Some children are easily per-
suaded and gentle, others willful, still others
suilen or unresponsive. How, then, is it possi-
ble that a system of education and training can
be devised suitable for their various disposi-
tions?
We must remember that children are much more
alike than they are different. One may have blue
eyes, another gray, another black, but they all
have two. We are, therefore, in a position to
make rules for creatures having two eyes and
these rules apply to eyes of all colors. Child-
ren may be nervous, sanguine, bilious, or pleth-
oric, but they all have the same kind of inter-
nal organs and the same general rules of health
apply to thom all
In this series of lessons I have endeavored
to set forth principles briefly and to confirm
them by instances within the experience of every
observer of childhood. . The rules given are such
as are held at present by the best educators to
be based upon sound philosophy, not at variance
with the slight array or scientific facts at our
command. Perhaps you yourself may be able to add
to the number of reliable facts inteiligently re-
ported that must be collected before much greater
scientific advance is possible.
There is, to be sure, an art of application
of these rules both in matters of health of body
and of health of mind and this art must be worked
out by each mother for each individual child.
We all recognize that it is a long endeavor
before we can apply to our own lives such prin-
ciples of conduct as we heartily acknowledge to
be right. Why, then, expect to be able to apply
principles instantly and unerringly to a little
child? If a rule fails when you attempt to apply
it, before questioning the principle, may it not
be well to question your own tact and skills
So far as I can advise with you in special
instances of difficulty, I shall be very glad to
do so; not that I shall always know what to do
myself, but that we can get a little more light
upon the problems by conferring together. I
know well how difficult a matter this of child
training is, for every day, in the management of
my own t'amily of children, I find such philosophy,
science and art as I can command very much put to
the test.
Sincerely yours,
Marion Joshe Washburner
Instructor
(Copyrighted E. A. Perry.)
FREIDRICH FROEBEL
By courtesy of The Perry Pictures Co.. Malden, Mass.
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE
PART I.
THE young of the human species is less able to
care for itself than the young of any other spe-
cies. Most other creatures are able to walk, or at any
rate stand, within a few hours of birth. But the human
baby is absolutely dependent and helpless, unable even
to manufacture all the animal heat that he requires.
The study of his condition at birth at once suggests
a number of practical procedures, some of them quite
at variance with the traditional procedures.
HOW THE CHILD DEVELOPS
Condition
at Birth
Let us see, then, exactly what his condition is. In
the first place, he is, as Virchow, an authority on phy-
siological subjects declares, merely a spinal animal.
Some of the higher brain centers do not yet exist at
all, while others are in too incomplete a state for serv-
ice. The various sensations which the baby experi-
ences-heat, light, contact, motion, etc.—are so many
stimuli to the development of these centers. If the
stimulus is too great, the development is sometimes
unduly hastened, with serious results, which show
themselves chiefly in later life. The child who is
brought up in a noisy room, is constantly talked to
and fondled, is likely to develop prematurely, to talk
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Weight
at Birth
and walk at an early age; also to fall into nervous
decay at an early age. And even if by reason of an
unusually good heredity he escapes these dangers, it
is almost certain that his intellectual power is not so
great in adult life as it would have been under more
favorable conditions. A new baby, like a young plant,
requires darkness and quiet for the most part. As
he grows older, and shows a spontaneous interest in
his surroundings, he may fittingly have more light,
more companionship, and experience more sensations.
The average boy baby weighs about seven pounds
at birth; the average girl, about six and a half pounds.
The head is larger in proportion to the body than in
after life; the nose is incomplete, the legs short and
bowed, with a tendency to fall back upon the body
with the knees flexed. This natural tendency should
be allowed full play, for the flexed position is said to
be favorable to the growth of the bones, permitting
the cartilaginous ends of the bones to lie free from
pressure at the joints.
The plates of the skull are not complete and do not
fit together at the edges. Great care needs to be taken
of the soft spot thus left exposed on the top of the
head—the undeveloped place where the edges of these
bones come together. Any injury here in early life is
liable to affect the mind.
The bony enclosures of the middle ear are unfin-
ished and the eyes also are unfinished. It is a ques-
tion yet to be settled, whether a new-born baby is blind
State of
Development
HOW THE CHILD DEVELOPS.
5
and deaf or not. At any rate, he soon acquires a
sensitiveness to both light and sound, although it is
three years or more before he has amassed sufficient
experience to estimate with accuracy the distance of
objects seen or heard. He can cry, suck, sneeze,
cough, kick, and hold on to a finger. All of these acts,
though they do not yet imply personality, or even
mind, give evidence of a wonderful organism. They
require the co-operation of many delicate nerves and
muscles—a co-operation that has as yet baffled the
power of scientists to explain.
Although the young baby is in almost constant
motion while he is awake, he is altogether too weak to
turn himself in bed or to escape from an uncomforta-
ble position, and he remains so for many weeks. This
constant motion is necessary to his muscular develop-
ment, his control of his own muscles, his circulation,
and, very probably, to the free transmission of nerv-
ous energy. Therefore, it is of the first importance
that he has freedom to move, and he should be given
time every day to move and stretch before the fire,
without clothes on. It is well to rub his back and
legs at the same time, thus supplementing his gym-
nastics with a gentle massage.
By the time he is four or five weeks old it is safe to
play with him a little every day, and Froebel has made
his “Play with the Limbs” one oi his first educational
exercises. In this play the mother lays the baby, un-
dressed, upon a pillow and catches the little ankles in
Educational
Beginnings
6
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
First
Efforts
her hands. Sometimes she prevents the baby from
kicking, so that he has to struggle to get his legs free;
sometimes she helps him, so that he kicks more freely
and regularly; sometimes she lets him push hard
against her breast. All the time she laughs and sings
to him, and Froebel has made a little song for this
purpose. Since consciousness is roused and deepened
by sensations, remembered, experienced, and com-
pared, it is evident that this is more than a fanciful
play; that it is what Froebel claimed for it—a real
educational exercise. By means of it the child may
gain some consciousness of companionship, and thus,
by contrast, a deeper self-consciousness.
The baby is at first unable to hold up its head, and
in this he is just like all other animals, for no animal,
except man, holds up its head constantly. The human
baby apparently makes the effort because he desires
to see more clearly-he could doubtless see clearly
enough for all physical purposes with his head hung
down, but not enough to satisfy his awakening men-
tality. The effort to hold the head up and to look
around is therefore regarded by most psychologists
as one of the first tokens of an awakening intellectual
life. And this is true, although the first effort seems
to arise from an overplus of nervous energy which
makes the neck muscles contract, just as it makes
other muscles contract. The first slight raisings of the
head are like the first kicking movements, merely im-
pulsive; but the child soon sees the advantage of this
HOW THE CHILD DEVELOPS.
7.
Reflex
Grasping
apparently accidental movement and tries to master it.
Preyer* considers that the efforts to balance the head
are among the first indications that the child's will is
taking possession of his muscies. His own boy ar-
rived at this point when he was between three and
four months old.
The grasp of the new-born baby's hand has a sur-
prising power, but the baby himself has little to do
with it. The muscles act because of a stimulus pre-
sented by the touch of the fingers, very much as the
muscles of a decapitated frog contract when the cur-
rent of electricity passes over them. This is called
reflex grasping, and Dr. Louis Robinson, † thinking
that this early strength of grasp was an important
illustration of and evidence for evolution, tried ex-
periments on some sixty new-born babies. He found
that they could sustain their whole weight by the
arms alone when their hands were clasped about a
slender rod. They grasped the rod at once and could
be lifted from the bed by it and kept in this position
about half a minute. He argued that this early strength
of arm, which soon begins to disappear, was a sur-
vival from the remote period when the baby's ances-
tors were monkeys or monkey-like people who lived
in trees.
However this may be, during the first week the
baby's hands are much about his face. By accide
*W. Preyer, Professor of Physiology, of Jena, author of
"The Mind of the Child.” D. Appleton & Co,
+Dr. Robinson, Physician and Evolutionist,
Eclectic, Vol. 29.
Beginnings
of Will Power
paper
in
The
8
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Growth
of Will
they reach the mouth, they are sucked; the child feels
himself suck its own fist; he feels his fist being
sucked. Some day it will occur to him that that fist
belongs to the same being who owns the sucking
mouth. But at this point, as Miss Shinn* has ob-
served, the baby is often surprised and indignant that
he cannot move his arms around and at the same time
suck his fist. This discomfort helps him to make an
effort to get his fist into his mouth and keep it there,
and this effort shows his will beginning to take pos-
session of his hands and arms.
Since any faculty grows by its own exercise, just
as muscles grow by exercise, every time the baby suc-
ceeds in getting his hands to his mouth as a result of
desire, every time that he succeeds in grasping an
object as a result of desire, his will power grows.
Action of this nature brings in new sensations, and
the brain centers used for recording such sensations
grow.
As the sensations multiply, he compares them, and
an idea is born. For the beginnings of mental devel-
opment no other mechanism is actually needed than a
brain and a hand and the nerves connecting them.
Laura Bridgeman and Helen Keller, both of them
deaf and blind, received their education almost entirely
through their hands, and yet they were unusually capa-
ble of thinking. The child's hands, then, from the
beginning, are the servants of his brain-instruments
*Miss Millicent Shinn, American Psychologist, author of "Bi-
ography of a Baby."
HOW THE CHILD DEVELOPS.
9
Intentional
Grasping
by means of which he carries impressions from the
outer world to the seat of consciousness, and by which
in turn he imprints his consciousness upon the outer
world.
The average baby does not begin to grasp objects
with intention before the fourth month. The first
grasping seems to be done by feeling, without the aid
of the eye, and is done with the fingers with no at-
tempt to oppose the thumb to them. So closely does
the use of the thumbs set opposite the fingers in
grasping coincide with the first grasping with the aid
of sight, that some observers have been led to be-
lieve that as soon as the baby learns to use its thumb
in this way he proves that he is beginning to grasp
with intention.
The order of development seems to be, first, automa-
tism, the muscles contracting of themselves in response
to nervous stimuli; second, instinct, the inherited wis-
dom of the race, which discovered ages ago that the
hand could be used to greater advantage when the
thumb was separated from the fingers; and thirdly,
the child's own intelligence and will making use of
this natural and inherited machinery. This order holds
true of the development, not only of the hand, but
of the whole organism.
A little earlier than this, during the third month,
the baby first looks upon his own hands and notices
them. Darwin tells us that his boy looked at his own
hands and seemed to study them until his eyes crossed.
Order of
Development
Looking
IO
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Tearing
About the same time the child notices his foot and uses
his hand to carry it to its mouth. It is some time later
that he discovers that he can move his feet without
his hands.
About this time, three or four months old, the child
begins to tear paper into pieces, and may be easily
taught to let the pieces that have found their way into
his mouth be taken out again. Now, too, he begins
to throw things, or to drop them; then he wants to
get them back again, and the patient mother must pick
them up and give them back many times. Sometimes
a baby is punished for this proclivity, but it is really
a part of his development, and at least once a day he
should be allowed to play in this manner to his heart's
content. It is tact, not discipline, that is needed, and
the more he is helped the sooner he will live through
this stage and come to the next point where he begins
to throw things.
In this stage, of course, he must be given the
proper things to throw-small, bright-colored worsted
balls, bean-bags, and other harmless objects. If he is
allowed to discover the pleasure there is in smashing
glass and china, he will certainly be, for a time, a very
destructive little person.
When later he is able to
creep—to throw his ball and creep after it—he will
amuse himself for hours at a time, and so relieve those
who have patiently attended him up to this time. In
general we may lay down the rule that the more time
and attention of the right sort is given to a young
Throwing
HOW THE CHILD DEVELOPS.
II
The
Grasping
Instinct
child, the less will need to be given as he grows older.
it is poor economy to neglect a young child, and try
to make it up on the growing boy or girl. This is
to substitute a complicated and difficult problem for a
simple one.
It is some time before a child's will can so overcome
his newly-acquired tendency to grasp every possible
object that he can keep his hands off of anything that
invites him. The many battles between mothers and
children on the subject of not touching forbidden
gs are at this stage a genuine wrong and injus-
tice to the child. So young a child is scarcely more
responsible for touching whatever he can reach than
is a piece of steel for being drawn toward a powerful
magnet. Preyer says that it is years before voluntary
inhibitions of grasping become possible. The child
has not the necessary brain machinery. Commands
and spatting of the hands create bewilderment and
tend to build up a barrier between mother and child.
Instead of doing such things, simply put high out of
reach and sight whatever the child must not touch.
Another way in which young children are often
made to suffer because of the ignorance of parents is
the leaving of undesired food on the child's plate.
Every child, when he does not want his food, pushes
the plate away from him, and many mothers push it
back and scold. The real truth is that the motor sug-
gestion of the food upon the plate is so strong that
the child feels as if he were being forced to eat it
I2
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
The Three
Months' Baby
Danger of
Forcing
every
time he looks at the plate; to escape from eating
it he is obliged to push it out of sight.
But this difficulty comes later. Now we are con-
cerned with a three-months-old baby. At this stage
the child is usually able to balance his head, to sit up
against pillows, to seize and grasp objects, and to
hold out his arms when he wishes to be taken.
Al-
though he may have made a number of efforts to sit
erect, and may have succeeded for a few minutes at a
time, he still is far from being able to sit alone, unsup-
ported. This he does not accomplish until the fifth
or sixth month.
There is nothing to be gained by trying to make
him sit alone sooner; indeed, there is danger in it-
danger in forcing young bones and muscles to do
work beyond their strength, and danger also to the
nerves. It is safe to say that a normal child always
exercises all its faculties to the utmost without need
of urging, and any exercise beyond the point of natural
fatigue, if persisted in, is sure to bring about abnormal
results.
The first efforts toward creeping often appear in the
bath when the child turns over and raises himself
upon his hands and knees. This is a sign that he
might creep sooner, if he were not impeded by cloth-
ing. He should be allowed to spread himself upon a
blanket every day for an hour or two, and to get on
his knees as frequently as he pleases. Often he needs
a little help to make him creep forward, for most
Creeping
HOW THE CHILD DEVELOPS.
13
babies creep
backward at first, their arms being
stronger than their legs. Here the mother may safely
interfere, pushing the legs as they ought to go and
showing the child how to manage himself; for very
often he becomes much excited over his inability to
creep forward.
Climbing
The climbing instinct begins to appear by this time
—the seventh month—and here the stair-case has its
great advantage. It ought not to be shut from him
by a gate, but he should be taught how to climb up
and down it in safety. To do this, start him at the
head of the stairs, and, you yourself being below him,
draw first one knee and then the other over the step,
thus showing him how to creep backward. Two les-
sons of about twenty minutes each will be sufficient.
The only danger is in creeping down head foremost,
but if he once learns thoroughly to go backward, and
has not been allowed the other way at all, he will never
dream of trying it. In going down backward, if he
should slip, he can easily save himself by catching
the stairs with his hands as he slips past.
The child who creeps is often later in his attempts
to walk than the child who does not; and, therefore,
when he is ready to walk, his legs will be all the
stronger, and the danger of bow-legs will be past.
As long as the child remains satisfied with creeping, he
is not yet ready either mentally or physically for
walking.
14
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Standing
Walking
If the child has been allowed to creep about freely,
he will soon be standing. He will pull himself to his
feet by means of any chair, table, or indeed anything
that he may get hold of. To avoid injuring him, no
flimsy chairs or spindle-legged tables should be allowed
in his nursery. He will next begin to sidle around a
chair, shuffling his feet in a vague fashion, and some-
times, needing both of his hands to seize some coveted
object, he will stand without clinging, leaning on his
stomach. An unhurried child may remain at this
stage for weeks.
Let alone, as he should be, he will walk without
knowing how he does it, and will be the stronger for
having overcome his difficulties himself. He should
not be coaxed to stand or walk. The things in his
room actually urge him to come and get them. Any
further persuasion is forced, and may urge him be-
yond his strength.
Walking-chairs and baby-jumpers are injurious in.
this respect. They keep the child from his native free-
dom of sprawling, climbing, and pulling himself up.
The activity they do permit is less varied and helpful
than the normal activity, and the child, restricted from
the preparatory motions, begins to walk too soon.
A curious fact in the growth of children is that they
seem to grow heavier for a certain period, and then
to grow taller for a similar period. That is, a very
young baby, say, two months old, will grow fatter for
about six weeks, and then for the next six weeks will
Alternate
Growth
HOW THE CHILD 15
child
DEVELOPS.
Precocity
grow longer, while the child of six years changes his
manner of growth every three or four months. These
periods are variable, or at least their law has not yet
been established, but the observant mother can soon
make the period out for herself in the case of her
own child. For two or three days, when the manner
of growth seems to be changing from breadth to
length, and vice versa, the children are likely to be
unusually nervous and irritable, and these aberrations
must, of course, be patiently borne with.
In all these things some children develop earlier
than others, but too early development is to be re-
gretted. Precocious children are always of a delicate
nervous organization. Fiske* has proved to us that
the reason why the human young is so far more help-
less and dependent than the young of any other species
is because the activities of the human race have be-
come so many, so widely varied, and so complex, that
they could not fix themselves in the nervous struc-
ture before birth. There are only a few things that
the chick needs to know in order to lead a successful
chicken life; as a consequence these few things are
well impressed upon the small brain before ever he
chips the shell; but the baby needs to learn a great
many things—so many that there is no time or room
to implant them before birth, or, indeed, in the few
years immediately succeeding birth. To hurry the
*John Fiske, writer on Evolutionary Philosophy. His theory
of infancy is perhaps his most important contribution to
science
16
child
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Early
Ripening
development, therefore, of certain few of these facul-
ties, like the faculties of talking, and walking, of
imitation or response, is to crowd out many other fac-
ulties perhaps just beginning to grow. Such forcing
will limit the child's future development to the few
faculties whose growth is thus early stimulated. Pre-
cocity in a child, therefore, is a thing to be deplored.
His early ripening foretells an early decay; and a
wise mother is she who gives her child ample opportu-
nity for growing, but no urging.
Ample opportunity for growth includes (1) Whole-
some surroundings, (2) Sufficient sleep, (3) Proper
clothing, (4) Nourishing food. We will take up these
topics in order.
Ample
Opportunity
for Growth
WHOLESOME SURROUNDINGS.
The whole house in which the child lives ought to
be well warmed and equally well aired. Sunlight also
is necessary to his well-being. If it is impossible to
have this in every room, as sometimes happens in city
homes, at least the nursery must have it. In the cen-
tral States of the Union plants and trees exposed to the
southern sun put forth their leaves two weeks sooner
than those exposed to the north. The infant cannot
fail to profit by the same condition, for the young
child may be said to lead in part a vegetative as well
as an animal life, and to need air and sunshine and
warmth as much as plants do. The very best room
in the house is not too good for the nursery, for in
JOHN FISKE
18
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Tempera-
ture
Fresh Air
no other room is such important and delicate work
being done.
The temperature is a matter of importance. It
should not be decided by guess-work, but a ther-
mometer should be hung upon a wall at a place
equally removed from draft and from the source of
heat. The temperature for children during the first
year should be about 70 degrees Fahrenheit during the
day and not lower than 50 degrees at night. Children
who sleep with the mother will not be injured by a
temperature 5 to 20 degrees lower at night.
It is important to provide means for the ingress of
fresh air. It is not sufficient to air the room from
another room, unless that other room has in it an
open window. Even then the nursery windows should
be opened wide from fifteen minutes to half an hour
night and morning, while the child is in another room;
and this even when the weather is at zero or below.
It does not take long to warm up a room that has
been aired. Perhaps the best means of obtaining the
ingress of fresh air without creating a draft upon
the floor, where the baby spends so much of his time,
is to raise the window six inches at the top or bot-
tom and insert a board cut to fit the aperture.
But no matter how well ventilated the nursery may
be, all children more than six weeks old need unmodi-
fied outside air, and need it every day, no matter
what the weather, unless they are sick.
Daily
Outing
SLEEP.
19
The daily outing secures them better appetites, quiet
sleep, and calmer nerves. Let them be properly clothed
and protected in their carriages, and all weathers are
good for them.
Children who take their naps in their baby-carriages
may with advantage be wheeled into a sheltered spot,
covered warmly, and left to sleep in the outer air.
They are likely to sleep longer than in the house, and
find more refreshment in their sleep.
SUFFICIENT SLEEP.
Few children in America get as much sleep as they
really need. Preyer gives the record of his own child,
and the hours which this child found necessary for
his sleep and growth may be taken for a standard. In
the first month, sixteen, in full, out of twenty-four
hours were spent in sleep. The sleep rarely lasted
beyond two hours at a time. In the second month
about the same amount was spent in sleep, which lasted
from three to six hours at a time. In the sixth month,
it lasted from six to eight hours at a time, and began
to diminish to fifteen hours in the twenty-four. In
the thirteenth month, fourteen hours' sleep daily; in
the seventeenth, prolonged sleep began, ten hours
without interruption; in the twentieth, prolonged sleep
became habitual, and sleep in the day-time was re-
duced to two hours. In the third year, the night sleep
lasted regularly from eleven to twelve hours, and
sleep in the daytime was no longer required.
20
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Naps
Preyer's record stops here. But it may be added
that children from three to eight years still require
eleven hours' sleep; and, although the child of three
may not need a daily nap, it is well for him, until he
is six years old, to lie still for an hour in the middle
of the day, amusing himself with a picture book or
paper and pencil, but not played with or talked to by
any other person. Such a rest in the middle of the
day favors the relaxation of muscles and nerves and
breaks the strain of a long day of intense activity.
PROPER
CLOTHING
Proper clothing for a child includes three things:
(a) Equal distribution of warmth, (b) Freedom from
restraint, (c) Light weight.
Equal distribution of warmth is of great impor-
tance, and is seldom attained. The ordinary dress for
a young baby, for example, leaves the arms and the
upper part of the chest unprotected by more than one
thickness of flannel and one of cotton—the shirt and
the dress. About the child's middle, on the contrary,
there are two thicknesses of flannel—a shirt and band
—and five of cotton, i. e., the double bands of the
white and flannel petticoats, and the dress. Over the
legs, again, are two thicknesses of flannel and two of
cotton, i. e., the pinning blanket, flannel skirt, white
skirt, and dress. The child in a comfortably warm
house needs two thicknesses of flannel and one of cot-
ton all over it, and no more.
CLOTHING
21
The
Gertrude
Suit
The practice of putting extra wrappings about the
abdomen is responsible for undue tenderness of those
organs. Dr. Grosvenor, of Chicago, who designed a
model costume for a baby, which he called the Ger-
trude suit, says that many cases of rupture are due
to bandaging of the abdomen. When the child cries
the abdominal walls normally expand; if they are
tightly bound, they cannot do this, and the pressure
upon one single part, which the bandages may not hold
quite firmly, becomes overwhelming, and results in
rupture. Dr. Grosvenor also thinks that many cases
of weak lungs, and even of consumption in later life,
are due to the tight bands of the skirts pressing upon
the soft ribs of the young child, and narrowing the
lung space.
Freedom from restraint. Not only should the
clothes not bind the child's body in any way, but they
should not be so long as to prevent free exercise of
the legs. The pinning-blanket is objectionable on this
account. It is difficult for the child to kick in it;
and as we nave seen before, kicking is necessary to
the proper development of the legs. Undue length of
skirt operates in the same way—the weight of cloth
is a check upon activity. The first garment of a young
baby should not be more than a yard in length from
the neck to the bottom of the hem, and three-quarters
of a yard is enough for the inner garment.
The sleeves, too, should be large and loose, and the
arm-size should be roomy, so as to prevent chafing.
Objection
to the
Pinning
Blanket
22
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
The sleeves may be tied in at the wrist with a ribbon
to insure warmth.
Lightness of weight. The underclothing should be
made of pure wool, so as to gain the greatest amount
of warmth from the least weight. In the few cases
where wool would cause irritation, a silk and wool
mixture makes a softer, but more expensive garment.
Under the best conditions, clothes restrict and impede
free development somewhat, and the heavier they are
the more they impede it. Therefore, the effort should
be to get the greatest amount of warmth with the least
possible weight. Knit garments attain this most per-
fectly, but the next best thing is all-wool flannel of a
fine grade. The weave known as stockinet is best of
all, because goods thus made cling to the body and yet
restrict its activity very little.
The best garments for a baby are made according to
the accompanying diagram.
They consist of three garments, to be worn one
over the other, each one an inch longer in every way
than the underlying one. The first is a princess gar-
ment, made of white stockinet, which takes the place
of shirt, pinning-blanket, and band. Before cutting
this out, a box-pleat an inch and a half wide should
be laid down the middle of the front, and a side pleat
three-fourths of an inch wide on either side of the
placket in the back. The sleeve should have a tuck an
inch wide. These tucks and pleats are better run in
by hand, so that they may be easily ripped. As the
Princess
Garment
CLOTHING
23
baby grows and the flannel shrinks, these tucks and
pleats can be let out.
The next garment, which goes over this, is made in
FRONT
SLEEVE
BACK
FRONT
WAISTI
HALF OF SKIRT
SLEEVE
DIAGRAM OF THE “GERTRUDE” SUIT,
the same way, only an inch larger in every measure-
ment. It is made of baby flannel, and takes the place
24
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
of the flannel petticoat with its cotton band. Over
these two garments any ordinary dress may be worn.
Dressed in this suit, the child is evenly covered with
two thicknesses of flannel and one of cotton. As the
skirts are rather short, however, and he is expected to
move his legs about freely, he may well wear long
white wool stockings.
As the child grows older, the principles underlying
this method of clothing should be borne in mind, and
clothes should be designed and adapted so as to meet
these three requirements.
FOOD.
Natural
Food
The natural food of a young baby is his mother's
milk, and no satisfactory substitute for it has yet been
found. Some manufactured baby foods do well for
certain children; to others they are almost poison;
and for none of them are they sufficient. The milk
of the cow is not designed for the human infant. It
contains too much casein, and is too difficult of diges-
tion. Various preparations of milk and grains are rec-
ommended by nurses and physicians, but no conscien-
tious nurse or physician pretends that any of them
begins to equal the nutritive value of human milk.
More women can nurse their babies than now think
they can; the advertisements of patent foods lead
them to think the matter of little importance, and
they do not make the necessary effort to preserve and
increase the natural supply of milk. The family phy-
FOOD.
25
Bottle-fod
Babies
sician can almost always better the condition of the
mother who really desires to nurse her own child, and
he should be consulted and his directions obeyed. The
importance of a really great effort in this direction is
shown by the fact that the physical culture records,
now so carefully kept in many of our schools and col-
leges, prove that bottle-fed babies are more likely to
be of small stature, and to have deficient bones, teeth
and hair, than children who have been fed on mother's
milk.
The food question is undoubtedly the most impor-
tant problem to the physical welfare of the child, and
has, as well, a most profound effect upon his disposi-
tion and character. Indiscriminate feeding is the cause
of much of the trouble and worry of mothers. This
subject is taken up at length in other papers of this
course, and it will suffice to say here that the table of
the family with young children should be regulated
largely by the needs of the growing sons and daugh-
ters. The simplified diet necessary may well be of
benefit to other members of the family.
Simple
Diet
The Child's
World
and
the Adult's
World
FAULTS AND THEIR REMEDIES.
The child born of perfect parents, brought up per-
fectly, in a perfect environment, would probably have
no faults. Even such a child, however, would be at
times inconvenient, and would do and say things at
variance with the order of the adult world. Therefore
he might seem to a hasty, prejudiced observer to be
naughty. And, indeed, imperfectly born, imperfectly
trained as children now are, many of their so-called
faults are no more than such inconvenient crossings
of an immature will with an adult will.
No grown person, for instance, likes to be inter-
rupted, and is likely to regard the child who inter-
rupts him
wilfully naughty. No young child, on
the contrary, objects to being interrupted in his speech,
though he may object to being interrupted in his play;
and he cannot understand why an adult should set
so much store on the quiet listening which is so infre-
quent in his own experience. Grown persons object to
noise; children delight in it. Grown persons like to
have things kept in their places; to a child, one place
is as good as another. Grown persons have a preju-
dice in favor of cleanliness, children like to swim, but
hate to wash, and have no objections whatever to
grimy hands and faces. None of these things imply
the least degree of obliquity on the child's part; and
yet it is safe to say that nine-tenths of the children
JEAN PAUL RICHTER
28
ŠTUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Real
Faults
who are punished are punished for some of these
things. The remedy for these inconveniences is time
and patience. The child, if left to himself, without a
word of admonishment, would probably change his
conduct in these respects, merely by the force of imi-
tation, provided that the adults around him set him
a persistent example of courtesy, gentleness, and clean-
liness.
The faults that are real faults, as Richter* says, are
those faults which increase with age. These it is that
need attention rather than those that disappear of
themselves as the child grows older. This rule ought
to be put in large letters, that every one who has to
train children may be daily reminded by it; and not
exercise his soul and spend his force in trying to over-
come little things which may perhaps be objectionable,
but which will vanish to-morrow. Concentrate your .
energies on the overcoming of such tendencies as may
in time develop into permanent evils.
To accomplish this, you must, of course, train the
child's own will, because no one can force another
person into virtue against his will. The chief object
of all training is, as we shall see in the next section,
to lead the child to love righteousness, to prefer right
doing to wrong doing; to make right doing a perma-
nent desire. Therefore, in all the procedures about
Training
the Will
*Jean Paul Richter, “Der einsige." German writer and
philosopher. His rather whimsical and fragmentary book on
education, called "Levana," contains some rare scraps of wis-
dom much used by later writers on educational topics.
FAULTS AND THEIR REMEDIES.
29
Natural
Punishment
Breaking
the Will
to be suggested, an effort is made to convince the
child of the ugliness and painfulness of wrong doing.
Punishment, as Herbert Spencer* agrees with Froe-
belt in pointing out, should be as nearly as possible a
representation of the natural result of the child's
action; that is, the fault should be made to punish
itself as much as possible without the interference of
any outside person; for the object is not to make the
child bend his will to the will of another, but to make
him see the fault itself as an undesirable thing.
The effort to break the child's will has long been
recognized as disastrous by all educators. A broken
will is a worse misfortune than a broken back. In
the latter case the man is physically crippled; in the
former, he is morally crippled. It is only a strong,
unbroken, persistent will that is adequate to achieve
self-mastery, and mastery of the difficulties of life.
The child who is too yielding and obedient in his early
days is only too likely to be weak and incompetent in
his later days. The habit of submission to a more
mature judgment is a bad habit to insist upon. The
child should be encouraged to think out things for
himself; to experiment and discover for himself why
his ideas do not work; and to refuse to give them up
until he is genuinely convinced of their impractica-
bility.
*Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher and Scientist. His
book on "Education" is sound and practical.
+Freidrich Froebel, German Philosopher and Educator,
founder of the Kindergarten system, and inaugurator of the
new education. His two great books are “The Education of
Man" and "The Mother Play."
30
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Emergencies
It is true that there are emergencies in which his
immature judgment and undisciplined will must yield
to wiser judgment and steadier will; but such yield-
ing should not be suffered to become habitual. It is a
safety valve merely, to be employed only when the
pressure of circumstances threatens to become danger-
ous. An engine whose safety valve should be always
in operation could never generate much power. Nor
is there much difficulty in leading even a very strong-
willed and obstinate child to give up his own way
under extraordinary circumstances. If he is not in
the habit of setting up his own will against that of his
mother or teacher, he will not set it up when the quick,
unfamiliar word of command seems to fit in with the
unusual circumstances. Many parents practice cry-
ing “Wolf! wolf !” to their children, and call the
practice a drill of self-control; but they meet inevitably
with the familiar consequences: when the real wolf
comes the hackneyed cry, often proved false, is dis-
regarded.
When the will is rightly trained, disobedience is a
fault that rarely appears, because, of course, where
obedience is seldom required, it is seldom refused.
The child needs to obey—that is true; but so does
his mother need to obey, and all other persons about
him. They all need to obey God, to obey the laws of
nature, the impulses of kindness, and to follow after
the ways of wisdom. Where such obedience is a set-
tled habit of the entire household, it easily, and, as
Disobedience
HERBERT SPENCER
32
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
it were, unconsciously, becomes the habit of the child.
Where such obedience is not the habit of the house-
hold, it is only with great difficulty that it can become
the habit of the child. His will must set itself
against its instinct of imitativeness, and his small
house, not yet quite built, must be divided against
itself. Probably no child ever rendered entire obe-
dience to any adult who did not himself hold
his own wishes in subjection. As Emerson says:
"In dealing with my child, my Latin and my Greek,
my accomplishments and my money, stead me
nothing, but as much soul as I have avails. If I am
willful, he sets his will against mine, one for one, and
leaves me, if I please, the degradation of beating him
by my superiority of strength. But, if I renounce my
will and act for the soul, setting that up as an umpire
between us two, out of his young eyes looks the same
soul; he reveres and loves with me.”
Suppose the child to be brought to such a stage
that he is willing to do anything his father or moth-
er says; suppose, even, that they never tell him
to do anything that he does not afterwards
discover to be reasonable and just; still, what has he
gained ? For twenty years he has not had the respon-
sibility for a single action, for a single decision, right
or wrong. What is permitted is right to him; what
is forbidden is wrong. When he goes out into the
world without his parents, what will happen? At the
best he will not lie, or steal, or commit murder. That
Negative
Goodness
FAULTS AND THEIR REMEDIES.
33
Real
Disobedienco
is, he will do none of these things in their bald and
simple form.
But in their beginnings these are hidden under a
mask of virtue and he has never been trained to look
öeneath that mask; as happened to Richard Feveril,
sin may spring upon him unaware. Some one else,
all his life, has labeled things for him; he is not in
the habit of judging for himself. He is blind, deaf,
and helpless—a plaything of circumstances. It is a
chance whether he falls into sin or remains blameless.
Disobedience, then, in a true sense, does not mean
failure to do as he is told to do. It means failure to
do the things that he knows to be right. He must be
taught to listen and obey the voice of his own con-
science; and if that voice should ever speak, as it
sometimes does, differently from the voice of the con-
science of his parents or teachers, its dictates must still
be respected by these older and wiser persons, and he
must be permitted to do this thing which in itself may
be foolish, but which is not foolish to him.
And, on the other hand, the child who will have his
own way even when he knows it to be
wrong
should
be allowed to have it within reasonable limits. Richter
says, leave to him the sorry victory, only exercising suf-
ficient ingenuity to make sure that it is a sorry one.
What he must be taught is that it is not at all a pleasure
to have his own way, unless his own way happens to be
right; and this he can only be taught by having his own
way when the results are plainly disastrous. Every time
Liberty
*“The Ordeal of Richard Feveril," by George Meredith.
34
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Self-
Punish-
ment
that a willful child does wliat he wants to do, and
suffers sharply for it, he learns a lesson that nothing
but this experience can teach him.
But his suffering must be plainly seen to be the re-
sult of his deed, and not the result of his mother's
anger. For example, a very young child who is deter-
mined to play with fire may be allowed to touch the
hot lamp or a stove, whenever affairs can be so ar-
ranged that he is not likely to burn himself too se-
verely. One such lesson is worth all the hand-spat-
tings and cries of "No, no!" ever resorted to by
anxious parents. If he pulls down the blocks that
you have built up for him, they should stay down,
while you get out of the room, if possible, in order
to evade all responsibility for that unpleasant result.
Prohibitions are almost useless. In order to con-
vince yourself of this, get some one to command you
not to move your right arm, or to wink your eye. You
will find it almost impossible to obey for even a few
moments. The desire to move your arm, which was
not at all conscious before, will become overpowering.
The prohibition acts like a suggestion, and is an impli-
cation that you would do the negative act unless you
were commanded not to. Miss Alcott, in “Little Men,"
well illustrates this fact in the story of the children
who were told not to put beans up their noses, and
who straightway filled their noses with beans.
As we shall see in the next section, Froebel meets
this difficulty by substituting positive commands for
FAULTS AND THEIR REMEDIES.
35
Positivo
Commands
prohibitions; that is, he tells the child to do instead of
telling him not to do. Tiedemann* says that example
is the first great evolutionary teacher, and liberty is
the second. In the overcoming of disobedience, no
other teachers are needed. The method
The method may be
tedious; it may be many years before the erratic will
is finally led to work in orderly channels; but there
is no possibility of abridging the process. There is
no short and sudden cure for disobedience, and the
only hope for final cure is the steady working of these
two great forces, example and liberty.
To illustrate the principles already indicated, we
will consider some specific problems together with sug-
gestive treatment for each.
QUICK TEMPER.
This, as well as irritability and nervousness, very
often springs from a wrong physical condition. The
digestion may be bad, or the child may be overstim-
ulated. He may not be sleeping enough, or may not
get enough outdoor air and exercise. In some cases
the fault appears because the child lacks the discipline
of young companionship. Even the most exemplary
adult cannot make up to the child for the influence of
other children. He perceives the difference between
himself and these giants about him, and the percep-
tion sometimes makes him furious. His struggling
individuality finds it difficult to maintain itself under
the pressure of so many stronger personalities. He
Causo of
Temper
*Tiedemann, German Psychologist.
36
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Remedy
Solitude
and Quiet
makes, therefore, spasmodic and violent attempts of
self-assertion, and these attempts go under the name
of fits of temper.
The child who is not ordinarily strong enough to
assert himself effectively will work himself up into a
passion in order to gain strength, much as men some-
times stimulate their courage by liquor. In fact, pas-
sion is a sort of moral intoxication.
But whether the fits of passion are physical or
moral, the immediate remedy is the same—his environ-
ment must be promptly changed and his audience re-
moved. He needs solitude and quiet. This does not
mean shutting him into a closet, but leaving him alone
in a quiet room, with plenty of pleasant things about.
This gives an opportunity for the disturbed organism
to right itself, and for the will to recover its normal
tone. Some occupation should be at hand—blocks or
other toys, if he is too young to read; a good book or
two, such as Miss Alcott's “Little Men” and “Little
Women," when he is old enough to read.
If he is destructive in his passion, he must be put
in a room where there are very few breakables to
tempt him. If he does break anything he must be
required to help mend it again. To shout a threat to
this effect through the door when the storm of temper
is still on, is only to goad him into fresh acts of re-
bellion. Let him alone while he is in this temporarily
insane state, and later, when he is sorry and wants to
be good, help him to repair the mischief he has
QUICK TEMPER.
37
wrought. It is as foolish to argue with or to threaten
the child in this state as it would be were he a patient
in a lunatic asylum.
It is sometimes impossible to get an older child to
go into retreat. Then, since he cannot be carried, and
he is not open to remonstrance or commands, go out
of the room yourself and leave him alone there. At
any cost, loneliness and quiet must be brought to
bear upon him.
Such outbursts are exceedingly exhausting, using
up in a few minutes as much energy as would suf-
fice for many days of ordinary activity. After the
attack the child needs rest, even sleep, and usually
seeks it himself. The desire should be encouraged.
Every reasonable precaution should be taken against
the recurrence of the attacks, for every lapse into this
excited state makes more certain the next lapse and
weakens the nervous control. This does not mean
that you should give up any necessary or right regu-
lations for fear of the child's temper. If the child
sees that you do this, he will on occasion deliberately
work himself up into a passion in order to get his
own way. But while you do not relax any just regu-
lations, you may safely help him to meet them. · Give
him warning. For instance, do not spring any dis-
agreeable commands upon him. Have his duties as
systematized as possible so that he may know what
to expect; and do not under any circumstances nag
him nor allow other children to tease him.
Precautions
to be Taken
38
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
SULLENNESS.
This fault likewise often has a physical cause, seated
very frequently in the liver. See that the child's
food is not too heavy. Give him much fruit, and in-
sist upon vigorous exercise out of doors. Or he may
perhaps not have enough childish pleasures. For
while most children are overstimulated, there still
remain some children whose lives are unduly color-
less and eventless. A sullen child is below the normal
level of responsiveness. He needs to be roused, wak-
ened, lifted out of himself, and made to take an active
interest in other persons and in the outside world
In many cases sullenness is an inherited disposition
intensified by example. It is unchildlike and morbid
to an unusual degree and very difficult to cure. The
mother of a sullen child may well look to her own
conduct and examine with a searching eye the pecu-
liarities of her own family and of her husband's. She
may then find the cause of the evil, and by removing
the child from the bad example and seeing to it that
every day contains a number of childish pleasures,
she may win him away from a fault that will other-
wise cloud his whole life.
Taheritance
and
Example
LYING.
All lies are not bad, nor all liars immoral. A young
child who cannot yet understand the obligations of
truthfulness cannot be held morally accountable for
his departure from truth. Lying is of three kinds.
LYING.
39
Imaginative
"Lying"
(1.) The imaginative lie. (2.) The evasive lie.
(3.) The politic lie.
(1.) It is rather hard to call the imaginative lie
a lie at all. It is so closely related to the creative in-
stinct which makes the poet and novelist and which,
common among the peasantry of a nation, is respon-
sible for folk-lore and mythology, that it is rather an
intellectual activity misdirected than a moral obliquity.
Very imaginative children often do not know the dif-
ference between what they imagine and what they act-
ually see. Their mind's eye sees as vividly as their
bodily eye; and therefore they even believe their own
statements. Every attempt at contradiction only brings
about a fresh assertion of the impossible, which to the
child becomes more and more certain as he hears him-
self affirming its existence.
Punishment is of no use at all in the attempt to
regulate this exuberance. The child's large statements
should be smiled at and passed over. In the meantime,
he should be encouraged in every possible way to get
a firm grasp of the actual world about him. Manual
training, if it can be obtained, is of the greatest ad-
vantage, and for a very young child, the performance
every day of some little act, which demands accuracy
and close attention, is necessary. For the rest, wait;
this is one of the faults that disappear with age.
(2.) The lie of evasion is a form of lying which
seldom appears when the relations between child and
parents are absolutely friendly and open. However,
The Lie of
Evasion
40
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
the child who is very desirous of approval may find
it difficult to own up to a fault, even when he is cer-
tain that the consequence of his offense will not be at
all terrible. This is the more difficult, because the
more subtle condition. It is obvious that the child
who lies merely to avoid punishment can be cured of
that fault by removing from him the fear of punish-
ment. To this end, he should be informed that there
will be no punishment whatever for any fault that he
freely confesses. For the chief object of punishment
being to make him face his own fault and to see it as
something ugly and disagreeable, that object is ob-
viously accomplished by a free and open confession,
and no further punishment is required.
But when the child in spite of such reassurance
still continues to lie, both because he cannot bear to
have you think him capable of wrong-doing, and be-
cause he is not willing to acknowledge to himself that
he is capable of wrong-doing, the situation becomes
more complex. All you can do is to urge upon him
the superior beauty of frankness; to praise him and
love him, especially when he does acknowledge a fault,
thus leading him to see that the way to win your ap-
proval—that approval which he desires so intensely-
is to face his own shortcomings with a steady eye and
confess them to you unshrinkingly.
(3.) The politic lie is of course the worst form
of lying, partly because it is so unchildlike. This is
the kind of fault that will grow with age; and grow
The Politic
Lie
LYING.
41
Inhorited
Crookedness
with such rapidity that the mother must set herself
against it with all the force at her command. The
child who lies for policy's sake, in order to achieve
some end which is most easily achieved by lying, is a
child led into wrong-doing by his ardent desire to get
something or do something. Discover what this some-
thing is, and help him to get it by more legitimate
means. If you point out the straight path, and show
the goal well in view at the end of it, he may be per-
suaded not to take the crooked path.
But there are occasionally natures that delight in
crookedness and that even in early childhood. They
would rather go about getting their heart's desire
in some crooked, intricate, underhanded way than by
the direct route. Such a fault is almost certain to be
an inherited one; and here again, a close study of the
child's relatives will often help the mother to make
a good diagnosis, and even suggest to her the line
of treatment.
In an extreme case, the family may unite in dis-
believing the child who lies, not merely disbelieving
him when he is lying, but disbelieving him all the time,
no matter what he says. He must be made to see,
and that without room for any further doubt, that
the crooked paths that he loves do not lead to the
goal his heart desires, but away from it. His words,
not being true to the facts, have lost their value, and
no one around him listens to them. He is, as it were,
rendered speechless, and his favorite means of getting
Extremo
Cases
42
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
his own way is thus made utterly valueless. Such a
remedy is in truth a terrible one. While it is being
administered, the child suffers to the limit of his en-
durance; and it is only justified in an exertme case,
and after the failure of all gentler means.
JEALOUSY.
Justice
and
Love
Too often this deadly evil is encouraged in infancy,
instead of being promptly uprooted as it ought to be.
It is very amusing, if one does not consider the con-
sequences, to see a little child slap and push away the
father or the older brother, who attempts to kiss the
mother; but this is another fault that grows with
years, and a fault so deadly that once firmly rooted
it can utterly destroy the beauty and happiness of an
otherwise lovely nature. The first step toward over-
coming it must be to make the reign of strict justice
in the home so obvious as to remove all excuse for the .
evil. The second step is to encourage the child's love
for those very persons of whom he is most likely to
be jealous. If he is jealous of the baby, give him spe-
cial care of the baby. Jealousy indicates a tempera-
ment overbalanced emotionally; therefore, put your
force upon the upbuilding of the child's intellect. Give
him responsibilities, make him think out things for
himself. Call upon him to assist in the family con-
claves. In every way cultivate his power of judg-
ment. The whole object of the treatment should be
JEALOUSY.
43
to strengthen his intellect and to accustom his emo-
tions to find outlet in wholesome, helpful activity.
One wise mother made it a rule to pet the next to
the baby. The baby, she said, was bound to be
petted a good deal because of its helplessness and
sweetness, therefore she made a conscious effort to pet
the next to the youngest, the one who had just been
crowded out of the warm nest of mother's lap by
the advent of the newcomer. Such a rule would go
far to prevent the beginnings of jealousy.
SELFISHNESS.
This is a fault to which strong-willed children are
especially liable. The first exercise of will-power af-
ter it has passed the stage of taking possession of
the child's own organism usually brings him into con-
flict with those about him. To succeed in getting hold
of a thing against the wish of someone else, and to
hold on to it when someone else ants it, is to win a
victory. The coveted object becomes dear, not so
much for its own sake, as because it is a trophy. Such
a child knows not the joy of sharing; he knows only
the joys of wresting victory against odds. This is in-
deed an evil that grows with the years. The child
who holds onto his apple, his candy, or toy, fights tooth
and nail everyone who wants to take it from him,
and resists all coaxing, is liable to become a hard,
sordid, grasping man, who stops at no obstacle to ac-
complish his purpose.
44
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
The Only
ild
Yet in the beginning, this fault often hides itself
and escapes attention. The selfish child may be quiet,
clean, and under ordinary circumstances, obedient. He
may not even be quarrelsome; and may therefore come
under a much less degree of discipline than his ob-
streperous, impulsive, rebellious little brother.. Yet,
in reality, his condition calls for much more careful
attention than does the condition of the younger
brother.
However, the child who has no brother at all, either
older or younger, nor any sister, is almost invited
by the fact of his isolation to fall into this sin. Only
children may be—indeed, often are-precocious,
bright, capable, and well-mannered, but they are sel-
dom spontaneously generous. Their own small selves
occupy an undue proportion of the family horizon,
and therefore of their own.
This is where the Kindergarten has its great value.
In the true Kindergarten the children live under a
dispensation of loving justice, and selfishness betrays
itself instantly there, because it is alien to the whole
spirit of the place. Showing itself, it is promptly
condemned, and the child stands convicted by the only
tribunal whose verdict really moves him—a jury of
his peers. Normal children hate selfishness and con-
demn it, and the selfish child himself, following the
strong, childish impulse of imitation, learns to hate
his own fault; and so quick is the forgiveness of chil-
Kindergarten
a Remedy
SELFISHNESS.
45
Intimate
Association
& Help
dren that he needs only to begin to repent before the
circle of his mates receives him again.
This is one reason why the Kindergarten takes chil-
dren at such an early age. Aiming, as it does, to lay
the foundations for right thinking and feeling, it must
begin before wrong foundations are too deeply laid.
Its gentle, searching methods straighten the strong
will that is growing crooked, and strengthen the en-
feebled one.
But if the selfish child is too old for the Kindergar-
ten, he should belong to a club. Consistent selfishness
will not long be tolerated here. The tacit or outspoken
rebuke of his mates has many times the force of a
domestic rebuke; because thereby he sees himself, at
least for a time, as his comrades see him, and never
thereafter entirely loses his suspicion that they may
be right. Their individual judgment he may defy,
but their collective judgment has in it an almost magi-
cal power, and convinces him in spite of himself.
Whatever strong affections the selfish boy shows
must be carefully cultivated. Love for another is the
only sure cure for selfishness. If he loves animals, let
him have pets, and give into his hands the whole re-
sponsibility for the care of them. It is better to let
the poor animals suffer some neglect, than to take
away from the boy the responsibility for their condi-
tion. They serve him only so far as he can be in-
duced to serve them. The chief rule for the cure of
selfishness is, then, to watch every affection, small and
Cultivate
Affections
46
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
--
large, encourage it, give it room to grow, and see to
it that the child does not merely get delight out of it,
but that he works for it, that he sacrifices himself for
those whom he loves.
LAZINESS.
The Physical
Cause
This condition is often normal, especially during
adolescence. The developing boy or girl wants to lop
and to lounge, to lie sprawled over the floor or the
sofa. Quick movement is distasteful to him, and
often has an undue effect upon the heart's action. He
is normally dreamy, languid, indifferent, and subject
to various moods. These things are merely tokens
of the tremendous change that is going on within his
organism, and which heavily drains his vitality. Cer-
tain duties may, of course, be required of him at this
stage, but they should be light and steady. He should
not be expected to fill up chinks and run errands with
joyful alacrity. The six- or eight-year-old may be
called upon for these things, and not be harmed, but
this is not true of the child between twelve and sey-
enteen. He has absorbing business on hand and should
not be too often called away from it.
Laziness ordinarily accompanies rapid growth of
any kind. The unusually large child, even if he has
not yet reached the period of adolescence, is likely to
be lazy. His nervous energies are deflected to keep
up his growth, and his intelligence is often temporarily
dulled by the rapidity of his increase in size.
Laziness
and
Rapid Growth
LAZINESS.
47
Hurry
Not Natural
Moreover, it is not natural for any child to hurry.
Hurry is in itself both a result of nervous strain and
a cause of it; and grown people whose nerves have
been permanently wrenched away from normal quietude
and steadiness, often form a habit of hurry which
makes them both unfriendly toward children and very
bad for children. These young creatures ought to go
along through their days rather dreamily and alto-
gether serenely. Every turn of the screw to tighten
their nerves makes more certain some form of early
nervous breakdown. They ought to have work to do,
of course,-enough of it to occupy both mind and body
-but it should be quiet, systematic, regular work, much
of it performed almost automatically. Only occasion-
ally should they be required to do things with a con-
scious effort to attain speed.
However, there is a degree of laziness difficult of
definition which is abnormal; the child fails to per-
form any work with regularity, and falls behind both
at school and at home. This may be the result of (1)
poor assimilation, (2) of anaemia, or it may be (3)
the first symptom of some disease.
(1.) Poor assimilation may show itself either
by (a) thinness and lack of appetite; (b) fat and ab-
normal appetite; (c) retarded growth; or (d) irreg-
ular and poorly made teeth and weak bones.
(2.) Anaemia betrays itself most characteristically
by the color of the lips and gums. These, instead of
being red, are a pale yellowish pink, and the whole
Abnormal
Laziness
Anaomia
48
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
complexion has a sort of waxy pallor. In extreme
cases this pallor even becomes greenish. As the dis-
ease is accompanied with little pain, and few if any
marked symptoms, beyond sleepiness and weakness, it
often exists for some time without being suspected by
the parents.
(3.) The advent of many other diseases is an-
nounced by a languid indifference to surroundings, and
a slow response to the customary stimuli. The child's
brain seems clouded, and a light form of torpor in-
vades the whole body. The child, who is usually active
and interested in things about him, but who loses his
activity and becomes dull and irresponsive, should be
carefully watched. It may be that he is merely chang-
ing his form of growth-i. e., is beginning to grow tall
after completion of his period of laying on flesh, or
vice versa. Or he may be entering upon the period of
adolescence. But if it is neither of these things, a
physician should be consulted.
A milder degree of laziness may be induced by a
too monotonous round of duties. Try changing them.
Make them as attractive as possible. For, of course,
you do not require him to perform these duties for
your sake, whatever you allow him to suppose about
it, but chiefly for the sake of their influence on his
character. Therefore, if the influence of any work is
bad, you will change it, although the new work may
not be nearly so much what you prefer to have him
do. Whatever the work is, if it is only emptying
Monotony
LAZINESS.
49
Helping
waste-baskets, don't nag him, merely expect him to
do it, and expect it steadily.
In their earlier years all children love to help mother.
They like any piece of real work even better than
play. If this love of activity was properly encour-
aged, if the mother permitted the child to help, even
when he succeeded only in hindering, he might well
become one of those fortunate persons who love to
work. This is the real time for preventing laziness.
But if this early period has been missed, the next best
thing is to take advantage of every spontaneous in-
terest as it arises; to hitch the impulse, as it were, to
some task that must be steadily performed. For ex-
ample, if the child wants to play with tools, help him
to make a small water-wheel, or any other interest-
ing contrivance, and keep him at it by various devices
until he has brought it to a fair degree of comple-
tion. Your aim is to stretch his will each time he at-
tempts to do something a little further than it tends
to go of itself; to let him work a little past his first
impulse, so that he may learn by degrees to work when
work is needed, and not only when he feels like it.
UNTIDINESS.
Neatnoss
Not Natural
Essentially a fault of immaturity as this is, we
must beware how we measure it by a too severe adult
standard. It is not natural for any young creature to
take an interest in cleanliness. Even the young ani-
mals are cared for in this respect by their parents; the
50
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Remedies
cow licks her calf; the cat, her kittens; and neither
calf nor kittens seem to take much interest in the pro-
cess. The conscious love of cleanliness and order
grows with years, and seems to be largely a mat-
ter of custom. The child who has always lived in
decent surroundings by-and-by finds them necessary
to his comfort, and is willing to make a degree of ef-
fort to secure them. On the contrary, the street boy
who sleeps in his clothes, does not know what it is to
desire a well-made bed, and an orderly room.
The obvious method of overcoming this difficulty,
then, is not to chide the child for the fault, but to make
him so accustomed to pleasant surroundings that he
cannot help but desire them. The whole process of
making the child love order is slow but sure. It con-
sists in (1) Patient waiting on nature: first, keep the
baby himself sweet and clean, washing the young
child yourself, two or three times a day, and showing
your delight in his sweetness; dressing him so simply
that he keeps in respectable order without the neces-
sity of a painful amount of attention. (2) Example:
He is to be accustomed to orderly surroundings, and
though you ordinarily require him to put away some
of his things himself, you do also assist this process
by putting away a good deal to which you do not call
attention. You make your home not only orderly but
pretty, and yourself, also, that his love for you may
lead him into a love for daintiness. (3) Habits: A
few set observances may be safely and steadfastly de-
Example
Habit
UNTIDINESS.
51
manded, but these should be very few: Such as that
he should not come to breakfast without brushing his
teeth and combing his hair, or sit down to any meal
with unwashed hands. Make them so few that you
can be practically certain that they are attended to,
for the whole value of the discipline is not in the su-
perior condition of his teeth, but in the habit of mind
that is being formed.
IMPUDENCE.
Laok of
Porooption
Impudence is largely due to, (1) lack of perception;
(2) to bad example and to suggestion; and (3) to a
double standard of morality.
(1.) In the first place, too much must not be ex-
pected of the young savages in the nursery. Remem-
ber that the children there are in a state very much
more nearly resembling that of a savage or half-
civilized nation than resembling your own, and that,
therefore, while they will undoubtedly take kindly to
showy ceremonial, they are not ripe yet for most
of the delicate observances. At best, you can only
hope to get the crude material of good manners from
them. You can hope that they will be in the main
kind in intention, and as courteous under provoca-
tion as is consistent with their stage of development.
If you secure this, you need not trouble yourself un-
duly over occasional lapses into perfectly innocent and
wholesome barbarism.
52
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Good manners are in the main dependent upon
quick sympathies, because sympathies develop the per-
ceptions. A child is much less likely to hurt the feel-
ings or shock the sensibilities of a person whom he
loves tenderly than of one for whom he cares very
little. This is the chief reason why all children are
so much more likely to be offensive in speech and ac-
tion before strangers than when alone in the bosom of
their families. They are so far from caring what a
stranger thinks or feels that they cannot even fore-
cast his displeasure, nor imagine its reaction upon
mother or father. The more, then, that the child's
sympathies are broadened, the more he is encouraged
to take an interest in all people, even strangers, the
better mannered will he become.
(2.) Bad example is more common than is usual-
ly supposed. Very few parents are consistently courte-
ous toward their children. They permit themselves a
sharp tone of voice, and rough and abrupt habits of
speech, that would scarcely be tolerated by any adult.
Even an otherwise gentle and amiable woman is often
disagreeable in her manner toward her children, com-
manding them to do things in a way well calculated
to excite opposition, and rebuking wrong-doing in
unmeasured terms. She usually reserves her soft and
gentle speeches for her own friends and for her hus-
band's, yet discourtesy cannot begin to harm them as
it harms her children.
Bad
Example
IMPUDENCE.
53
It is true that the children are often under foot
when she is busiest, when, indeed, she is so distracted
as to not be able to think about manners, but if she
would acknowledge to herself that she ought to be
polite, and that when she fails to be, it is because she
has yielded to temptation; and if, moreover, she would
make this acknowledgment openly to her children and
beg their pardon for her sharp words, as she ex-
pects them to beg hers, the spirit of courtesy, at any
rate, would prevail in her house, and would influence
her children. Children are lovingly ready to forgive
an acknowledged fault, but keen-eyed beyond belief in
detecting a hidden one.
(3.) The most fertile cause of impudence is as-
sumption of a double standard of morality, one for
the child and another for the adult. Impudence is, at
bottom, the child's perception of this injustice, and
his rebellion against it. When to this double standard,
-a standard that measures up gossip, for instance,
as right for the adult, and listening to gossip as wrong
for the child-when to this is added the assumption
of infallibility, it is no wonder that the child fairly
rages.
For, if we come to analyze them, what are the
speeches which we find so objectionable? “Do it
yourself, if you are so smart.” “Maybe I am rude,
but I'm not any ruder than you are.” “I think you
are just as mean as mean can be; I wouldn't be so
mean!" Is this last speech any worse in reality than
Doublo
Standard
54
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
can if
“You are a very naughty little girl, and I am ashamed
of you," and all sorts of other expressions of candid
adverse opinion ? Besides these forms of impudence,
there is the peculiarly irritating: "Well, you do it
yourself; I guess
I
you can.”
In all these cases the child is partly in the right.
He is stating the fact as he sees it, and violently as-
serting that you are not privileged to demand more
of him than of yourself. The evil comes in through
the fact that he is doing it in an ugly spirit. He is
not only desirous of stating the truth, but of putting
you in the wrong and himself in the right, and if this
hurts you, so much the better. All this is because he
is angry, and therefore, in impudence, the true evil
to be overcome is the evil of anger.
Show him, then, that you are open to correction.
Admit the justice of the rebuke as far as you can,
and set him an example of careful courtesy and for-
bearance at the very moment when these traits are
inost conspicuously lacking in him. If some special
point is involved, some question of privilege, quietly,
but very firmly, defer the consideration of it until
he is master of himself and can discuss the situation
with an open mind and in a courteous manner.
Example
CORPORAL PUNISHMENT.
In all these examples, which are merely suggestive,
it is impossible to lay down any absolute moral re-
cipe, because circumstances so truly alter cases-in
CORPORAL PUNISHMENT
55
Moral
Confusion
all these no mention is made of corporal punishment.
This is because corporal punishment is never neces-
sary, never right, but is always harmful.
There are three principal reasons why it should not
be resorted to: First, because it is indiscriminate. To
inflict bodily pain as a consequence of widely various
faults, leads to moral confusion. The child who is
spanked for lying, spanked for disobedience, and
spanked again for tearing his clothes, is likely enough
to consider these three things as much the same, as,
at any rate, of equal importance, because they all lead
to the same result. This is to lay the foundation for
a permanent moral confusion, and a man who cannot
see the nature of a wrong deed, and its relative im-
portance, is incapable of guiding himself or others.
Corporal punishment teaches a child nothing of the
reason why what he does is wrong. Wrong must
seem to him to be dependent upon the will of another,
and its disagreeable consequences to be escapable if
cnly he can evade the will of that other.
Second: Corporal punishment is wrong because it
inculcates fear of pain as the motive for conduct,
instead of love of righteousness. It tends directly to
cultivate cowardice, deceitfulness, and anger-three
faults worse than almost any fault against which it
can be employed. True, some persons grow up both
gentle and straightforward in spite of the fact that
they have been whipped in their youth, but it is in
spite of, and not because of it. In their homes other
Toar
versus
Love
56
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Sensibilities
Blunted
be young
good qualities must have counteracted the pernicious
effect of this mistaken procedure.
Third: Corporal punishment may, indeed, achieve
immediate results such as seem at the moment to be
eminently desirable. The child, if he
enough, weak enough, and helpless enough, may be
made to do almost anything by fear of the rod; and
some of the things he may thus be made to do may
be exactly the things that he ought to do; and this
certainty of result is exactly what prompts many
otherwise just and thoughtful persons to the use of
corporal punishment. But these good results are ob-
tained at the expense of the future. The effect of
each spanking is a little less than the effect of the
preceding one. The child's sensibilities blunt. As
in the case of a man with the drug habit, it requires
a larger and larger dose to produce the required
effect. That is, if he is a strong child capable of en-
during and resisting much. If, on the contrary, he
is a weak child, whose slow budding will come only
timidly into existence, one or two whippings followed
by threats, may suffice to keep him in a permanently
cowed condition, incapable of initiative, incapable of
spontaneity.
The method of discipline here indicated, while it is
more searching than any corporal punishment, does
not have any of its disadvantages. It is more search-
ing, because it never blunts the child's sensibilities,
CORPORAL PUNISHMENT.
57
Educativo
Disciplino
but rather tends to refine them, and to make them
more responsive.
The child thus trained should become more sus-
ceptible, day by day, to gentle and elevating in-
fluences. This discipline is educative, explaining to
the child why what he does is wrong, showing him
the painful effects as inherent in the deed itself. He
cannot, therefore, conceive of himself as being ever
set free from the obligation to do right; for that ob-
ligation within his experience does not rest upon his
mother's will or ability to inflict punishment, but
upon the very nature of the universe of which he is
a part. The effects of such discipline are therefore
permanent. That which happens to the child in the
nursery, also happens to him in the great world when
he reaches manhood. His nursery training interprets
and orders the world for him. He comes, therefore,
into the world not desiring to experiment with evil,
but clear-eyed to detect it, and strong-armed to over-
come it.
We are now ready to consider our subject in some
of its larger aspects.
Permanent
Results
TEST QUESTIONS
The following questions constitute the "written reci.
tation" which the regular members of the A. S. H. E.
answer in writing and send in for the correction and
comment of the instructor. They are intended to
emphasize and fix in the memory the most important
points in the lesson.
STUDY OF CHILD LIFB.
PART I.
Read Carefully. In answering these questions you are
earnestly requested not to answer according to the text-book
where opinions are asked for, but to answer according to
conviction. In all cases credit will be given for thought and
original observation. Place your name and full address at
the head of the paper; use your own words so that your in-
structor may be sure that you understand the subject.
1. How does Fiske account for the prolonged help-
lessness of the human infant ? To what prac-
tical conclusions does this lead?
2. Name the four essentials for proper bodily
growth.
3. How does the child's world differ from that of
the adult ?
4. In training a child morally, how do you know
which faults are the most important and should
have, therefore, the chief attention?
5. In training the will, what end must be held stead-
ily in view ?
6. What are the advantages or disadvantages of a
broken will ?
7. Is obedience important ? Obedience to what?
How do you train for prompt obedience in
emergencies?
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
10.
8. What is the object of punishment? Does corporal
punishment accomplish this object?
9. What kind of punishment is most effectiv
Have any faults a physical origin? If so, name
some of them and explain.
II. What are the two great teachers according to
Tiederman ?
12. What can you say of the fault of untidiness?
13. What are the dangers of precocity?
14. What do you consider were the errors your own
parents made in training their children?
15. Are there any questions which you would like
to ask in regard to the subjects taken up in
this lesson?
NOTE.—After completing the test, sign your full name.
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE
PART II
99
CARITAS
From a Painting in the Bosion Public Library, by Abbot H Thayer
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE
PART II
Froebel's
Philosophy
CHARACTER BUILDING
Although we have taken up the question of pun-
ishment and the manner of dealing with various child-
ish iniquities before the question of character-build-
ing, it has only been done in order to clear the mind
of some current misconceptions. In the statements
of Froebel's simple and positive philosophy of child
culture, misconception on the part of the reader must
be guarded against, and these misconceptions gener-
ally arise from a feeling that, beautiful as his opti--
mistic philosophy may be, there are some children
too bad to profit by it-or at least that there are oc-
casions when it will not work out in practice. In
the preceding section we have endeavored to show in
detail how this method applies to a representative
list of faults and shortcomings, and having thus, we
hope, proved that the method is applicable to a wide
range of cases-indeed to all possible cases—we will
proceed to recount the fundamental principles which
Froebel, and before him Pestalozzi,* enunciated;
which those who adhere to the new education are to-
day working out into the detail of school-room prac-
tice.
* Pestalozzi, Educator, Philosopher, and Reformer. Author of
“How Gertrude Teaches Her Children."
60
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Object of
Moral
Training.
The
Reason
Why
As previously stated, the object of the moral train-
ing of the child is the inculcation of the love of right-
cousness. Frcebel is not concerned with laying down
a mass of observances which the child must follow,
and which the parents must insist upon. He thinks
rather that the child's nature once turned into the
right direction and surrounded by right influences will
grow straight without constant yankings and twist-
ings. The child who loves to do right is safe. He
may make mistakes as to what the right is, but he
will learn by these mistakes, and will never go far
astray.
However, it is well to save him as far as possible
from the pain of these mistakes. We need to pre-
serve in him what has already been implanted there;
the love of understanding the reasons for conduct.
When the childi asks "Why?" therefore, he should
seldom be told “Because mother says so.” This is to
deny a rightful activity of his young mind; to give
him a monotonous and insufficient reason, temporary
in its nature, instead of a lasting reason which will
remain with him through life. Dante says all those
who have lost what he calls “the good of the intel-
lect” are in the Inferno. And when you refuse to give
your child satisfactory reasons for the conduct you
require of him, you refuse to cultivate in him that
very good of the intellect which is necessary for his
salvation.
CHARACTER BUILDING.
61
Advantage
of Positive
Commands
As soon, however, as your commands become posi-
tive instead of negative, the difficulty of meeting the
situation begins to disappear.
lisappear. It is usually much
easier to tell the child why he should do a thing than
why he should not do its opposite. For example, it
is much easier to make him see that he ought to be
a helpful member of the family than to make him
understand why he should stop making a loud noise,
or refrain from waking up the baby. There is some-
thing in the child which in calm moments recognizes
that love demands some sacrifice. To this something
you must appeal and these calm moments, for the
most part, you must choose for making the appeal.
The effort is to prevent the appearance of evil by the
active presence of good. The child who is busy trying
to be good has little time to be naughty.
Original
Goodness
Frobel's most characteristic utterance is perhaps
this: “A suppressed or perverted good quality—a
good tendency, only repressed, misunderstood, or
misguided—lies originally at the bottom of every
shortcoming in man. Hence the only and infallible
remedy for counteracting any shortcoming and even
wickedness is to find the originally good source, the
originally good side of the human being that has been
repressed, disturbed, or misled into the shortcoming,
and then to foster, build up, and properly guide this
.good side. Thus the shortcoming will at last dis-
appear, although it may involve a hard struggle
62
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Kindergarten
Methods
against habit, but not against original depravity in
man, and this is accomplished so much the more rap-
idly and surely because man himself tends to abandon
his shortcomings, for man prefers right to wrong."
The natural deduction from this is that we should
say "do” rather than “don't”; open up the natural
way for rightful activity instead of uttering loud
warning cries at the entrance to every wrong path.
It is for this reason that the kindergarten tries by
every means to make right doing delightful. This
is one of the reasons for its songs, dances, plays, its
bright colors, birds, and flowers. And in this respect
it
may well be imitated in every home. No one loves
that which is disagreeable, ugly, and forbidding; yet
many little children are expected to love right doing
which is seldom attractively presented to them.
The results of such treatment are apparent in the
grown people of to-day. Most persons have an under-
lying conviction that sinners, or at any rate unconscien-
tious persons, have a much easier and pleasanter time of
it than those who try to do right. To the imagination of
the majority of adults sin is dressed in glittering colors
and virtue in gray, somber garments. There are few
who do not take credit for right doing as if they
had chosen a hard and disagreeable part instead of
the more alluring ways of wrong. This is because
they have been mis-taught in childhood and have
come to think of wrongdoing as pleasant and virtue
CHARACTER BUILDING.
63
Right Doing
Made Easy
as hard, whereas the real truth is exactly the oppo-
site. It is wrongdoing that brings unpleasant conse-
quences and virtue that brings happiness.
There are those who object that by the kinder-
garten method right doing is made too easy. The
children do not have to put forth enough effort, they
say; they are not called upon to endure sufficient
pain; they do not have the discipline which causes
them to choose right no matter how painful right
may be for the moment. Whether this dictum is
ever true or not, it certainly is not true in early child-
hood. The love of righteousness needs to be firmly
rooted in the character before it is strained and pulled
upon. We do not start seedlings in the rocky soil
or plant out saplings in time of frost. If tests and
trials of virtue must come, let them come in later life
when the love of virtue is so firmly established that it
may be trusted to find a way to its own satisfaction
through whatever difficulties may oppose.
In the very beginning of any effort to live up to
Froebel's requirements it is evident that children must
not be measured by the way they appear to the neigh-
bors. This is to reaffirm the power of that rigid
tradition which has warped so many young lives. She
who is trying to fix her child's heart upon true and
holy things may well disregard her neighbor's com-
ments on the child's manners or clothes or even upon
momentary ebullitions of temper. She is working
Neighbors'
Opinions
64
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
The Family
Republic
below the surface of things, is setting eternal forces
to work, and she cannot afford to interrupt this work
for the sake of shining the child up with any prema-
ture outside polish. If she is to have any peace of
mind or to allow any to the child, if she is to live in any
way a simple and serene life, she must establish a few
fundamental principles by which she judges her child's
conduct and regulates her own, and stand by these
principles through thick and thin.
Perhaps the most fundamental principle is that
enunciated by Fichte. “Each man,” he says, “is a
free being in a world of other free beings." There-
fore his freedom is limited only by the freedom of the
other free beings. That is, they must "divide the
world amongst them.” Stated in the form of a com-
mand he says again, "Restrict your freedom through
the freedom of all other persons with whom you come
in contact.” This is a rule that even a three-year-old
child can be made to understand, and it is astonish-
ing with what readiness he will admit its justice. He
can do anything he wants to, you explain to him, except
bother other people. And, of course, the corollary
follows that every one else can do whatever he pleases
except to bother the child.
This clear and simple doctrine can be driven home
with amazing force, if you strictly respect the child's
right as you require him to respect yours. You should
neither allow any encroachments upon your own proper
privileges, except so far as you explain that this is
Rights
of Others
CHARACTER BUILDING.
65
only a loving permission on your part, and not to be
assumed as a precedent or to be demanded as a right;
nor should you yourself encroach upon his privileges.
If you do not expect him to interrupt you, you
must not interrupt him. If you expect him to let you
alone when you are busy, you must let him alone
when he is busy, that is, when he is hard at work
playing. If you must call him away from his playing,
give him warning, so that he may have time to put
his small affairs in order before obeying your com-
iriand. The more carefully yo do this the more
willing will be his response on the infrequent occa-
sions when you must demand immediate attention. In
some such fashion you teach the child to respect the
rights of others by scrupulously respecting those rights
to which he is most alive, namely, his own. The next
step is to require him with you to think out the rights
of others, and both of you together should shape your
conduct so as to leave these rights uninfringed.
As soon as the young child's will has fully taken pos-
session of his own organism he will inevitably try to
rule yours. The establishment of the law of which I
have just spoken will go far toward regulating this
new-born desire. But still he must be allowed in some
degree to rule others, because power to rule others
is likely to be at some time during his life of great
importance to him. To thwart him absolutely in this
respect, never yielding yourself to his imperious de-
mands, is alike impossible and undesirable. His will
The Child's
Share in
Ruling
66
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
must not be shut up to himself and to the things that
he can make himself do. In various ways, with due
consideration for other people's feelings, with courtesy,
with modesty, he may well be encouraged to do his
share of ruling. And while, of course, he will not
begin his ruling in such restrained and thoughtful
fashion as is implied by these limitations, yet he must
be suffered to begin; and the rule for the respect of the
rights of others should be suffered gradually to work
out these modifications.
A safe distinction may be made as follows: Per-
mit him, since he is so helpless, to rule and persuade
others to satisfy his legitimate desires, such as the de-
sire for food, sleep, affection, and knowledge; but when
he demands indulgencies, reserve your own liberty of
choice, so as to clearly demonstrate to him that you
are exercising choice, and in doing so, are well within
your own rights.
There is one simple outward observation which
greatly assists in the inculcation of these funda-
mental truths—that is the habit of using a low voice in
speaking, especially when issuing a command or ad-
ministering a rebuke. A loud, insistent voice prac-
tically insures rebellion. This is because the low voice
means that you have command of yourself, the loud
voice that you have lost it. The child submits to a
controlled will, but not to one as uncontrolled as his
In both cases he follows your example. If you
are self-controlled, he tends to become so; if you are
Low Voice
Commands
own.
CHARACTER BUILDING.
67
Limitations
of Words
excited and angry, he also becomes so, or if he is
already so, his excitement and anger increases.
While most mothers rely altogether too much upon
speech as a means of explaining life to the child, yet it
must be admitted that speech has a great function to
perform in this regard. Nevertheless it is well to bear
in mind that it is not true that a child will always do
what you tell him to do, no matter how plain you may
tell him, nor how perfectly you may explain your ret-
sons.
In the first place, speech means less to children than
to grown persons. Each word has a smaller content
of experience. They cannot get the full force of the
most clear and eloquent statement. Therefore all
speech must be reinforced by example, and by as many
forms of concrete illustrations as can be commanded.
Each necessary truth should enter the child's mind
by several channels; hearing, eye-sight, motor activity
should all be called upon. Many truths may be
dramatized. This, where the mother is clever enough
to employ it, is the surest method of appeal. But in
any case, speech alone must not be relied upon, nor
the child considered a hopeless case who does not
respond to it.
Denunciatory speech especially needs wise regulation.
As Richter says, “What is to followed as a rule of
prudence, yea, of justice, toward grown-up people,
should be much more observed toward children, name-
68
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
ly, that one should never judgingly declare, for in-
stance, “You are a liar,” or even, “You are a bad boy,”
instead of saying, “You have told an untruth,” or “You
have done wrong." For since the power to command
yourself implies at the same time the power of obey-
ing, man feels a minute after his fault as free as Socra-
tes, and the branding mark of his nature, not his deed,
must seem to him blameworthy of punishment.
"To this must be added that every individual's wrong
actions, owing to his inalienable sense of a moral aim
and hope, seem to him only short, usurped inter-
regnums of the devil, or comets in the uniform solar
system. The child, consequently, under such a moral
annihilation, feels the wrong-doing of others more
than his own; and this all the more because, in him,
want of reflection and the general warmth of his feel-
ings, represent the injustice of others in a more ugly
light than his own.”
Example If any one desires to prove the superior force of
Precept example over precept, let him try teaching a baby to
say "Thank you" or "Please,” merely by being scrupu-
lously careful to say these things to the baby on all fit
occasions. No one has taken the statistics of the num-
ber of times every small child is exhorted to perfect
himself in this particular observance; but it is safe to
say that in the United States alone these injunctions
are spoken something like a million times a day and
all quite unnecessarily. The child will say "Please”
and “Thank you” without being told to do so, if he
versus
CHARACTER BUILDING.
69
Politeness
to Children
merely has his attention called to the fact that the
people around him all use these phrases.
The truth is, too many parents forget to speak these
agreeable words whenever they ask favors of their
own children; so the force of their example is marred.
What you do to the child himself, remember, always
outweighs anything you do to others before him. This
is the reason why it is necessary that you should ac-
knowledge your own shortcomings to the child, if you
expect him to acknowledge his to you. It is also
necessary sometimes to point out clearly the kind and
considerate things that you are in the habit of doing
to others, lest the untrained mind of the young child
may fail to see and so miss the force of your example.
But in thus revealing your own good deeds to the
child, remember the motive, and reveal them only (a)
when he cannot perceive them of himself, (b) when
he needs to perceive them in order that his wn con-
duct may be influenced by them, and (c) at the time
when he is most likely to appreciate them. This latter
requirement precludes you from announcing your own
righteousness when he is naughty, and compels you,
of course, to go directly against your native impulse,
which is to mention your deeds of sacrifice and kind-
ness only when you are angry and mean to reproach
him with them. When you tell him how devoted you
have been at some moment when you are both thor-
oughly angry, he is in danger of either denying or
hating your devotion; but when you refer to it tender-
70
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Law Making
Habit
ly, and, as your heart will then prompt you, modestly,
at some loving moment, he will give it recognition,
and be moved to love goodness more devotedly because
you embody it.
Another important rule is this: Do not make too
many
rules. Some women are like legislatures in per-
petual session. The child who is confused and tantal-
ized by the constant succession of new laws learns
presently to disregard them, and to regulate his life
according to certain deductions of his own-sometimes
surprisingly wise and politic deductions. The way to
cure yourself of this law-making habit is to stop think-
ing of every little misdeed as the beginning of a great
wrong. It is very likely an accident and a combina-
tion of circumstances such as may not happen again.
To treat misdemeanors which are not habitual nor char-
acteristic as evanescent is the best way to make them
evanescent. They should not be allowed to enter too
deeply into your consciousness or into that of your
child.
Live with
Your
Children
In order to be able to discriminate between accidental
wrong-doing, and that which is the first symptom of
wrong-thinking, you must be in close touch with your
children. This brings us to Froebel's great motto,
"Come, let us live with our children!” This means
that you are not merely to talk with your child,
to hear from his lips what he is doing, but to live so
closely with him, that in most cases you know what
CHARACTER BUILDING.
71
he is doing without any need of his telling you. When,
however, he does tell you something which happened
in the school play-ground or otherwise out of the range
of your knowledge, be careful not to moralize over
it. Make yourself as agreeable a secret-keeper as his
best friend of his own age ; let your moralizing be so
rare that it is effective for that very reason.
If the
occasion needs moral reflection at all and that seldom
happens—the wise way is to lead the child to do his
own reflecting ; to arrive at his own conclusions, and if
you must lead him, by all means do so as invisibly
as possible. For the most part it is safe to take the
confessions lightly, and well to keep your own mind
young by looking at things from the boy's point of
view.
The Subject
of Sex
If, however, there is to be perfect confidence be-
tween you, the one subject which is usually kept out
of speech between mothers and children must be no
forbidden subject between them; you must not refuse
to answer questions about the mystery of sex. If you
are not the fit person to teach your child these impor-
tant facts, who is ? Certainly not the school-mates and
servants from whom he is likely to learn them if you
refuse to furnish the information. Usually it is suf-
ficient simply to answer the child's honest questions
honestly; but any mother who finds herself unable to
cope with this simple matter in this simple spirit, will
find help in Margaret Morley's "Song of Life,” in the
72
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Wood-Allen Publications, and the books of the Rev.
Sylvanus Stall.*
In respect to these matters more than in respect to
others, but also in respect to all matters, children often
do not know that they are doing wrong, even when it
it very difficult for parents to believe that they do not
intend wrong-doing. As we have seen from our
analysis of truthfulness, the child may very often lie
without a qualm of conscience, and he may still more
readily break the unwritten rules of courtesy, asking
abrupt and even cruel questions of strangers, and haul
the family skeleton out of its closet at critical moments.
Such things cannot be wholly guarded against, even
by the exercise of the utmost wisdom, but the habit of
reasoning things out for himself is the greatest help
a child can have.
The formation of the bent of the child's nature as
a whole is a matter of unconscious education, but as
he grows in the power to reason, conscious education
must direct his mental activity. It is not enough for
him, as it is not enough for any grown person, to do
the best that he knows; he must learn to know the best.
The word righteousness itself means right-wiseness,
i. e., right knowingness.
To quote Froebel again, “In order, therefore, to im-
part true, genuine firmness to the natural will-activity
Righteous-
ness
“What a Young Girl Ought to Know" and "What a Young
Woman Ought to Know,' by Dr. Mary Wood Allen.
“What a Young Boy Ought to Know,” “What a Young Man
Ought to Know," by Rev. Sylvanus Stall.
CHARACTER BUILDING.
73
of the boy, all the activities of the boy, his entire will
should proceed from and have reference to the develop-
ment, cultivation, and representation of the internal.
Instruction in example and in words, which later on
become precept and example, furnishes the means for
this. Neither example alone, nor words will do; not
example alone, for it is particular and special, and the
word is needed to give the particular individual exam-
ple universal applicability; not words alone, for exam-
ple is needed to interpret and explain the word, which
is general, spiritual, and of many meanings.
"But instruction and example alone and in them-
selves are not sufficient; they must meet a good pure
heart and this is the outcome of proper educational
influences in childhood."
Lest these directions should seem to demand an al-
most superhuman degree of control and wisdom on the
part of the mother, remember that moral precocity is
as much to be guarded against as mental precocity.
Remember that you are neither required to be a per-
fect mother nor to rear a perfect child. As Spencer
remarks, a perfect child in this imperfect world would
be sadly out of joint with the times, would indeed be
a martyr. If your basic principles are right and if
your child has before him the daily and hourly spectacle
of a mother who is trying to conform herself to high
standards, he will grow as fast as it is safe for him
to grow. Spencer says: “Our higher moral faculties
like our higher intellectual ones, are comparatively
Moral
Precocity
74
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
complex. As a consequence they are both compara-
tively late in their evolution, and with the one as with
the other, a very early activity produced by stimula-
tion will be at the expense of the future character.
Hence the not uncommon fact that those who during
childhood were instanced as models of juvenile good-
ness, by and by undergo some disastrous and seemingly
inexplicable change, and end by being not above but
below par; while relatively exemplary men are often
the issue of a childhood not so promising.
“Be content, therefore, with moderate measures and
moderate results, constantly bearing in mind the fact
that the higher morality, like the higher intelligence,
must be reached by a slow growth; and you will then
have more patience with those imperfections of nature
which your child hourly displays. You will be less
prone to constant scolding, and threatening, and for-
bidding, by which many parents induce a chronic irri-
tation, in a foolish hope that they will thus make their
children what they should be."
In conclusion, the rules that may be safely followed
in character-building may be summed up thus:
(1) Recognize that the object of your training is
to help the child to love righteousness. Command lit-
tle and then use positive commands rather than prohi-
bitions. Use "do" rather than "don't."
(2) Make right-doing delightful.
(3) Establish Fichte's doctrine of right, see page
Rules in
Character
Building
64.
CHARACTER BUILDING.
75
(4) Teach by example rather than precept. There-
fore respect the child's rights as you wish him to re-
spect yours.
(5) Use a low voice, especially in commanding or
rebuking
(6) In chiding, remember Richter's rule and re-
buke the sin and not the sinner.
(7) Confess your own misdeeds, by, this means and
others securing the confidence of your children.
Finally, remember that this is an imperfect world,
you are an imperfect mother, and the best results
you can hope for are likely to be imperfect. But the
results may be so founded upon eternal principles as
to tend continually to give place to better and better
results,
PLAY
Although Froebel is best known as the educator who
first took advantage of play as a means of education,
he was not, in reality, the first to recoginze the high
value of this spontaneous activity. He was indeed the
first to put this recognition into practice and to use the
force generated during play to help the child to a high-
er state of knowledge.
But before him Plato said that the plays of children
have the mightiest influence on the maintenance or the
non-maintenance of laws; that during the first three
years the child should be made “cheerful” and “kind”
by having sorrow and fear and pain kept away from
him and by soothing him with music and rhythmic
movements.
Aristotle held that children until they were five years
old "should be taught nothing, not even necessary la-
bor, lest it hinder growth, but should be accustomed
to use so much motion as to avoid an indolent habit
of body, and this,” he added, “can be acquired by
various means, among others by play, which ought to
be neither illiberal, nor laborious, nor lazy."
Luther rebukes those who despise the plays of chil-
dren and says that Solomon did not prohibit scholars
from play at the proper time. Fenelon, Locke, Schil-
ler, and Richter all admit the deep significance of this
universal instinct of youth.
Preyer, speaking not as a philosopher or educator,
but as a scientist, mentions "the new kinds of pleas-
Aristotle
Luther
PLAY.
77
urable sensations with some admixture of intellectual
elements,” which are gained when the child gradually
begins to play. Much that is called play he considers
true experimenting, especially when the child is seen to
be studying the changes produced by his own activity,
as when he tears paper into small bits, shakes a bunch
of keys, opens and shuts a box, plays with sand, and
empties bottles, and throws stones into the water. "The
zeal with which these seemingly aimless movements
are executed is remarkable. The sense of gratification
must be very great, and is principally due to the feeling
of his own power, and of being the cause of the various
changes.”
All these authorities are quoted here in order to
show that the practical recognition of play which ob-
tains among the advanced educators to-day is not a
piece of sentimentalism, as stern critics sometimes de-
clare, but the united opinion of some of the wisest
minds of this and former ages. As Froebel says, “Play
and speech constitute the element in which the child
lives. At this stage (the first three years of childhood)
he imparts to everything the virtues of sight, feeling,
and speech. He feels the unity between himself and
the whole external world." And Froebel conceives it
to be of the profoundest importance that this sense of
unity should not be disturbed. He finds that play is
the most spiritual activity of man at this age, "and at
the same time typical of human life as a whole of the
Educational
Value of
Play
78
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Freedom
inner, hidden, natural life of man and all things;
it gives, therefore, joy, freedom, contentment, inner
and outer rest, peace with the world; it holds the
sources of all that is good. The child that plays thor-
oughly until physical fatigue forbids will surely be a
thorough, determined man, capable of self-sacrifice for
the promotion and welfare of himself and others."
But all play does not deserve this high praise. It
fits only the play under right conditions. Fortunately
these are such that every mother can command them.
There are three essentials: (1) Freedom, (2) Sym-
pathy, (3) Right materials.
(1) Freedom is the first essential, and here the
child of poverty often has the advantage of the
child of wealth. There are few things in the pover-
ty-stricken home too good for him to play with ; in its
narrow quarters, he becomes, perforce, a part of all
domestic activity. He learns the uses of household
utensils, and his play merges by imperceptible degrees
into true, healthful work.
In the home of wealth, however, there is no such
freedom, no such richness of opportunity. The child
of wealth has plenty of toys, but few real things to
play with. He is shut out of the common activity of
the family, and shut in to the imitation activity of his
nursery. He never gets his small hands on realities,
but in his elegant clothes is confined to the narrow
conventional round that is falsely supposed to be good
for him.
PLAY.
79
Sympathy
Froebel insists upon the importance of the child's
dress being loose, serviceable, and inconspicuous, so
that he may play as much as possible without con-
sciousness of the restrictions of dress. The playing
child should also have, as we have noticed in the first
section, the freedom of the outside world. This does
not mean merely that he should go out in his baby-
buggy, or take a ride in the park, but that he should
be able to play out-of-doors, to creep on the ground,
to be a little open-air savage, and play with nature as
he finds it.
(2) Sympathy is much more likely to rise spon-
taneously in the mother's breast for the child's troubles
than for the child's joys. She will stop to take him
up and pet him when he is hurt, no matter how busy
she is, but she too often considers it waste of time
to enter into his plays with him; yet he needs sympathy
in joy as much as in sorrow. Her presence, her inter-
est in what he is doing, doubles his delight in it and
doubles its value to him. Moreover, it offers her op-
portunity for that touch and direction now and then,
which may transform a rambling play, without much
sequence or meaning, into a consciously useful per-
formance, a dramatization, perhaps, of some of the
child's observations, or an investigation into the na-
ture of things.
(3) Right Material. Even given freedom and
sympathy, the child needs something more in order to
80
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Mud-pies
play well: he needs the right materials. The best ma-
terials are those that are common to him and to the
rest of the world, far better than expensive toys that
mark him apart from the world of less fortunate chil-
dren. Such toys are not in any way desirable, and
they may even be harmful. What he needs are
various simple arrangements of the four elements-
earth, air, fire, and water.
(1) Earth. The child has a noted affinity for it,
and he is specially happy when he has plenty of it on
hands, face, and clothes. The love of mud-pies is uni-
versal; children of all nationalities and of all degrees
of civilization delight in it. No activity could be more
wholesome.
Next to mud comes sand. It is cleaner in appear-
ance and can be brought into the house. A tray of
moistened sand, set upon a low table, should be in
every nursery, and the sand pile in every yard.
Clay is more difficult to manage indoors, because it
gets dry and sifts all about the house, but if a corner
of the cellar, where there is a good light, can be given
up for a strong table and a jar of clay mixed with some
water, it will be found a great resource for rainy
days. If modeling aprons of strong material, but-
toned with one button at the neck, be hung near the jar
of clay, the children may work in this material with-
out spoiling their clothes. Clay-modeling is an excel-
lent form of manual training, developing without for-
cing the delicate muscles of the fingers and wrists, and
Sand
Clay
PLAY.
81
Digging
gyving wide opportunity for the exercise of the imagin-
ation.
Earth may be played with in still another way. Chil-
dren should dig in it; for all pass through the digging
stage and this should be given free swing. It develops
their muscles and keeps them busy at helpful and con-
Au
HALF
BACK
FRONT
SLEEVE
PATTERN OF A MODELING APRON.
structive work. They may dig a well, make a cave, or
a pond, or burrow underground and make tunnels like
a mole. Give them spades and a piece of ground they
can do with as they like, dress them in overalls, and
it will be long before you are asked to think of another
amusement for them.
In still another way the earth may be utilized, for
children may make gardens of it. Indeed, there are
those who say that no child's education is complete
Gardens
82
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Kites
Windmills
Soap-bubbles
until he has had a garden of his own and grown in it
all sorts of seeds from pansies to potatoes. But a gar-
den is too much for a young child to care for all alone.
He needs the help, advice, and companionship of some
older person. You must be careful, however, to give
help only when it is really desired; and careful also
not to let him feel that the garden is a task to which
he is driven daily, but a joy that draws him.
(2) The Air. The next important plaything is the
air. The kite and the balloon are only two instru-
ments to help the child play with it. Little windmilis
made of colored paper and stuck by means of a pin at
the end of a whittled stick, make satisfactory toys.
One of their great advantages is that even a very young
child can make them for himself. Blowing soap-bub-
bles is another means of playing with air. By giving
the children woolen mittens the bubbles may be caught
and tossed about as well as blown.
(3) Water.
Water. Perhaps the very first thing he learns
to play with is water. Almost before he knows the
use of his hands and legs he plays with water in his
bath, and sucks his sponge with joy, thus feeling the
water with his chief organs of touch, his mouth and
tongue. A few months later he will be glad to pour
water out of a tin cup. Even when he is two or three
years old, he may be amused by the hour, by dressing
him in a woolen gown, with his sleeves rolled high,
and setting him down before a big bowl or his own
bath-tub half full of warm water. To this
To this may be
PLAY.
83
added a sponge, a tin cup, a few bits of wood, and some
paper. They should not be given all at once, but one
at a time, the child allowed to exhaust the possibilities
of each before another is added. Still later he may
be given the bits of soap left after a cake of soap is
used up. Give him also a few empty bottles or bowls
and let him put them away with a solid mass of soap-
suds in them and see what will happen. When he is
older-past the period of putting everything in his
mouth-he may be given a few bits of bright ribbons,
petals of artificial flowers, or any bright colored bits of
cloth which can color the water.
Children love to sprinkle the grass with the hose or
to water the flowers with the sprinkling can. They
enjoy also the metal fishes, ducks, and boats which may
be drawn about in the water by means of a magnet.
Presently they reach the stage when they must have
toy-boats, and next they long to go into real boats and
go rowing and sailing. They want to fish, wade, swim,
and skate.
Some of these pastimes are dangerous, but they are
sure to be indulged in at some time or other, with or
without permission. There never grew a child to
sturdy manhood who was successfully kept away from
water. The wise mother, then, will not forbid this
play, but will do her best to regulate it, to make it
safe. She will think out plans for permitting children
to go swimming in a safe place with some older per-
son. She will let them go wading, and at holiday time
Dangerous
Pastimes
84
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
will take them boat-riding. If she permits as much
activity in these respects as possible, her refusal when
it does come will be respected; and the child will not,
unless perhaps in the first bitterness of disappointment,
think her unfriendly and fussy. Above all, he is not
likely to try to deceive her, to run off and take a
swim on the sly, and thus fall into true danger.
(4) Fire is another inevitable plaything. Miss
Shinn reports that the first act of her little niece that
showed the dawn of voluntary control of the muscles
was the clinging of her eyes to the flame of a candle,
at the end of the second week. The sense of light and
the pleasure derived from it is one of the chief in-
centives to a baby's intellectual development. But
since fire is dangerous the child must be taught this
fact as quickly and painlessly as possible. He will
probably have to be burned once before he really under-
stands it, but by watching you can make this pain very
small and slight, barely sufficient to give the child a
wholesome fear of playing with unguarded fire. For
instance, show that the lamp globe is hot. It is not hot
enough to injure him, but quite hot enough to be un-
pleasant to his sensitive nerves. Put your own hand
on the lamp and draw it away with a sharp cry, saying
warningly, “Hot, hot!" Do not put his hand on the
lamp, but let him put it there himself and then be very
sympathetic over the result. Usually one such lesson
is sufficient. Only do not permit yourself to call every-
thing hot which you do not want him to touch. He
Precaution
with Fire
PLAY.
85
Bonfires
will soon discover that you are untruthful and will
never again trust you so fully.
Under proper regulations, however, fire may be
played with safely. Bonfires with some older person
in attendance are safe enough and prevent unlawful
bonfires in dangerous places. The rule should be that
none of the children may play with fire except with
permission; and then that permission should be grant-
ed as often as possible that the children may be en-
couraged to ask for it. A stick smouldering at one
end and waved about in circles and ellipses is not
dangerous when elders are by, but it is dangerous
if played with on the sly. Playing with fire on the sly
is the most dangerous thing a child can do, and the
only way to prevent it is to permit him to play with
fire in the open. A beautiful game can be made from
a number of Christmas tree candles of various colors
and a bowl of water. The candles are lighted and the
wax dropped into the water, making little colored cir-
cles which float about. These can be linked together
in such a fashion as to form patterns which may be
lifted out on sheets of paper.
The magic lantern is an innocent and comparatively
cheap means of playing with light. If it is well taken
care of and fresh slides added from time to time it can
be made a source of pleasure for years. Jack-o'-lan-
terns are great fun, and when pumpkins are not avail-
able, oranges may be used instead.
Besides these elemental playthings the child gets
Magic
Lantern
86
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Rhythmic
Movements
much valuable pleasure out of the rhythmic use of his
own muscles. All such plays Plato thought should be
regulated by music, and with this Froebel agreed, but
in the household this is often impossible. The chil-
dren must indulge in many movements when there is
no one about who has leisure to make music for them.
Still, when they come to the quarrelsome age, a few
minutes' ſhythmic play to the sound of music will be
found to harmonize the whole group wonderfully.
For this purpose the ordinary hippity-hop, fast or slow
according to the music, is sufficient. It is as if the
regulation of the body to the laws of harmony re-
acted upon minds and nerves. Such an exercise is
particularly valuable just before bed-time. The chil-
dren go to sleep then with their minds under the influ-
ence of harmony and wake in the morning inclined to
be peaceful and happy.
A book of Kindergarten songs, such as Mrs. Gay-
nor's “Songs of the Child World” and Eleanor
Smith's "Songs for the Children,” ought to be in every
household, and the mother ought to familiarize herself
with a dozen or so of these perfectly simple melodies.
Of course the children must learn them with her.
When once this has been done she has a valuable
means of amusing them and bringing them within her
control at any time. She may hum one of the songs
or play it. The children must guess what it is and
then act out their guess in pantomime, so that she can
see what they mean. Perhaps it is a windmill song;
Songs
PLAY.
87
Dramatic
Plays
Dancing
their arms fly around and around in time to the music,
now fast, now slow. Perhaps it is a Spring song; the
children are birds building their nests. Other songs
turn them into shoemakers, galloping horses, or sol-
diers.
Dramatic plays, whether simple, like this, or elabo-
rate, are, as Goethe shows in Wilhelm Meister, of the
greatest possible educational advantage. In them the
child expresses his ideas of the world about him and
becomes master of his own ideas. He acts out whatever
he has heard or seen. He acts out also whatever he is
puzzling about, and by making the terms of his prob-
lem clear to his consciousness usually solves it.
As for dancing, Richter exclaims: “I know not
whether I should most deprecate children's balls or
most praise children's dances. For the harmony con-
nected with it (dancing) imparts to the affections and
the mind that material order which reveals the highest,
and regulates the beat of the pulse, the step, and even
the thought. Music is the meter of this poetic move-
ment, and is an invisible dance, as dancing is a silent
music. Finally, this also ranks among the advantages
of his eye and heel pleasure; that children with chil-
dren, by no harder canon than the musical, light as
sound, may be joined in a rosebud feast without thorns
or strife.” The dances may be of the simplest kind,
such as “Ring Around a Rosy," "Here We Go, To and
Fro," "Old Dan Tucker" and the “Virginia Reel.”
The old-fashioned singing plays, such as "London
88
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Toys
Bridge," "Where Oats, Peas, Beans, and Barley
Grow," and "Pop Goes the Weasel" have their place
and value. Several collections of them have been
made and published, but usually quite enough material
may be found for these plays in the memories of the
people of any neighborhood.
All these plays, it will be noticed, call for very
simple and inexpensive apparatus, in most cases for
no apparatus at all. Nevertheless there is a place for
toys. All children ought to have a few, both because
of the innocent pleasure they afford and because they
need to have certain possessions which are inalienably
their own. A simple and inexpensive list of suitable
toys adapted to various ages is given at the end of this
section. Most of them are exactly the toys that parents
usually buy. But it will be noticed that none of them
are very elaborate or expensive, and that the patrol
wagon is not among them. This is because the patrol
wagon directly leads to plays that are not only un-
educational but positively harmful in their tendencies.
The children of a whole neighborhood were once led
into the habit of committing various imitation crimes
for the sake of being arrested and carried off in a min-
iature patrol wagon. If any such expensive and elabo-
rate toys are bought, it may well be the plain express
wagon or the hook and ladder and fire engine. The
first of these leads to plays of industry, the second
to those of heroism.
PLAY.
89
LIST OF TOYS SUITABLE FOR VARIOUS AGES.
Before 1 year
Ball, rubber ring, soft animals and rag dolls....
Blocks and Bells..
1 year
Small chair and table.
.14 years
Noah's Ark....
2 years
Picture books..
2 years
Materials and instruments..
.2 to 3 years
Carts, stick-horses, and reins....
.242 to 3 years
Boats, ships, engines, tin or wooden animals, dolls,
dishes, broom, spade, sand-pile, bucket, etc.. 3 years
Hoop, games and story-books...
Б year
OCCUPATIONS
Home
Kindergarten
There are a number of books designed to teach
mothers how to carry the Kindergarten occupations
over into the home; but while such books may be help-
ful in a few cases, in most cases better occupations pre-
sent themselves in the course of the day's work. The
Kindergarten occupations themselves follow increasing-
ly the order of domestic routine. For example, many
children in the Kindergarten make mittens out of eider-
down flannel in the Fall, when their own mothers are
knitting their mittens, and make little hoods either for
themselves or for their dolls. At other periods they
put up little glasses of preserves or jelly, and study the
industry of the bees and the way they put up their
tiny jars of jelly. Their attention is called also to the
preparations that the squirrels and other animals make
for winter, and to that of the trees and flowers. In
other words, the occupations in the Kindergarten are
designed to bring the children into conscious sympathy
with the life of nature and of the home.
That mother who keeps this purpose in mind and
applies it to the occupations that come up naturally in
the course of a day's work, will thereby bring the
Kindergarten spirit into her own home much more
truly than if she invests in a number of perforated sew-
ing cards and colored strips of paper for weaving. Not
that there is any harm in these bits of apparatus, pro;
Kindergarten
Yethods
OCCUPATIONS.
91
Helping
Mother
vided that the sewing cards are large and so perforated
as not to task the eyes and young fingers of the sewer.
But unless for some special purpose, such as the mak-
ing of a Christmas or birthday gift, these devices are
unnecessary and better left to the school, which has less
richness of material at hand than has the home.
In allowing the children to enter as workers into
the full life of the home several good things are accom-
plished. (1) The eager interest of the developing
mind is utilized to brighten those duties which are
likely to remain permanent duties. Nor does this ob-
servation apply only to girls. Domestic obligations
are supposed to rest chiefly upon them, but the truth
is that boys need to feel these obligations as keenly as
the girls, if they are to grow into considerate and
helpful husbands and fathers. The usual division of
labor into forms falsely called masculine and feminine
is, therefore, much to be deplored. Moreover, at an
early age children are seldom sex-conscious, and any
precocity in this direction is especially evil in its re-
sults; yet many mothers from the beginning make
such a division between what they require of their boys
and of their girls as to force this consciousness upon
them. All kinds of work, then, should be allowed in
the beginning, however it may differentiate later on,
and little boys as well as little girls should be taught
to take an interest in sewing, dish-washing, sweeping,
dusting, and cooking-in all the fornis of domestic
activity.
92
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Teaching
Mother
This is so far recognized among educators that the
most progressive primary schools now teach cooking
to mixed classes of boys and girls, and also sewing.
These activities are recognized as highly educational,
being, as they are, interwoven with the history of the
race and with its daily needs. When they are studied
in their full sum of relationship, they increase the
child's knowledge of both the past and the living world.
(2) Besides the deepening of the child's interest in
that work which in some form or other he will have
with him always, is the quickening of the mother's own
interest in what may have come to seem to her mere
daily drudgery. Any woman who undertakes to per-
form so simple an operation as dish-washing with the
help of a bright happy child, asking sixteen questions
to the minute, will find that common-place operation
full of possibilities; and if she will answer all the
questions she will probably find her knowledge strained
to the breaking point, and will discover there is more
to be known about dish-washing than she ever dreamed
of before; while in cooking, if she will make an effort
to look up the science, history, and ethics involved in
the cooking and serving of a very simple meal, she
will not be likely to regard the task as one beneath
her, but rather as one beyond her. No one can so
lead her away from false conventions and narrow
prejudices as a little child whom she permits to help
her and teach her.
OCCUPATIONS.
93
The Love
of Work
To Mako
"Helping"
of Benefit
(3) The child's spontaneous joy in being active and
in doing any service is being utilized, as it should be,
in the performance of his daily duties. We have al-
ready referred to the fact that all children in the be-
ginning love to work, and that there must be some-
thing the matter with our education since this love is
so early lost and so seldom reacquired. If when
young children wish to help mother they are almost
invariably permitted to do so, and their efforts greeted
lovingly, this delight in helpfulness will remain a
blessing to them throughout life.
But in order to get these benefits from the domestic
activities two or three simple rules must be observed.
(1) Do not go silently about your work, expecting
your child to be interested and to understand without
being talked to. Play with him while you work with
him and see the realization of youthfulness that comes
to yourself while you do it. Many tasks fit for child-
ish hands are in their nature too monotonous for child-
ish minds. Here your imagination must come into
play to rouse and excite his activity. For instance,
you are both shelling peas. When he begins to be
tired you suggest to him, “Here is a cage full of birds,
let us open the door for them;" or you may tell a story
while you work, but it should be a story about that very
activity, or the child will form the habit of dreaming
and dawdling over his work. Such stories may be
perfectly simple and even rather pointless and yet do
good work; the whole object is to keep the child's fly-
94
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Fatigue
away imagination turned upon the work at hand, thus
lending wings to his thought, and lightness to his
fingers. Moreover, the mother who talks with her child
while working is training in him the habit of bright
unconscious conversation, thus giving him a most use-
ful accomplishment. Making a game or a play out of
the work is, of course, conducive to the same good re-
sults. When the story or the talk drags, the ganie
with its greater dramatic power may be substituted.
(2) Children should neither be allowed to work to
the point of fatigue nor to stop when they please. Fa-
tigue, as our latest investigators in physiological psy-
chology have conclusively proved, is productive of an
actual poison in the blood and as such is peculiarly
harmful to young children. But while work-or for that
matter play either-must never be pushed past the point
of healthful fatigue, it may well be pushed past the
point of spontaneous interest and desire: the child may
be happily persuaded by various hidden means to do a
little more than he is quite ready to do. By this de-
vice, which is one of the recognized devices of the
Kindergarten, mothers increase by imperceptible de-
grees that power of attention which makes will power.
(3) Set the example of willing industry. Neither
let the child conceive of you as an impersonal necessary
part of the household machinery, nor as an unwilling
martyr to household necessities. Most mothers err in
one or the other of these two directions, an
them err in both: they either, (a) perform the in
Willing
Industry
many of
OCCUPATIONS.
95
numerable services of the household so quietly and
steadily that the child does not perceive the effort that
the performance costs and, therefore, as far as his
consciousness is concerned, is deprived of the force of
his mother's example, or (b) they groan aloud over
their burdens and make their daily martyrdom vocal.
Either way is wrong, for it is a mistake not to let a
child see that your steady performance of tasks, which
cannot be always delightful, is a result of self-dis-
cipline; and it is equally a mistake to let him think
that this discipline is one against which you rebel.
For in reality you are so far from being unwilling to
bind yourself in his service that if he needed it you
would promptly double and quadruple your exertions.
It is exactly what you do when he is sick or in danger;
and if he dies the sorest ache of your heart is the ache
of the love that can no longer be of service to the be-
loved.
(4) Remember that monotony is the curse of labor
for both child and adult, but that monotony cannot exist
where new intellectual insights are constantly being
given. Therefore, while the daily round of labor,
shaped by the daily recurring demands for food,
warmth, cleanliness, and sleep, goes on without much
change, seize every opportunity to deepen the child's
perception of the relation of this routine to the order
of the larger world. For instance, if a new house is
being built near by, visit it with the children, comparing
it with your own house, figure out whether it is going
Monotony
96
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Beautiful
Work
to be easier to keep clean and to warm than your house
is and why. If you need to call in the carpenter, the
plumber, the paper-hanger, or the stoveman, try to
have him come when the children are at home, and let
them satisfy their intense curiosity as to his work.
This knowledge will sooner or later be of practical
value, and it is immediately of spiritual value.
(5) Beautify the work as much as possible by let-
ting the artistic sense have full play. This rule is so
important that the attempt to establish it in the larger
world outside of the home has given rise to the move-
ment known as the arts and crafts movement, which
has its rise in the perception that no great art can come
into existence among us until the common things of
daily living—the furniture, the books, the carpets, the
chinaware—are made to express that creative joy in
the maker which distinguishes an artistic product from
an inartistic one. This creative joy, in howsoever
small degree, may be present in most of the things that
the child does. If he sets the table, he may set it
beautifully, taking real pleasure in the coloring of the
china and the shine of the silver and glass. He ought
not to be permitted to set it untidily upon a soiled ta-
blecloth.
(6) This is a negative rule, but perhaps the most
important of all : DO NOT NAG. The child who
is driven to his work and kept at it by means of a
constant pressure of a stronger will upon his own, is
deriving little, if any, benefit from it; and as you are
The Right
Spirit
OCCUPATIONS.
97
not teaching him to work for the sake of his present
usefulness, which is small at the best, but for the sake
of his future development, you are more desirous that
he should perform a single task in a day in the right
spirit, than that he should run a dozen errands in the
wrong spirit.
(7) Besides a regular time each day for the per-
formance of his set share in the household work, give
him warning before the arrival of that hour. Children
have very incomplete notions of time; they become
much absorbed in their own play; and therefore no
child under nine or ten years of age should be expected
to do a given thing at a given time without warning
that the time is at hand.
Besides these occupations which are truly part of the
business of life come any number of other occupa-
tions—a sort of a cross between real play and steady
work, what teachers call "busy work"-and here the
suggestions of the Kindergarten may be of practical
value to the mother. For instance, weaving, already
referred to, may keep an active child interested and
quiet for considerable periods of time. Besides the
regular weaving mats of paper, to be had from any
Kindergarten supply store, wide grasses and rushes
may be braided into mats, raffia and rattan may be
woven into baskets, and strips of cloth woven into iron-
holders. A visit to any neighboring Kindergarten will
acquaint the mother with a number of useful, simple
objects that can be woven by a child. Whatever he
"Busy Work"
98
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Sewing
weaves or whatever he makes should be applied to some
useful purpose, not merely thrown away; and while it
is true that a conscientious desire to live up to this rule
often results in a considerable clutter of flimsy and
rather undesirable objects about the house, still, ways
may be devised for slowly retiring the oldest of them
from view, and disposing of others among patient
relatives.
Sewing is another occupation much used in the Kin-
dergarten as well as in the home. Beginning with the
simple stringing of large wooden beads upon shoe-
strings, it passes on to sewing on buttons, and sewing
doll clothes to the making of real clothing. This last
in its simplest form can be begun sooner than most
parents suppose, especially if the child is taught the
use of the sewing machine. There is really no reason
why a child, say six years old, should not learn to sew
upon the machine. His interest in machinery is keen
at this period, and two or three lessons are usually
sufficient to teach him enough about the mechanism to
keep him from injuring it. Once he has learned to
sew upon the machine, he may be given sheets and
towels to hem, and even sew up the seams of larger
and more complex articles. He will soon be able to
make aprons for himself and his sisters and mother.
Toy sewing machines are now sold which are really
useful playthings, and on which the child can manu-
facture a number of small articles. Those run by a
treadle are preferable to those run by a hand crank,
OCCUPATIONS.
99
Drawing
Cutting
Pasting
because they leave the child's hands free to guide the
work.
Drawing, painting, cutting and pasting are excellent
occupations for children. A large black-board is a
useful addition to the nursery furnishings, but the
children should be required to wash it off with a damp
cloth, instead of using the eraser furnished for the
purpose, as the chalk dust gets into the room and fills
the children's lungs. Plenty of soft pencils and cray-
ons, also large sheets of inexpensive drawing paper,
should be at hand upon a low table so that they can
draw the large free outlines which best develop their
skill, whenever the impulse moves them. If they have
also blunt scissors for cutting all sorts of colored papers
and a bottle of inocuous library paste, they will be able
to amuse themselves at alınost any time.
Some water colors are now made which are harmless
for children so young that they are likely to put the
paints in their mouths. Paints are on the whole less
objectionable than colored chalks, because the crayons
drop upon the floor and get trodden into the carpet.
If children are properly clothed as they should be in
simple washable garments, there is practically no diffi-
culty connected with the free use of paints, and their
educational value is, of course, very high.
Painting
TEST QUESTIONS
The following questions constitute the "written reci.
tation" which the regular members of the A. S. H. E.
answer in writing and send in for the correction and
comment of the instructor. They are intended to
emphasize and fix in the memory the most important
points in the lesson.
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE
PART II
Read Carefully. In answering these questions you are
earnestly requested not to answer according to the text-book
where opinions are asked for, but to answer according to
conviction. In all cases credit will be given for thought and
original observation. Place your name and full address at
the head of the paper; use your own words so that your
instructor may be sure that you understand the subject.
2.
1. State Fichte's doctrine of rights and show how it
applies to child training. If possible, give an ex-
ample from your own experience.
What is the aim of moral training ?
3. What two sayings of Froebel most characteristic-
ally sum up his philosophy ?
4. What is the value of play in education?
5. What are the natural playthings? Tell what, in
your childhood, you got out of these things, or if
you were kept away from them, what the pro-
hibition meant to you.
6. What do you think about children's dancing ?
And acting ?
7. Do you agree with those who think that the Kin-
dergarten makes right doing too easy? State the
reasons for your opinion.
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
IO.
8. What can you say of commands, reproofs, and
rules?
9. Should you let the children help you about the
house, even when they are so little as to be
troublesome? Why? If they are unwilling to
help, how do you induce them to help?
What would you suggest as regular duties for
children of 4 to 5 years ? Of 7 to 8 years ?
II. Which do you consider the more important, the
housework or the child?
12. Wherein may the mother learn from the child ?
13. What is the difference between amusing children
and playing with them? Which is the proper
method ?
14. Mention some good rules in character building.
15. From your own experience as a child what can
you say of teaching the mysteries of sex?
16. Are there any questions you would like to ask,
or subjects which you wish to discuss in connec-
tion with this lesson?
Note. After completing the test sign your full name.
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE
PART III
MADONNA AND CHILD
By Murillo, Spauish painter of the seventeenth century
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE
PART III
ART AND LITERATURE IN CHILD LIFE
Influence
of Art
The influence of art upon the life of a young child
is difficult of measurement. It may freely be said,
however, that there is little or no danger in exaggerat-
ing its influence, and considerable danger in underrat-
ing it. It is difficult of measurement because the in-
fluence is largely an unconscious one. Indeed, it may
be questioned whether that form of art which give
him the most conscious and outspoken pleasure is the
form that in reality is the most beneficial; for, unques-
tionably, he will get great satisfaction from circus
posters, and the poorly printed, abominably illustrated
cheap picture books afford him undeniable joy. He is
far less likely to be expressive of his pleasure in a sun-
shiny nursery, whose walls, rugs, white beds, and sun-
shiny windows are all well designed and well adapted
to his needs. Nevertheless, in the end the influence of
this room is likely to be the greater influence and to
permanently shape his ideas of the beautiful; while
he is entirely certain, if allowed to develop artistically
at all, to grow past the circus poster period.
This fact—the fact that the highest influence of art
is a secret influence, exercised not only by those decora-
tions and pictures which flaunt themselves for the pur-
pose, but also by those quiet, necessary, every-day
102
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Color
things, which nevertheless may most truly express the
art spirit—this fact makes it difficult to tell what art
and what kind of art is really influencing the child, and
whether it is influencing him in the right directions.
Until he is three years old, for example, and often
until he is past that'age, he is unable to distinguish
clearly between green, gray, and blue; and hence these
cool colors in the decorations around him, or in his
pictures, have practically no meaning for him. He has
a right, one might suppose, to the gratification of his
love for clear reds and yellows, for the sharp, well-
defined lines and flat surfaces, whose meaning is plain
to his groping little mind. Some of the best illus-
trators of children's books have seemed to recognize
this. For example, Boutet de Monvil in his admirable
illustrations of Joan of Arc meets these requirements
perfectly, and yet in a manner which must satisfy any
adult lover of good art. The Caldecott picture books,
and Walter Crane's are also good in this respect, and
the Perkins pictures issued by the Prang Educational
Co. have gained a just recognition as excellent pictures
for hanging on the nursery wall. Many of the illustra-
tions in color in the standard magazines are well worth
cutting out, mounting and framing. This is especially
true of Howard Pyle's work and that of Elizabeth
Shippen Green.
Since photogravures and photographs of the master-
pieces can be had in this country very inexpensively,
there is no reason why children should not be made
Classic
Art
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THAT MESURMA
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PERKINS' PICTURES
104
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Plastic
Art
acquainted at an early age with the art classics, but
there is danger in giving too much space to black and
white, especially in the nursery where the children live.
Their natural love of color should be appealed to do
deepen their interest in really good pictures.
Nevertheless, it is a matter of considerable difficulty
still to find colored pictures which are inexpensive and
yet really good. The Detaille prints, while not yet
cheap, are not expensive either, and are excellent for
this purpose; but the insipid little pictures of fairies,
flowers, and birds may be really harmful, as helping
to form in the young child's mind too low an ideal of
beauty—of cultivating in him what someone has called
“the lust of the eye.”
What holds true of the pictorial art holds equally
true of the plastic art. As Prof. Veblin of the Uni-
versity of Chicago has scathingly declared, our ideals
of the beautiful are so mingled with worship of ex-
pense that few of us can see the genuine beauty in any
object apart from its expensiveness. For this reason
as well as, perhaps, because of a remnant of barbarism
in us, we love gold and glitter, and a great deal of
elaboration in our vases, and are far from being over-
critical of any piece of statuary which costs a respect-
able sum.
A certain appreciation, however, of the real value of
a good plaster-cast has been gaining among us of late
years, and many public schools, especially in the large
cities, have been establishing standards of good taste
RELIEF MEDALLION
By Andrea della Robbia, in Foundling Hospital, Florence
THE DRAMA.
107
old-fashioned nonsense songs, such as "Billy Boy,”
“Mary had a Little Lamb” and “Hey Diddle Diddle,
the Cat and the Fiddle," may also have a pleasant and
harmless place of their own.
Instrumental music should be on the same general
order, not loud and showy, but clear, simple, sweet, and
free from startling effects. Dashing pieces, rag-time
pieces, marches, two-steps, and familiar tunes with va-
riations, instead of bringing about a spirit of gentle-
ness and harmony, actually tend to produce self-assert-
iveness and quarrelsomeness. Let any mother who
does not believe this try the effect of an hour of the
one kind of music on one evening, and an hour of the
other kind on another evening. The difference will
be immediately apparent.
The influence of the drama must not be forgotten.
This form of art, fallen so low among us since the time
of the Puritans that it can scarceiy be called an art at
all, is, nevertheless, the art which perhaps above all
others has an immediate and yet lasting influence.
Children are themselves instinctively dramatic. They
like to compose and act out all sorts of dramas of their
own, from playing house (which is nothing but a
drama prolonged from day to day), to such dramatic
games as Statue-posing and Dumb Crambo. All chil-
dren like to dress up, to wear masks, and to imitate the
peculiarities of persons about them; to try on, as it
were, the world as they see it, and discover thereby
how the actors in it feel. Goethe's Wilhelm Meister
Tho Drama
108
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
has already been referred to. In this—his great book
on education-he practically bases all education upon
the drama, and even throws the treatise itself into
dramatic form.
This does not mean, however, that all children should
be permitted to go to the theater as freely as they
like. No; the plays which they compose and act for
themselves have a far higher value educationally than
most of the spectacular presentations of the old fairy
tales with which they are usually regaled, and certainly
more than the sensational melodramas which give
them false ideas of art and morality. They should go
sometimes to the theater to see really good and simple
plays, but they should be oftener' encouraged to get
up for themselves plays at home. If, as they grow
older, they are helped to think out their costumes with
something of historical accuracy, to be true to the
spirit and scenery of the times in which the representa-
tions are laid, the activity can be made to increase in
value to them as the years go by. There is ilo other
art, perhaps, by which the child so intimately links the
world spirit with his own spirit. It is for this reason
that the School of Education in the University of Chi-
cago is equipped with small theaters in which the
children act.
As for the art of literature, not all children love read-
ing, perhaps, but certainly all children love to hear
stories told, and the skilful mother will direct this
spontaneous affection into a love for reading. No
Literature
LITERATURE.
109
Fairy
Tales
other single love, except perhaps the love of nature,
so emancipates the child from the thrall of circum-
stances. If he can escape from the small ills of life
into fairy-land merely by opening the covers of a book,
be sure that these ills will not have power to crush
him, unless they be very great ills indeed.
There are those who still believe that fairy tales and
fiction of all sorts are nothing but lies. Poor souls,
with their faces against the stone wall of hard facts,
they can never look up into the sky and see the winged
and beautiful thoughts freely disporting there. They
make no distinction between truth and fact, yet truth
is of the spirit and fact of the flesh; and truth, because
it is of the spirit, may appear under many forms, even
under the form of play. All rightly told and rightly
conceived fairy-tales are true just as a good picture
is true. The painter uses oil, turpentine, and pigment
to represent the wool of a sheep, the water of a pond,
the green spears of grass. Some literal-minded per-
son might say that he was lying because he pretented
that his little square of canvas truthfully represented
grazing sheep at the brook-side, but most of us recog-
nize that he is really telling the truth only in another
than an every day form. In the same way the writer
of fairy-tales tells the truth, using the pigments of the
imagination.
If children ask whether a given story is true or not,
answer without hesitation, "yes." It is true, but it is a
fairy kind of truth; it is inside truth. There is magic
IIO
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Imagination
and
Sympathy
in it and a mystery. The child who is never allowed
to read fairy tales, the man or the woman who pre-
fers the newspaper to a good book of fiction, misses
much in life. It is not only that the imagination—the
divinest quality of man, because the quality that makes
man in his degree a creator--does not receive culture,
and that he misses the indescribable intellectual ecstasy
that comes only with the setting free of the wings of
the mind, but that also he is inevitably shorn of his
sympathy and shut up to a narrow circle of interests.
For sympathy, above all moral qualities, is dependent
upon imagination. If you cannot imagine how you
would feel under your neighbor's conditions, you can-
not deeply sympathize with him. The person of un-
imaginative mind sympathizes only with those whose
experience and habits are similar to his own. He
never escapes from the narrow circle of his own per-
sonality. But the man whose imagination has been
kept flexible and ready from earliest childhood has
within him the power of sympathizing with what-
ever is human-yes! even with creatures and things
below the human level. Without imagination, there-
fore, it is not possible for a man to be a great scientist,
for science demands sympathy with processes and ob-
jects which are not yet human. It is not possible, ob-
viously, for him to be a great artist of any kind, for all
art is interpretation of the world by means of the
imagination. It is not possible for him, even, to be a
good man in any broad sense, for the man whose
LITERATURE.
III
Books
sympathies are narrow is often found to be guilty of
injustice towards those who lie outside the pale of those
sympathies.
By all means, then, encourage the love of reading in
your children, and get them the best of story-books to
read, and subscribe to the best magazines. Read with
them. Let some reading enter into every day's life;
talk over what has been read at the dinner-table, and
so avoid harmful personalities and disagreeable criti-
cisms.
As to the books to choose, choose the best. Gen-
erally speaking, the best are those that have some
dignity of age upon them. As in music you chose
the folksongs, so in children's literature also choose the
old fashioned fairy stories, such as those collected by
the Brothers Grimm and by Andrew Lang. Hans
Christian Andersen's Fairy Stories of course are clas-
sics. Hawthorne's Tanglewood Tales give excellent
suggestions as to the right use to be rnade of the old
mythologies. Many of the supplementary readers now
being so widely used in the public schools are good,
simple versions of these old stories which helped to
make the world what it should be. For the rest there are
two standard children's magazines which help to form
a good taste in literature and which are continually sug-
gestive of the right sort of reading material. These
are The Youth's Companion and St. Nicholas.
Finally, all appreciation of literature and art depends
upon a love of and some knowledge of nature. Fairy
Naturo
Study
II2
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Art and
Nature
stories and mythology especially are so dependent
upon nature for their inner meaning and significance
as scarcely to be intelligible without some knowledge
of natural processes and laws. Of course, it is true
that art in its turn idealizes nature and fills her beauti-
ful form with a beautiful soul; so that the child who
is being developed on all sides needs to take his books
and his pictures out of doors in order to get the full
good of them.
No amount of music, art, and literature can make up.
for the free life in the fields and under the sky which
all these arts describe and interpret. If he should be
so unhappy as to have to choose between nature and
art, it would be better for him to choose nature, be-
cause then, perhaps, art might be born in his own
soul. But there is happily no need for such a painful
choice. He can sing his little song out of doors with
the birds and notice how they join in the chorus. He
can paint evening sunsets with the pine-trees against
it far better out of doors than indoors with copy
perched before him. He can look down the aisles
of the real woods to watch for the enchanted princess,
or for the chivalrous knight whose story he is reading.
Art and nature belong together in the unified soul of
the child. Well for him and for the world in which he
lives if they are never divorced, but he goes on to the
end loving them both and seeing them both as one.
CHILDREN'S ASSOCIATES
The
Kindergarten
If the child was intended to grow into a man of fam-
ily, merely, family training might be sufficient for him,
but since he must grow into a member of society, so-
cial training is as necessary for him as family training.
Failure to recognize this truth is at the bottom of the
current misconceptions of the Kindergarten. There
are still thousands of persons who suppose it is only
a superior sort of day-nursery where children may be
safely kept and innocently employed while the mother
gets the housework done.
While this might be a laudable enough function to
perform, it is by no means the function of the Kinder-
garten. This method of instruction aims at much
more. It aims to lay foundations for a complete later
education, and especially to make firm in the child
those virtues and aptitudes which, when they are held
by the majority of men, constitute the safety and wel- •
fare of society. For this reason, no home, however
well ordered, can supply to the child what the Kinder-
garten supplies. For the home is necessarily limited
to the members of one family, while the Kindergarten,
on the contrary, makes plain to the child the claims
upon him of society not made up of his kinsfolk. It
is the wide world in miniature, and if it is a properly
organized Kindergarten, it will contain within itself a
wide variety of children-children of wealth and of
114
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
poverty, of ignorance and of gentle breeding—and
will bring them all under one just rule. For only by
this commingling of many characters upon a common
level and under the strict reign of justice can the child
be fitted practically, and by means of a series of pro-
gressive experiments, for citizenship in a genuine
democracy.
lusivo
uciates
Parents sometimes so far miss the aim of the Kin-
dergarten as to desire that instead of such a com-
mingling there shall be a narrow limit set; that in the
Kindergarten shall be only such children as the child
is accustomed to associatė with. But if the Kinder-
garten acceded to this demand, as it seldom does, it
would lose much of its usefulness, for every one knows
that children cannot be permanently sheltered from
contact with the outside world, nor can they be al-
ways reared in an atmosphere of exclusiveness. A
wisdom greater than the mother's has ordered that no
child shall be so narrowly nourished. If he has any
freedom whatever, any naturalness of life, he must
and will enlarge his circle of acquaintances beyond the
limit of his mother's calling list.
Indeed, even those Kindergartens which are pro-
fessedly exclusive, and which confine their ministra-
tions to the children of one particular neighborhood,
are obliged by the nature of things to contain nascent
individualities of almost every type. For no neigh-
borhood, however equal in wealth and fashion, ever
produced children of an unvarying quality. In any
CHILDRENS ASSOCIATES.
115
Evil
Example
circle, no matter how exclusive, there are mischievous
children, children who use bad language, children who
have sly, mean tricks, children who do not speak the
truth, and who are in other ways quite as undesirable
as the children of the poor and ignorant. It is often
asserted, indeed, that the children of exclusive neigh-
borhoods very often show more varieties of badness
than the children of the open street. The records of
the private Kindergarten as compared with the public
Kindergarten amply prove this statement.
Since, then, whether you confine your child to the
limits of your own circle or not, you cannot success-
fully keep him from playing with children who are
more or less objectionable, what are you going to do
to keep him from the harm of such association? You
have to make him strong enough to withstand temp-
tation and resist the force of evil example. Of course,
he must have as little of the wrong example, especially
in his younger and tenderer years, as can be managed
without too greatly checking his activity and curtail-
ing his freedom. Yet after all he is to be taught a
positive and not a negative righteousness, and if his
home training is not sufficient to enable him to stand
against a certain downward pull from the outside,
there is something the matter with it.
While he must not be strained too hard, nor too
constantly associate with children whose manners put
his manners to the test, still he ought by degrees, al-
most imperceptibly, to be accustomed to holding to the
CHILDRENS ASSOCIATES.
117
Sharing
the Child's
Play
social training of her child, and this means that she
must know his playmates, not only through his report
of them, but through her own observation of them,
and that they must be sufficiently at home with her
to betray their true characters in her presence. And this
means, of course, that she must become her child's
playmate. There are few women who think that they
have time for this, but there are also few who would
not be benefited by it. If anywhere there is a fountain
of youth, it gushes up invisibly wherever playing chil-
dren are, and she who plays with them gets sprinkled
by it.
If there be no time during the busy day when she
can justly enter into the children's free play, at least
there is a little while in the iate afternoon or in the
early evening when she can do so, if she will. An hour
or two a week spent in active association with children
at their games will make her intimately acquainted
with all their playmates, and, moreover, constitute her
a power of first magnitude among them. Her mother-
hood thus extends itself, and she blesses not only her
own children, but all those who come near her chil-
dren. In this respect no Kindergarten can take the
place of the mother's own companionship with the
child in his social life.
In an ideal condition the child las his Kindergar-
ten in the morning; his quiet hours, one of them en-
tirely solitary, in the afternoon; his social time, when
he, his brothers and sisters and mother, are joined
118
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
The Children's
Hour
with the other children and mothers in the neighbor-
hood, in the late afternoon, and his family time, with
both father and mother, in the evening before going
to bed.
In thus sharing her child's social life the mother
admits the claim upon her of social responsibility; she
sees that her duty is not to her own home alone, but
to the other homes with which hers is linked—not to
her own child alone, but to all children whose lives
touch her child's life. Her own nature widens with
the perception, and she enhances her direct teaching
with the force of a beautiful example.
STUDIES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Abstract
Studies
There may easily be too many studies and too many
as complishments in the life of any child.
As our
schools are constituted there are certainly too many
studies of the wrong kind being carried on every day.
But there are also too few studies of the right kind.
In one of our large cities a test was once made as to
how much the children who left school at the fifth
grade, as 70 per cent of them do, had actually learned
in a way that would be of practical value to them, and
the results were most discouraging. These city chil-
dren who could recite their tables of measurements
with glibness, and who performed with a fair degree of
success several hundred examples dealing with units
of measure, could not tell whether their school-room
floor contained one acre or two hundred and forty!
None of them suspected that it contained less than an
Although they could bound the States of the
Union, and give the principal exports and imports,
they knew next to nothing of their own city and of
its actual relation to the countries which they studied
in their geography lessons. The teachers, in ex-
planation, laid much of the blame for this state of af-
fairs upon the parents, saying that they took but little
interest in their children's studies, and never attempt-
ed to link them to the things of every-day life. But
while this claim might be justified to some extent, it
acre.
122
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
have noticed; or in the geographical laboratory, with
streams of water try to reproduce in miniature the
action of the brook upon the soil through which it
flows.
For their arithmetic lesson they estimate the num-
ber of years the brook must have been flowing to have
cut its valley to its present depth. They make a full
report and description of their day's work for their
reading and writing lesson. They have thus gained
an immense amount of information, and have done a
great deal of hard work; but instead of being nervously
exhausted, they are bright and exhilarated. Such
fatigue as they know is wholesome and fits them for
a sound night's sleep.
When it is impossible to send the child to such a
school as this, something may be done by supplement-
ing the ordinary school by some of these procedures.
The clay jar, the crayons, and the paints have already
been suggested, and with the parents' interest in the
child's studies, helping him to model and paint things
which he studies at school, he will instantly show the
good effect of the home training and encouragement.
As for field trips, the regular Sunday walk, or evening
stroll, may be made to take its place. If you think that
you do not know enough to teach your child on these
walks, give him then the privilege of teaching you.
He will work the harder in order to rise to the occa-
Home
Expedients
sion.
124
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Natural
Talent
Of course, if she is naturally musical some kind of
help and sympathy must be given her in her attempt
to master the piano or violin or to manage her own
voice. But while she should be allowed to learn as
much as her unurged energies permit her to learn, she
should not be required to practice more than a very
small amount, say half an hour a day. The bulk of her
musical education should be acquired in the vacation
time, when she can give two hours a day without
overstraining
The same general rules hold good of dancing, paint-
ing, the acquirements of foreign languages, a special
course of reading, or any other work undertaken in
addition to the regular school work. This latter, as it
is now constituted, is quite as severe a nervous and
intellectual strain as most young people can undergo
with safety.
There is one characteristic in young people which
needs to be noted in this connection :the desire to
take up some form of work, to strive with it furiously
for a brief while, to drop it unfinished; take up an-
other with equal eagerness, drop that in turn and go
on to a third. This performance is peculiarly irritat-
ing to all systematic and ambitious parents. Some-
times they rigidly insist that each task shall be finished
before a new one is assumed. But in reality, is this
necessary? It seems to be as natural for a young
mind to set eagerly to work for a short time at each
new bit of knowledge, as it is for a nursing child to
"Enthusiasms"
STUDIES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
125
require refreshments every two or three hours. It is
an adult trait to stick to a task, even though a very
long one, until it is accomplished. The youthful trait
is to take kindly to a clutter of unfinished tasks.
The youthful consciousness is of a world full of
jostling interests. Why not let the children alone, and
allow them to spring lightly from one enthusiasm to
another? Of course you will help them to finish, either
at the first sitting or at the second or at the third, the
task that was undertaken when that particular enthu-
siasm was at its height. The drawing which has re-
mained on the easel during the foot-ball season may be
suggestively brought to notice again in the quiet times
between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The boat be-
gun last summer may well be finished in the days of the
succeeding Spring when all the earth is full of the
sound of running water. Thus each task, though not
completed at once, gets done in the end; and the
youthful capacity for many sympathies and many de-
sires has not been narrowed.
Such a line of conduct presupposes, of course, that
the parent considers only the child's best welfare, and
not his own parental vanity. He is not desirous that
his son shall do anything so well as to attract the at-
tention and admiration of the neighbors. He is de-
sirous merely that the boy shall grow up wholesomely
and happily, showing such superiority as there may
be in him when the fitting time and opportunity present
themselves. He will not attempt to make a musician
Parental
Vanity
126
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Development
of Intellect
of an unmusical child, nor a mechanic of an artistic
child. He will not object to the brilliant and im-
practical dreams of the young inventor, but will help
to make them practicable; and though he may squirm
at some of the investigations of the budding scientist,
he will not forbid them.
For such a parent recognizes that the important
thing, educationally, is to secure the reaction of ex-
pression upon thought and feeling. That is, he is not
trying to secure at this time—at any time during
youth-perfect expression of any thought or feeling,
but only to deepen feeling and clarify thought by
encouraging all attempts at expression. He does not
wish his child to make a finished picture or a perfect
statue, but to acquire a greater sensitiveness to color
and form by each attempt to express that color and
form which he already knows. Thus whatever studies
and accomplishments his child may be in the act of
acquiring are seen to be nothing as acquisitions, but
the child himself is seen to be growing stage by stage
within the clumsy scaffolding.
FINANCIAL TRAINING
The financial training of children ought really to be
considered under the head of moral training, but in
some respects it can come equally well under the head
of intellectual training; for to spend money well re-
quires both self-control and intelligence. Some persons
seem to think that all that a child can be taught in this
FINANCIAL TRAINING.
127
Regular
Allowance
regard is to save money, and they meet the situation by
purchasing various shapes and styles of savings banks.
But it is entirely possible to teach the child too thor-
oughly in this respect and to make him so fond of his
jingling pennies safe within a yellow crockery pig or
iron cupolaed mansion that he will not spend them for
any object, however laudable. Others evade the issue
as long as possible by giving the child no money at
all; while most of us pursue an uncertain and wabbly
course, sometimes giving money, sometimes withhold-
ing it, sometimes exhorting the child to spend, and
sometimes to save.
In truth spending wisely is a difficult problem. As
a rule the child may safely be induced to lay by for a
season and then encouraged to spend for some gen-
erous purpose. Christmas and other festivals offer ex-
cellent opportunities for proper disbursement of the
hoarded funds. These may be supposed to have accu-
mulated from irregular gifts; but as the child grows
older he should come into receipt of a regular definite
allowance, perhaps conditioned upon his performance of
some stated duty. A certain part of his allowance he
may be permitted to spend upon such frivolities as are
naturally dear to his young heart; another part of it
he should be encouraged--not commanded—to put
aside for larger purposes.
The giving of this allowance must not be confused
with the pernicious habit of bribing the child to the per-
formance of those little daily courtesies and duties
128
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
which he ought to be willing to perform out of love
and a sense of right. A certain part of his daily work,
such as seeing that the match-boxes all over the house
are filled, or some similar share of the general labor of
the household, may be regarded as that for which he is
paid wages; and any extra task which does not justly
belong to him, he may sometimes be paid for perform-
ing; but not always. For instance, he ought to be will-
ing to run to the grocery for mother withoạt demand-
ing that he be paid a penny for the job; yet sometimes
the penny may be forthcoming. The point is that he
should be ready to work, even to work hard, without
pay, and yet that he should never feel that his mother
withholds pay from him when she can give it and he
receive it without injury.
When the money is once his, he should be allowed
to feel the full happiness and responsibility of posses-
sion, and if he insists upon spending it foulishly, should
be allowed to do it and to suffer to the full the un-
comfortable consequer!ces. If, on the contrary, he will
not spend it at all, his mother must use every means in
her power to lessen the desire for ownership and to
increase his love for others and his eagerness to please
them.
As judgment develops the allowance may well be
increased to provide for necessities in tire way of inci-
dentals and clothing until at the "age of discretion" he
is in full charge of the funds for his personal expenses.
He should be encouraged to apply his knowledge of
Spending
Foolishly
FINANCIAL TRAINING.
129
commercial arithmetic in the keeping of personal ac-
counts.
Experience in spending a fixed amount of money is
especially needful for the daughters. Most young men
have the value of money and financial responsibility
forced upon them in the natural course of events, but
too often the young wife has not had the training qual-
ifying her for the equal financial partnership which
should exist in the ideal marriage,
UNPO
THE INFANT GALAHAD- FIRST SIGHT OF THE GRAIL
From the mural paintings by Edwin A. Abbey in the
Boston Public Library
RELIGIOUS TRAINING
Sunday
School
Teachers
If the common school is not sufficient for the secular
education of the child, certainly the Sunday School
is not sufficient for his religious education. In the
common schools the teachers are more or less trained
for their work. It is a life occupation with them; by
means of it they earn their living, and their daily
success with their pupils marks their rate of progress
toward higher fields of endeavor. Nothing of this
sort is true in the Sunday School. While occasionally
it happens that a day school teacher becomes a Sunday
School teacher, this is seldom true, for most teachers
who teach during the week feel that they need the
Sunday for rest; and while some Sunday School
teachers betray a commendable earnestness and zeal
for their work, and associations and conventions have
latterly added somewhat to the joint effort to better
the conditions, still it remains true that the teaching in
the Sunday Schools is far below the pedagogic level
of the common schools. Yet the subject which is deaſt
with in the Sunday Schools, instead of being of less
importance than that dealt with in the common schools,
is of pre-eminently greater importance. Because of its
subtlety, its intimacy with the hidden springs of con-
duct, it calls for the exercise of the very highest teach-
ing skill.
132
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Some sort of recognition of these two facts-that
Sunday School teachers are in most cases very inade-
quately trained for their work, and that the work
itself is of great importance, and of equally great dif-
ficulty—has led to the issuing of many quarterlies,
International Lesson Leaflets, and other Sunday School
aids. Necessary as such help may be under present
conditions, they cannot possibly meet the many diffi-
culties of the case. If the central committees, who
issue these leaflets, were composed wholly of the wisest
men and women on earth, it would still be impossible
for them to give lessons to the millions of children in
their various denominations which should meet the
personal needs, and daily interests of these young
people.
As a consequence, Sunday School teaching is and
must be largely theoretical and still more largely ex-
egetical, and with neither theory nor exegesis is the
young mind of the developing child very much con-
cerned. What he needs is not the historical side of
religion or of that great body of religious literature
which we call the Bible, but a living faith which links
all that was taught by the prophets and apostles, cen-
turies ago, with what is happening in the child's own
town and family at that very moment. It is a wide
gap to bridge, and it cannot be bridged by a semi-
historical review backed by picture cards, golden texts,
and stars for good behavior. These things are merely
the marks of an endeavor to fitly accomplish a great
Sunday
School
Teaching
RELIGIOUS TRAINING.
133
task, an endeavor almost absurdly out of proportion
to this aim, rendered significant, however, because it
is the earnest of a great faith and a great hope.
So far as Sunday Schools help children, it is because
of this spirit of faithfulness, and not because of the
form which it has assumed.
In choosing, then, whether you shall send your
child to a Sunday School, choose by the presence
or absence of this spirit. If you know the teachers
of the Sunday School to be earnest, loving, and de-
voted, you may with safety assume that their per-
sonal influence will make up for what is archaic in
their method of teaching. Where the spirit is present
only in a few, or where it manifests itself only occa-
sionally, as at seasons of revival, you may well hesi-
tate to let your child attend. A great improvement
would come about if parents would show a greater
interest and encourage proper teachers to take charge
of classes. It is a thankless task at present.
There is one great danger in the teaching of any
Sunday School-one which the best of them cannot
wholly escape—and that is, that, in the very nature
of things, they teach theory and not practice. Harm-
ful as this may be, indeed as it surely is in adult life,
it does not begin to be so harmful as it does in youth,
for the young child, as we have seen, is and should
remain a unit in consciousness. His life, his intellect,
and his will are one-an undivided trinity. The
divorce of these three is at any time a regrettable oc-
Theory
Not
Practice
134
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Useless
Truths
currence; the divorce of them in early life is an almost
irreparable disaster.
The current theory is that children will learn many
truths in the Sunday School which they will not put
into practice then, perhaps, but which they will find
useful in later life. This fallacy underlies, of course,
almost all conventional education and has only been
overthrown by the dictum of modern psychology, that
there is but small storage accommodation in the brain
for facts which have no immediate relation to life.
What may be termed the saturating power of the brain
is limited, and after it has soaked up a rather small
number of truths, it can contain no more until it has
in some way disposed of those that it still has--either
by making them part of its own living structure, which
is done only by making immediate application of them;
or by dropping them below the threshold of conscious-
ness, that is, in common language, forgetting them.
Moreover, the brain may form the habit of easily
dropping all that relates to a given subject into the
limbo where unused things lie disregarded, and when
this becomes the habitual method of disposing of re-
ligious instruction, the results are particularly deplor-
able.
Feeble as her own knowledge may be, a mother has
certain advantages as a teacher of her children over any
but the exceptional Sunday school teacher. For, first,
she knows the children, and, knowing them, knows their
needs. Secondly, she knows their daily lives and con-
The Mother
as Teacher
RELIGIOUS TRAINING.
135
tinually during the week can point out wherein they fail
to live up to their Sunday's lesson. And again and
most important, she loves them tenderly, and from love
flows wisdom. Usually the mother gives her own chil-
dren a love far beyond that given by anyone else, and
this deeper love sharpens her intellectual faculties and
makes her both a keen observer and a good tactician.
Giving her children some simple lesson on Sunday aft-
ernoon, she finds a hundred opportunities to make the
lesson living and vital to them during the succeeding
week.
In the early years of the child's life, the mother is
usually the one to decide whether he shall attend
Sunday School or not, but as he approaches adolescence
he is likely to take the matter in his own hands, and
if it happens that some revivalist or a new stirring
preacher comes in contact with his life at this time,
he is very likely to be swept off his feet with a sudden
zeal of religious enthusiasm, which his mother fears
to check. The reports of memberships, baptisms, etc.,
show that a large number become converted and join
the church during adolescence. While this does not
in the least argue that the conclusions that they reach
at that time are therefore unsound—for adolescence is
not a disease, nor a form of insanity, but a normal,
if excitable, condition—still it does
prove,
when
coupled with the further fact that in adult life these
young converts often relapse into their previous con-
dition, that a more lastinig basis for religion must be
Religious
Enthusiasm
136
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
found than the emotional intensity of this period of life.
A religion to be lasting must be coldly reaffirmed by
the intellect: the dictum of the heart alone is not suf-
ficient. Religious enthusiasm, like all other forms
of enthusiasm, tends of itself to bring about the oppo-
site condition, and to be succeeded by fits of despond-
ency and bitterness as intense and severe as the en-
thusiasm itself was brilliant and ecstatic. The history
of all great religious leaders amply proves this. They
had their bitter hours of wrestling with the powers of
darkness, hours which almost counter-balanced the
hours of uplift. Only clearly thought-out intellectual
convictions reinforced by the habit of daily righteous
living can secure the soul against such emotional
aberrations.
Therefore, although the religious excitability of
adolescence must not be thwarted lest it be turned into
less helpful channels, and lest religion lose all the
beauty and compelling power lent to it by the glow of
youthful feelings, yet it must be so balanced and
ordered by a clear reason, and especially by the habit
of putting each enthusiasm to the test of conduct, that
the young mind may remain true to its law of growth,
developing harmoniously on all three sides at once.
The danger of permitting a young boy or girl while
under the influence of this emotional instability to
enter into any special form of religious service is the
danger of reaction. He will discover that all is not
as his early vision led him to suppose—because that
Danger of
Reaction
RELIGIOUS TRAINING.
137
A Difioult
Period
early vision was of things too high and holy for any
earthly realization—and he may turn against what
seems to him to be hypocrisy and pretense with a bit-
terness proportioned to his former love. Many honest,
faithful men and women remain in this state of re-
action for the rest of their lives.
Nevertheless, it will not do to thwart these young
beginnings. They must neither be nipped in the bud
nor forced to a premature ripening. Above all they
must not be suffered to endure the killing frost of
ridicule. The period is a difficult one, but, as Dr. Stanley
Hall points out, it is supremely the mother's oppor-
tunity. If she can hold her boy's or her girl's con-
fidence now, can ease their eager young hearts with
an intelligent sympathy, she can probably keep them
from any public commitment. Perhaps they may
desire to confide in the minister; if so, let the mother
confide in him first. Perhaps they have bosom friends,
passing through the same stirring experience; then let
the mother win over these friends.
Her object should be to shelter this beautiful senti-
ment; to keep it safe from exposure; above all, to
utilize it as a motive-power—as an incentive to noble
action. The Kindergarten rule is a good one: as
quick as a love springs in a child's breast, give it
something to do. When the love of God awakes
there, give it much to do. Usually, the only way open
is to join the church, to make a public profession. The
wise mother will see to it that there are other ways,
138
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
Bible
Study
urging the young knight to serve his King by going
forth into the world immediately about him and fight-,
ing against all forms of evil, giving him a practical,
definite quest. The result of such restriction of public
speech, and stimulation of private deed, will be a sin-
cere, lowly-minded religion, so inwoven with the truest
activities as to be inseparable from them.
Such a
religion knows no reaction.
Now is supremely the time for a study of the Bible.
Interesting as a Divine Story Book to the young chil-
dren, it becomes the Book of Life to these older ones.
In teaching it at home, a few simple rules need to be
borne in mind. The first is that the Bible must be
thought of not as a series of disconnected texts and
thoughts, but as a connected wliole. The division of
King James' Bible into verses and chapters is but
poorly adapted to this purpose. The illogical, strange
character of the paragraphing, as measured by the
standards of modern English, is apparent at a glance,
for often a verse will end in the middle of sentence,
and the sentence be concluded in the next verse. The
chapters in the same way often fail to finish the sub-
ject with which they deal, and sometimes include sey-
eral subjects. Therefore, the mother who undertakes
to read the Bible to her children needs first to go
through the lesson herself, and to decide what sub-
ject, not what chapter, she will take up that day. There
is a reader's edition of the Bible, and one called the
"Children's Bible," both of which aim to leave out all
RELIGIOUS TRAINING.
139
Children's
Bible
repetition and references and to arrange the Bible
narrative in a simple, consecutive order, nevertheless
employing the beautiful Bible ianguage. These edi-
tions might prove of considerable help to mothers
who feel unequal to doing the work by themselves.
Second, comparable to this in importance is the
reading of the Bible and talking about it in a perfectly
ordinary tone of voice; for what you want is to make
the Bible teachings live in to-day. You must not,
therefore, suggest by your tone or manner that they
belong to another day, and that they are, in some sense,
to be shut out from common life and speech. This does
not mean such common use of Biblical phrases in
every day conversation as to cause it to grow into
that form of irreverence known as cant, but it does
mean simple usage of Bible thought, and the effort to
fit it to the conditions of daily life. Such a habit in
itself will force any family to discriminate as to what
things in the Bible are living and eternal, and what
things belong rightly to that far away time and place
of which the Bible narrative treats, thus practicing
both teacher and pupils—that is, both parents and
children—in the art of finding the universal spirit of
truth under all temporal disguises. Without this art
the Bible is a closed book, even to the closest student.
Again, every effort should be made to help the home
Bible class to understand the period studied in that
week's lesson, and to this end secular literature and
art should be freely called upon, not only such stories,
Making
Lessons
Real
140
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
for example, as “Ben Hur," but other stories not
necessarily religious, which deal with the same time
and place; they are of great help in putting vividly
before the children and parents the temporal setting
of the eternal stories. Cannon Farrar's “Life of
Christ” is a very great help to the realization of the
New Testament scenes, as is also Tissot's “Pictorial
Life of Christ." In short every art should be made to
deepen and clarify the conceptions roused by the
study of the Bible.
Conclusion
The mother who undertakes the tremendous task of
rightly training her children, will need to exercise
herself daily in all the Christian virtues—and if there
are any Pagan ones not included under faith, hope,
charity, patience, and humility, to exercise those also.
With these virtues to support her, she will be able to
use whatever knowledge she may acquire. Without
them she can do nothing.
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE
PART III
Read Carefrilly. In answering these questions you are
earnestly requested not to answer according to the text-book
where opinions are asked for, but to answer according to
conviction. In all cases credit will be given for thought and
original observation. Place your name and full address at
the head of the paper; use your own words so that your
instructor may be sure that you understand the subject.
2.
I. How can you bring the influence of art to bear
upon your child ?
What is the influence of music? How can you
employ it?
3. Do you believe in fairy tales for children? State
your reasons.
4. How would you encourage the love of nature in
your child?
5. What is it that the Kindergarten can do better
than the home?
6. Suppose that your child had some undesirable
acquaintances, how would you meet the situa-
tion ?
7. What can you say of accomplishments for chil-
dren ?
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.
11.
12.
8. If manual training, physical culture, domestic
science, etc., are not taught in your schools and
you wish your children to get some of the ad-
vantages of these studies, how will you set
about it?
9. What do you understand to be the correlation of
studies ?
IO. Should parents become acquainted with the teach-
ers of their children and their methods ? Why?
How may children be taught the use of money?
State the advantages and disadvantages of Sunday
schools. What have they meant in your own
experience ?
13. How will you train your child religiously? Can
anyone take this task from you?
14. What rules must be borne in mind in teaching the
Bible at home?
15. Give some experience of your own (or of a
friend) in the training of a child wherein a
success has been achieved.
16. Are there any questions you would like to ask
or subjects which you wish to discuss in con-
nection with the lessons on the Study of Child
Life?
Note. After completing the test sign it with your full
name.
Supplementary Notes
on
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE
BY MARION FOSTER WASHBURN
APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES.
In this "Study of Child Life" we have considered
some of the fundamental principles of education. When
we think of the complex inheritance of the American
people it is, perhaps, no wonder that many families
contain individuals varying so widely from each other
as to seem to require each a complete system of edu-
cation all to himself. We are a people born late in the
history of the race, and our blood is mingled of the
Norseman's, the Celt's, and the Latin's. Advancing
civilization alone would tend to make us more complex,
our problems more subtle; but in addition to this we
are mixed of all races, and born in times so strenuous
that, sooner or later, every abre of our weaving is
strained and brought into prominence.
In the letters from my students this fact, with which
I was already familiar in a general sort of way, has
been brought more particularly to my attention. In
all cases, the situation has been responsible for much
confusion and difficulty. In a good many, it has led
to family tragedies, varying in magnitude from the
unhappiness of the misunderstood child to that of the
lonely woman, suffering in adult life from the faults
of her upbringing, and the failure of the family ties
whose need she felt the more as the duties of moth-
141
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STUDY OF CHILD LIFE
erhood pressed upon her. If it were possible for
me to violate the confidence of my pupils I could prove
very conclusively that the old-fashioned system of
bringing up children on the three R's and a spanking
did not work so well as some persons seem to think.
I could prove that the problem has grown past the
point where instinct and tradition may be held as suffi-
cient to solve it. Everyone, seeing these letters, would
be obliged to confess, "Yes, indeed, here is plain need
of training for parents." Yet, at the same time, these
same persons would be tempted to inquire, “But can
any training meet such a difficult situation ?”
Here is despair; and some cause for it. When one's
own mother has not understood one; when one has
lived lonely in the midst of brothers and sisters who
are more strange than strangers; when one's childhood
is full of the memory of obscure but intense sufferings,
one flies for relief, perhaps, to any one who offers it
hopefully enough; but one does not really expect to
get it. Can training, especially by correspondence,
meet the need?
Not wholly, of course, let us be frank to admit. No
amount of theory, however excellent, can take the place
of the drill given only in the hard school of experience.
But when the theory is not merely theory, but sound
principle, based on scientific observation, confirmed by
the wide experience of many persons, it is as valuable
in practical life as any rule of mathematics to the prac-
tical engineer. We all know that the technical cor-
respondence schools really do fit young mechanics to
APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES
143
move on and up in the trade. By correspondence
he is given what Froebel cails the interpreting word.
The experience in application the student has to sup-
ply himself.
So in the matter of education. There are genuine
principles which underlie the development of every
child that lives—even the feeble-minded, deaf, and
blind. Read Helen Keller's wonderful life, if you
want to see the proof of it. Just as surely as a child
has two legs and has to learn to walk on them by a
series of prolonged experiments, just so surely he has
(a) a sense of justice, (b) an instinct for freedom, (c)
a love of play. Every kind of child has all these in-
stincts, as much as he has love for food and drink; and
to educate him consists in developing these instincts
into (a) the habit of dealing justly by others, (b) the
right use of freedom, (c) love of work. The particu-
lar methods may differ. The principles do not and
CANNOT DIFFER.
She who would succeed in child training must hold
to these truths with all her might and main-making
them, in fact, her religion, for they are the doctrines
of the Christian religion as applied to motherhood.
To hold them lightly, or even experimentally, will not
do. One must walk in faith. And that the faith may
not be blind, but may be based on experience and un-
derstanding, let me suggest this means of proof: In-
stead of asking yourself how the laws laid down in
these little books would fit this or that particular child,
your own or another's, ask how they would have fitted
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STUDY OF CHILD LIFE
you, if they had been applied to you by your own
mother. Take the chapter on faults, pick out the one
which was yours, in childhood -oh, of course, you've
got over it now !—think of some bitter trouble into
which that fault hurried you, and conceive that, instead
of the punishment you did receive, you had been
treated as the lesson suggests—what, do you think,
would have been the result? And so with the other
chapters-even with that much-mooted question of
companionship. Test the truth of them all by their
imaginary application to the child you know best.
When you can, find the principles that your own
mother did employ in your education, and examine the
result of what she did. Some of the principles will
suddenly become luminous to
you,
I am sure;
and some
things that happened in the past receive an expla-
nation.
Such a self-examination, to be of any value, must
be rigidly honest. There is too much at stake here
for you to permit any remnants of bitter feeling to
influence your judgment—and you will surely be sur-
prised to find how many bitter resentments will show
that they yet have life. The past is dead, as far as
your power to change it is concerned; but it lives, as
a thing that you can use. Here is your own child, to be
helped or hindered by what you may have endured. It
will all have been worth while, if by means of it you
can save him from some bruises and falls. Every bit-
terness will be sweetened if you can look through it
OTHER PEOPLE'S CHILDREN
145
and find the truth which shall serve this dearer little
self who looks to you for guidance.
Then, when you have found the principles true—and
not one minute before put them rigidly into prac-
tice. I say, not one minute before you are convinced,
because it is better to hold the truth lightly in the mem-
ory as a mere interesting theory you have never had
time to test, than to swallow it, half assimilated. Truth
is a real and living power, once it is applied to life; and
to half-use it in doubt, and fear, is to invite indiges-
tion and consequent disgust. Take of these teachings
that which you are sure is sound and right, and use
it faithfully, and unremittingly. Be careful that no
plea of expediency, no hurry of the moment, makes you
false. If you are thus faithful in small things, one
after the other, in a series fitted to your own peculiar
constitution, the others will prove themselves to you;
for they are coherent truths, and not one lives to
itself alone, but joins hands with all the rest. Being
truths, they fit all human minds—yours and mine, and
those of our children, no matter how diverse we may be.
OTHER PEOPLE'S CHILDREN
Isn't it ridiculously true that, as soon as we get
enlightened ourselves, we burn to enlighten the rest of
the world? We do not seem to remember our own
feelings during the years of darkness, and the con-
tentment of those who remain as we were surpasses
our power of comprehension. It is really comforting
to my own sense of impatience and balked zeal to find
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STUDY OF CHILD LIFE
how many of my pupils are dreadfully concerned about
other people's children. This one's heart burns over
the little boy next door who is shamefully mismanaged
and who already begins to show the ill effects of his
treatment. That one has a sister-in-law who refuses
to listen to a word spoken in season.
Between my smiles—those comfortable smiles with
which we recognize our own shortcomings—I, too, am
really concerned about the sister-in-law's children. It
is true that their mother ought to be taught better,
and that, if she isn't, those innocent lambs are going
to suffer for it. Off at this distance, without the ties
of kindred to draw me too close for clear judgment,
I see, though, that we have to walk very cautious-
ly here, for fear of doing more harm than good. Bet-
ter that those benighted women never heard the
name of child-study, than to hear it only to greet it
with rebellion and hatred. Yet to force any of our
principles upon her attention when she is in a hostile
mood—or to force them, indeed, in any mood-is to
invite just this attitude.
Most of us, by the time that we are sufficiently
grown up to undertake the study of child life, have
outgrown the habit of plainly telling our friends to
their faces just what we think of their faults; yet this
is a safe and pleasant pastime beside that other of try-
ing to tell them how to bring up their children. You
stand it from me, because you have invited it, and per-
haps still more because you never see me, and the per-
OTHER PEOPLE'S CHILDREN
147
sonal element enters only slightly and pleasantly into
our relationship. I sometimes think that students pour
out their hearts to me, much as we used to talk to our
girl friends in the dark. I'm very sure I should never
dare to say to their faces what I write so freely on the
backs of their papers !
You see, the adult, too, has his love of freedom; and
while he can stand an indirect, impersonal preach-
ment, which he may reject if he likes without apology,
he will not stand the insistence of a personal appeal.
I've let “Little Women” shame me into better conduct,
when I was a girl, at times when no direct speech from
a living soul would have brought me to anything but
defiance—haven't you? We have to apply our prin-
ciples to the adult world about us, as well as to the
child-world, and teach, when we permit ourselves to
teach at all, chiefly by example, by cheerful confession
of fallibility, by open-mindedness. Above all things,
we have to respect the freedom of these others, about
whom we are so inconveniently anxious.
It is fair, though, that the spoken word should in-
terpret what we do. It is fair enough to tell your
sister-in-law what you think and ask her judgment
upon it, if you can trust yourself not to rub your own
judgment in too hard. If you are unmarried, and a
teacher, you will have to concede to her preposterous
marital conceit a humble and inquiring attitude, and
console your flustered soul by setting it to the ingeni-
ous task of teaching by means of a graduated series of
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STUDY OF CHILD LIFE
artful inquiries. Don't, oh don't! seek for an out-
spoken victory. Be content if some day you hear her
proclaim your truth as her own discovery. It never
was yours, anyway, any more than it is hers or than it
is mine. Be glad that, while she claims it, she at least
holds it close.
If you are a mother, you are in an easier case. You
can do to your own children just what she ought to do
to hers, and tell about it softly, as if sure of her sym-
pathy. If you are very sincere in your desire for the
welfare of her child, you may even ask her advice about
yours, and so gain the right to offer a little in exchange
-say one-tenth of what she gives.
All these warnings apply to unsought advice-a
dangerous thing to offer under any circumstances.
Except there is a real emergency, you had better avoid
it. If your nephew or little neighbor is winning along
through his troubles fairly well, best keep hands off.
But if you absolutely must interfere, guard yourself
as I suggest, and remember that, even then, you will
assuredly get burned, if you play long with that dan-
gerous fire of maternal pride!
When your advice is sought, you are in a different
position. Then you have a right to speak out, though
if you are wise and loving you will temper that right
with charity. No one can be too gentle in dealing
with a soul that honestly asks for help; but one can
easily be too timid. Think, under these circumstances,
of yourself not at all; but put yourself as much as
THE SEX QUESTION
140
possible in her place; be led by her questions; and an.
swer fearlessly from the depths of the best truth you
hold. Then leave it. You can do no more. What
becomes of that truth, once you have lovingly spoken
it, is no more of your concern.
THE SEX QUESTION
Always convinced of the importance of this subject,
my convictions have deepened to the point of dismay
since learning, through this school, of the many women
who have suffered and who continue to suffer, both
mentally and physically, because, in early girlhood,
they were not taught those finer physiological facts
upon which the very life of the race depends. Yet,
strangely enough, these very victims find it almost
impossible to give their children the knowledge neces-
sary to save them from a similar fate. It is as if the
lack of early training in themselves leaves them help-
less before a situation from which they suffer but
which they have never mastered.
Of course such feelings, in themselves morbid, are
not to be trusted. Faced with a task like this we have
only to ask ourselves not "Is it hard ?" but "Is it in
truth my task?" If it is, we may be sure that we shall
be given strength to do it, provided only that we are
sincere in our willingness to do it and do not count our
feelings at all.
It is preposterous to have such feelings, in the first
place. They are wholly the product of false teaching.
For we have no right—as we recognize when we stop
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STUDY OF CHILD LIFE
to think about it in calmness of spirit, and apart from
our special difficulty—to sit in scornful judgment upon
any of the laws of nature. When we find ourselves
in rebellion against them, what we have to do is to
change the state of our minds, for change the laws
we cannot. If we women could inaugurate a gigantic
strike against the present method of bearing children
-and I imagine that millions would join such a strike
if it held out any promise of success we still could
accomplish nothing. To fret ourselves into a frazzle
over it, is to accomplish less than nothing ;—it is to
enter upon the pathway to destruction.
In teaching our children, then, we have first to con-
quer ourselves—that painful, reiterated, primal neces-
sity, which must underlie all teaching. Having done
So, we shall find our task easier than we supposed.
The children's own questions will lead us; and if we
simply make it a rule never to answer a question
falsely no matter how far it may probe, we shall find
ourselves not only enlightening but receiving enlight-
enment. For nothing is so sure an antidote to morbid-
ness as the unspoiled mind of a child. He looks at the
facts with such a calm, level gaze that proportions are
restored to us as we follow his look.
Many of my letters show that adult women, wives
and mothers, still grope for the truth that lies plain to
the eyes of any simple child-the truth that there is
no such thing as clean and unclean, only use and
misuse. Others, through love, and the splendid reve-
THE SEX QUESTION
151
lations that it makes, have risen so far above their
former misconceptions that they fear to tell a child
the facts before he has experienced the love. I can
imagine that in an ideal world some such reticence
might be good and right—but this is far from an ideal
world. We have to train our children relatively, not
absolutely, in the knowledge that we do not control
all their environment. I think the solution of the diffi-
culty is to teach the facts of sex in a perfectly calm,
unemotional, matter-of-fact manner, just as one teaches
the laws of digestion. When knowledge of evil is
thrust upon our child let us be sorry with him that
those other children have never been taught, and that
they are doing their bodies such sad mischief. But
don't exaggerate it; don't be too shocked ; don't con-
demn the poor little sinners, who are also victims, too
severely. Charity toward wrong-doing is the best
prophylactic against imitation. We never feel the
lure of a sin which grieves us in another; but often
the call of a sin which we too strongly condemn. Be-
cause the very strength of the condemnation rouses
our imaginations, is in itself an emotion, and, since
it is certainly not a loving one, must necessarily be
linked with all other unloving and therefore evil emo-
tions. As far as possible, let us keep feeling out of
this subject, until such time as the true and beautiful
feeling of love between husband and wife arises and
uplifts it.
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STUDY OF CHILD LIFE
FATHERS
And now comes the editor of these lessons and ac-
cuses me of neglecting the fathers ! Nothing in this
world could be farther from my thoughts. Not only
do I agree with him that “all ordinary children have
fathers, and it might be well to put in a paragraph;"
but I am cheerfully willing to write a whole book on
the subject, provided that a mere modicum of readers
can be assured me. I fairly ache to talk to fathers,
having a really great ideal of them, and whenever
a class of them can be induced to take up a correspond-
ence course I shall be glad to conduct it.
Joking aside, however, I truly feel that the saddest
lack many of our children have to suffer is the lack
of fathers; and the saddest lack our men have to suffer
is the lack of children. So little are most men awake
to this subject that I am perfectly convinced that much
of the prevalent “race suicide” is due to their objec-
tions to a large family, rather than to their wives'.
Upon them comes the burden of support. They get
few of the joys which belong to children, and nearly
all of the woes. Seldom do they share the games of
their offspring, or their happy times; and almost al-
ways the worst difficulties are thrust upon them for
solution. Not that they often solve them! How can
we expect it?
There is Edgar growing very untruthful and defiant.
We have concealed all the first stages of the disease
for fear of bothering poor tired papa. At last it
FATHERS
153
reaches such a height that we can conceal it no longer.
We Aling the desperate boy at the very head of the
bewildered father, and then have turns of bitter dis-
appointment because the remedies that are applied may
be so much cruder, even, than our own. Here is a
boy who gets close to his father only to find the prox-
imity very uncomfortable; and a father who becomes
acquainted with his son only through the ugly revela-
tions of his worst faults.
Not but that the fathers are somewhat to blame, too.
Without urging by us, they ought, of course, to take
a spontaneous interest in the lives for which they are
responsible. They ought to, and they often do; but
their interest is sometimes ill-advised, and conse-
quently unwelcome. There are fathers whose interest
is a most inconvenient thing. When they are at
home, they run everything, growl at everything, upset,
as like as not, all that the mother has been trying to
do during the day. I know wives who are distinctly
glad to encourage their husbands in the habit of lunch-
ing down-town, so that they can have a little room for
their own peculiar form of activity. And maybe we
all have times of sympathizing with the woman in this
familiar story: There was a man once who never left
the house without a list of directions to his wife as to
how she should manage things during his absence.
“Better have the children carry umbrellas this morn-
ing; it's going to rain," said he, as he went out of the
door. "Be sure to put on their rubbers. And since
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STUDY OF CHILD LIFE
the baby is so croupy I'd get out his winter flannels, if
I were you."
"Yes, dear," said the patient wife. "Make your
mind easy. I'll take just as good care of them as if
they were my own children.” Of course this is an
extreme case.
There are other fathers whose whole idea of the
parental relation seems to be indulgence. No system
of discipline, however mild, can be carried out when
such a man wins the children's hearts and ruins their
dispositions. It is he, isn't it? (I don't quite recol-
lect the tale) who was sent, after death, to the warm
regions, there to expiate his many sins of omission.
And his adoring children, who had been hauled to
heaven by the main strength, let us say, of their mother,
found that the only thing they could do for him was
to call out celestial hose company number one and
ask them to play awhile upon the overheated apart-
ments of poor tired papa.
The truth is-sit close and let no man hear what
we say !—that these fathers are much what we, the
mothers, make them. If, under the mistaken idea of
saving father from all the worries of the children, we
hurry the youngsters off to bed before he comes home
in the evening, conceal our heart-burnings over them,
do our correspondence-school work in secret and soli-
tude, meditate in the same fashion over plans for their
upbringing, talk to our neighbors but never to him
about the daily troubles, how can we expect any man
FATHERS
155
on earth, no matter how susceptible of later angelic
growth, to become a wise and devoted father? Tired
or not, he is a father, not a mere bread-winner.
Whether he likes it at the moment or not, it is for his
soul's health for him to enter into the full life of his
family, including those problems which are at the very
heart of it, after his day of grinding, and very likely
unloving, work at the office. Here love enters to in-
terpret, to soften, to make all principles live. Here
alone he can give himself to those gentler forms of
judgment which are necessary as much to the com-
pletion of his own character as to the happiness and
welfare of his wife and children. Someone has said
that we wrong our friends when we ask nothing of
them; and certainly it is true that we wrong our hus-
bands when we do not demand big and splendid things
of them.
That word demand troubles me a little.
women demand-and demand terribly! But what they
demand is indulgence, sympathy, interest-I think
sometimes that they crave a man's utter absorption in
themselves much as a man craves strong drink. It is
their form of intoxication. Such demanding is not, of
course, what I mean. Demand nothing for yourself,
beyond simple justice. Not love, for that flies at the
very sound of demand, and dies before nagging. But
demand for the man himself, call upon his nobler qual-
ities, and don't let him palm off on you his second-best.
Many a man is loved and honored by his business asso-
So many
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STUDY OF CHILD LIFE
ciates whose wife and children never catch a glimpse
of the finer side of him. Demand the exercise of these
fine traits in the home. Demand that he be a fine man
in the eyes of his children as in the eyes of his friends.
Be sure that he will rise to the occasion with a splendid
sense of having, now, a home that is a home, of having
a wife who is wived to the man he likes best to be.
This bids fair to be as I knew it would, if once I
permitted myself to write at all on the subject--not a
paragraph, but a whole essay-or perhaps, if I did not
check myself, a whole volume! But after all, what I
want to say is merely that as no child can be born with-
out a father, so he cannot be properly trained without
a father's daily assistance. And that, since most
fathers come to the task even more untrained than the
mothers, some training must be undertaken. By
whom? By the mother. It is, I solemnly believe,
your duty to go ahead a little on this part of the jour-
ney, find out what ought to be done, and teach, coax,
induce your husband to co-operate with you in these
things. No one knows better than you do that he is
only a boy at heart after all—perhaps the very dearest
boy of them all. This boy you have to help while yet
the other children are little—but be sure that, as you
teach him, so, all the time, will he teach you. Every
principle laid down in this book, above all others the
principle of freedom, will apply to him. He will take
the lessons a trifle more reluctantly but more lastingly
than the younger boys; and in a little while you will
THE UNCONSCIOUS INFLUENCE
157
be envied of all your women friends because of the
competency, the reliability, the contentment of your
children's father.
THE UNCONSCIOUS INFLUENCE
When all is said and done, it remains true that the
finest, the most subtle and penetrating influence in
education is precisely that education for which no rules
can be laid down. It is the silent influence of the mo-
tives which impel the persons who constantly surround
us. If we examine for a little our own childhood we
see at once that this is so. What are those canons of
conduct by which we judge others and even occasion-
ally ourselves? Whence came that list of impossible
chings, those things that are so closed to us that we
cannot, even under great stress, of temptation, con-
ceive ourselves as yielding to them?
There is an enlightening story of a young man, born
and bred a gentleman, who, by the way of fast living
falls upon poverty. In the hard pressure of his finan-
cial affairs he is about to commit suicide, when sud-
denly he finds, in an empty cab, a roll of bills amount-
ing to some thousands of dollars. The circumstances
are such that he knows that he can, if he will, discover
the owner; or, he can, without fear of detection, keep
the money himself. He makes up his mind, deliberate-
ly, to keep it, and then, almost against his will, sub-
consciously as it were, walks to the office of the man
who lost the money and restores it to him.
_
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STUDY OF CHILD LIFE
Now, doubtless, in his downward career he had
done many things which judged by any absolute stand-
ard of morality were quite as wrong as the keeping
of that money would have been, but the fact remained
that he could not do that deed. Others, yes, but not
that. He was a gentleman, and gentlemen do not steal
private property, whatever they may do about public
property. Yet probably, in all his life he had not once
been told not to steal_not one word had he been
taught, openly, on the subject. No one whom he knew
stole. He was never expected to steal. Stealing was
a sin beyond the pale. So strong was this unconscious,
but unvarying influence, that by it he was saved, in
the hour of extreme need, from even feeling the force
of a temptation that to a boy born and reared, say, in
the slums, would have been overwhelming.
Now, considering such things, I take it that it be-
hooves us, as parents, to look closely at the sort of per-
sons that we are, clear inside of us. To examine, as
if with the clear eyes of our own children, waiting to
be clouded by our sophistries, the motives from which
we habitually act in the small affairs of everyday life.
Are we influenced by fear of what the neighbors will
say? Have we one standard of courtesy for company
times, and another for private moments? If so, why?
Are we self-indulgent about trifles ? Are we truthful
in spirit as well as in letter? Do we permit ourselves
to cheat the street-car and the railroad company, teach-
ing the child at our side to sit low that he may ride
THE UNCONSCIOUS INFLUENCE
159
for half-fare? Do we seek justice in our bargaining,
or are we sharp and self-considerate? Do we practice
democracy, or only talk it and wave the flag at it?
And so on with a hundred other questions as to those
small repeated acts, which, springing from base mo-
tives, may put our unconscious influence with our chil-
dren in the already over-weighted down-side of the
scale; or met bravely and nobly, at some expense of
convenience, may help to enlighten the weight of in-
herited evil. Sometimes I wonder how much of what
we call inherited evil is the result not of heredity at
all, but of this sort of unconscious education.
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
THE SELF-DISTRUSTFUL CHILD.
“Your question is an excellent one. The answer to
it is really contained in your answer to the question
about obedience. If a child obeys laws not persons,
and is steadily shown the reasonableness of what is
required of him, he comes to trust those laws and to
trust himself when he is conscious of obeying. But in
addition to this general training, it might be well to
give a self-distrustful child easy work to do—work
well within his ability—then to praise him for per-
forming it; give him something a little harder, but
still within his reach, and so on, steadily calling on
him for greater and greater effort, but seeing to it
that the effort is not too great and that it bears visible
fruit. He should never be allowed to be discouraged;
and when he droops over his work, some strong,
friendly help may well be given him. Sensitive, con-
scientious children, such as I imagine you were, are
sometimes overwhelmed in this way by parents, quite
unconscious of the pain they are giving by assigning
tasks that are beyond the strength and courage of the
young toilers.
"At the same time, much might be done by training
the child's attention from product to process. You
know the St. Louis Fair does not aim to show what
has been done, but how things are done. So a child
-so you-can find happiness and intellectual uplift in
160
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
161
studying the laws at work under the simplest em-
ployment instead of counting the number of things
finished."
COMPANY WAYS
"A boy who is visiting us is so beset with rules and
'nagged' even by glances and nudges, that I wonder
that he is not bewildered and rebellious. He seems
good and pleasant and obedient (12 years old), but
I keep wondering why ?”
"Perhaps these were company ways inspired by an
over-anxiety on his mother's part that he should appear
well. Oh, I have been so tempted in this direction !
for of course people look at my children to see if they
prove the truth of my teachings, and as they are vigor-
ous, free and active youngsters, with decided char-
acteristics they often do the most unexpected and un-
comfortable things! There must be good points both
in the boy himself—the boy you mention and in his
training which offset the bad effects of the ‘nagging'
you notice—and possibly the nagging itself may not
be customary when he is at home. And perhaps the
mother knows that you are a close observer of chil-
dren.”
THEORY BEFORE PRACTICE
“There is only one danger in learning about the
training of children in advance of their advent, and
that is the danger of being too sure of ourselves
too systematic. The best training is that which is
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE
most invisible-which leaves the child most in free-
dom. Almost the whole duty of mothers is to provide
the right environment and then just love and enjoy
the child as he moves and grows in it. But to do
this apparently easy thing requires so much simplicity
and directness of vision and most of us are so complex
and confused that considerable training and consider-
able effort are required to put us into the right atti-
tude.
“For myself, soon after I took my kindergarten
training, which I did with three babies creeping and
playing about the school-room, I read George Mere-
dith's "Ordeal of Richard Feveril" (referred to on p.
33, Part I) and felt that that book was an excellent
counter-balance, saving me, in the nick of time, from
imposing any system, however perfect, upon my chil-
dren. Perhaps you will enjoy reading it, too."
THE EMOTIONAL APPEAL
“Doing right from love of parent may easily be-
come too strong a factor and too much reliance may
be placed upon it. There are few dangers in child
training more real than the danger of over working
the emotional appeal. You do not wish your child to
form the habit of working for approval, do you?
THE FOOD QUESTION
"The food question can be met in less direct ways
with your young baby. No food but that which is
good for him need be seen. It is seldom good to have
so young a child come to the family table. It is better
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
163
he would have his own meals, so that he is satisfied
with proper foods before the other appears. Or, if
he must eat when you do, let him have a little low
table to himself, spread with his own pretty little
dishes and his own chair, with perhaps a doll for com-
panion or playmate. From this level he can not see
or be tempted by the viands on the large table; yet,
if his table is near your chair you can easily reach
and serve him. It is a real torment to a young child
to see things he must not touch or eat, and it is a
perfectly unnecessary source of trouble.
"My four children ate at such a low table till the
oldest was eight years old, when he was promoted
to our table, and the others followed in due order.”
AIR CASTLES
"What a wonderful reader you were as a child!
and certainly the books you mention were far beyond
you. Yet I can not quite agree that the habit of air-
castle building is pernicious. Indeed I believe in it.
It needs only to be balanced by practical effort, di-
rected towards furnishing an earthly foundation for
the castle. Build, then, as high and splendid as you
like, and love them so hard that you are moved to lay
a few stones on the solid earth as a beginning of a
more substantial structure; and some day you may
wake to find some of your castles coming true. Those
practical foundation stones underlying a tremendous
tower of idealism have a genuine inagic power. Build
164
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE
all you like about your baby, for instance. Think what
things Mary pondered in her heart.
“No, I'm never worried about idealism except when
it is contented with itself and makes but little effort
at outward realization. But the fact that you are
taking this course proves that you will work to realize
your ideals.
“I don't think it very bad either to read to “kill
time." Though if you go on having a family, you
won't have any time to kill in a very little while. But
do read on when you can, otherwise you may be shut
in, first you know, to too small a world, and a mother
needs to draw her own nourishment from all the
world, past and present."
DUTY TO ONESELF
"Yes, I should say you were distinctly precocious,
and that you are almost certainly suffering from the
effects of that early brilliancy. But the degree was
not so great as to permanently injure you, especially
if you see what is the matter, and guard against re-
peating the mistakes of your parents. I mean that
you can now treat your own body and mind and nerves
as you wish they had treated them. Pretend that you
are your own little child, and deal with yourself ten-
derly and gently, making allowances for the early
sirain to which you were subjected. So few of us
American women, with our alert minds, and our Puri.
tanic consciences, have the good sense and self-con-
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
165
trol to refrain from driving ourselves; and if, as often
happens, we have formed the bad habit early in life,
reform is truly difficult, but not impossible. We can
get the good of our disability by conscientiously driv-
ing home the principle that in order to 'love others
as ourselves' we must learn to love ourselves as we
love others. We have literally no right to be unrea-
sonably exacting toward ourselves,—but perhaps I
am taking too much upon myself by preaching outside
the realm of child study.”
THE MOTHER AND THE TEACHER
"Your paper has been intensely interesting to me.
I have always held that a true teacher was really a
mother, though of a very large flock, just as a true
mother is really a teacher, though of a very small
school. The two points of view complete each other
and I doubt if either mother or teacher can see truly
without the other. They tell us, you know, that our
two eyes, with their slight divergence of position,
are necessary to make us see things as having more
than one side; and the mother and the teacher, one
seeing the individual child, the other the child as the
member of the race, need each other to see the child
as the complex, many-sided individual he really is.
"In your school, do you manage to get the mothers
to co-operate? Here, I am trying to get near my chil-
dren's teachers. They try, too; but it is not altogether
easy for any of us. We need some common meeting
166
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE
ground-some neutral activity which we could share.
If you have any suggestions, I shall be glad to have
them. Of course, I visit school and the teachers visit
me, and we are friendly in an arm's length sort of
fashion. That is largely because they believe in cor-
poral punishment and practice it freely and it is hard
for us to look straight at each other over this dis-
agreement."
CORPORAL PUNISHMENT.
To the Matron of a
Girls' Orphan Asylum
“Now to the specific questions you ask. My an-
swers must, of course, be based upon general princi-
ples—the special application, often so very difficult a
matter, must be left to you. To begin with corporal
punishment. You say you are 'personally opposed,
but that your early training and the literal interpre-
tation of Solomon's rod keep you undecided.' Surely
your own comment later shows that part, at least, of
the influence of your early training was against cor-
poral punishment, because you saw and felt its evils in
yourself. Such early training may have made you un-
apt in thinking of other means of discipline; but it
can hardly have made you think of corporal punish-
ment as right.
“And how can anyone take Solomon's rod any more
literally than she does the Savior's cross? We are
bid, on a higher authority than Solomon's proverbs,
to take up our cross and follow Him. This we all
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
167
In any
interpret figuratively. Would you dream, for instance,
of binding heavy crosses of wood upon the backs of
your children because you felt yourselves so enjoined
in the literal sense of the Scriptures? Why, then,
take the rod literally? It is as clearly used to desig-
nate any form of orderly discipline as the cross is used
to designate endurance of necessary sorrows.
"The
letter killeth, but the spirit maketh alive.'
“As to your next question about quick results, I
must recognize that you are in a most difficult posi-
tion. For not the best conceivable intentions, nor the
highest wisdom, can make the unnatural conditions
you have to meet, as good as natural ones.
asylum many purely artificial requirements must be
made to meet the artificial situation. Time and space,
those temporal appearances, grow to be menacing
monsters, take to themselves the chief realities. Never-
theless, so far as you are able, you surely want to do
the natural, right, unforced thing. And with each
successful effort will come fresh wisdom and fresh
strength for the next.
“Let me suggest, in the case you mention, of inso-
lence, that three practical courses are open to you:
one to send or lead the child quietly from the room,
with the least aggressiveness possible, so as not fur-
ther to excite her opposition, and to keep her apart
from the rest until she is sufficiently anxious for soci-
ety to be willing to make an effort to deserve it; or
168
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE
two, to do nothing, permitting a large and eloquent
silence to accentuate the rebellious words; or three,
to call for the condemnation of the child's mates.
Speaking to one or two whose response you are sure
of first, ask each one present for an expression of
opinion. This is so severe a punishment that it ought
not often to be invoked; but it is deadly sure.
STEALING
“The question of honesty is, indeed, most difficult.
I do not think it would lower the standard of morality
to assume honesty, as the thing you expected to find,
to accept almost any other explanation, to agree with
the whole body of children that dishonesty was so
much the fault of dreadfuily poor people who had
nothing unless they stole it, that it could not be their
fault, who had so much—couldn't be the fault of any-
one who was well brought up, as they were. Empha-
size, in story and side allusion, at all sorts of odd mo-
ments when no concrete desire called away the chil-
dren's minds, the fact that honesty is to be expected
everywhere, except among terribly unfortunate people
-of course assuming that they with their good shelter
and good schooling are among the fortunate ones.
Then you will give to each child not only plenty of
everything, but things individualized, easily distin-
guished, and a place to put them in. I've often thought
that the habit of buying things wholesale—so many
dolls, all exactly alike, so many yards of calico for
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
169
dresses, all exactly alike, leads, in institutions like
yours, to a vague conception of private property, and
even of individuality itself. If some room could be
allowed for free choice the children be allowed to
buy their own calicoes, within a given price, or to
choose the trimmings or style, etc. I feel sure the re-
sult would be a sturdier self-respect and a greater
sense of that difference between individuals which
needs emphasizing just as much as does the solidarity
of individuals."
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS FOR MOTHERS
Fundamental Books (Philosophy of Education---Pedagogy)
The Science of Rights ($5.00, postage 30c), J. G. Fichte.
Education of Man ($1.50, postage 12c), Friedrich Froebel.
Mottoes and Commentaries of Froebel's Mother Play ($1.50,
postage 14c), translated by Susan E. Blow.
The Part Played by Infancy in the Evolution of Man ($2.00,
postage 15c), from "A Century of Science,” article by John
Fiske.
How Gertrude Teaches Her Children ($1.50, postage 14c),
Pestalozzi.
Levana, Bohn Library ($1.00, postage 12c), Jean Paul Rich-
ter.
Education ($1.25, postage 12c), Herbert Spencer.
General Books on Education
Household · Education ($1.25, postage Ioc), Harriet Mar-
tineau.
Bits of Talk About Home Matters ($1.25, postage roc), H. H.
Jackson.
Biography of a Baby ($1.50, postage 12c), Millicent Shinn.
Study of Child Nature ($1.00, postage ioc), Elizabeth Har-
rison.
Two Children of the Foot Hills ($1.25, postage 1oc), Eliza-
beth Harrison.
The Moral Instruction of Children ($1.50, postage 14c), Felix
Adler.
The Children of the Future ($1.00, postage roc), Nora A.
Smith.
Children's Rights ($1.00, postage roc), Kate Douglas Wiggin
and Nora A. Smith. .
Republic of Childhood (3 vols., each $1.00; postage noc),
Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora A. Smith.
Educational Reformers ($1.50, postage 14c), Quick.
170
BIBLIOGRAPHY
171
Lectures to Kindergartners - ($1.00, postage roc), Elizabeth
Peabody.
The Place of the Story in Early Education ($0.50, postage 6c),
Sara E. Wiltse.
Children's Ways ($1.25, postage roc), Sully.
Kindergarten and Child Culture Papers ($3.50, postage 20c),
Barnard.
Adolescence (2 vols., $7.50; postage 56c), G. Stanley Hall.
Psychology and Advanced
The Mind of the Child (2 vols., each $1.50, postage roc), W.
Preyer.
The Intellectual and Moral Development of the Child ($1.50,
postage 12c), G. Compayre.
Child Study ($1.25, postage 14c), Amy Tanner.
The Story of the Mind ($0.35, postage 6c), J. Mark Bald-
win.
Psychology (Briefer Course, $1.60; postage 16c. Advanced
Course, 2 vols., $4.80; postage 44c), James.
School and Society ($1.00, postage roc), John Dewey.
Emile ($0.90, postage 8c), Rousseau.
Pedagogics of the Kindergarten ($1.50, postage 12c), Froebel.
Education by Development ($1.50, postage 12c), Froebel.
Kindergarten and Child Culture Papers, Henry Barnard.
Letters to a Mother on the Philosophy of Froebel ($1.50.
postage 12c), Blow.
Studies of Childhood ($2.50, postage 20c), Sully.
Mental Development ($1.75, postage 16c), Baldwin.
Education of Central Nervous System ($1.00, postage 16c),
Halleck.
Child Observations, Imitative Symbolic Education $1.50, post-
age 12c), Blow.
Interest as Related to Will ($0.25, postage 6c), Dewey.
Religious Training
Christian Nurture ($1.25, postage 12c), Horace Bushnell.
172
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE
On Holy Ground ($3.00, postage 300), W. L. Worcester.
The Psychology of Religion ($1.50, postage 14c), E. D. Star-
buck.
The Sex Question
The Song of Life ($1.25, postage 12c), Margaret Morley.
What a Young Boy Ought to Know ($1.00, postage 10c), Rev.
Sylvanus Stall.
What a Young Girl Ought to Know ($1.00, postage roc), Rev.
Sylvanus Stall.
Duties of Parents to Children in Regard to Sex ($0.40,
postage 40), Rev. Wm. L. Worcester.
How to Tell the Story of Reproduction to Children, Pamphlet
5c; order from Mothers' Union, 3408 Harrison Street, Kan-
sas city, Mo.
of General Interest to Mothers
Wilhelm Meister ($1.00, postage 14c), Goethe.
Story of My Life ($1.50, postage 14c), Helen Keller.
The Ordeal of Richard Feveril ($1.50, postage 14c), George
Meredith.
Up from Slavery ($1.50, postage 14c), Booker T. Wash-
ington.
Emmy Lou ($1.50, postage 14c), Mrs. George Madden Mar.
ten.
The Golden Age ($1.00, postage roc), Kenneth Grahame,
Dream Days ($1.00, postage roc), Kenneth Grahame.
In the Morning Glow ($1.25, postage 12c), Roy Rolf Gil-
son.
Man and His Handiwork, Wood.
Primitive Industry ($5.00, postage 40c), Abbott.
Every Day Essays ($1.25, postage roc), Marion Foster Wash-
burne.
Family Secrets $1.25, postage roc), Marion Foster Wash-
burne.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
173
BOOKS FOR CHILDREN
Fairy Tales
Grimm's Fairy Tales ($0.50, postage 14c).
Andrew Lang's Green, Yellow, Blue and Red Fairy Books
(each $0.50, postage 14c).
Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales ($0.50, postage 14c).
Tanglewood Tales ($0.75, postage 14c), Hawthorne.
The Wonder Book ($0.75, postage 12c), Hawthorne
Old Fashioned Fairy Tales by Tom Hood, retold by Marion
Foster Washburne. (In press.)
Adventures of a Brownie, by Dinah Maria Mulock Craik.
Edited by Marion Foster Washburne. (In press.)
A Few Books for Various Agos
Water Babies ($0.75, postage 12c), Charles Kingsley.
At the Back of the North Wind ($0.75, postage 12c), George
McDonald
Little Lame Prince ($0.50, postage 8c), Dinah Maria Mulock
Craik.
In the Child World ($2.00, postage 16c), Emilie Poulson.
Nature Myths ($0.35, postage 6c), Flora J. Cooke.
Sharp Eyes ($2.50, postage 18c), Gibson.
Stories Mother Nature Told ($0.50, postage 6c), Jane An-
drew.
Jungle Books (2 vols, each $1.50; postage 16c), Kipling.
Just-So Stories ($1.20, postage 12c), Kipling.
Music for Children
Finger Plays ($1.25, postage 12c), Emilie Poulson.
Fifty Children's Songs, Reinecke.
Songs of the Child World (2 vols., each $1.00; postage 12c),
Gaynor.
Songs for the Children (2 vols., each $1.25; postage 14c),
Eleanor Smith.
30 Selected Studies (Instrumental), ($1.50, postage 14c),
Heller.
174
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE
Pictures for Children
Detaille Prints, Boutet de Monvil, Joan of Are.
Caldecott: Picture Books (4 vols., each $1.25; postage 12c).
Walter Crane: Picture Books ($1.25, postage roc).
Colored illustrations cut from magazines, notably those drawn
by Howard Pyle, Elizabeth Shippen Greene, and Jessie Wil-
cox Smith.
See articles in “Craftsman” for December, 1904, February
and April, 1905, “Decorations for School Room and
Nursery."
Note.-Books in the above list may be purchased through
the American School of Home Economics at the prices given.
Members of the School will receive students' discount.
Program for Supplemental Work
on the
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE
BY MARION FOSTER WASHBURN.
MEETING I
Infancy. (Study pages 3-25)
(a) Its Meaning.
See Fiske on "The Part Played by Infancy in the Evolution
of Man" in "A Century of Science” (160).
(b) General Laws of Progression.
See Millicent Shinn's "Biography of a Baby" (120), and W.
Preyer's “The Mind of the Child” (200). Give resumés of
these two books.
(c) Practical Conclusions.
Hold Experience Meeting to conclude afternoon.
MEETING II
Faults and Their Remedies. (Study pages 26-57)
(a) General Principles of Moral Training.
Read Herbert Spencer on "Education" (12c), chapter on
"Punishment”; also call for quotations from H. H. Jack-
son's "Bits of Talk About Home Matters” (10c).
(b) Corporal Punishment. Why It Is Wrong.
(c) Positive Versus Negative Moral Training.
Read extracts from Froebel's “Education of Man" (12c),
and Richter's "Levana" (12c), Kate Douglas Wiggin's "Chil-
dren's Rights” (10c), and Elizabeth Harrison's “Study of
Child Nature” (10c), are easier and pleasanter reading, sound,
but less fundamental. Choice may be made between these
two sets of books, according to conditions.
(Select answer to test questions on Part I and send them
to the School.)
175
176
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE
MEETING III
Character Building. (Study pages 59-75)
Read extracts from Froebel, Pestalozzi, and Harriet Mar-
tineau.
(a) From Froebel to show general principles (12c).
(b) From Pestalozzi (140) or if that is not available,
from “Mottoes and Commentaries on Froebel's Mother-
Play” (14c), to show ideal application of these general prin-
ciples.
(c) From Harriet Martineau's "Household Education”
(10c), or “Children's Rights” (10c), to show actual applica-
tion of these general principles. Experience meeting.
MEETING IV
Educational Value of Play and Occupations. (Study pages 78-99)
(a) General Principles-Quote authorities from past to
present. Read from "Education of Man" (120) and “Mother
Play” (14c).
(b) Representative and Symbolic Plays. See “Education
of Man" (120) and “Letters to a Mother on the Philosophy
of Froebel” (120). Dancing and Drama from Richter's
"Levana" (120).
(c) Nature's Playthings (Earth, Air, Fire, and Water).
Ask members of class to describe plays of their own child-
hood and tell what they meant to them.
(Select answer to test questions on Part II.)
MEETING V
Art and Literature in Child Life. (Study pages 100-112)
Ask members to bring good pictures and story-books, thus
making exhibit.
(a) Place of Pictures in Children's Lives. Of Color. Of
Modeling. Influence of artistic surroundings.
If anyone
knows of a model nursery or schoolroom, let her describe it.
CLASS STUDY PROGRAM
177
Are drawing and modeling at school "fads" or living bases
for educational processes? See Dewey on "The School and
Society” (10c).
(b) Place of fiction in education.
See “The Place of the Story in Early Education” (6c).
(c) Accomplishments. Practical discussion of the ad-
vantages and disadvantages of music lessons, the languages,
and other work out of school. See “Adolescence," by G.
Stanley Hall.
MEETING VI
Social and Religious Training. (Study pages 114-140 and
Supplement)
(a) The Question of Associations.
See Dewey's “The School and Society” (10c), “The Republic
of Childhood" (300). Quote "Up from Slavery" (140) and
"Story of My Life” (14c), to show that the humblest com-
panions may sometimes be the most desirable.
(b) The New Education.
See catalogues of the Francis W. Parker School, Chicago,
Ill., (4c); The Elementary School, University of Chicago,
(60); State Normal School, Hyannis, Mass., (40); "School
Gardens," Bulletin No. 160, Office of Experiment Stations,
Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., (2c).
(c) The Sex Question.
Where are the foundations of morality laid-in church, school,
home, or street? Read entire, “Duties of Parents to Children
in Regard to Sex" (pamphlet, 5c).
(d) Religious Training.
Read from "Christian Nurture" (120) and "Psychology of
Religion" (140).
(Select answer to test questions on Part III.)
For more extended program, book lists for mothers,
children's book list, loan papers, send to the National Con-
778
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE
gress of Mothers, Mrs. E. C. Grice, Corresponding Secretary,
3308 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pa. Price, 10 cents each.
See also “The Child in Home, School, and State," with address
by President Roosevelt.-Report of the N. C. M. for 1905.
Price, 50c.
NOTE.—When reference books mentioned in the foregoing
program are not available from public libraries, they may
be borrowed of the A. S. H. E. for the cost of postage indi-
cated in parentheses. Three books may be borrowed at one
time by a class, one by an individual. For class work, a
book may be kept for two weeks, or longer, if there is no
other call for it. Send stamps with requests, which should be
made several weeks in advance to avoid disappointment.
INDEX
Abnormal laziness, 47
Bible lessons made real, 139
Abstract studies, 119
study, 138
Accomplishments and stud Bonfires, 85
ies, 119
Books for children, 111, 170
showy, 123
Bottle-fed babies, 25
Accounts, personal, 129
Breaking the will, 29
Adolescence, religious exci Busy work, 97
tability of, 136
Adult's world, 24
Care of pets, 45
Advantage of positive com Cause of impudence, 51
mands, 61
of iritability and nervous-
Affections, cultivation of, 45 ness, 35
Aims of kindergarten, 45
of rupture, 21
Air as a plaything, 82
of temper, 35.
castles, 163
Character building, rules in, 74
Allowance, regular, 127
Children, other people's, 145
Alternate growth of children, Children's associates, 113
14
Bible, 139
Anæmia, 47
clubs, value of, 45
Answer honest questions, 71 hour, the, 118
Answers to questions, 100 Child's share in family re-
Application of principles, 141 public, 65
Aristotle's teachings, 76
world, 24
Art and literature in child Classic art, 102
life, 101
Clay modeling, 80
and nature, 112
Climbing, 13
classic, 102
Clothing, proper, 20
influence of, 101
Color, 102
plastic, 104
Colored pictures, 104
Associates, children's, 113 Commands, disagreeable, 37
exclusive, 114
positive, 35
useless, II
Baby-jumpers, 14
Company ways, 161
Bandaging the abdomen, 21 Conclusion, 140
Beginnings of will, 7
Condition at birth, 3
Bible, children's, 139
Consciousness of self, 6
179
180
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE
66
Corporal punishment, 54, 166 Emergencies, 30
Correlation of studies, 121 Enthusiasm, religious, 135
Correspondence training, 142 Enthusiasms,” 124
Costume, model, 21
Essentials of play, 78
Creeping, 12
Evasive lying, 39
Cultivate affections, 45
Evils, permanent, 28
Cutting and pasting, 99
resulting from corporal pun-
ishment, 55
Daily outing, 18
Example, bad, 52
Dancing for children, 87
courteous, 54
Danger of forcing, 12
evil, 115
Dangerous pastimes, 83
versus precept, 34, 68
Darwin's observations, 9 Exclusive associates, 114
Depravity, original, 61
Development of intellect, 126 Fairy tales, 109
premature, 3
Family republic, 64
Diagram of Gertrude suit, 23 Fathers, 152,
Diet, simple, 25
responsibilities of, 154
Disadvantages of Sunday Fatigue harmful to children,
Schools, 134
94
Disagreeable commands, 37 Faults and their remedies, 26
Discipline, educative, 57
real, 28
Disobedience, 30
temporary, 24
real, 33
Fear versus love, 55
Double standard of morality Feeding, indiscriminate, 25
Financial training, 126
Double standards, 158
Fire as a plaything, 84
Drama, 107
First grasping, 9
Dramatic games, 107
Fiske's doctrine of right,64
plays, 87
teachings, 15
Drawing and painting, 99 Food, natural, 24
Dress for play, 79
question, 162
Dress, proper, 20.
undesired, 11
Duties, systematized, 37 Forcing, danger of, 12
Duty to one's self, 164
Fresh air, 18
Frobel's great motto, 70
Education, the new, 120
philosophy, 59
scientific, 121
Fundamental principles of the
Educational beginnings, 5
the new education, 59
exercises, 5
value of play, 77
Games, drmatic, 107
Educative discipline, 57 Gardens for children, 81
Effect of Sunday school teach Gertrude suit, 21
ing, 132
Goodness, original, 61
53
INDEX
181
IIO
Goodness, negative, 32
Liberty, 33, 64
Grasping, 9, 1
Limitations of words, 67
Growth of children, 14
Literature, 108
of will, 8
and art, 101
Looking, 9
Helping, 93
Love of work, 93
mother, 91
versus fear, 55
Home kindergarten, 90
Low voice commands, 66
How the child develops, 3 Lungs, weak, 21
Luther's teachings, 76
Imagination and sympathy, Lying, evasive, 39
imaginative, 39
Imitativeness, instinct of, 32 kinds of, 38
Imaginative lying, 39
politic, 40
Immature judgment, 30
Impudence, cause of, 51 Magazines for children, 11:
Incomplete development at Magic lantern, 85
birth, 4
Massage, 5.
Indiscriminate feeding, 25 Meaning of righteousness, 72
punishment, 55
Model costume, 21
Industry, willing, 94
Modeling apron, 81
Influence of art, 101
clay, 80
Inherited crookedness, 41 Monotony undesirable, 95
disposition, 38
Moral precocity, 73
Instinct, 9
training, object of, 60
of imitativeness, 32
Mother and teacher, 165
Insrumental music, 107
Mother, teaching, 92
Intellect, development of, 126 Mothers as teachers, 134
Irritability, cause of, 35 Mud pies, 80
Muscular development, 5
Jealousy, 42
Music for children, 106
Justice and love in the family, instrumental, 107
42
study of, 124
Mystery of sex, 72
Kindergarten, aims of, 45
as a remedy for selfishness, Nagging, 96
44
Naps, 20
methods, 62
Natural food, 24
methods in the home, 90 punishment, 29
social advantages of, 113
talent, 124
Knit garments, 22
Nature study, 112
Negative goodness, 32
Law-making habit, 70
Neighbors' opinions, 63
Laziness, 46
Nervousness, cause of,
3:
IS 2
STUDY OF CHILD LIFE
self, 34
New education, the, 120
Premature development, 3
principles of, 59
Preyer's record, 11, 19
Normal child, 12
Principles, application of, 141
Nursery requisites, 16
Prohibitions, useless, 34
Punishment, corporal, 54
Object of moral training, 60 indiscriminate, 55
of punishment, 40
natural, 29
Objection to pinning blank object of, 40
et, 21
Obligation of truthfulness, 38
Occupations, 90
Questions, answers to, 160
Only child, the, 44
Quick temper, 35
Opportunity for growth, 16
Ośder of development, 9
Real disobedience, 33
Other people's children, 145 faults, 28
Quting, daily, 18
Reflex grasping, 7
Regular allowance, 127
Painting and drawing, 99 Religious enthusiasm, 135
Parental indulgence, 154
excitability of adolescence,
vanity, 125
136
Pasting and cutting, 99
training, 131
Permanent evils, 28
Remedy for fits of temper, 36
Personal accounts, 129
Responsibilities of fathers, 154
Pets, care of, 45
Restrictions of dress, 79
Physical cause of laziness, 46 Rhythmic movements, 86
culture, 123
Richter's views, 28, 87
culture records, 25
Right doing, 28
Philosophy, Froebel's 59
made easy, 63
Pictures, colored, 104
Righteousness, meaning of, 72
Pinning blanket, objection to Right material for play, 79
Rights of others, 64
Plastic art, 104
Rules in character building, 74
Play, 76
Rupture, cause of, 21
educational value of, 77
essentials of, 78
Sand piles, 80
with the limbs, 5
Scientific education, 12I
Politeness to children, 69 Self-distrustful child, 160
Politic lie, the, 40
Selfishness, 43
Positive commands, 35, 61 Self-mastery, 29
Precautions to prevent at punishment, 34
tacks of temper, 37
Sewing, 98
with fire, 84
Sex, 71
Precocity, 15
mystery of, 72
moral, 73
question, the, 149
21
INDEX
183
22
Showy accomplishments, 123 Temporary faults, 24
Simple diet, 25
Theater, 108
Sleep, sufficient, 19
Theory before practice, 161
Social advantages of kinder Thermometer in nursery, 18
garten, 113
Throwing, 10
Soft spot in head, 4
Tiedmann's teachings, 35
Solitude remedy for temper, 36 Touching forbidden things, II
Songs for children, 86
Toys, 83, 88, 89
Spencer's views, 29
Training, financial, 126
Spending foolishly, 128
for parents, 142
wisely, 127
religious, 131
Standard of morality, double, Truthfulness, obligations of, 38
53.
Standing, 14.
Unconscious influence, 157
Stanley Hall's views, 137 Underclothing, 22
Stealing, 168
Undesired food, II
Stockinet for undergarments, Undisciplined will, 30
Unresponsiveness, 38
Story telling, 93
Unsought advice, 148
Studies, abstract, 119
Untidiness, its remedy,.49
and accomplishments, 119 Useless commands, II
correlation of, 121
prohibitions, 34
Success in child training, 143
Sullenness, 38
Value of children's clubs, 45
Sunday school, disadvantage Vanity, parental, 125
of, 134
Variable periods of growth,
effect of, 132
15
teachers, 131
Ventilation, means of, 18
Sunlight necessary for growth,
Walking, 14
Sympathy and imagination, Water as a plaything, 82
colors, 99
in play, 79
Weak lungs, 21
Symptoms of anæmia, 47 Weight at birth, 4
Systematized duties, 37 Wholesome surroundings, 16
Will, beginnings of, 7
Talent, natural, 124
breaking, the, 29
Teaching mother, 92
growth of, 8
Telling stories, 93.
Willful child, 34
Temperament, emotional, 42 Willing industry, 94
Temperature of nursery, 18 Will, undisciplined, 30
Temper, cause of, 35
Work, beautiful, 96
precautions to prevent at-
love of,
93
tacks of, 37
Wrappings, extra, 21
16
IIO
LESSONS IN COOKING, THROUGH PREPARATION OF MEALS
BY EVA ROBERTA ROBINSON AND HELEN GUNN HAMMEL.
New Correspondence Course, in 12 Parts, each containing a week's menu,
with detailed recipes and full directions for preparing all meals;
also menus for all occasions, special articles, etc.
American School of Home Economics, Chicago.
Synopsis.
Part 1. SEPTEMBER MENUS; Tables and Definitions; Processes
in Cooking ; General Directions ; Setting the Table; Helpful Suggestions;
Cost of Food and the Food Value of the Meals Served.
Part II. OCTOBER MENUS; Waiting on Table, With and With-
out Maid ; Saturday Baking; Helpful Suggestions; Detailed Cost of Food
and Food Value for Each Day, and Summary.
Part III. NOVEMBER MENUS; Dish Washing, With and Without
Running Water, with Dish Washing Apparatus; Thanksgiving Dinner
Menu, Recipes, Table Decoration and Serving ; Dressing and Trussing of
Fowls ; Care of Fish; Methods of Cooking in Fats, Tests of Temperature,
etc. ; Cake Baking, Temperatures for Oven and Tests; Cost of Food and
Food Value of Each Meal, and Summary.
Part IV. DECEMBER MENUS : Candy Making, Classes, Methods, and
Recipes : Christmas Dinner Menu, Recipes, Table Decoration and Serving ;
Cost of Food and Food Value; Suggestions for Reducing the Cost of the
Food Served.
Part V. JANUARY MENUS : Fuels and Fuel Economy, Coal, Coke,
Wood, Gas, Gasoline, Kerosene, Alcohol, Electricity, Reading Gas and Elec-
tric Meters; Informal Luncheon Menu, Recipes, Table Decoration and
Method of Serving; Fireless Cookers and Their Use; Cost of Food and
Food Value; Reducing the Cost.
Part VI. FEBRUARY MENUS : Planning of Meals ; A Balanced
Dietary; Suitable Combinations ; Economy; Suggestive Menu Chart;
School Luncheons; The Worker's Lunch ; Cost of Food and Food Value;
Reduction of Cost.
Part VII. MARCH MENUS; Marketing and Cuts of Meat; Chafing
Dish Supper. Menu, Recipes, Table Arrangement and Decoration, Serving ;
Carving at Table ; Amounts to Serve for Various Numbers; Helpful Sug-
gestions ; Cost of Food and Food Value ; Reducing the Cost.
Part VIII. APRIL MENUS; Kitchen Conveniences and Appliances ;
Formal Easter Luncheon Menu. Recipes, Table Decoration, Serving; Help-
ful Suggestions, How to Seal Moulds, Shape Croquettes, etc. ; Cost of Food
and Food Value; Reduction of Cost.
Part IX. MAY MENUS; Care of Food in the Home; Care and Use
of the Refrigerator ; What to Do Without Ice; Care of Left-overs; Buy-
ing Supplies ; Emergency Meals; May Breakfast_Menu, Recipes, Table
Decoration, Serving; Invalid Cookery ; Cost of Food and Food Value;
Reducing the Cost.
Part X. JUNE MENUS: Canning, Preserving, Jelly Making Recipes,
Full Details of Various Successful Methods and Appliances ; Wedding
Breakfast Table Decoration, Menu, Recipes, Seating of Guests, etc.; Help-
ful Suggestions ; Cost of Food and Food Value; Redyction of Cost.
Part XI. JULY MENUS; Pickling Fruits and Vegetables ; Canning
Vegetables, Recipes ; Picnic Dinner Menu, Suggestions for Packing, c.';
Children's Party Menu, Recipes, Table Decoration, Methods for Serving ;
Cost of Food and Food Value; Reducing the Cost.
Part XII. AUGUST MENUS; Household Tests and Food Adultera-
tions; A Foraml Dinner Menu, Recipes, Table Decoration, Service, etc.;
Final Suggestions ; Complete Index, Alphabetical with Cross References ;
Classified Reprint of Monthly Menus ; Glossary; Bibliography.
Send 50 cents for Part 1, 21 September Lessons, or ask for free Bul-
letin of sample pages. A. S. H. E., 506 W. 69th St., Chicago.
CARE OF CHILDREN
BY
ALFRED CLEVELAND COTTON, A. M., M. D),
PROFESSOR DISEASES OF CHILDREN
RUSH MEDICAL COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
ATTENDING PHYSICIAN DISEASES OF CHILDREN
PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL
SCHOOL
# HOMES
CHICAGO
AMERICAN SCHOOL OF HOME ECONOMICS
1913
COPYRIGHT, 1916 BY
HOME ECONOMICS ASSOCIATION
Entered at Stationer's Hall, London
Aii Rights Reserved
CONTENTS
V
I
6
15
20
30
32
34
37
38
3)
42
.
47
50
55
LETTER TO STUDENTS
Hygiene of the BABY
New Born BABY
Care of the New Baby
Baby's CLOTHES
CLOTHING FOR Older CHILDREN
SURROUNDINGS AND CARE.
SLEEP
EXERCISE
BATHING
REGULATION
DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH
TEETHING
DEVELOPMENT OF SPECIAL SENSES
NUTRITION OF The Child .
NATURAL FOOD
WEANING AND SUBSTITUTE Feeding
ArtiFICIAL FEEDING
MODIFIED Milk
Foods Other Than MILK
Food DISORDERS
Food AFTER The First YEAR
Food RECIPES .
The Sick Child
The CRY
Colic
CONSTIPATION
SUMMER DIARRHEAS
APNORMAL PASSAGES
RICKETS, MALNUTRITION, SCURVY
Colds
56
71
76
90
109
113
115
119
123
1 25
127
.
I 28
130
134
136
. 141
III
IV
CONTENTS
.
SORE THROAT
CROUP
TEMPERATURE
NERVOUS DISORDERS
CONVULSIONS, SPASMS, FITS, CRAMPS
CONTAGIOUS DISEASES
MEASLES
SCARLET FEVER
CHICKEN POX
DIPHTHERIA
WHOOPING COUGH
FOREIGN BODIES
EARACHE
THE MEDICINE CHEST
HYGIENE OF THE CHILD AND YOUTH
EDUCATION
PUBESCENCE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
SODIUM CITRATE IN INFANT FEEDING
THE SOOTHER .
PROGRAM FOR SUPPLEMENTAL STUDY
INDEX
142
145
147
148
149
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
163
165
167
171
174
179
192
.
.
201
205
AMERICAN SCHOOL OF HOME ECONOMICS
CHICADO
January 1, 1907.
My dear Madam:
In my private practice I meet
so many mothers, well educated otherwise, who
are profoundly ignorant of the care of children
that it is a pleasure to find one who is willing
to study something of the subject in a systemat-
ic way.
The feeding of children, especially of
bottle babies, calls for the utmost skill of the
trained physician, while the responsibility of
a sick child is too great for any mother or
nurse.
It goes without saying that a subject
which oft tines taxes the knowledge of exper-
ienced physicians cannot be mastered in a few
short lessons by the average mother. It is only
in the hope that some of the fundamental prin-
ciples embodied herein may be impressed upon the
student mother's mind and lead to a better appre-
ciation of the importance of details in the man-
agement of the child that these lessons are of-
fered.
Children are not alike, nor can they be
classified according to their peculiarities
with a view to successful care or treatment of
their varying disorders. Each child has his
particular individuality, study and appreciation
of which marks the highest type of the succe88-
ful physician. The name of the disease or dis-
order is usually of less importance than the in-
dividuality or peculiarity of the child.
The dosing of children according to any
stereotyped formula for real or imaginary ail-
iments cannot be too vigorously condemned and
the wise mother will rarely administer medi-
cines except under the advice of the physician.
Prevention is always much easier than cure
and a mother's greatest opportunity comes in
80 caring for her child that he may seldom re-
quire the services of the physician.
I regret that I shall not be able to give
the time to look over your answers personally,
but my assistant will call upon me Preely and
I shall be glad to give any personal assistance
that I can.
Very truly yours,
oltoo
THE FOLLOWING ARE A FEW PAGES FROM THE LESSONS
ONE OF DR. COTTON'S BABIES IN THE “BABY RAG"
CARE OF CHILDREN
Hygiene of the Baby
Care of
the Baby
Before
Birth
THE care of the infant should begin from the
moment of conception. So much does the
normal development of the unborn child depend
upon the physical vigor and mental balance of the
mother that her health during pregnancy is of the
highest importance. Everything that tends to im-
prove the mental and physical condition, such as
wholesome food, pleasant surroundings, congenial
associates, exercise, fresh air and sunshine should
be secured for the expectant mother.
Under favorable hygiene even the very delicate
woman may bear and nourish healthy children.
During pregnancy, especially in the advanced
stage, laborious occupation and violent exercise
must be avoided. The exercise involved in walking
and in the duties of light housework is beneficial
while the exertion incident to laundry work, pro-
longed use of the sewing machine, hill climbing
and driving over rough roads may be positively
injurious or even dangerous.
Corsets should be discarded upon the first evi-
dence of conception and loose clothing suspended
from the shoulders should be adopted, thus reliev-
ing the hips and abdomen of all weight and com-
pression. The ideal dress for this period is the union
are of
the Mother
Dress
2
CARE OF CHILDREN
1851
1851
A PRINCESS MATERNITY GOWN
Ladies' Home Journal Pattern.
4
CARE OF CHILDREN
The Breasts
Gentle massage of the abdomen with olive oil,
cocoa butter or goose fat should be practiced daily,
not only for its nutritious effect but to facilitate
stretching of the tense skin. If the womb drags
heavily upon the abdomen great relief may be ob-
tained by a properly adjusted supporter so arranged
as to support the lower part of the abdomen.
The breasts so essential to the future sustenance
of the child, should be treated daily to the same
gentle massage while the
nipples should be gradu-
ally toughened by the ap-
plication of dilute alcohol
or equal parts of brandy
and water. If flat or de-
AN ABDOMINAL SUPPORTER. pressed the nipples should
be developed by moulding
with the fingers or drawing out with a cupping
glass or breast pump.
Swelled feet and distended veins of the legs may
be due to pressure of the heavy womb and require
frequent rest in the horizontal position with the
feet elevated, while the limbs are gently stroked
towards the body. In severe cases bandaging may
be necessary which, however, should always be
done under the advice of the physician.
A specimen of the urine should be furnished the
doctor from time to time for examination, especially
during the later months of pregnancy, as dangerous
From Griffith.
The Urino
BEFORE THE BABY COMES
5.
The Teeth
Mental
Conditions
kidney complications may be thereby discovered
and relieved by timely treatment.
The teeth, which frequently soften and decay dur-
ing pregnancy, should be put in first class condition
by the dentist during the early months, thus pre-
venting much suffering and maybe serious shock.
The expectant mother should regard the coming
of her baby with feelings of happy anticipation
while dread of the ordeal should be kept sedulously
in the background. All means for promoting happi-
ness and contentment should be cultivated as de-
spondency, dread and discontent not only interfere
with the mother's physical well-being but may tend
to arrest or pervert development of the unborn
child.
The popular belief in birth marks as a result of
disagreeable or unusual occurrences or sights is not
well founded, but the hygiene of this period requires
that the mother be protected from undue mental
strain or intense emotional disturbances.
All preparation for the advent of the little one
should be simple, rational and complete long before
the last weeks of pregnancy thereby avoiding the
undue work and worry of hasty preparation.
The pregnant woman should be under the care of
a competent physician during the entire period of
gestation.
Since not only the life of the infant but his entire
Preparations
Importanco
of Early
Care
6
CARE OF CHILDREN
Immortance
of Infant
Hygiene
future health is dependent upon the nature of his
early care, intelligent study of all that pertains to
the hygiene of this little being is the highest duty
of the young mother. The belief that instinct en-
dows motherhood with knowledge requisite to her
new responsibilities is not only erroneous but pro-
ductive of great mischief, as the lost or ruined lives
of thousands of mismanaged infants will attest.
Viewed in this light a knowledge of the slightest
details of the infant's anatomy, physiology and
hygiene assumes a new significance and may prove
of inestimable value in conserving his health and
insuring his normal development. The startling
death rate in early infancy calls loudly for a more
thorough study of the causes of poor development
and disease most of which might be prevented by
a better understanding of the infant and his re-
quirements. It is evident that the simplest method
of studying the new born infant is to become famil-
iar with the details of his normal form and propor-
tions, for in this way only may departures from the
normal be recognized.
THE NEW BORN BABY
The infant's skin at birth is usually covered with
à thick whitish substance (vernix caseosa) which
is most abundant in the creases and depressions and
upon the scalp. At birth the color is a dusky hue,
which after a few full inspirations changes to the
Skin
TWO NEW BORN BABIES
BACK
FRONT
FOLD-36 INCHES LONG
154 INCHES WIDE
PATTERN FOR A SIMPLE MUSLIN SLIP.
Draw 2-inch squares on a paper over 36 in. x 16 in. and sketch the
pattern as indicated. The gown is gathered at the neck and wrists
on very narrow bands. The back is like the front except at the neck.
(Only the top and bottom of the pattern is shown.)
THE NEIV BORN BABY
9
Weight
Proportions
“boiled lobster" red. About the third day a scaling
of the skin begins, which continues for a week or
ten days. The texture of the skin is very delicate
and is usually covered with a downy growth, called
lanugo.
The average weight at birth is about 7 pounds for
boys and 6 pounds for girls. The average length
is from 18 to 20 inches.
To anyone seeing a new-born infant for the first
time, the large head, small chest, enormous abdo-
men and insignificant extremities seem out of all .
proportion.
A constant proportional relationship exists be-
tween the different members of the normal infant
at birth. The following simple rule will aid the
student in remembering this relationship.
Rule.---Add 4 inches to half the baby's length for
the chest circumference; the head is one inch larger
than the chest. The abdomen is 1/2 to 1 inch larger
than the head, e. g.:
Length.....
18 inches
Circumference of thorax..
.13 inches
Circumference of head.
.14 inches
Circumference of abdomen..
.147 inches
The head, being plastic, shows the pressure effects
of recent birth. If labor has been prolonged it
sometimes presents a great elongation and not in-
frequently there is a soft doughy swelling as large
as half an orange near the crown caused by the
The Head
ΙΟ
CARE OF CHILDREN
recent pressure. By the end of the first week the
head should have resumed its normal shape.
Adjacent margins of the bones of the head are
separated by fibrous tissue continuous with the lin-
Fontanelles
SKULL OF AN INFANT, SHOWING FONTANELLES.
ing internally and the covering externally. At the
places where three or more bones should come to-
gether are soft spaces called fontanelles. The larg-
est and most important of these is situated at the
top of the head well to the front, and is often called
the “soft spot”. In this space there is a regular
pulsation corresponding in frequency with the heart
THE NEIV BORN BABY
II
Bones
Sucking
Cushions
beats. The fontanelles should be carefully guarded
against injury.
The softness and elasticity of the bones of infancy
are due to their vascularity, the sponginess of their
texture, and from the layers of cartilage and mem-
brane not yet ossified.
The true bony structure of the new born baby
corresponds to the needs of the infant, e. g., the
bones of the lower jaw and ribs and collar bone
which renders possible respiration and suction from
birth, are well developed.
Over the cheek muscles, in addition to the ordi-
nary layer of fat, there is an arrangement of fatty
lobules on either side, called "sucking cushions"
because they prevent the cheeks being pressed in-
ward between the jaws when nursing.
The eye at birth is anatomically incomplete,
which would prevent perfect sight even if the brain
were ready to receive and interpret impressions.
The color of the iris is a bluish gray and the pupils
are large and sensitive to light.
The lachrymal glands are not fully developed,
hence no tears before the third month.
The nose is relatively small, and the respiratory
portion is very small.
The tongue is rarely the seat of congenital defect
and tongue tied babies are not often seen.
The spine of the infant is extremely flexible. It
is, in fact, almost wholly cartilaginous at birth, the
The Eyos
The Spine
12
CARE OF CHILDREN
The Lungs
Blood
Supply
centers of ossification being present but the process
only slightly advanced.
The collar bone is the first bone of the skeleton
to ossify and is more frequently fractured during
delivery and in early childhood than is any other
bone.
Rapid and remarkable changes occur in the lungs
after birth. During the first inspiration compara-
tively little air is taken into the lungs but as one
full inspiration follows another, inflation increases
more and more until full distension is accomplished
after which the lungs are never completely emptied
of air during life.
Growth and action of all the organs are entirely
dependant on the blood supply. As the blood sup-
ply not infrequently depends upon the muscular
activity of the parts, it is plain that restrained
activity or interference with circulation by any
means retards both function and growth. In the
care of the young infant too much stress can not
be laid upon the importance of freedom of motion
for all the members, and avoidance of anything that
tends to compress the vessels, such as long con-
tinued lying in one position, with possibly the addi-
tion of blood stagnation in the dependent parts. In
this respect, also, the clothing requires that no bands
nor seams may press upon the vessels of ditribution
or the return supply of blood.
From birth to death the oxygen necessary for the
vitality of the body is supplied through the air
Respiration
THE NEIV BORN BABY
13
vesicles of the lungs. If any vital process is pre-
eminent in its importance, it is that of respiration.
Young children inhale more oxygen and exhale
more carbon dioxide, relatively, than adults. This
is a result of the more rapid tissue change in the
growing organism.
As respiration begins only after birth it is prob-
ably the least developed of the vital functions. Its
want of vigor is partly due to compressibility of
the chest walls, to the lack of full development of
the respiratory muscles and partly to the narrow-
ness of the upper air passages. Care of the nose and
throat is necessary to prevent accumulations or
growths which interfere with the free entrance of
air.
The average rate of respiration is from 30 to 60
per minute and during the early months may be very
irregular.
The yielding character of the chest renders the
baby very susceptible to disturbances by compres-
sion, so that great care should be exercised not only
in the handling of the infant but also in the clothing
so that no constriction of the chest be allowed.
The glands of the mouth of the new born secrete
mucus which serves for protection. The salivary
secretion is established but feebly and possesses
little, if any, power of changing starch to sugar.
The stomach at birth secretes pepsin in very
· small quantity and at this early age is more of a
Chest
Digestive
Organs
14
CARE OF CHILDREN
receptacle for food than a digestive organ. Coagu-
lation of milk by the rennet ferment represents
nearly the whole extent of its digestive function.
Shortly after birth meconium (a viscid, tarry,
odorless substance) is discharged from the bowels.
This continues until the feces are changed to a
canary yellow by the taking of milk.
Urine is normally present in the bladder at birth
and is usually voided within a short time, any delay
beyond twelve hours causing some anxiety. The
urine should be pale and odorless but it may con-
tain uric acid crystals which stain the diaper like
iron rust and are sometimes so abundant as to
completely obstruct the small tubes of the kidneys.
This uric acid is a frequent cause of colic in the
new born.
The delicate skin of the infant demands constant
care to prevent irritation and excoriations especially
about the buttocks, from the urine and feces. It
seems hardly necessary to remark that the diaper
should always be removed as soon as it is wet or
soiled and should never be used the second time
without thorough washing.
In regard to the functions of the nervous system
it may be said that at birth the infant is merely a
bundle of reflexes. Such reflex action however as
respiration, swallowing, winking, coughing, sneez-
ing, clinging, etc., shows a remarkable pre-natal
development of mechanism.
Care of
the Skin
Nervous
System
CARE OF THE NEW BABY
15
Special
Sensos
The sense of hearing is probably not present at
birth, but is established within the first day or two,
as the middle ear fills with air and the congestion
of its mucous membrane subsides.
In all probability smell is the last of the special
senses to develop.
The sense of taste is evidently well developed
from birth, the young infant readily distinguishing
milk from water.
Tactile sensation is very acute in the lips, tongue
and eyes, although feebly developed in other areas.
CARE OF THE NEW BABY
The newborn is entirely at the mercy of his sur-
roundings. In fact, of all the mammalia, the human
infant is the most helpless.
Immediately upon delivery the baby should be
wrapped in a warm soft shawl or blanket. The eyes,
mouth and nose should be thoroughly cleansed of se-
cretions by the gentle application of sterilized gauze or
cheesecloth dipped in tepid boric acid solution. A
saturated solution of boric acid in boiling water, care-
fully strained, cooled and bottled should be a part of
the equipment of the confinement room and nursery;
also a supply of sterilized gauze or cheesecloth cut in
three-inch squares and kept in sterilized wrapping. To
sterilize the cheesecloth or gauze it should be kept in
boiling water for forty minutes, dried in an oven and
at once wrapped in a sterilized cloth or wrapping.
First
Cleansing
06
CARE OF CHILDREN
Care of
Eyes
Gentleness
The eyes should be cleansed with separate pieces of
gauze moistened with the boric solution by pouring
from the bottle. If a few drops of the solution find
their way between the lids so much the better.
The mouth may be freed of mucus by wrapping the
finger in dry sterilized gauze and gently wiping out the
secretion, after which the mouth should be washed
with the boric acid solution. Then it is well to give the
baby a teaspoonful or two of pure tepid water.
If necessary to free the nose from secretions it may
be done by gently squeezing it between the thumb and
finger from the top down, after which the solution
should be applied on a piece of twisted gauze. Ex-
treme gentleness must be observed in these manipula-
tions so as to leave no wound or abrasion upon the
delicate tissues which may give entrance to infective
germs. The nurse's hands and nails should be cleansed
beyond suspicion
The cord may be freely dusted with pulverized boric
acid and covered with dry absorbent cotton. Placing
the baby on the right side favors the new course of
blood through the heart.
The vernix caseosa with which the new born baby
is usually covered is best removed by a thorough rub-
bing with warm olive oil, or fresh lard, which forms
with it a soft lather and is easily removed by gentle
wiping with dry soft gauze. The next day's oiling and
wiping will remove from the creases and folds what
Care of
the Cord
CARE OF THE NEW BABY
17
First
Bath
little of the substance may have escaped the first
cleansing
On the question of the first bath there is a decided
difference of opinion. Considering the temperature
from which the new comer has emerged (100° F.),
the transition to room temperature even, 78° F.
would seem to be sufficiently stimulating. There is a
growing opinion in favor of delaying the bath, and the
writer believes with others that this first water bath
should not be given for several days after birth. A
daily rubbing with warm olive oil is to be preferred as
affording less danger of shock.
The baby's brief toilet completed, the dressed navel
supported by a light flannel band, he should be
wrapped in a fresh dry blanket and allowed to sleep
in a warm, dark, quiet place for three hours, after
which he may be given another drink of pure water.
It is advisable to place the infant at the breast
within a few hours after birth as it is believed that
the colostrum or first milk secreted is adapted to the
needs of the infant's digestive tract. The mother's
nipples and the baby's mouth should be previously
cleansed with boric acid solution.
An infant's needs are few but imperative. They are
warmth, food and repose. It should be disturbed only
when necessary for drink, for its daily baths, change
of clothing, or for fresh diapers. It should be nursed
every two hours during the day and once at night.
First
Nursing
Imperative
Needs
18
CARE OF CHILDREN
Shock
The child should not sleep with the mother or nurse,
but in its own crib or basket from the first.
Too much stress cannot be laid upon the avoidance
of all that tends to shock or fatigue, and the observance
of absolutely antiseptic details. Could nurses and
mothers realize the need of absolute rest for the new
born, the advent of the baby would not be the signal
for the "rough house" procedures so frequently seen,
A RUBBER BATH TUB.
First
General
Water
Bath
in the bath attended by admiring relatives, the dressing
in unsuitable garments, and the frequent exhibitions of
the baby to delighted neighbors and caressing friends.
The first general water bath may be given to vigor-
ous babies the fifth or sixth day, after which it may be
a part of the daily toilet. In cases of premature or
very feeble infants the tub bath should be postponed
until there is no danger from shock or chill. The early
CARE OF THE NEW BABY
19
A Double Ewer for Hot and Cold Water.
bathing should be done with the baby on the nurse's
lap, protected from drafts by a soft blanket. Each
part should be gently bathed with a cheese cloth
sponge and quickly dried by patting with a dry, warm
towel of the same material. New cheese cloth for
this purpose may be
rendered absorbent
by thorough boiling
in soda water, fol-
lowed by careful
rinsing. The animal
sponges should not
be used as they can-
not be properly
cleansed and quickly
become breeding places for germs of many kinds. A
full tub bath should not be given until the cord has
come off.
A good quality of castile soap is probably the best
to use, for many of the so-called "baby soaps" are too
irritating for the infant's delicate skin. After drying
the creases may be lightly dusted with a reliable baby
powder, using a box with a finely perforated top for
this purpose. The ordinary puff ball and powder box
should not be used because they are so easily con-
taminated with dust laden with bacteria.
Unremittent care is required to prevent accumula-
tions on the scalp. If crusts are once formed they must
be softened by frequent applications of warm oil.
Soap
Care of
the Scalp
20
CARE OF CHILDREN
Temperature
They should never be removed by use of the fine tooth
comb, in fact a comb should not touch the baby's scalp
during the early months and strong soap and friction
must be avoided in the removal of the accumulations.
The sensitiveness of infants to heat and cold is
not surprising when we consider the conditions,
viz., the relatively large radiating surface of the
body (50 per cent more than the adult), the thinness
of the skin, the distensibility of its blood vessels, and
the undeveloped state of the heat regulating centers.
The normal body heat is highest in the afternoon
and the lowest from 12 to 4 a. m. Rectal temper-
ature, as a rule, is the only reliable one, as in the
young infant the mouth can not be utilized for that
purpose, and the surface of the body, for reasons
above stated, shows a temperature two or three
degrees lower than that of the blood.
THE BABY'S CLOTHES
Weight
and
Texture
In the care of the baby uniformity of the sur-
rounding temperature should be maintained and the
child protected from excessive radiation by cloth-
ing. Nothing is more appropriate for this purpose
than wool and as lightness is desired two thick-
nesses are better than one containing the same
amount of material. Simply made clothing without
elaborate ornamentation and trimming designed for
the baby's comfort shows better taste in the mother.
BABY'S CLOTHES
21
The clothing should not interfere with freedom of
muscular movement or blood circulation. This means
that it should permit unrestrained freedom of move-
Freedom
from
Restraint
BABY CLOTHED IN A SLEEVELESS SACK OR "BABY BAG.”
ment of all the muscular structures, whether toes,
fingers, feet, hands, legs, arms, abdomen, back or chest.
The evils of the old fashioned pinning blanket, the
tightly drawn diaper, as well as bands about the chest
22
CARE OF CHILDREN
and abdomen, and any tapes or strings which re-
strict the circulation should be apparent.
Since the object of clothing for the infant is to se-
cure uniform temperature the writer can conceive of
no reason why one portion of the body requires heavier
clothing than another, hence material of uniform thick-
ness is required for trunk and limbs.
OUTER AND INNER GARMENT OF THE SLEEVELESS SACK.
Inner garment shown closed at bottom with the draw string; outer
garment opens. Both garments are fastened at the neck in front
with safety pins.
The
Baby Bag
The ideal protection would seem to be afforded by a
sack of light, flexible, nonconducting material, so con-
structed that it envelops loosely the entire body, closed
BABY'S CLOTHES
23
FRONT
LACK
12 INCHES WOL
CUT 36 INCHES LONG
PATTERN OF DR. COTTON'S "BABY BAG."
To make pattern, draw parallel lines making 2 inch squares on a piece of paper over 36 inches in length
and 12 inches wide. Then draw the outline as above. The pattern for the back is the same as for the
front except at the neck a. The cloth is folded and cut double, the seams being at the side. It is
gathered along the curved lines to give room for the arms. The opening is in front.
24
CARE OF CHILDREN
above by safety pins, below by a draw string. Such an
arrangement was designed by the author and has been
successfully used in a number of hospitals in this coun-
try and abroad as well as in private homes. There is
good reason for including the hands in the covering
as a prevention of the habit of putting the fingers in
the mouth. This is a most unhygienic practice, first
because it favors introduction of infections; second, be-
cause the subsequent chilling of the parts from rapid
evaporation of moisture induces local congestions,
causing symptoms of indigestion, colic, etc. The
author believes that the hands should be included in
the outer garment for the first five or six weeks of life
after which time the bag may be replaced by the usual
white nainsook or muslin slip.
The bag will then serve as an ideal night garment
for the first six months, and then the combination
night drawers with feet are recommended because with
these the lower extremities cannot be entirely un-
covered. An entire change of clothing should always
be made for the night.
When necessary under the sack, additional protec-
tion against cold is afforded by separate under gar-
ments, as a light knitted shirt of silk and wool and a
sleeveless slip of baby flannel.
The best under garment for a baby is the knitted
long sleeved shirt of mixed lamb's wool and silk. This
shrinks less and is less apt to be irritating to the skin
than all wool, and is warmer than the all silk. The
same material, or a mixture of wool and cotton, is suit-
Night
Garment
Under
Clothes
BABY'S CLOTHES
25
able for the stockings, which should be long enough
to pin to the diaper, which in turn is pinned to the
shirt, thus leaving no portion of the child uncovered.
No socks or bootees are needed. Over this the baby
bag as described furnishes all the clothing necessary
for moderately warm weather.
A KNITWEAR INFANT SHIRT.
In
Winter
In winter, or where the baby cannot be protected
from drafts, an additional garment without sleeves,
reaching from the neck to ten or twelve inches below
the feet, may be used next the shirt. Some mothers
prefer to close this garment with a draw string, leav-
ing the outer garment open and long enough to conceal
the draw string effect of the skirt.
Scotch flannel in its various dainty shades and pat-
terns is excellent unshrinkable material for the bag,
while soft, white baby flannel is suitable for the inter-
mediate garment. No other clothing is necessary for
Material
26
CARE OF CHILDREN
the first few weeks, unless a light shawl or quilt for
carrying the baby from room to room, and a light silk
scarf for occasional use to protect the head from pos-
sible drafts.
47
“ THE FIRST LAYER."
Diaper fastened to the shirt, and stockings with safety pins.
The
Diaper
The diaper should be light with no more material
than is absolutely necessary for the absorption of the
discharges. Absorbent cotton, loose or in pads, pref-
erably the latter, retained by a loose cheesecloth
diaper, which is secured to the shirt by safety pins in
28
CARE OF CHILDREN
Waist
and
Drawers
Foot
Covering
When diapers are no longer necessary short knitted
drawers are substituted, which, with the stocking sup-
porters, are attached to a waist. In winter the waist
should be of flannel, with or without sleeves, and the
drawers of wool extending to the ankle.
The shortening of the skirts necessitates extra pro-
tection for the feet. Before the creeping time the
knitted shoes. without soles should be used. Later the
more durable kid or chamois moccasins are neces-
sary. Unwittingly, great cruelty is practiced in the
conventional baby foot covering.
Most of the prevailing deformities seen in the civ-
ilized foot have their origin in inſancy at a time when
the rapid growth of this plastic member is easily re-
tarded or perverted by the slightest degree of persist-
ent pressure, as from a too short or too narrow stock-
ing. Chalk the sole of the baby's foot and press it
against a damp slate or hard black surface and com-
pare the impression with the outline of the ordinary
baby shoes sold in the shops.
The rapid growth necessitates frequent renewal of
the moccasin shoe, which should be made for the feet,
respectively, rights and lefts. They should fit the foot
firmly only about the ankle and instep leaving ample
room for the elongation and spreading of the toes. To
secure proper adjustment shoes should be laced rather
than buttoned.
In learning to walk all the separate muscles must be
educated to act in unison, hence every part of the foot
Moccasin
Shoe
BABY'S CLOTHES
29
and its toes must be allowed the utmost freedom. A
snug shoe deprives some of these muscles of their op-
portunity for education by binding the parts together
to act as a unit instead of in unison. A stiff, unyield-
ing sole interferes with the foot grasp of the ground.
SHAPE OF CHILD'S FOOT AND PROPERLY SHAPED SHOE.
As well might the child be taught to play the piano
with hands encased in husking gloves as to attempt
to gain perfect control of locomotion in the modern
shoe. Hard shoe soles, like ancient sandals, are merely
the outgrowth of the necessities of travel and have no
place in the hygiene of infancy.
30
CARE OF CHILDREN,
No
Bands
Since vital capacity is best measured by lung expan-
sion anything that interferes in the slightest degree
with the movements of the ribs or diaphragm limits
by so much vital capacity. A tight band around the
abdomen interferes with the normal muscular move-
ments of the stomach and bowels, weakens the ab-
dominal walls and is frequently the cause of rupture
both at the navel and groin.
A constriction around the hips, as from a tight
diaper, retards the growth of the pelvis at a time when
its substance is mostly cartilaginous and is undoubt-
edly one of the causes of the prolonged travail so
common to American mothers.
No
Constrictions
CLOTHING FOR OLDER CHILDREN
Proper
Protection
As the child grows older its style of dressing neces-
sarily changes but certain facts must still be borne in
mind. In the adult more than three-fourths of the heat
produced in the body is given off from the surface of
the skin. In children the per cent of loss is probably
still greater because the proportional surface of the
body exposed is larger. One of the important func-
tions of clothing is to regulate the movement of air
streaming to and from the surface of the skin so as
to retard the exchange of the warm air surrounding
the body with the outer atmosphere without preventing
it. The material, form and cut of the clothing all have
to do with the proper performance of this function.
All vital processes require a certain uniform tem-
CLOTHING
31
Matorials
perature and interference with these is especially dis-
astrous during the period of rapid growth. Allen-
deavor is made to maintain this for the infant, but it is
often overlooked for the child, where the need still re-
mains as great.
Clothing may become the cause of disease, either be-
cause of permitting sudden chilling of the body or be-
cause of checking the circulation, respiration or per-
spiration. The material should be selected with spe-
cial consideration for the constitution, sex and age of
the child; its power of heat regulation, and should be
suited to the child's skin as well as so designed that
it may permit liberty of movement.
A word of caution should be given against the
prevailing fad of bare legged children. The bare
footed country boy, living out of doors all the time,
clad only in shirt and trousers, may resist the ex-
posure; but there is danger to the otherwise warmly
clad city child. When the stockings are left off and
socks and low shoes substituted, for the sake of
coolness near home, the custom is permissible; but
in our fickle climate, when a change of weather or
a thunder storm may lower the temperature from
20 to 40 degrees, there is grave danger of a chill.
This disturbs the circulation and may induce digest-
ive disturbances, colds, or serious illness. A child's
health should not be endangered by fad or fashion.
Bare Legs
SURROUNDINGS AND CARE
Protection
The absolute wants of the infant are few and simple,
and may be expressed in the two words-Protection
and Food
The infant must be protected from shock to which
he is peculiarly susceptible. Normal function, as di-
gestion, may be arrested by shock alone. Shock may
occur from sudden changes of temperature, from noise,
from blows or jars, from unaccustomed motion, from
fear or anger, from intense light, and from excessive
or prolonged pain.
Protection should be secured from infectious or ir-
ritating substances, either internal or external. The
baby should not be subjected to rough handling or
rough clothing; it should be protected from liability to
falls, or from blows especially on the head, and from
wounds, scratches, bites or abrasions of any kind. Its
surroundings should be as sanitary and antiseptic as
possible in all particulars.
THE NURSERY
The multiplicity of these needs, not to mention the
necessity of regularity in feeding, bathing, sleeping
and so forth demands a systematic regime. Obviously
this can best be se ured through a separate nursery
in which the means to the end are under full control.
The rooms selected for this purpose should be in a
quiet part of the house and should receive direct sun-
light during as much of the day as possible. It should
The
Room
32
THE NURSERY
33
Furnishing
Temperature
be of sufficient size to secure ventilation without notice-
able drafts, and furnished with special reference to an-
tisepsis, hence carpetless, except for rugs which may
be aired often; curtainless, except for light wash ma-
terials; devoid of moldings, pictures or fixtures which
invite the lodgment of dust. The walls should be
hard finished, preferably painted to permit of thorough
cleansing with water or antiseptic applications. Double
windows should protect against drafts and diminish
direct radiation, and the system of heating and ventila-
tion be under absolute control. The temperature
should be from 75° to 80° F. during the first week after
which time until the child is three months old about
75° is recommended. After that it may be gradually
lowered to 70° or even 65° at night. If the sleeping
room be too hot and the rarified air fails to furnish the
necessary amount of oxygen the child's vitality is low-
ered by copious perspiration and his susceptibility to
cold taking is increased.
The nursery should preferably not be upon the
ground floor, or on a level with the ground. Plumbing
of any kind, even the best stationary washstand, should
find no place in this room, and it is even better to se-
lect a room not having direct connection with the fam-
ily bathroom, as being more free from possible impure
gases.
In fact the room should contain nothing save the
furniture necessary for the care of the infant. The
metal crib should have a mattress filled with selected
Furniture
SLEEP
35
Regularity
its comfort is thus increased is ridiculous and not
conducive to the best good of the baby.
The sleep during the first few days is profound, but
during the rest of the year it is easily disturbed. The
position of the child should be changed during the
longest sleep of the night. During the time when the
bones of the head are hardening it is necessary to
change the position of the baby, putting it first on one
side, then on the other, that its head may not exhibit a
flattening on one side.
It is important to preserve great regularity in the
hours of sleeping. No child under six years can
afford to forego the daily nap, for which the shoes
and outer clothing at least should be removed.
A normal healthy baby with wants satisfied will sleep
if comfortable and left alone. The fussy nurse or
mother too frequently interferes with this function
by over solicitude or mistaken notion that the baby
wants companionship. It is better to put it in its
crib and if possible go into an adjoining room, to
accustom the child from the very beginning to sleep-
ing alone. A few experiences will establish the
habit and thus save the mother much time and
strength as well as give the child better and more
regular sleep. If the habit is fixed early no difficulty
will be experienced.
The custom of quieting the baby by the use of a
blank nipple-"soother"-is not only extremely un-
sanitary, but is positively injurious. No more effi-
cient means for introducing the ever present disease
The
Soother
36
CARE OF CHILDREN
Thumb
Sucking
germs into the system could be devised and many a
mysterious infection may be explained by this
practice.
The habit of thumbsucking, if long continued; very
commonly induces changes in the shape of the mouth,
teeth and jaws which amount in some cases to a de-
formity.
It is sometimes difficult to secure the necessary
amount of sleep for children of active mentality or
nervous temperament. Insufficient rest increases this
Vicious
Circle
DEFORMITIES CAUSED BY PROLONGED THUMB
SUCKING. (Talbot.)
natural nervousness, which in turn, tends to prevent
sleep, thus establishing a "vicious circle" which robs
growth, arrests development and finally destroys the
child or wrecks his future life.
The causes of disturbed sleep are so numerous and
intricate that a brief enumeration of those most ap-
parent must suffice.
Disturbed
Sleep
38
CARE OF CHILDREN
fore taking the baby out of doors, that he be gradually
accustomed to the outside air by opening the windows
of the nursery for a short period each day, keeping in
mind the need of additional clothing in cold weather.
As a rule, the child should go out daily after the first
month. The more weakly the child the greater the
need. One caution should always be observed in his
outing, protection from disturbance in securing his re-
quisite amount of sleep. In fact, he may spend the
greater part of the day in the open air, if properly pro-
tected from wind and sun.
BATHING
Temperature
After the first week, the strong, healthy baby should
be bathed daily. The temperature of the first baths
should be about blood heat, 99° F. This may be re-
duced gradually so that at the end of the month the
temperature will be 95°, at six months 90° and
by the end of the year 85° to 80°. It is well to finish
bathing and drying the head before undressing the
baby. Little soap is required and if the skin is unusu-
ally delicate, that known as "superfatty" is advised.
The convenience of the double ewer is seen in having
a supply of water free from soap for rinsing. Unless
some irritation is present no powder need be used.
The addition of the bran bag to the bath for children
with a tendency to eczema, and of salt for its stimulat-
ing properties to the infants needing it, is recom-
mended. The daily bath should be given midway be-
tween feedings and should not last longer than five
Bran and
Salt Bath
BATHING
39
minutes. The toweling, though thorough, must be
lightly and quickly done.
The special care of the eyes, nostrils and mouth
Special
must never be omitted. As soon as the temporary
Care
teeth have appeared, they should receive as faithful at-
tention as the permanent, since they are as subject to
decay, and effects of digestive disturbances are greater
in the child. Nothing should ever be introduced into
the external ear with the exception of a twisted bit of
gauze, gently applied for the purpose of drying.
Not only are the genitals subject to local disorders
but general mal-nutrition, obstinate reflex nervous dis-
turbances and injurious habits are too often the result
of their neglect. The daily bath should ensure
thorough gentle cleansing of the delicate parts, which
with the boy baby, should include the complete retrac-
tion of the foreskin. If this is not accomplished by
the end of the first month the physician should be con-
sulted.
In hot weather a rapid sponging with tepid water at
night will secure for the baby a more restful sleep.
The duration, as well as the frequency of the bath, Duration
and
should depend entirely upon the reaction; blueness or
Frequency
chilliness of the surface, or signs of exhaustion are
always indications of too frequent or too prolonged
bathing.
REGULATION
The structure of the rectum and lower bowel in in-
fancy, with the weakness of the abdominal walls, makes
REGULATION
41
permanent distension of the lower bowel with loss of
evacuative power.
T
GIVING AN ENEMA.
The lower end of the rubber sheet is placed in a pail. The bag of the
fountain syringe should not be hung too high.
DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH
Importance
The importance of a familiarity with the rate of
growth during infancy and childhood can not be over
estimated, as the irregularities in the growth ratio are
frequently the first intimations of disturbed nutrition
or developing disease.
The following table shows the average heights and
weights from birth to fourteen years :
Table of Height and Weight
Boys.
Age.
Girls.
Height.
Weight.
Height.
Weight.
Inches.
19.75
24.75
29.53
33.82
37.06
39.31
41.57
43.75
45.74
47.76
49.69
51.68
53.33
55.11
57.21
59.88
Pounds.
7.15
14.30
20.98
30.36
34.98
37.99
41.00
45.07
48.97
53.81
59.00
65.16
70.04
76.75
84.67
94, 49
Birth.
5 months.
1 year.
2 years.
3 years.
4 years.
5 years.
6 years.
7 years.
8 years.
9 years.
10 years.
11 years.
12 years.
13 years.
14 years.
Inches.
19.25
23.25
29.67
32.94
36.31
38.80
41.29
43.35
45.52
47.58
49.37
51.34
53.42
55.88
58.16
59.94
Pounds.
6.93
13.86
19.80
29.28
33.15
36.36
39.57
43. 18
47.30
51.56
57.00
62.23
68.70
78.16
88.46
98.23
Increase in body weight, length and the measure-
ments of the different members bear normally a cer-
tain constant relation at different periods of life. No
period compares in rapidity of growth with that of the
first three months.
42
DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH
43
First
Loss in .
Weight
The loss of weight in the first three days is about
ten per cent. This is usually regained by the end of
the first week. The reason for this early loss is due
partly to the loss of fluids from the interior as well as
from the surface of the body, and partly to the con-
Daily Weight Chart (Holt)
Lbs. 112 814516171819 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
9%
9%
*** O ***
2x
6
5%
sumption of the stored body material before the first
feeding takes place.
The loss of weight is several ounces but at the end
of the first week the baby has usually regained most
Rate of
Increase
44
CARE OF CHILDREN
of the loss. After this the gain should be steady. Dur-
ing the last three weeks of the first month and the en-
tire second, this gain is about an ounce a day. During
the third and fourth months about three-fourths of an
Monthly Weight Chart (Holt)
Lbs.
MONTH OF AGE.
4 5 6
1
2
3
7
8
9
10
11
12
24
23
22
21
20
19
18
11
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
ounce a day, hence the normal infant has doubled its
birth weight by the end of the fifth or sixth month.
The gain decreases after this from two-thirds of an
ounce to one-half an ounce a day as the infant grows
older, until the weight has trebled at the end of the
first year.
Gain in
Length
The length of the average baby at birth is nineteen
inches; this he doubles in four years.
The increase
DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH
45
during the first year (about half of the initial length)
being nearly double that of any succeeding year. The
average increase of the second year is about four
inches, and from that time on to the age of eleven or
twelve years from two to three inches annually.
As the weight and height increase there is also a rel-
ative value of dimension of the various parts of the
body. The legs grow much more rapidly than the
trunk but the girth of head and chest are of the great-
est moment in determining the normal growth. The
circumference of the chest, though smaller at birth,
should exceed that of the head before the end of the
Relative
Growth
second year.
On account of its compressibility the shape of the
The
chest depends largely upon the continous action of the
Chest
muscles, hence the deformities so frequently seen as
the result of retarded bone development. Any pro-
longed pressure from improper position or constrict-
ing clothing may add greatly to chest deformity.
The increase in the circumference of the head in
The
early life is remarkable and like that of the body weight Head
is more rapid during the first year, increasing three
inches during the first six months, a little more than
one inch the second six months, three-fourths of an
inch the second year and less than half an inch the
third year. By the seventh year the head has attained
nearly its full size.
The fontanel diminishes in size towards the end
46
CARE OF CHILDREN
Development
of Powers
of the first year and is ordinarily completely closed
before the end of the second year.
This period of growth also shows a constant de-
velopment of acquisitions. The ability to shed tears
generally comes at the age of three or four months.
The new hair has begun to grow and increased pow-
ers of digestion are developed. This is the time when
the child begins to "drool," a sign not of irritation
caused by the cutting of teeth but merely an evidence
of the increased flow of saliva due to development of
digestive secretions.
The characteristic coating of the baby tongue per-
sists during the greater part of the nursing period.
The roof of the mouth gradually becomes more arched
with the development of the gums and teeth. The
soft palate becomes ampler as it descends to its more
verticle position, and the tonsils increase in size.
The growth of the stomach is most rapid in the
first half of the first year, of which the first three
months exhibit by far the greater rate of increase.
It maintains a very constant ratio of increase with
that of body weight in the first year of life.
The following table represents fairly the average
capacity of the stomach at different ages:
At birth
End of 1st month
272 ounces.
End of 2nd month
372 ounces.
End of 3rd month
472 ounces.
End of 4th month
434 ounces.
End of 5th month
5
End of 12th month
Capacity of
the Stomach
1
ounce.
ounces.
ounces.
TEETHING
47
TEETHING
MIIK
Teeth
The development of the temporary teeth begins with
the first formation of the jaws, about the sixth week
of intra-uterine life. At the time of birth the crowns
of all the temporary incisors and canines are fairly
advanced in calcification.
The gums at first are smooth and firm and of
a light pinkish color. The edges are rather sharp
but grow broader after a few months, as the time
of teething draws near.
Of the temporary or milk teeth as they are called
there are twenty, ten in each jaw; two central incisors,
two lateral incisors, two canines and four molars. The
lower canines are called the stomach teeth.
The teeth have a certain order of eruption, but
variation is not uncommon. It is not a contin-
uous process, but occurs in gro ps, with intervals
of repose between successive groups. The lower cen-
tral incisors appear from the sixth to the ninth month,
their coming being completed in about ten days; then
follows a resting period of two or three months, after
which the upper incisors appear, both central and lat-
eral. After an interval of a few months come the
lower lateral incisors and first molars, four or five
months later the canines and finally, about the second
year, the second molars.
Order of
Eruption
48
CARE OF CHILDREN
Order of the Eruption of the Temporary Teeth
Lower central incisors 6th to 9th month.
Upper incisors
8th to 10th month.
Lower lateral incisors and
first molars
15th to 21st month.
Canines
16th to 20th month.
Second molars
20th to 30th month.
-
Permanent
Teeth
Scarcely a year elapses after complete eruption of
the milk teeth before absorption begins at the root and
advances towards the crown which either falls off or
is pushed out by the growth of the permanent tooth
below.
The permanent teeth, of which there are 32, may
be divided into two sets, the ten anterior which suc-
ceed the milk teeth and six others that are added
farther back in the jaw. During the growth of the
teeth the jaw increases in depth and length and under-
goes changes in form.
Order of Eruption of Permanent Teeth
First molars
Central incisors
Lateral incisors
First bicuspids
Second bicuspids
Canines
12th to 13th year.
Second molars -
12th to 15th year.
Third molars (wisdom teeth) 17th to 25th year.
The lower teeth usually precede the upper.
The prevalent notion that the eruption of the teeth
is responsible for many of the disorders of infancy
is not only fallacious but is productive of considerable
6th year.
7th year.
8th year.
10th year.
11th year.
Teething
Falacies
TEETHING
49
ha. n. The terms "teething fits," "teething diarrhoea,"
"teething fever," etc., have no foundation in fact.
Many infants have been lost for want of professional
aid because of a mistaken notion that the acute dis-
order was a necessary accompaniment of teething.
Occasionally, however, the gum over the advancing
Incisors:
Canine--
Bicuspids--
Incisorse-
Canine--
Molars:
Molarsa-
0
Permanent Teeth
Milk Teeth
DIAGRAM SHOWING USUAL ORDER OF ERUPTION OF THE
TEETH, UPPER FIGURES REPRESENTING THE UPPER
JAW, LOWER FIGURES THE LOWER JAW.
tooth shows some swelling and the finger biting and
the general peevishness of the child finds relief with
the appearance of the tooth. As a rule, the so-called
symptoms of teething are the appearance of teeth.
The fact that the teeth make their appearance at a
time when the transitional condition of infant develop-
Coniusiai
of Ideas
50
CARE OF CHILDREN
ment predisposes to a variety of disorders has led to a
confusion of ideas. The universal dread of the second
summer” (teething summer) is the outgrowth of the
frequency of digestive disturbances at this time to
which the eruption of the teeth bear little or no causa-
tive relationship
No tooth eruption is ever retarded by the toighness
of the gum. Its advance may be arrested by a tem-
porary cessation in its growth due to nutritional dis-
turbances, which of themselves produce the symptoms
frequently ascribed to the slow coming tooth.
Retarded
Teething
DEVELOPMENT OF
SPECIAL SENSES
Motor
Development
Schiller's observations on the motor nerves of the
eye show the perfection not only of its mechanism,
but also of its function, at an early period of infancy.
This illustrates the method of growth in so much that
this mechanism furnishes one of the channels of in-
formation before the higher centers are capable of
utilizing it, the process being an educational one.
As the power and control of motion increases there
is a development of senses which are the pathways to
the mind. The nervous system of the infant shows
well developed sensory and motor tracts, but the con-
trol power of the higher centers is tardier in its
growth.
Taste and touch, especially of the lips and tongue,
are fortunately the first of the special senses to show
Taste
and
Touch
DEVELOPMENT OF SPECIAL SENSES
51
Hearing
Vision
activity, as these are necessary in the instinctive efforts
of the young to obtain sustenance.
Hearing, although demonstrated as present in the
first twenty-four hours, is not developed sufficiently to
differentiate between sounds before the end of the
third month.
Contemporary with the function of hearing is that
of vision. Although sensitiveness to light and blinking
on the near approach of objects has been observed
from the first weeks, still it is not until the end of the
second month that the infant may recognize his mother
by sight.
At first the infant's movements are automatic or
instinctive, the voluntary muscles showing only the
purposeless, irregular, and unsymmetrical movements
suggestive of the mere continuance of the intra-uterine
existence. Co-ordinate, voluntary movements are first
seen in the face and upper extremities, the hands in
addition to grasping showing prehensile tendencies by
the end of the third month. Objects are carried to the
mouth at about this time. The many ineffectual at-
tempts to locate the mouth indicate the vast amount of
energy necessary to develop co-ordination. Although
the apparatus including muscles and nerves is fairly
complete, it requires multiple repetitions of sensations,
impressions, volitions, and efforts at volition, before
the establishment of such co-ordination as will ensure
the performance of the most simple voluntary motion.
52
CARE OF CHILDREN
Expression
of Emotion
Sitting
About the end of the third month the voice is recog-
nized as expressing emotions such as anger, fear or
pleasure. About this time tears are observed to accom-
pany the crying. It is interesting to note that perspira-
tion is not common before the end of the third month.
Following the development of the senses of sight
and hearing to the extent of differentiating as to the
color and size of subjects and the quality and direction
of sound, we find co-operation of the muscles of the
neck to a degree that the infant's head is held erect,
balanced and turned at will.
After the eighth month the infant should be able to
sit for a short time without support and shortly after
he begins to creep, roll or hitch towards desired ob-
jects. About the tenth month he usually utters a few
indefinite syllables, singly or repeated, as da da, ma
ma, goo, etc.
Between the tenth and twelfth months he shows a
disposition to pull himself up on his feet, is usually
able to stand by a chair and, exceptionally, may walk
alone at the end of the first year.
Infants exhibit a marked variation as to the time
of these acquirements, dependent largely upon mus-
cular vigor and education. A child left much alone
will learn to develop his resources earlier. On the
other hand, he will talk earlier if associated with other
children.
The subject of infant hygiene should not be dis-
missed without reference to a practice that is as per-
Standing
Walking
DEI'ELOPMENT AND GROWTH
53
The Baby
not a
Plaything
nicious as it is common, viz., the custom of regarding
the baby as a plaything, an animated toy for the enter-
tainment of the family as well as a large circle of
admiring friends. Children are fond of babies and
never tire of stimulating their funny performances.
The same is, unfortunately, true of parents and friends,
but from a purely economic point of view, such amuse-
ment is exceedingly expensive, and the mortality
statistics are constantly increased for the amusement
of the elders. Nervous and mental wrecks too fre-
quently owe the origin of their disorders to want of
repose in early infancy, due to injudicious stimulation.
In this connection let it be understood that all evi-
dences of mental precocity, called "smartness," should
be regarded as danger signals and call for repression,
rather than encouragement. Axiom-An infant dur-
ing the first year should neither be amusing nor
amused.
TEST QUESTIONS
The following questions constitute the "written reci.
tation" which the regular members of the A. S. H. E.
answer in writing and send in for the correction and
comment of the instructor. They are intended to
emphasize and fix in the memory the most important
points in the lesson.
CARE OF CHILDREN
Read Carefully. Place your name and address on the
first sheet of the test. Use a light grade of paper and write
on one side of the sheet only. Leave space between the
answers for the notes of the instructor. Use your own
words and answer fully. Read the lesson paper a uumber
of times before attempting to answer the questions.
1. What special precautions should the expectant
mother take?
2. What are fontanelles and why should they be
guarded
3. What can you say of the bony development of a
young baby?
4
Give a brief outline of the first three days' care
of the new born babe ?
5. How would you sterilize gauze? Why is this
necessary?
6. Why is the baby so susceptible to temperature
changes ?
7. In clothing an infant what principles are to be
observed?
8. Describe the clothing suitable for baby's first six
weeks.
9. What may be the effects of tight clothing about
the chest ? Abdomen? Hips?
10. How should a baby be put to sleep?
u. Name some of the commonest causes of dis-
turbed sleep.
CARE OF CHILDREN
12.
What objections are there to the “soother”?
13. Give your ideas of a nursery.
14. What can you say of the effects of teething upon
the infant's health ?
15. During what period is growth most rapid ?
16. Why is familiarity with the rate of growth im-
portant?
17. Name the milk teeth and give their order of
eruption.
18. Why should the temporary teeth be cared for and
how ?
19. How do you interpret the statement “The senses
are the pathways to the mind"?
What objections are there to playing unduly with
with the baby?
21. Is any point not clear or are there any questions?
Note.-After completing the test sign your full name.
20.
CARE OF CHILDREN
PART II
CARE OF CHILDREN
PART II
Nutrition of the Child
Importance
Diet and
Infant
Mortality
The subject of nutrition will always be of para-
mount importance in the care of infants and children.
As important as food is to supply energy for the mani-
fold functions of adult life, it is doubly important
during infancy, as during this period the demands
for material for growth are most imperative. Since,
therefore, the necessity for food is a double one dur-
ing the developing period the importance of a thor-
ough knowledge of all that pertains to foods and
feeding cannot be exaggerated.
Errors in diet, especially in infancy, are respon-
sible for more deaths and cases of imperfect develop-
ment than all other causes combined. In fact, the
highest degree of infant mortality, especially during
the summer months, is admittedly due to mismanage-
ment of the feeding. For this reason infants nursed
at the breast are fortunate, as they escape many of
the dangers to which artificially-fed infants are sub-
jected.
Children, as well as infants, require the best of
nutrition, not only to meet the demands for material
for growth, but also to furnish energy for the enor-
mous work of training and educating the muscles, as
well as for the development of the mind. The school
pupil is a machine which not only converts raw mate-
Requirements
of the
Child
55
56
CARE OF CHILDREN
rial (food) into ideas, but also utilizes the food to
construct the machine itself. What wonder, then,
that many failures in the educational scheme must be
attributed to the improper food supply. Because of
imperfect nutrition, the imperfect machine not only
furnishes unsatisfactory products, but is liable to mis-
hap from its inherent weakness, as in the case of
children who fall an easy prey to the various in-
fections against which a well-nourished constitution
would have proved a safeguard.
Nature's
Supply
NATURAL FOOD
For the second "want" of the infant, namely, food,
ample provision has been made by nature in an ap-
paratus admirably adapted to its requirements.
It is evident from the anatomy of the infant that
he is especially adapted for the act of nursing. This
the infant does instinctively.
That no fully-developed milk is found in the
breasts at the time of birth has been generally ac-
cepted as conclusive evidence that the new-born child
is in no immediate need of food. In fact, his deport-
ment, if undisturbed, suggests the need of rest during
the first forty-eight hours after birth. This belief is
so universal that attempts at feeding before nature
has furnished the supply have not met with general
approval.
However, it is recommended that the child be put
to the breast early for two reasons : First, to stimu-
late milk secretion; and, second, in the belief that the
Early
Nursing
Advisable
NATURAL FOOD
57
Weight
first secretion (colostrum) promotes early evacua-
tion of the bowel. Probably, by so doing, the child
secures a little of the water so much needed at this
time.
· The infant's habitual loss in body weight during
the first days, as shown by tables on growth, has been
regarded by some as unnecessary. In fact, it is
claimed to be unfortunate, as interfering with the rate
of subsequent growth. On this account some physi-
cians recommend that nourishment be supplied during
the first two days. This is usually unnecessary, how-
ever.
If the milk is slow in coming the baby may be given
on the second day, every four hours, a tablespoonful
of boiled water slightly sweetened with milk sugar.
Caution: If this procedure lessens his eagerness for
the breast, it should be discontinued, as much depends
upon his early learning to nurse.
Intelligent control or supervision of the act of suck-
ling averts or corrects many evil effects of its abuse
when left entirely to instinct. A few rules may be
formulated, the observation of which is manifestly
important in the hygiene of nutrition.
(1) Asepsis must be observed, since one of the
commonest causes of infantile disorders is infections
introduced into the stomach. To this end the nipple,
as well as the infant's mouth, for the first few weeks,
must be cleansed before and after nursing. Milk re-
maining exposed to the air shortly swarms with micro-
Rules for
Control
of Nursing
58
CARE OF CHILDREN
Frequency
organisms, many of which cause disease when intro-
duced into the digestive tract of the infant. Even
the milk in the orifices of the ducts often becomes in-
fected, hence the expression of a few drops is recom-
mended before each nursing.
In this connection it should be remembered that
little or no hydrochloric acid is secreted in the stom-
ach of the infant for several months. This acid in
the gastric juices of the adult kills almost all the
germs introduced with food. The absence of such
a safeguard necessitates special care to exclude the
germs of decomposition and disease from the intes-
tinal tract of the infant.
(2) The infant should be put to the breast every
two hours during the day and once or twice at night
during the first six weeks. From six weeks to three
months the interval between feedings should be in-
creased to two and one-half hours. Between the third
and sixth month the interval should be increased to
three hours, giving seven feedings from 5 A. M. to II
P. M., inclusive. Night feeding may be discontinued.
Six feedings a day should be sufficient for a child at
six months. By the end of the year he may be accus-
tomed to five.
If sleeping, he should be wakened at the proper
time for nursing until the habit becomes established.
If the milk is abundant the breasts should be used
alternately at first; later, the child may need both
breasts at a feeding.
60
CARE OF CHILDREN
Time of
Nursing
(3) The time occupied in nursing and the quan-
tity taken should be controlled by the mother. The
differences in the formation of the nipple and in the
supply of milk in different mothers affects nursing
more or less. There is a difference, too, in the nurs-
ing energy of different infants, so that one infant
will occupy half an hour in securing his dinner, while
another may gorge himself in ten minutes. The act
of nursing in its perfection is the result of the mutual
co-operation of mother and child. A child can not
properly nurse the passive breast of a sleeping or
even inattentive mother.
In breasts where the nipple formation is imperfect,
making the nursing laborious to the infant or painful
to the mother, or when milk secretion is tardy or in-
sufficient, the mother should aid and encourage the
babe by placing herself in full harmony with the
pleasurable duty of the moment, and endeavor to
secure a full response to the stimulating appeal of the
tiny solicitor for a better supply.
When the milk flows too freely, or in case of in-
fants who nurse with such avidity that the process
from beginning to end resembles a struggle against
suffocation, the mother should control the outflow.
This may be done by dexterous manipulation of the
nipple between the fingers, by withdrawing from the
mouth, or by diverting the baby's attention.
It is safe to say that twenty minutes should be given
to each nursing. Toc rapid feeding throws into the
Mother to
Oontrol
NATURAL FOOD
61
Overfooding
Water
stomach a large quantity of food, with the result of
over-distention, and hasty feeding invariably means
overfeeding.
Not infrequently the stomach resents this abuse by
immediate regurgitation of a portion of its contents,
which has led to the erroneous belief that the stomach
is endowed with some quality which enables it to re-
ject superfluous food. That this is a pernicious error,
the frequent occurrence of gastric dilatation and intes-
tinal indigestion is ample evidence. A little sterilized
water given before nursing frequently prevents the
over-ingestion of milk. Instinct is not always a guide
as to the amount a child should nurse.
(4) Give water systematically and freely. The
baby's food, as will be shown when we consider the
composition of milk, is made up of several widely
different constituents. Although all of them are
essential for perfect nutrition, one or more may be
temporarily omitted without any immediate percep-
tible interference with vital processes. In fact, one
only must be present under all circumstances, and
this is water. Without water no digestion, absorption
or elimination is possible. Water enters largely into
the composition of the infant's food, milk containing
about 88 per cent. Water is essential to peptone ab-
sorption, and many diseased conditions result from
an insufficient supply.
The restlessness of an infant is frequently only an
expression of his thirst. Often unrequired and inju-
Thirst
62
CARE OF CHILDREN
Uric Acid
rious food is forced upon an unwilling stomach in
response to the infant's appeal for water.
Evidences of pain, usually ascribed to intestinal
colic, are too frequently indicative of uric acid irri-
tation and point to a need for more water. Fortu-
nately the doping of the baby with carminative "teas"
for the supposed intestinal spasm occasionally fulfills
the needs of the child through the water of the de-
coction. There is very little danger of giving a baby
too much sterilized water, as it passes quickly out of
the stomach and is absorbed. The water should be
given at blood heat, either with a spoon or from a
nursing bottle.
Composition of Mother's Milk
Milk is an emulsion of innumerable minute globules
of fat floating in plasma. Among the globules are
smaller particles of proteid matter.
All the five principal classes of foods are found in
milk, viz.: water, fats, proteids, carbo-hydrates, (milk-
sugar), and salts.
A symmetrical development requires not only the
presence of all the constituents, but that they should
maintain a certain definite quantitative ratio.
Although perfect nutrition is dependent upon the
presence of all these food principles, life may be main-
tained for a longer or shorter time if one or more be
omitted from the diet, always excepting water. Thus
an infant may exist for a time on water and sugar, as
a solution of sugar of milk, or on water and proteids,
or on water and salts; the result, however, in each
Importance
of Water
NATURAL FOOD
63
Protoid
Fats
case invariably showing the deficiency of the constit-
uents in impaired nutrition. (This is so well recog-
nized that the absence of one or more of these essen-
tial constituents is not infrequently determined by the
condition of the infant.)
The proteids furnish the only source from which
the tissues obtain nitrogen, without which no proto-
plasm can exist, nor cell life be possible. Insufficient
nitrogen means interrupted gain in body weight, les-
sened muscular force, anaemia with the weakened
heart's action, arrested secretions and all the evi-
dences of lowered nutrition.
The fats are necessary, not only to maintain the
body heat, but to aid in the formation of bone and
nerve tissue. Fat also maintains the healthy function
of the lower bowel by promoting the passage of the
faeces. A deficiency of fat produces results distinctly
characteristic of impaired nutrition so uniform as to
have been classified under the one term, rachitis.
Sugar furnishes muscular energy and heat and in-
creases the formation and deposition of fat, sugar-
fed babies frequently showing a remarkable plump-
ness, even though fat and proteids are low in the food.
The fourth group—the salts-principally those of
lime, phosphorus, potash, soda and a trace of iron,
forms a small but fairly uniform and very important
percentage of the total constituents.
A deficiency in any of these salts shows quickly in
the impairment of the child's bony, nervous, muscular,
circulatory or digestive system.
Sugar
Saltt
64
CARE OF CHILDREN
Water
Absolutely
Necessary
Variation
in Quality
Were all the other ingredients present in noirnal
mother's milk in proper proportions, the absence of
water would render them valueless for food.
only in a state of solution that these substances can
undergo digestion in the intestines of the infant. The
normal secretions of the digestive tract are relatively
scant in proportion to the enormous work accom-
plished during the growing period. Hence, the neces-
sity for water at all stages. Attention is again called
to what has been said in the preceding pages, as the
importance of the demand for water can hardly be
overestimated.
As before stated, normal mother's milk is made up
of these five constituents; moreover, they maintain
a fairly constant percentage relationship. Frequent
variations, however, are observed in normal milk, as
in different mothers, or in the same mother at different
times, or in the same mother in the different breasts,
or in the same breast at the same nursing drawn at
different times, as fore, middle and last milk.
Of these constituents the percentage of fat is sub-
ject to the widest variation; next, the proteids; the
milk sugar and salts showing little change. Nor
would these variations be considered as indications of
abnormality, the only criterion being its effect upon
the child. An infant at the breast, digesting well.
gaining steadily in weight and strength, is getting
good milk, regardless of what the analysis may show.
It is a fact of common observation that the breast at
est of
Food
CHANGING QUALITY OF FOOD
65
which one infant thrives may not meet the require-
ments of another child of the same age.
CHANGING THE QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF THE MILK
Milk secretion is subject to variations in quantity Variations
in Quantity
as well as in quality. In the majority of mothers it
is regulated to meet the requirements of the infant,
although instances are not uncommon in which the
quantity is insufficient. On the other hand, it fre-
quently occurs that the mother may successfully nurse
two infants, as in cases of twins, or in wet-nursing in
foundlings' homes. From this it may be inferred that
in some mysterious way, and to a limited extent, the
supply is regulated by the demand. The growth of
large babies is relatively more rapid than that of
smaller ones, and it would appear that to a certain
degree there is an automatic adjustment of the quan-
tity of milk to the needs of the child.
It is a question whether the daily quantity of milk
can be increased by any medical agent. However, the
milk secretion is quite sensitive to many influences,
both as to its quantity and composition.
A so-called "dry diet" in which there is a deficiency
of water, usually diminishes the secretion, while, on
the other hand, it may be increased by a liberal allow-
ance of water, milk and other Auids.
The secretion of milk, when scanty, may be ic. Increasing
Quantity
creased by any agency that increases normal meta-
bolism (digestion and assimilation); as diet, exercise,
massage, electricity, fresh air, sunlight, congenia!
66
CARE OF CHILDREN
Mental
Attitude
surroundings, freedom from physical discomfort and
an equable temperament.
Sudden emotion, as grief, anxiety, anger, fear, or
anything that produces shock or profoundly impresses
the nervous system, may not only diminish the secre-
tion, but occasionally cause total suppression.
Regularity should be observed in putting the child
to the breast, even though there be little evidence of
milk as the secretion is undoubtedly promoted by the
act of nursing
Attention is again called to the mental attitude of
the mother during nursing, as influencing the quan-
tity of milk. It must not be forgotten, however, that
over-anxiety to produce defeats its very object.
Loss of fluids from any cause, as copious perspira-
tion, menstruation or diarrhoea, may lessen the
amount of the milk.
The relative proportion of the constituents of the
milk may be influenced by variations in the hygiene
of the mother, especially in the diet. The former be-
lief that the fat of the milk was increased by the fat
eaten has been repeatedly disproved by actual experi-
ment. It is believed to-day that the proportion of fat
in the milk depends largely upon the amount of pro-
teiď in the mother's food, increase or decrease in the
latter causing a like change in the former. The mere
eating of proteid food, however, is not sufficient to
produce a “rich milk,” since thorough digestion and
assimilation are essential to fat production.
Changing
the Fats
CHANGING QUALITY OF FOOD
67
Fat may be scanty in the milk, not only from an in-
sufficiently nitrogenous diet, but also as a result of
excess of fats in the food. Examples are not wanting
of mothers who in their efforts to enrich their milk
defeat this object by drinking too much rich milk or
cream.
A poorly nourished or rachitic infant is frequently
seen at the breast of the mother whose diet consists
largely of starchy foods. The substitution in this
case of a diet of eggs for breakfast, meat for dinner
and supper, with
a cup
of beef broth between times,
and a limited supply of vegetables and sweets will
almost invariably show an increased percentage of fat
in the milk, with subsequent improvement in the
nutrition of the child.
It occasionally occurs that the infant shows the
effects of excessive fat in the so-called “fatty diar-
rhoeas," in which fat is seen in the diapers in glisten-
ing masses or floating on the surface of the washing
water. Again, in the "spitting babies," who regurgi-
tate their food shortly after nursing, analysis of moth-
er's milk shows sometimes as high as seven or even
nine per cent fat. In such cases meats should be re-
stricted and vegetables and breadstuffs substituted in
the mother's diet.
The proteids are rarely low except in cases of ex-
haustion or debility, as from sickness or insufficient
food. In this condition the milk is poor and watery,
there being a deficiency in all the solids. In such
Too Much
Fat
Changing
the Proteids
68
CARE OF CHILDREN
Excessive
Proteids
cases the hygiene of the mother requires a liberal diet
with all the accessories for the improvement of her
general nutrition. Here nitrogenous foods are neces-
sary to increase proteids in the milk. It may happen
that the mother's milk in cases of debility shows an
excess of proteids with a deficiency of other constitu-
ents, the debilitated infant exhibiting evidences of in-
digestion, in constipation or in diarrhoea and vomit-
ing
Excessive proteids may appear, also, in the milk of
the overfed mother of sedentary habits for whom ex-
ercise in the open air with reduction of diet is re-
quired. Idleness and discontent may be replaced by
congenial occupation, to the improvement of the milk
in this respect. The relief of constipation or the alle-
viation of any bodily discomfort may alone be suffi-
cient.
Violent agitation of the nervous system of the
mother may change the quality of the milk almost in-
stantly. Quite frequently, under these circumstances,
it resembles colostrum in its changed proteids, low
fat and colostrum corpuscles. Instances are known
where convulsions and even death to the nursling
have followed.
The secretion of the colostrum milk sometimes fol-
iows undue fatigue, excitement, anger, grief, also
menstruation and conception. Disturbances of diges-
tion in the infant are frequently the first intimation of
Colostrum
Milk
CHANGING QUALITY OF FOOD
69
pregnancy in the mother. In the event of the above
disturbances, the child should be removed from the
breast and artificially fed until the milk approaches the
normal as shown by analysis. Meanwhile, the breasts
should be emptied regularly by the breast pump.
SUCTION BREAST PUMP.
Effect
Frequency
of Nursing
Both quantity and quality of the milk are influenced
by the frequency of nursing. Poor milk usually re-
sults from irregular intervals in nursing. The more
frequently the breasts are emptied, the higher will be
the percentage of solids, especially the proteids. The
infant, restless from indigestion induced by excess of
proteids, often is unfortunately given the nipple at
short intervals to quiet him. The result is increased
indigestibility of the milk from greater excess of pro-
teids. What is needed is water for his thirst, rest for
his stomach and rest for the mammary glands.
70
CARE OF CHILDREN
In conclusion, a table may best express a summary
of the means at our command for regulating the com-
position of mother's milk.
The percentages of sugar and salts vary but little.
The Percentage of Proteid may be Increased by
Increased frequency of nursing.
Increased liberality of proteid food.
Insufficient exercise.
The Percentage of Proteid may be Diminished by
Diminished frequency in suckling.
Diminished proteid food.
Increased exercise.
The Percentage of Fat is Increased by
Increased proteid diet.
The Percentage of Fat is Diminished by
Deficiency of proteid food.
Excess of fatty foods.
Fasting.
The Percentage of Water is Increased by
Increased fluid diet.
The Percentage of Water is Diminished by
Saline cathartics.
Diminished fuid diet.
Care of
the Mother
The nursing mother must keep herself in the best
possible physical condition if she would have a healthy,
contented baby. She should take daily exercise in the
open air, simple food, and plenty of sleep. She should
keep free from worry, avoid too much excitement, un-
due fatigue and late hours. Constipation should be
remedied.
NATURAL FOOD
71
VOMITING
engineer.'
Vomiting should never be regarded as trivial. It
should be to the baby feeder as the red light is to the
A careful consideration of all the condi-
tions may determine the cause, which should always
be sought, and when found removed. With rare ex-
ception, this cause will be found in the non-observ-
ance of the rules of hygiene outlined in these lessons.
Although almost invariably the vomiting of infancy
is due to dietetic errors, it occasionally ushers in some
of the graver diseases, such as scarlet fever, measles,
meningitis, cholera infantum, etc.
Whatever be the cause, no mistake will be made if
the food is diminished in quantity or withheld entirely
for a time.
The regurgitation of a small quantity of milk
directly after a feeding is not always an indication
of serious trouble, but may result from overfeed-
ing and careless handling.
Diminish
the Food
WEANING AND
SUBSTITUTE FEEDING
The question of substitute feeding is of secondary
importance only to that of lactation. Conditions may
develop at any time which render breast feeding im-
practicable. Progressive changes occur in the con-
stituents of breast milk which render it, after a time,
insufficient to furnish the material demanded by the
rapid growth of the infant. Moreover, the presence
of several teeth, the changes in the salivary secretion,
72
CARE OF CHILDREN
Period of
Lactation
Do Not
Wean for
Cause
as well as in those of the stomach and pancreas, indi-
cates preparation for digestion of a different class of
foods.
The changes in breast milk show considerable vari-
ation as to the time of their occurrence in different
women. Thus, one mother may have exhausted her
power to produce good milk by the end of the seventh
month; while another woman may continue to furnish
good milk until the fifteenth month.
The growing tendency to recommend weaning upon
Slight the slightest pretext suggests the need of more em-
phasis upon the injunction not to substitute artificial
for breast feeding until it is clearly proven that the
latter can not be made to agree. However, the infant
should not be deprived of his right to a fair start in
life by being confined to the breast which fails to fur-
nish all the requisites for normal nutrition.
Aside from the normal time of weaning, which
should rarely be deferred beyond the twelfth month,
occasions may arise during the first year when the
decision must be made as to whether the child can
thrive on the milk of his nurse. Transient disturb-
ances due to the milk should not be considered suffi-
cient cause for rejecting the breast, since many tem-
porary disagreements may be corrected by attention
to the hygiene of the mother or child.
Early The indications for early weaning, so far as the
Weaning
infant is concerned, are evidences of deficiency in
normal development, which is frequently best shown
WEANING
73
by a failure to gain in weight. However, weight gain
is not always evidence of normal nutrition, as many
rachitic babies make fat rapidly.
The process of weaning should be gradual, the in-
fant having been accustomed to supplemental feeding
commencing with one a day and increasing the num-
ber through a period of several weeks.
The food selected for the supplemental feeding
should at first be weaker than that for an artificially-
First
Substitute
Food
BREAST PUMP WITH BULB.
fed infant of the same age and development. This
is particularly important in the proteids, which in
cows' milk are much more difficult to digest. As the
skimmed milk contains most of the proteids, about
one-half of this constituent may be replaced with
water in the food formula for an infant of the same
age. If the new diet is tolerated, the skimmed milk
may be increased cautiously from day to day until the
regular formula is used.
The season or time of year must be considered in
the weaning, as radical food changes should not be
Time of
the Year
74
CARE OF CHILDREN
made at the commencement of or during the heated
term, at which time infants are especially susceptible
to digestive disorders. The cutting of an unusually
troublesome tooth might well delay the change in
food.
A child should be immediately
removed from the breast upon the
appearance of acute infectious dis-
ease in the mother or upon well-
grounded suspicion of the exist-
ence of syphilis or tuberculosis. A
suitable wet nurse should be se-
cured if possible, in case the infant
is free from syphilitic infection.
The development of abscess ren-
ders the affected breast unfit for
Artificial Nipple for
nursing while suppuration con-
tinues.
Menstruation frequently disturbs lactation. Its
early appearance may not require weaning, but its
regular return should suggest its advisability. It is
usually best to give substitute feedings during the
first day of a period.
The occurrence of conception is an indication for
the immediate removal of the child from the breast,
as this condition renders the milk insufficient, if not
positively injurious.
When it becomes evident tha substitute feeding is
necessary, the question what shall be substituted is of
Use with Sore
Breasts
Menstruation
SUBSTITUTE FEEDING
75
The Wet
Nurse
the greatest importance. Errors in the management
of substitute feeding are probably responsible to a
greater extent than any other cause for the high infant
mortality.
The best substitute is the wet nurse. The draw-
backs to wet-nursing are many and extremely trying,
and it is probably on account of these that this substi-
tution is not more frequently resorted to in this coun-
try. The wet nurse should be chosen with reference
to her temperament, the quality and quantity of her
milk and her freedom from syphilis or tuberculosis.
She should be examined by the family physician and
accepted only upon his recommendation.
Should the first wet nurse's milk fail to agree, it
need be no cause for discouragement, as in some cases
repeated trials are necessary. In case a wet nurse is
not available it will become necessary to adopt arti-
ficial feeding
ARTIFICIAL FEEDING
Gastric
Digestion
More has been written and said concerning artificial
feeding during the past ten years than all other pedia-
tric subjects combined.
Having studied natural feeding, we should have a
fairly practical knowledge of the quantity and quality
of food required at different ages, and also the time
and method of feeding. That we should keep close to
nature, both in the composition and physical proper-
ties of the food, seems hardly necessary to state. Yet
we see infants fed (?) on compounds differing so
widely from those which their organs are prepared to
digest that it is surprising so many survive.
The stomach of the infant at birth was found to be
little more than a receptacle for food in which the
action of rennet coagulating the milk, prepares it for
the first step in the digestive process.
As the infant grows the capacity of the stomach in-
creases rapidly, its walls thicken, the glands develop
and pepsin and hydrochloric acid secretions gradually
become more abundant. It is not, however, until after
the sixth month that the salivary and pancreatic secre-
tions develop to any great extent the power of con-
verting the starch into sugar.
This conversion is necessary before cereals may 'en-
ter largely into the food, as nature has made little or
no other provision for the digestion of starch.
During the latter half of the first year the stomach
empties itself of a digested meal in two or three hours,
76
COVERED MILK PAIL IN USE AT CONNECTICUT
AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE
The first jets from each quarter of the udder are drawn into a cup
and discarded
MODERN SANITARY DAIRY BARN
From Report of Office of Experiment Stations, 1903
ARTIFICIAL FEEDING
77
Complotoness
of Digestion
the time depending upon the quality of the food taken,
cow's milk requiring the longer time.
That a very large percentage of the food is ab-
sorbed in the normal infant normally fed, is shown by
analysis of the faeces. As a result of observations
upon infants fed wholly upon milk, it is stated that
the faeces consist of 84 to 86 per cent water; that
digestion and absorption of proteids in the alimen-
tary canal are so efficient that but little is lost; that
the whitish flakes and clots, nearly always seen, are
composed largely of fat, fatty and lactic acids in com-
bination with lime.
Milk acids are always found and to their presence
are attributed the slightly acid smell and reaction.
Fermentation of milk sugar leads to the development
of carbon-dioxide and hydrogen, which are the prin-
cipal gases in the intestinal tract of a healthy infant
fed purely on milk, foul-smelling gases being absent.
Though the amount of faeces varies much in in-
fants, yet three per cent of the milk taken is the aver-
age proportion. The fecal discharges after the first
few days are an orange yellow, frequently turning to
green on exposure to air, are of the consistency of
batter and homogeneous throughout. They average
from three to five movements daily. These character-
istics vary somewhat with the quality of food taken
and the completeness of the digestive process.
The urine increases from about six ounces at the
end of the first week to eight or sixteen ounces at six
Fecal
Dischargos
78
CARE OF CHILDREN
Essentials
in Substitute
Feeding
Composition
months. There is considerable variation, however, de-
pendent upon the secretions from the skin and bowels
and the amount of fluids taken. The marked tend-
ency to urination is variable, occurring sometimes
every hour during the day and twice or thrice at
night, while at other times several hours may elapse
without urination. The urine is usually light in color,
of low specific gravity, 1.004 to 1.010, and in health
rarely stains the diaper.
A few “essentials” from Cheadle may be of value
in assisting the student to a practical application of
ome of the principles already indicated.
First-The food must contain the different ele-
ments in the same proportions as found in human milk,
viz.: proteids, 1 to 2 per cent; fats, 3 to 4 per cent;
milk sugar, 6 to 7 per cent; salts, * per cent; water,
88
per
cent.
Second-It must possess the anti-scorbutic prop-
erty. Infants at the breast very rarely suffer from
scurvy, that disease being found among those fed
upon condensed or sterilized milk, or upon dried or
evaporated preparations. Prompt recovery usually
occurs with the food unchanged, except the discon
tinuance of sterilization. Fresh milk possesses this
anti-scorbutic element, but not in large proportion,
for milk in extreme dilution will not prevent the de-
velopment of scurvy.
Third-The total quantity in twenty-four hours
must represent the equivalent in nutritive value of
Anti-Scorbutic
Quantity
ARTIFICIAL FEEDING
79
Animal
Origin
from one to three pints of human milk, according to
age.
No fixed arbitrary rule can be given for all chil-
dren. Careful observation of the infant as to whether
he rejects some of his food soon after taking it or
seems hungry half an hour after feeding, may prove
a guide. The best indication that he is receiving his
full equivalent is a steady weekly gain of two or three
ounces or more in the early months.
Fourth-It must not be purely vegetable, but
must contain a large proportion of animal matter.
Most vegetable substances are deficient in proteids
and yield but a small quantity of fat. Moreover, it is
known that the infant does not assimilate them as
easily and fully as those derived from animal sources,
even though these ingredients be supplied in the
proper percentages.
Fifth-It must be in a form suited to infantile
digestion.
The digestive organs, it will be remembered, have
only recently assumed their function and are de-
signed to deal solely with the bland, dilute and easily-
dissolved nutriment of mother's milk. In the natural
method of feeding, the infant gets his nourishment in
the same form at every meal; so in artificial feeding
variety is not desirable.
As the walls of the stomach are lacking in muscular
power and the glands produce but little secretion, it
is evident that it is not right to ask this organ to deal
Fluid
80
CARE OF CHILDREN
Sterile
Cow's
Milk
with large masses of solid or semi-solid matter. Sol-
ids can be digested only in a state of minute subdivi-
sion.
Sixth-It must be as nearly sterile as possible.
Infants are extremely susceptible to stomach and in-
testinal disorders, having little resistance to bacteria
and their poisons. The products of fermentation are
highly irritating and the sensitive, unstable nervous
system of the infant may be profoundly affected there-
by. The gastric secretions of the infant do not con-
tain the protecting hydrochloric acid of the adult.
Cow's milk, on account of its cheapness and the
abundant supply, is the most available substitute for
mother's milk. The proneness to stomach disorders
and the great mortality among the bottle-fed babies
has led to a systematic study of cow's milk. As a re-
sult of this study, some of the reasons why cow's milk
does not meet all the requirements of the infant may
be shown. The results of recent analyses give the con-
stituents of cow's and mother's milk as follows:
Composition of Milk
Average Composition.
Cori's.
Mother's.
Per Cent.
Per Cent.
Specific gravity
. 1.032
1.030
Total solids
14-13
13-12
Proteids
4.00.
1.50
Fat
4.00.
4.00
Sugar
4.50.
6.50
Salts
0.70..
0.15
Reaction
Acid*.
Alkaline
Bacteria
Swarming with* None
*This refers to cow's milk as it reaches the consumer.
ARTIFICIAL FEEDING
81
Differences
from Mother's
Milk
It will be seen at a glance that the milks differ but
little in specific gravity, in the quantity of their total
solids and water, and in their percentage of fat; more
widely in their salts, sugar and proteids; most widely
in regard to chemical reaction and presence of bac-
teria.
The sugar in cow's milk is identical with that in
breast milk. The fats are nearly the same, although
those in breast milk are in more finely divided par-
ticles and more easily digested. It is in the proteids
that the greatest difference comes, the percentage be-
ing much higher in cow's milk and the composition
different. The proteids of both cow's and mother's
milk are made up chiefly of casein and albumen (lac
albumen), but the relative porportion of the casein to
the albumen in cow's milk is about 6 to 1, and in breast
milk is about i to 1. Even the casein in the two milks
is not of identical composition; that in cow's milk
coagulates in much denser and less digestible clots.
The nitrogenous substances called "extractives" differ
in the two milks and the mineral parts—the salts—are
not the same. Thus it is apparent that cow's milk
can not be so modified as to be identical with mother's
milk. The best we can do is to approximate nature's
supply as nearly as possible.
Most of the disturbances of infants' digestion are
traceable directly to proteids; their excess in cow's
milk being the principal factor in its disagreement.
It is usual to reduce the percentage of proteids by the
addition of water.
Proteids
Cause of
Trouble
82
CARE OF CHILDREN
Modified
Milk
Laboratories
In this dilution, however, the nutritive value of the
milk suffers from a diminution of fats and sugars.
Consequently it is necessary that the percentage of
sugar and fats be maintained by the addition of sugar
of milk and cream.
Laboratories for this modification, like those of the
Walker-Gordon Co.,* have been established in the
leading American cities, to which orders are sent for
definite percentages of modified milk, as drugs are
ordered by prescription from a pharmacy. The physi-
cian may, at will, control the amount of different in-
gredients, varying their percentages to meet the vary-
ing requirements of the little patient.
That many disorders of infancy are due to the
presence of bacteria in cow's milk is no longer a mat-
ter of doubt. In addition to infection from the pos-
sible presence of such germs as those of tuberculosis,
typhoid fever, scarlet fever, diphtheria, etc., it should
be emphasized that the proneness of cow's milk to
decomposition with its effects upon the nursling is
one of the greatest dangers of milk feeding. Hence,
the hygienic dairy management becomes a question of
the highest importance.
It has been proved that milk production may be so
guarded as to furnish a product comparatively free
from bacteria. As an example of what scrupulous
Bacteria
the Cause
of Disorders
Safe Milk
* The Walker-Gordon Co. have laboratories or stations in the follow.
•ing cities: New York, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington,
Baltimore, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Grand Rapids,
Milwaukee, Pittsburg, St. Louis, Atlantic City, Princeton, Newark,
Elizabeth, Montreal, Can., Ottawa, Can., London, Eng.
ARTIFICIAL FEEDING
83
care and cold can accomplish in producing bacteria-
free milk, may be mentioned the exhibits of a number
of American dairies at the Paris exposition in 1904.
Milk and cream were shown that remained sweet for
several days after the journey of ten days or more.
The officials found it hard to believe that no preserva-
a
6
MICROSCOPIC APPEARANCE OF MILK.
a. Pure milk. b. After standing in a dirty dish for some hours in a
warm room, showing many varieties of bacteria.
tives had been added or treatment given until con-
vinced by analysis and by proof.
The same care in the selection of the cow is rec Selection
and Care
ommended as in the selection of the wet nurse; the
of Cows
same details in her hygiene as well as in the antiseptic
care of the milk will insure milk that is practically...
sterile.
In the choice of the family cow three requisites at
least should be kept in view. First: The quality of
the milk. Second: The constitution of the animal,
84
CARE OF CHILDREN
her hardihood and freedom from disorders and her
adaptability to variations in climate and food. Third:
Her temperament and freedom from disturbances due
to accidental causes.
Of many types distributed throughout the country
we will discuss but three, viz., the Jersey, the Hol-
stein and the Durham.
The Jersey gives a fair quantity of milk, exceed-
ingly rich in cream. In-breeding, however, has made
Jorseys
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 1718192021 22
VARIATION IN PERCENTAGE OF CREAM
IN ONE COW'S MILK.
Holstoins
her delicate and quite susceptible to diseases, as tuber-
culosis, etc., and though quite gentle she is nervous
and sensitive. The fats of Jersey milk differ some-
what from those in other milks and the globules of
fat are larger, thus making it less digestible.
The Holstein is docile, hardy and the greatest of
all milkers, but the milk is low in the percentage of
cream and proteids.
The third type, the Durham, undoubtedly is the
best, as she is a good feeder, of placid temperament,
and yields a large quantity of very good milk.
In the best of cows, however, the milk varies from
time to time in quantity and quality under the chang-
Durhams
80
09
o
30
0
wo
FAT GLOBULES IN HUMAN MILK
Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin No. 31
.
ထ ဝ
or
သို့ ဝ
ဝ } ဝ
ထ
ဒီ
ထိ
ဝ
ro
6%
ao 2
.
or
}
ဝင်
d
?
'd
0 0 oh
FAT GLOBULES IN HOLSTEIN MILK
FAT GLOBULES IN JERSEY MILK
ARTIFICIAL FEEDING
85
ing influences of food, care and surroundings, so that
the popular idea of the great value of a "one cow's
milk" supply for the baby is erroneous. The mixed
product of a herd secures a greater uniformity in the
quality and the percentage of constituents.
The selection of the dairyman should depend upon
· his known methods of handling his herd and its prod-
Tho Baby's
Milkman
THE CUVERED MILK PAIL.
ucts. Does he select his cows upon the principles
above enumerated ? Is his herd regularly inspected
by a competent veterinarian for evidences of tuber-
culosis or other disease? Are the animals properly
fed, watered and pastured? Are they comfortably
housed in stables that may be cleaned daily and regu-
larly whitewashed? Are the milkers kind, intelligent,
cleanly and conscientious ? Is the cow cleaned and
her udder washed before each milking? Is the first
teat full of milk discarded and the remainder received
86
CARE OF CHILDREN
in a sterilized pail through a cover of cheesecloth? Is
the milk immediately strained, bottled and placed in a
cooler which rapidly reduces its temperature to 40°
F?
Rapid cooling and refrigeration are fully as impor-
tant as cleanliness in the production of safe milk, for
Importance
of
Refrigeration
al
b
DIAGRAM SHOWING THE RATE OF INCREASE OF
BACTERIA IN MILK.
a. Single Bacteria.
c. Increase in
b. Increase in 24 hours at 500 F.
24 hours at 70° F.
the few bacteria which are present in even the most
carefully-cared-for milk multiply with enormous ra-
pidity at 70° F., while they increase only about five-
fold in 24 hours in milk kept at 50° F.
The above enumeration includes most of the prin-
ciples, the observation of which is absolutely neces-
sary in the production of milk suitable for baby feed-
ing. The source of supply should be investigated by
Certifed Milk
COVERED MILK PAILS, SHOWING STRAINER IN PLACE
Sixty-three per cent of the dirt that would fall in an open pail kept out
by the cover
COVERED MILK PAILS, SHOWING COVERS REMOVED
Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station, Storrs, Connecticut
ARTIFICIAL FEEDING
87
Home
Care of
Milk
personal visit if possible. Some dairies in the larger
cities furnish milk especially for babies, called "certi-
fied milk," at advanced price-12 to 14 cents a quart.
It will be found economy to pay the advanced price
necessary for the extra care, but it may be well to
make sure that the extra care is given.
The cold sealed bottle when received at home must
be placed at once in a clean refrigerator (free from
taint or odor of other food or vegetables), and kept
stoppered. The refrigerator should be kept at least as
low as 50° F. This point should be tested with a
thermometer.
Milk received in good
condition is not infre-
quently rendered unfit
for infants' food by
careless handling in the
home. The bacteria
which by their growth
render the milk unsafe
are present everywhere
in the air with dust,
THE FREEMAN PASTEURIZER.
in every particle of dirt,
in water, on the hands and clothes, on all utensils and
vessels. (See Household Bacteriology.) No utensil,
spoon or receptacle should be used which has not been
sterilized. Milk once poured out should never be re-
turned to the bottle, nor should remnants ever be used.
Flies (common carriers of infections) must be reli-
giously excluded.
88
CARE OF CHILDREN
Treatment
of Unsafe
Milk
Pasteurizing
Where doubt exists as to the safety of the milk, or
during hot weather, it may be freed from germs by
pasteurization or sterilization. The first is accom-
plished by subjecting the milk for 40 minutes to a
temperature of 150° F. A pasteurizer is on the
market in which the bottles of milk are placed and
sufficient boiling water added to bring the temperature
of the whole to 150° F.* In the absence of a spe-
cial pasteurizing apparatus, a small jar or cup about
the height of a nursing bottle is filled with boiling
water. Into this the bottle containing one feeding of
milk is immersed, the projecting neck stoppered with
sterilized unabsorbent cotton. The whole is then cov-
ered with a cozy or another jar to retard radiation
and allowed to stand 40 minutes. The temperature
should be tested in an extra bottle with a thermometer
until the correct amount of boiling water to be added
is determined.
If preferred, the entire day's supply may be pas-
teurized at once, either in bulk or, better, in a number
of separate feeding bottles, which should then be
cooled rapidly and kept on ice until used. It is im-
portant to cool the milk as soon as possible, for the
spores not killed by pasteurizing will develop if the
milk is kept warm for some time. The quickest way
to do this is to place the bottles in running water.
Sterilization, i. e., the destruction of both bacteria
and spores, is accomplished by heating the milk to a
Sterilizing
* The Freeman Pasteurizer. Price, $3.50.
ARTIFICIAL FEEDING
89
temperature of 212° F. (boiling temperature) for
about an hour. This may be done in an ordinary
double boiler or farina kettle. Thus treated the milk
will keep unchanged for 24 hours or so. If necessary
to protect it for a longer period, as for traveling, ship-
ping, etc., the process must be twice repeated after
intervals of 24 hours each, when, if properly sealed, it
will remain bacteria free indefinitely.
ARI
STE
PRIL
MON CAS
Depot
THE ARNOLD STEAM STERILIZING AND PASTEURIZING
APPARATUS. Price, $3.00 to $5.00.
Milk
Must Be
Fresh
It must be borne in mind that no amount of pasteur-
ization or sterilization can make bad milk good. It
merely destroys the bacteria, which by their growth
render the milk unfit for infant food. The chemical
changes in the milk which, through age, has begun to
deteriorate, are beyond retrieve.
Milk should be at first hand, like Caesar's wife,
“above suspicion,” in which case pasteurization is un-
necessary and sterilization is unwise, as the high tem-
perature changes it somewhat and renders it more
90
CARE OF CHILDREN
difficult of digestion. A child fed continuously on
cooked or sterilized milk is liable to develop nutri-
tional disorders, as scurvy, etc.
The practice of keeping the baby's food warm for
emergencies is entirely wrong, as it favors the devel-
opment of any bacteria present and spores which are
not destroyed by pasteurization.
Because of the limited field of operation of the
milk laboratory home modification is of great impor-
tance in artificial feeding. In this connection, the
protection of the supply will ever continue to be the
most important consideration.
Supply
Most
Important
MODIFIED
MILK
Apparatus
and
Supplies
To modify milk satisfactorily in the home the
mother or nurse must be equipped with all necessary
utensils. These include a good ice box, two syphons
(made by heating and bending glass tubing), a ster-
ilizer or pasteurizer thermometer registering to 212°
F., a dozen graduated feeding tubes (large mouth
without shoulder with small lip), bottle brushes, ab-
sorbent cotton, straining gauze, non-absorbent cotton
for stoppers, mixing pitcher, 8-ounce graduate, tall
cup for warming bottle, three to six black rubber
nipples (to fit mouth of tubes, reversible for clean-
ing), bicarbonate of soda and boric acid.
Lime water should be kept in well-corked bottles,
as it is soon changed by the carbon dioxide in the air
to carbonate of lime, which is deposited on the sides
MODIFIED MILK
91
Timo of
Preparation
P
of the bottle. Milk sugar solution should be prepared
fresh for each day's supply.
The supply of food may be prepared once or twice
in the twenty-four hours, depending upon the time of
milk delivery and number of tubes to be used. The
milk should always be kept on ice before and after
preparation.
All bottles and utensils should
be washed with hot soapsuds,
then rinsed and boiled or steril-
ized. Nipples must be scrubbed
inside and out with soap and
water, rinsed and kept in a solu-
tion of soda or boric acid until
needed again. Milk tubes when
filled should be stoppered with
non-absorbent cotton so that in
cooling the air
may pass
through. After warming to
about 100°F. (38° C.) by
standing the bottle in a cup of
AN EIGHT OUNCE
warm water the cotton is re-
GRADUATE.
placed by the nipple.
After nursing, any food remaining in the bottle
must be thrown away. No Alies should ever touch
food, utensils or baby.
Of course, the nurse will never touch the nipple
with her lips. The temperature of the milk may be
tested by allowing a few drops to fall upon the back of
the hand. Eternal vigilance is the price of sterility.
Warming
92
CARE OF CHILDREN
Feeding
The bottle should be held inverted in the hand dur-
ing the feeding so that the babe will not suck air.
If the milk flow is too free the nipple may be with-
drawn from time to time so that about twenty minutes
is consumed in the feeding, during which the babe
APPARATUS AND MATERIALS FOR MODIFYING MILK.
Walker-Gordon Co.
Follow
Nature
would better be on the arm or lap of the nurse. If the
milk does not drop freely enough more holes should be
made in the nipple by means of a hot needle.
The rules of feeding as to regularity, number and
length of intervals should be about the same as those
given for infants at the breast. Water between feed-
ings is generally required, and to a ravenous infant
should be freely given. The water should be boiled
and cooled and may be given from either bottle or
spoon.
MODIFIED MILK
93
Composition
As a rule, artificial feeding in the normal vigorous
babies should be begun with formulae representing
low percentages. Especially is this true of the pro-
FEEDING THE BABY,
Showing Proper Position of Infant.
teids. Taking average mother's milk as a standard,
the percentage of sugar may be about the same, the
fats about half, and the proteids about one-third,
for the first weeks, remembering that temporary error
MODIFIED MILK
95
Increase
Amount
Gradually
6
In considering increase in the amount of food, we
must be governed by age, size for age, stomach ca-
pacity for age and the infant's hunger, but largely by
the daily weight gain which should be manifest from
week to week.
The increase in the amount of
food, like that of the percentage
of its constituents should never
be made suddenly. An ounce
added to the total day's food in
Breast
early infancy means an increase
of from 6 to 3 per cent. This one
ounce increase should be distrib-
uted among the different tubes,
i. e., if there are ten tubes, about
one-tenth of an ounce should be
Cell
added to each. If tolerated for
PAT. JUNE LOT-1896
several days another advance
may be made in quantity. Four
THE HYGEIA NURS.
ING BOTTLE.
consecutive weeks should be the
outside limit for an increase of an ounce at a feed-
ing, as the tendency will be to far exceed the infant's
stomach capacity by flooding him with a too diluted
food. (See “Capacity of the Stomach," page 46.)
Both the amount at a feeding and the strength should
not be increased at the same time.
The acid reaction of cow's milk renders the addi-
tion of an alkali necessary. For this purpose bicar-
bonate of sodium (baking soda) or lime water may
Noutralizing
Acidity
96
CARE OF CHILDREN
SE OD WAS
OBRAT 4
be used (preferably the latter, of which 5 to 10 per
cent may be necessary). The lime water also has
the important property of
making the curds more floc-
culent and therefore. more
easily digested. Of the so-
dium bicarbonate, one or two
grains to the ounce will be
sufficient. A solution of one
drachm of sodium bicarbon-
ate in a quart of water has
the same alkaline strength as
lime water.
If the food is to be steril-
ized, sodium bicarbonate
should be used or the lime
water should be added to the
tube afterwards. Heating
with lime water brings about certain undesirable
changes in the milk.
The following formulæ fairly express the com-
position, amount and frequency of feeding, with the
length of intervals, for normal, healthy infants of
average weight and development:
FOOD WARMER AND
ALCOHOL LAMP.
MODIFIED MILK
97
Formula 1.
or
Proteids; 0 22% Fats; 1.00% Sugar; 6.50%
Cream-(16%)
4 ounce
First 3 days
Milk sugar.
Lime water..
Premature. Boiled water..
Salt ..
small pinch
Total
8 ounces
Feedings, 10 to 12; Quantity of each, 1 to 4 ounce; Inter-
vals, 2 hrs.
Formula 2.
1
1st week.
Proteids; 0.47% Fats; 1.00% Sugar; 6 75%
Cream-(16%)
1 ounce
Skimmed milk
Milk sugar..
1
Lime water.
1
Boiled water.
13
Salt.....
a pinch
Total
16 ounces
Feedings, 10; Quantity of each, 1 to 2 ounces; Intervals,
2 hrs.
Formula 3.
Proteids; 0.58% Fats; 1.50% Sugar; 6 50%
Cream-(16%)
17 ounces
Skimmed milk
17
Milk sugar.
11
2nd week.
Lime water.
11
Boiled water.
20
Salt.....
2 pinches
Total
244 ounces
Feedings, 10; Quantity of each, 1 to 2 ounces; Intervals,
2 hrs.
as
CARE OF CHILDREN
Formula 4.
11
3rd week.
Proteids; 0.70% Fats; 2.00% Sugar; 6.50%
Cream-(16%)
4 ounces
Skimmed milk
2
Milk sugar..
Lime water.
2
Boiled water.
24
Salt..
2 pinches
Total
32 ounces
Feedings, 10; Quantity of each, 2 to 3 ounces; Intervals,
2 hrs.
Formula 5.
Proteids; 0.92% Fats; 3.00% Sugar; 6.00%
Cream-(16%)
6 ounces
Skimmed milk
2
4th & 5th
Milk sugar.
11
weeks. Lime water.
2
Boiled water
22
Salt...
2 pinches
Total
32 ounces
Feedings, 10; Quantity of each, 2 to 3 ounces; Intervals,
2 hrs.
Formula 6.
6th, 7th, 8th
weeks.
Proteids; 1.15% Fats; 3.00% Sugar; 6.00%
Cream-(16%).
6 ounces
Skimmed milk
3
Milk sugar.
11
Lime water
2
Boiled water
21
Salt..
2 pinches
Total
32 ounces
Feedings, 9; Quantity of each, 3 to 34 ounces; Intervals,
21 hrs.
MODIFIED MILK
99
Formula 7.
3rd month.
Proteids; 1.40% Fats; 3.50% Sugar; 6.25%
Cream-(16%)
7 ounces
Skimmed milk
4
Milk sugar..
11
Lime water.
2
Boiled water.
19
Salt....
2 pinches
Total
32 ounces
Feedings, 8: Quantity of each, 3 to 4 ounces; Intervals,
3 hrs.
Formula 8.
4th & 5th
months.
Proteids; 1.50% Fats; 3.50% Sugar; 6.75%
Cream-(16%).
71 ounces
Skimmed milk
51
Milk sugar..
2
Lime water.
Boiled water.
21
Salt....
2 pinches
Total
361 ounces
21
Feedings, 7; Quantity of each, 4 to 54; Intervals, 3 hrs.
Formula 9.
Proteids; 1.90% Fats; 4.00% Sugar; 7.00%
Cream-(16%)
10 ounces
Skimmed milk
10
6th, 7th, 8th
Milk sugar.
2
months. Lime water.
2
Boiled water
18
Salt .....
2 pinches
Total
404 ounces
Feedings, 6; Quantity of each, 6 to 7 ounces; Intervals,
3 hrs.
100
CARE OF CHILDREN
Formula 10.
9th & 10th
months.
Proteids; 2.40% Fats; 4.00% Sugar; 6.00%
Cream-(16%).
10 ounces
Skimmed milk
15
Milk sugar.
11
Lime water.
21
Boiled water.
121
Salt....
1 pinch
Total
40 ounces
Feedings, 5; Quantity of each, 7 to 8 ounces; Intervals,
31 hrs.
Formula 11.
11th month.
Proteids; 2.90% Fats; 4.00% Sugar; 6.00%
Cream-(16%).
12 ounces.
Skimmed milk
2 4
Milk sugar.
11
Lime water.
3
Boiled water
9
Salt...
1 pinch
Total
48 ounces
Feedings, 5; Quantity of each, 7 to 9 ounces; Intervals,
31 hrs.
Formula 12.
12th month.
Proteids; 3.40% Fats; 4.00% Sugar; 5.50%
Cream-(16%).
12 ounces
Skimmed milk
30
Milk sugar..
Lime water.
3
Boiled water.
3
Total
48 ounces
دهم
Feedings, 5; Quantity of each, 8 to 10 ounces; Intervals,
4 hrs.
MODIFIED MILK
IOI
Formula 13
Proteids; 4.00% Fats; 4.00% Sugar; 5.50%
Whole milk.
48 ounces
13th month.
Milk sugar
4 ounce
Bicarbonate of soda...
30 grains
Total
48 ounces
Feedings, 5; Quantity, 8 to 10 ounces; Intervals, 4 hrs.
These formulae are intended only as a suggestive Formulae
for Normal
guide in the feeding of normal infants according to Infants Only
ages specified. Delicate babies, or those of impaired
digestion, should be given the formula for younger
infants.
These mixtures may be prepared from 16 per cent
cream, skimmed milk, milk sugar, salt, lime water
and boiled water.
Six ounces of 16 per cent cream may be obtained Sixteen
Per Cent
from a quart bottle of good milk which has stood un Cream
disturbed for six hours by siphoning away the lower
four-fifths. This 16 per cent cream may also be
obtained from a reliable dairyman.
Milk sugаr may be bought from the druggist by
the pound, or more cheaply at wholesale in five-pound
packages.
Accurate scales not being available in most house Measuring
Milk Sugar
holds, the milk sugar must be measured. As different
brands vary a little in weight for bulk, it is always
advisable to have the druggisi weigh accurately por-
tions of one, one and one-hzif, and two ounces, which
may be kept as standards. One of the most convenient
102
CARE OF CHILDREN
and accurate ways of measuring the amount for a
formula is to put the required weighed portion into
the graduate, tap a few times, and mark the level by
scratching the glass with a file. This mark will show
the amount to be used each time the formula is made
up.
Tablespoons vary so greatly in size that it is not safe
to use them for measuring the sugar. Two and one-
half large size tablespoons leveled with a knife will
measure about an ounce, but if an ordinary kitchen
tablespoon is used, it may take three and one-half
leveled to give an ounce. As the milk sugar is the
largest constituent of the baby's food, it is necessary
that it be measured accurately.
Milk sugar is used because it is more easily digested
than cane sugar, and is not so liable to fermentation.
Although only about one-half as sweet to the taste,
it has about the same nutritive value as cane sugar.
In the later months of the first year cane sugar may
be substituted for milk sugar, if economy demands it,
a smaller amount being used.
Salt is added to promote digestion and to make up
the deficiency occasioned by dilution.
Milk containing 4 per cent of fat should be used
in the formulae given. A good milk will have this
amount, but the legal standard in many localities is
3 per cent or less, so that it is best to have the milk
supply analyzed occasionally. The board of health
or the milk commission in many cities will make an-
Milk
Should be
Analized
MODIFIED MILK
103
for Mixing
alyses free, and in the country the dairies will per-
form the same service for a small charge. If there is
4 per cent of fats present, it is safe to conclude that
the proteids are up to standard.
For making up a formula the following directions
may not be amiss: As soon as the baby's special
bottle of milk is delivered to the house, it should
be taken in and placed in the coldest part of the re-
frigerator. If it is delivered very early in the morn-
ing (during hot weather), a small ice box should be
provided in which the milkman may place the bottle.
In the country, if the milk is received while warm,
it should be strained through absorbent cotton or
cheesecloth into a clean quart milk bottle or preserve
jar, stoppered, and placed in cold running water for
about half an hour, and then put on ice for six hours,
or until the cream has risen.
It will be found convenient to keep the vessels, lime
water, milk sugar, etc., together on a tray. The one
to do the mixing should wash her hands carefully and
put on a clean apron. The mixing should be done in
a clean place. A copy of the formula to be made
up should be at hand.
To siphon off the milk, a glass tube should be used,
as shown in the illustration.* To start the siphon, fill
it full of boiling water by pouring water in, place the
thumb over the end of the long arm and invert the
siphon, lowering the short arm gently to the bottom of
the bottle of milk. Remove the thumb and the milk will
* A milk syphon may be obtained through the school for 25 cents.
Siphoning
off the
Skimmod
Milk
MODIFIED MILK
105
Keep the
MIIK
Cool
bent cotton, which is kept in some receptacle away
from the dust. After stoppering the tubes are placed
in a rack and put in the coldest part of the refrigera-
tor. The whole operation should be accomplished as
6 oz.
Cream 16
126 02.
Shimmed
Milk
SIPHONING SKIMMED MILK FROM THE CREAM.
If there is a difference in level of about 4% inches between the two milk
bottles, the siphon will stop running with approximately 6
oz. of cream left in the upper bottle, and 26 oz. of
skimmed milk in the receiving bottle.
quickly as possible, so that the milk will not have
time to become warm. It should be borne in mind
that there is always dust laden with bacteria in the air
of the cleanest room. The bacteria we are endeavor-
ing to exclude.
All the utensils used should now be rinsed first in
cold water, then washed in hot soap and water, put
Washing
Vossols
MODIFIED MILK
107
oz. of
Changing from Formula 6 to Formula 7, add 7 oz. of water
the first day, and i oz. less every two days.
Changing from Formula 7 to Formula 8, add 21/2 oz. of
water the first day, 2 oz. the second day, 1 oz. the third and
fourth days.
Changing from Formula 8 to Formula 9, add 10
water the first day, and i oz. less during succeeding days.
Changing from Formula 9 to Formula 10, add 10 oz. of
water the first day and i oz. less during succeeding days.
Changing from Formula 10 to Formula ii, add 9 oz. of
water the first day and i oz. less during succeeding days.
Changing from Formula ii to Formula 12, add 5 oz. of
water the first day and i oz. less during succeeding days
Changing from Formula 12 to Formula 13, add 8 oz. of
water the first day and i oz. less during each succeeding day.
In case the new formula does not seem to agree, the
number of ounces of water added should be reduced
more slowly. Carefully written notes should be kept
of all changes.
Cream containing 16 per cent of fat also contains
a certain percentage of proteids and milk sugar.
Roach gives the following composition :
Composition of 16 Per Cent Cream
Per Cent
Water
..76.7
Proteids
3.2
Fats
. 16.0
Milk Sugar
4.05
Composition of Skimmed Milk
Per Cent
Water
..927
Proteids
Fats
trace
Milk Sugar
Koop
Notes
3.6
4.6
108
CARE OF CHILDREN
Use of
Whey
Where proteids are not tolerated whey (see recipe)
may be substituted for the skimmed milk and for the
whole or part of the boiled water.
The whey contains the lac albumen (but no casein),
the sugar and the salts of the milk. The Walker-
Gordon Co. gives the following analysis for the whey
which they furnish. It is made from skimmed milk
and contains practically no fat.
Composition of Whey
Water
Proteids
Milk Sugar
Mineral Matter
Per Cent.
..93.6
I.O
4.7
0.7
Egg
Albumen
If the intolerance for milk proteids persists, the pro-
teid of egg white (see recipe) may be substituted.
The white of one egg has the proteid value of eight
ounces of skimmed milk.
Composition of White of Egg
Water
Proteids
Fats
Mineral Matter
Per Cent.
.85.7.
..12.6
0.25
0.59
FOODS OTHER THAN MILK
109
FOODS OTHER THAN MILK
Starch
Fruit
Juicos
Other foods than milk may be utilized, to a limited
extent, in the dietary of the infant. Of these there
are three general classes.
First: Farinaceous substances ; such as barley, oat-
meal, arrowroot, farina, rice, wheat and bread, pref-
erably in the form of water gruels, and jellies.
Second: Albuminoids or proteids, of which class
beef juice and egg white are the best representatives.
Third: Fruit juices, as orange, prune and unfer-
mented grape.
The first class have, before the sixth month of in-
fancy, but a limited food value, because of the indi-
gestibility of their starchy contents. A partial con-
version into sugаr may be secured, however, by thor-
ough and prolonged cooking, as in the preparation of
gruels and jellies. A still further conversion may
be secured by the addition of diatase, as malt and
malt extracts, a few minutes before feeding. This
changes a certain amount of the starch into dextrin.
Cereal gruels, in some cases, promote digestion of
cow's milk by mechanically preventing the formation
of dense curds in the stomach. They may be used to
replace all or a part of the water of a formula.
When the proteid of cow's milk is not well borne
that most essential constituent may be supplied from
raw beef juice or egg white. (See recipes.)
Orange juice, prune juice and unfermented grape
juice are very valuable food adjuncts in cases of nutri-
Gruols
IIO
.CARE OF CHILDREN
Patent
Baby
Foods
tional depravity. These are especially needed where
the infant has been subject to the prolonged use of
cooked and pasteurized foods.
Many of the so-called baby foods contain little more
than starch, and on that account not be too
severely condemned for young children; but the prac-
tice, somewhat in vogue, of denouncing all patent
foods on that account is thoughtless and unjust. There
can
Percentage Composition of Infant Foods
Food
Moisture Proteids
Fat
Carbo-
hydrates
Mineral
Matter
Remarks
Horlick's
Malted
Milk
3.9
13 8
3.0
76.8
2.7
A mixture of desic-
cated milk (50%) and
malted wheat and bar-
ley. No
unaltered
starch.
Mellin's
Food *
5.7
10.7
0.1
79.1
4.4
A completely malt-
ed food. All the carbo-
hydrates in soluble
form.
Nestle's
Food *
3.6
14.0
5.2
75.1
1.9
Eskay's
Food *
1.7
6.7
3.5
87.1
1.0
A mixture of desic-
cated milk, partially
malted wheat flour
and cane sugar (27%).
Starch 15%.
A mixture of par-
tially malted wheat,
egg albumin and milk
sugar (54%). Starch
29%, especially treated.
Unsweetened whole
cow's milk. 1 part di-
luted with 2 parts wa-
ter gives ordinary
milk. Sweetened con-
densed milk contains
about 37% cane sugar.
Condensed
Milk
62.0
9.1
10.7
15.5
4.3
Dried
Human
Milk
12.2
26.4
52.4
2.1
Analysis by
Hutchison
* Latest analyses, viven by the manufacturers.
MEDICAL SUPERVISION
III
is much to recommend in some of these preparations,
since intelligent modification by supplying a deficiency,
may convert it into a most valuable adjunct in sub-
stitute feeding. Food which would not meet the re-
quirements of nutrition for a long-continued period,
because deficient in some essential constituent, may
be used temporarily, as in weaning, traveling or tem-
porary removal from the breast.
Among the objections to many of the patent foods
may be mentioned: small amount of fats; insolu-
bility of their proteids when present; excess of sugar,
especially cane sugar; the high percentage of uncon-
verted starch and the fact that all have been cooked.
The writer believes that the artificially fed infant
should always be under the supervision of a competent
physician. Some one has said that it is twice as dan-
gerous to be a baby as it is to have smallpox. The
mortality in untreated typhoid is less than half that
of artificially fed babies, yet no one questions the
necessity for a physician in typhoid. Few regard the
physician as out of place at the birth of the infant,
yet the mortality during birth is slight compared with
that of bottle feeding. The most active function of a
physician's life is remedying errors, in attempting to
patch up the evil results of mistakes. His highest
function is to ward off the error and to prevent the
mistakes.
The infant at the breast is in normal relation with
his most imperative need and is seldom under the
physician's care. He who substitutes artificial for
Medical
Supervision
in Artificial
Feeding
Bottlo Fod
Babies not
in Normal
Condition
FOOD DISORDERS
113
FOOD DISORDERS
Overfeeding is responsible for many of the diges- Ovorfooding
tive disturbances of infancy. Among the causes of
overfeeding may be mentioned irregularity as to time;
thirst; perverted taste; improperly balanced or too
concentrated a food; too rapid feeding, and general
ignorance or carelessness on the part of the nurse.
The usual result of occasional overfeeding is acute
indigestion, with or without vomiting, belching, colic,
diarrhoea, curds in stool, restlessness, broken sleep,
fever or loss of weight.
Habitual overfeeding may cause dilatation of the
stomach with loss of digestive power and all the symp-
toms of chronic dyspepsia, such as flatulence, colic.
constipation or diarrhoea, loss of weight or general
mal-nutrition.
Occasional colic or loose stools or even vomiting Colic
may call for nothing more than a temporary diminu-
tion of food and a dose of castor oil. In mild cases,
the food may be diluted with about a fourth the vol-
ume of water, either in the nursing bottle before feed-
ing or when the day's supply is made up. The quan-
tity given may also be reduced somewhat. In return-
ing to the original formulae the change should always
be made gradually.
Persistent colic may be an indication of excessive
proteids, the percentage of which should be reduced
to the relief of both colic and diarrhoea, with the dis-
appearance of curds from the stools.
Vomiting, or "spitting up,” with or without diar Vomiting
114
CARE OF CHILDREN
Hot
Weathor
Diet
rhoea, may be caused by an excess of fat and yield
promptly to a reduction of this constituent. If food
is not digested fermentation occurs in the bowels, with
the formation of poisons, which cause restlessness and
fever. This "auto-intoxication" is of frequent occur-
rence in infancy, but is usually relieved by the cor-
rection of the dietetic errors.
A common mistake is the neglect to modify the
food with due regard to the season. Hot weather re-
quires diminution in the fats and proteids (from one-
eighth to one-half), so that what constituted a well-
balanced food for the winter months is not suitable
for the heated term. In hot weather infants need
more water and frequently cry from thirst rather than
hunger.
The long-continued use of food deficient in fat
is often productive of rickets. Scurvy may be de-
veloped by the habitual use of cooked food, while
mal-nutrition is the result of chronic indigestion.
The prevention and correction of these disorders
lies in proper feeding (See "Essentials.") Their
symptoms will be discussed in the section on Chil-
dren's Ailments.
The practice of experimenting on the baby with all
kinds of food-patent and otherwise—is a most per-
nicious one. Nature takes some time to rectify diges-
tive disturbances, and a slight improvement at each
feeding is all that can be expected. If the simple
changes suggested do not give relief after a day or
two, the physician should be consulted.
Do Not
Experiment
FOOD AFTER THE FIRST YEAR
Taking
Away the
Bottle
Bom/-
Solids
Bottle feeding is rarely necessary after the twelfth
month. The child may be gradually taught to drink
from a spoon or cup. Where the baby is delicate the
bottle may be used until the fifteenth month.
The eruption of teeth, the increase in the salivary,
gastric and pancreatic secretions give not only greater
power of starch and proteid digestion, but also the
ability to masticate some solid food.
Semi-solids must be introduced gradually into the
dietary,“ milk remaining the principal food. Cream
is required particularly where there is a tendency to
constipation. Until the eighteenth
eighteenth month little
change should be made except the addition of gruels,
meat broths and cracker or stale bread soaked in milk.
Five feedings in the 24 hours during the second year
are sufficient for a healthy child.
The following dietary is intended only as a sugges-
tive guide. Variety at this age is not necessary, but a
choice is designated by the letters a, b, c.
Dietary from 12 to 18 Months
First MEAL. 6 TO 7 A. M.
a-Glass of warm milk containing a little stale bread or
rolled cracker.
-b—A porridge of well cooked (at least two hours) cereal
with milk.
6-A little soft egg (poached or boiled) with stale bread
crumbs and a glass of milk.
115
116
CARE OF CHILDREN
SECOND MEAL. 10 A. M.
Glass of warm milk.
THIRD MEAL. TO 2 P. M.
a-Stale bread soaked in gravy from the roast or steak.
Milk.
b—Soft egg, a little zwieback, glass of milk.
(_Toast soaked with beef juice (see recipe), glass of
milk.
FOURTH MEAL. 5 to 6 P. M.
Glass of milk or milk with cereal jelly. (See recipe).
FIFTH MEAL. (If necessary late in the evening or night.)
Glass of warm milk.
Dietary from the 18th to 24th Month.
a-
FIRST MEAL. 7 A. M.
-Warm milk with stale bread or buttered cracker.
b--Cereal porridge with milk and cream.
(_Glass of milk, soft boiled egg with bread and butter.
SECOND MEAL. IO A. M.
a—Bread and milk.
b—Milk from oyster stew and cracker.
(--Milk toast.
THIRD MEAL. 2 P. M.
a—Mashed potatoes with dish gravy and a glass of milk
b-Mutton, beet or chicken broth thickened with rice or
barley, bread or cracker and milk.
6-Beef juice on toast, rice or tapioca pudding. With
this meal may be given a little well baked apple
pulp or stewed prune pulp and juice.
FOURTH MEAL. 5 TO 6 P. M.
Bread and milk, or bread with butter and milk.
Milk may be given during the night if the baby seems
hungry.
118
*CARE OF CHILDREN
Foods
Not
Advisable
accept the food suitable to his age and condition. In
planning the meals for a family containing several
young children consideration should certainly be given
to their requirements.
The following articles are best avoided during early
childhood:
Condiments or highly sea Cake.
soned food.
Hot breads.
Pork.
Cucumbers.
Fried meats.
Corn.
All fried foods.
Doughnuts.
Griddle cakes.
Doughey puddings.
Cabbage.
Rich puddings.
Tomatoes.
Over or under ripe fruits.
Pastry.
Raw celery.
Dumplings.
Turnips.
It goes without saying that children should never
be allowed tea, coffee, beer or other stimulants.
Nuts and confections should never be allowed on an
empty stomach.
General Rules
1-Regularity as to meals is of prime importance.
2—Thorough mastication is absolutely essential to
perfect digestion.
3—Rapid eating invariably induces dyspepsia.
4-Fluids are essential to good digestion, but the
food should never be "washed down.”
5-A judicious balance must always be maintained
between the five food constituents, viz. : pro-
teids, fats, sugar, salts and water.
Stimulants
FOOD RECIPES
Beef Juice
Salt and slightly broil small pieces of thick, lean,
round steak and while hot express the juice with a
meat press or a lemon squeezer. The juice may be
given cold or with the addition of a little warm water.
Hot water coagulates the albumin. Made in this way
the juice contains from 5 to 6 per cent of coagulatable
proteids and from 2 to 3 per cent of “extractives"-
nitrogenous substances without nutritive value, but
stimulating to the digestive organs.
Beef Tea
To i pound of lean chopped or minced beef add i
pint of cold water. Stir and let stand for 2 hours;
then let simmer for 20 minutes. Do not boil. Strain
and when cool remove all fat. When ready to use
warm and season. Best prepared in double boiler.
Mutton Broth
Over 1 pound of lean meat, cut in small pieces,
pour i quart of cold water, let stand in cold place for
3 hours, then cook slowly down to i pint. Cool, skim
off fat, and strain.
Veal, chicken or beef broths may be made in the
same way.
Meat Pulp
By scraping with a dull knife separate the meat
pulp from the fiber. Season pulp, make in small cake
and slightly broil, or may be salted and eaten raw.
119
120
CARE OF CHILDREN
Whey
Heat i quart of fresh milk luke warm; into this
gently stir 2 teaspoonfuls of Fairchild's essence of
pepsin ; let stand about twenty minutes or until firmly
coagulated, then with a fork break up the clot and
strain through fine muslin without pressure. Bring
the whey thus obtained to a boil to kill the ferment,
then cool and keep on ice.
Albumin Water
Add i cup
Put the white of one egg in a saucer and cut (do
not beat) until fine with knife and fork.
cold boiled water and strain through cheesecloth.
Keep on ice until ready to use. If desired a tiny
pinch of salt may be added.
Lime Water
Drop a piece of unslaked lime as large as a walnut
into a vessel containing 2 quarts of pure filtered
water, stir thoroughly and allow to settle. Pour off
the clear solution into bottles, which should be kept
corked.
Oat Jelly
Soak half a cup of coarse oatmeal in a quart of cold
water for 10 hours. Boil down so as to make a pint
and while hot strain through fine cheesecloth. A
jelly is formed when cold. It should be kept on ice
until needed.
Wheat and rice jelly can be prepared in the same
way.
-
FOOD RECIPES
I21
Barley Water
Put 1 tablespoonful of washed pearl barley in a
saucepan with a quart of water; boil slowly down to
I pint; strain.
Barley Jelly
Boil slowly down to a pint, i quart of water and 3
tablespoonfuls of pearl barley; strain and let stand
until jellied.
Peptonized Milk
In 4 ounces of boiled cold water, dissolve a tablet
containing 15 grains of bicarbonate of soda and 5
grains of pancreatine, to which add 12 ounces of milk.
Set vessel containing this mixture in a pan of water
at a temperature of 115°F for from 8 to 10 minutes.
Cool quickly by placing in running water and keep on
ice until used. Use double boiler for making. To
completely peptonize the milk heat for two hours.
It then has a bitter taste.
Dropped Egg
Drop a fresh egg into enough boiling milk to cover;
remove from milk as soon as the white is set; salt
and serve hot with cracker or bread crumbs.
Dried Bread
Cut bread at least 24 hours old in thick slices; put
in slow oven and bake until thoroughly dried. (20 to
30 min.)
122
CARE OF CHILDREN
Kumyss-(Holt)
I quart of fresh milk, half an ounce of sugar, 2
ounces of water, a piece of yeast cake at least half
an inch square; put into wired bottles, keep at a tem-
perature between 60 and 70 F. for 1 week, shaking
5 or 6 times a day; put on ice.
CARE OF CHILDREN
12. State general objections to the patent baby-
foods.
13. What is safe milk? How should the baby's
milk be cared for in the home?
14. What governs the quantity given at a feed-
ing? The strength of the food ?
15. Give the causes and effects of over feeding.
16. What are the principal dangers in feeding a
baby cow's milk?
17. What is meant by a balanced food?
18. Why are special precautions necessary to keep
the baby's food as nearly sterile as possible?
19. What can you say in regard to feeding during
the second year?
20. How would you alter the food of a young baby
in very hot weather?
21. What may the mother or nurse safely do if
the baby has indigestion ?
22. Mention new facts you have learned from this
lesson.
23. What questions have you to ask?
Note. After completing the test, sign your full name.
CARE OF CHILDREN
PART III
JAN. FEB. MAR. APL. MAY JUN JUL. AUG. SEP OCT NOV DEC
d.
CHILDREN UNDER [ Yr.
1-2 Yr.
2-5 Yr.
5-15 Yr.
OVER 15 Yrs.
60
CHART SHOWING MORTALITY IN LARGE CITIES BY MONTHS
AND AGES
From Circular of Illinois State Board of Health on Infant Feeding
-
CARE OF CHILDREN
PART III
The Sick Child
Symptoms
in šoulth
SYMPTOMS OF DISEASE
The sick child should, of course, always be under
the physician's care, but the mother can aid greatly
by giving him an intelligent account of symptoms. The
mother knows (or should know) her child much more
thoroughly than can any outsider and it is on her
carrying out of directions faithfully and intelligently
that the recovery of the sick child must depend.
In order to recognize the symptoms of disease it is
necessary to become thoroughly familiar with the nor-
mal, healthy infant. This is accomplished only by
careful, conscious observation. Attitude, both sleep-
ing and waking; facial expression, movements of ex-
tremities, trunk, head and eyes; sounds, both articu-
late and inarticulate; respiration, frequency and regu-
larity; color of the skin and condition as to tempera-
ture and moisture, are all significant of sickness or
health.
Restlessness or apathy, if but slight, may be esti-
mated only by comparison with the baby's normal con-
dition.
A few of the most easily recognized indications of
acute disorder may be mentioned, such as sudden loss
of appetite, excessive thirst, unusual drowsiness, lan-
uor or fretfulness, all of which may indicate intoxi-
cation.
123
THE CRY
125
ing during sleep, especially about the head, is always
suggestive of rachitic malnutrition. Disinclination or
inability to move a limb should never be overlooked
as it may mean a grave disorder, either in the affected
limb or in the central nervous system. Refusal to
nurse may be due to trouble in the mouth, throat or
nose which parts should be frequently examined.
No
Moaninglos.
Crying
THE CRY
There is no such thing as a meaningless cry. It is
only a question of interpretation. The cry is the in-
fant's only means of making his wants known.
Most welcome is the baby's first cry induced by the
discomfort of his new surroundings and its vigor and
volume may indicate vital capacity. A little lusty cry-
ing in the first days is good for the baby as thereby
deep inspiration is induced which more fully inflates
the lungs and establishes more completely the new
function of respiration. Some babies never entirely
overcome the adhesions of the bronchial tubes and air
cells, a part of the lung remaining unused.
The cry should be clear and distinct and any devi-
ation from its normal tone is an indication of disorder.
Whatever the cause of crying it is usually tearless be-
fore the third month.
Hunger is usually expressed by crying, but it is a
great mistake to conclude that because the child was
quieted by the nipple he was therefore hungry. He
may have been thirsty, or the warm milk may have
Hungry
Ory
COLIC
127
Causes
put into the mouth, while cry after swallowing sug-
gests sore throat.
The baby may cry when passing urine due to tight
foreskin or the passage of brown uric acid sand, which
may be found staining the diaper. If the child frowns
while crying.or fretting and avoids the strong light,
headache is probably the cause.
COLIC
Colic is usually due to the pressure of gas in the
bowels, one of the results of indigestion. Sudden and
violent crying, distended abdomen, alternate drawing
up and straightening of the legs, which ceases with
the expulsion of gas by mouth or anus, usually indi-
cate colic. This colic is often due to too frequent or
too copious feeding, hence the great mistake in quiet-
ing the cries of the colicky baby by more feeding.
Some babies are especially prone to colic and must be
fed with extreme care.
Again babies are colicky while showing no other
evidence of dietetic error. In these cases the attacks
may be due to chilling of the surface of extreinities.
Great care, therefore, is necessary in maintaining
proper warmth by suitable clothing, especially of the
hands and feet. (See baby bag, page 22.)
Another form of colic is caused, as before men-
cioned, by sharp uric acid crystals in the kidneys and
urinary tubes.
Simply changing the position, as holding the baby
over the shoulder, is often effective in expelling the
Uric Acid
Colio
DIARRHEAS
131
age, hence mother's well-known dread of the baby's
second summer.
In children of all ages a transient form may occur
at any season, with decided predilection, however, for
the heated term. In midwinter occasional attacks of
severe, although usually transcient, diarrhea without
fatal tendency are seen, but it is in the summer months
that intestinal disorders, with diarrhea as a common
symptom, are most fatal. The high rate of mortality
among infants and children during the summer months,
resulting from disorders of which diarrhea is an ac-
companiment, exceeds that of all other diseases dur-
Mortality
BULB INFANT SYRINGE
ing the same period. Nearly 90 per cent of the deaths
from this cause are among artificially fed babies.
The immediate cause of summer diarrhea is thought
to be the presence of great numbers of certain bacte-
ria found in unclean and improperly cared for milk.
The onset is sometimes sudden, being ushered in by
a convulsion, vomiting and diarrhea. There is usually
high temperature, thirst and nausea which makes the
infant snatch at food but push it quickly aside as soon
as a few mouthfuls have been swallowed. Restlessness
Onset of
Diarrhea
132
CARE OF CHILDREN
Vomiting
is nearly always present. The stools may change sud-
denly or may be two or three days in changing from
the normal in frequency and character. There may be
a great deal of coiicky pain.
The infant while apparently in perfect health may
develop vomiting, the matter ejected being at first the
contents of the stomach but little changed-highly acid
or in dense curds; this is soon followed, however, by
a watery, slimy and rarely by a biled-stained fluid, less
acid or even alkaline in reaction. Diarrhea frequently
accompanies and invariably follows the onset of the
disturbance. The first stools may be nearly normal
but they quickly change, showing evidence of fermen-
tation and later on putrefaction. Finally they become
watery and may be of a brownish or greenish color.
The odor of the stool varies from the normal sour
to intensely putrid and later to a sickening musty
smell.
The infant, apparently well nourished and playful,
quickly shows signs of systemic disturbance in fretful,
peevish irritability and restlessness, with head rocking,
anxious facial expression, persistent whining cry,
fever, dry mouth and softened flabby tissues. The
depressed fontanel, sunken, lusterless eyes, sharply de-
fined temples, drawn features with the intense thirst
all give evidence of the great drain of fluids. The
abdomen, at first distended with gas, may soon be-
come flabby and depressed and the extremities cold,
although the rectal temperature may be from 103° to
Drain of
Fluids
DIARRHEAS
133
Acuto
Poisoning
106° F. Convulsions may usher in the attack, follow
the initial vomiting by a few hours, appear only at the
final stage or occasionally they may not develop.
Within twenty-four hours from the onset, and fre-
quently earlier, the stage of collapse is reached, with
pallor and coldness of the surface, though the internal
temperature may be high. The restlessness soon sub-
sides into stupor with shallow breathing, collapsed
veins, failure of pulse, half closed filmy eyes and death
occurs in convulsions or from exhaustion.
This picture presents symptoms of acute poisoning
from the stomach or intestinal tract occurring in a
state of apparent health and terminating fatally in from
twenty-four to forty-eight hours.
Though the well-nourished infant is not exempt
from this form of acute poisoning it occurs with much
greater frequency among those who show evidence of
malnutrition.
Acute summer diarrhea is frequently but improperly
called cholera infantum. Fortunately the true cholera
infantum (caused by a specific germ) with its almost
invariably fatal termination is by no means common.
The commonest form of summer diarrhea is the re-
sult of acute indigestion usually caused by improper
or impure food or overfeeding. Not infrequently
these attacks of vomiting and diarrhea are relieved by
the giving of one or more doses of castor oil and the
withdrawal of food for twenty-four hours. In such
cases the diet should be resumed very gradually, be-
Cholore
Infantum
Yild
Casos
134
CARE OF CHILDREN
After
Effects
ginning with small quantities of white of egg water,
barley water, strained broth or weak malted milk.
A prolonged attack of summer complaint rarely
leaves the child free from evidence of retarded devel-
opment, which in many instances is never fully com-
pensated. Perhaps the most important effect of severe
summer complaint upon the survivors is the feeble
resistance to infection from lowered vitality, so that
the danger from contagious diseases is greatly in-
creased.
It is needless to say that the mother's immediate
duty is to summon her physician upon the appearance
of the first symptom of summer diarrheas.
ABNORMAL PASSAGES
The normal passages of the infant have been de-
scribed on page 77, and various abnormal stools have
been mentioned in connection with other disorders,
but it may be well to summarize here. Like vomiting,
any divergence from the normal in the appearance of
the stool is a sign of warning. They should be kept
for the inspection of the physician.
Stools may be abnormal in frequency, consistency,
color and odor. During the suckling period the baby's
stools may vary in frequency from one to 'six daily
without apparent departure from health, the average
probably being three movements in the twenty-four
hours.
Variations in the quantity and quality of food in-
ABNORMAL PASSAGES
135
gested may cause variations in the quantity and fre-
quency of the discharges which, if normal in color and
consistency, need occasion no anxiety.
Breast or exclusive milk feeding gives a light color
to the evacuations, varying from a canary to a cream.
As before stated, the normal consistency of the suck-
Color
JOINTLESS BULB SYRINGE.
ling's stool is about that of thin batter and is smooth
and homogeneous throughout. But little gas is pres-
ent and the normal odor when freshly voided is
slightly sour and not especially offensive.
If cereals, starch, sugar or proprietary foods enter
largely into the dietary the stools will be darker, rang-
ing from orange to brown with a greater tendency to
gas formation and a disagreeable odor.
Stools are abnormal when they have a putrid odor
suggestive of decomposition; when they are bubbly
or yeasty, suggestive of fermentation ; when they are
watery or contain blood or mucus ; when they are
Odor
136
CARE OF CHILDREN
Mucus
heterogeneous in character; when they are acrid and
irritate the anus and skin of the buttocks; when they
are green or variegated in color or gray and tough or
putty like; when they are hard and lumpy like mar-
bles coated with slime or when they are dry and
crumbly, either dark brown, pale gray or white.
Mucus is normally present in the discharges, but it
is only when irritation of some part of the mucous
membrane of the digestive tract has caused an extra
abundant flow that it becomes visible. Curds in the
passages indicate incomplete digestion, the causes of
which are many and sometimes hard to determine.
The quantity of food may be too great, or it may be
too strong, it may be taken too rapidly, too often, too
cold, there may have been chilling of the baby or too
much excitement, and so on.
Although some of these conditions may be remedied
by the judicious use of castor oil and slight changes in
diet, or manner of feeding, they all suggest the advice
of the physician, before the underlying causes lead to
disorders which may become obstinate.
RICKETS MALNUTRITION AND SCURVY
Rickets (rachitis), Malnutrition (marasmus) and
Scurvy (scorbutus) are essentially nutritional disor-
ders, and as such depend both for their treatment and
cure largely upon proper feeding.
The rickety child shows a constitutional perversion
of development which, if not arrested, may lead to ac-
RICKETS
137
Nervous
Symptoms
tual deformities. There is lessened resistance to dis-
orders of an infectious nature, hence a marked tend-
ency to catarrhal conditions of all the mucous tracts.
Early deaths from acute diseases are frequently due
to the feeble resistance of the rickety constitution.
Rickets is oftenest seen in children between the ages
of six months and four years, though some of its
effects are visible throughout life.
Three groups of symptoms and signs stand out pre-
eminently as rachitic.
First. The nervous system shows instability; there
is fretfulness, irritability and intellectual precocity.
Tendency to spasmodic seizures is sometimes marked.
A form of general spasm, known as "tetany" being
peculiar to the rachitic infant. So, also, the crowing
spasms so frequently mistaken for croup are essen-
tially rachitic. The bright, fidgety child who runs on
his toes and the head-sweating, restless, cover kicking,
sleep moaning infant suggest the same rachitic disturb-
ance of nerve function.
Second. The muscular system shows tardy devel-
opment in strength and remains flabby, so that the in-
fant is late in learning to stand or walk and does not
sit erect. Curvatures of the spine frequently show the
inefficiency of the muscles to support the trunk. The
child, meanwhile, may appear to the uninformed as
well nourished; in fact, may be fat or overfat with
pin-cushiony pads on the top of his feet and the back
of his hands. His inability to stand is frequently at-
tributed to his great weight.
Kuscular
Development
MALNUTRITION
139
Malnutrition
Since a paucity of fat in the food is largely responsi-
ble for this disorder that constituent should be freely,
though judiciously, supplied, while the inert starchy
constituents and the excessive fattening and gas form-
ing sugars should be reduced. Meanwhile the physi-
cian may endeavor to secure a better supply of earthy
salts for the deficient bone forming constituents.
Marasmus is a special term applied to that general
form of malnutrition which seems to be seated upon
an inherited or inherent vice of nutrition. It goes
without saying that if the feeding of a normal baby
requires judgment that of the marantic infant will ex-
ercise the highest skill of the ablest physician. “Weakly
from birth" is the common expression applied to these
babies whose death could be ascribed to no definite
disease. Of course, malnutrition may result from mal-
hygiene in what would otherwise prove to be a nor-
mal infant, and rachitis, one of the results, not only
of improper feeding but also of bad environment as
to pure air, sunlight and warmth, plays no small part
in the production of marasmus.
No one may prescribe the exact line of feeding or
treatment for an unseen case of malnutrition. Since
no two marantic children present the same specific
disturbances. There is usually the extreme emacia-
tion which gives the infant the appearance of senility.
The rheumy lack luster eye, the weazened face, feeble
wail and voracious hunger, presents a vivid picture of
starvation, while the large abdomen and frequent foul
Feeding
140
CARE OF CHILDREN
Scurvy
smelling stools with or without vomiting emphasizes
the need of most careful feeding. How to do this is
the special problem for the doctor in each individual
case. That any intercurrent infection should speedily
terminate the existence of the marantic infant is not
surprising
Scorbutus is a disease occurring only in infants fed
continuously on cooked food and is never seen in the
baby fed exclusively at the breast. The modern tend-
ency or fad for artificial baby foods and sterilized milk
is largely responsible for the increasing frequency of
this disorder in recent years.
Scorbutus is so eminently a food disorder that no
treatment is necessary other than the proper change
in diet. The earliest symptom is crying when the in-
fant is handled as in bathing, changing, dressing, etc.,
and the nurse may discover that it is the legs, espe-
cially the thighs, that are tender to the touch. Some-
times a swelling is observed about the inner or back
part of the thigh, above the knee, with a red or blue
discoloration as from a bruise. Frequently the swell-
ing is marked and the limb so tender that rheumatism
is suspected. Black and blue spots are occasionally
seen on different parts of the body or limbs, the re-
sult of ordinary handling. The absence of fever (the
temperature is usually subnormal) excludes rheuma-
tism and ordinary inflammations. Later the skin shows
purple spots due to "blood settling," and sometimes
bright red spots, the size of a pin head, under the
skin as though a little artery had leaked.
COLDS
141
The baby takes nourishment poorly and may have
indigestion with diarrhea. The inside of the mouth
is dark red, the swollen, spongy gums bleed readily
upon pressure. Occasionally blood is vomited which
had previously been swallowed from the mouth. Later
still, hemorrhages may occur from any mucous tract
and the stools show blood in clots like liver or changed
to the appearance of coffee grounds. Without relief
death soon follows.
For treatment cooked food must be replaced by
something raw. A teaspoonful of orange juice, di-
luted, may be given 5 or 6 times a day. Raw milk
properly modified, raw beef juice; the white of egg
will, if not too late in its administration, bring about
a remarkable change.
Troatmont
COLDS
No Gorms
No Colds
Ordinary colds are the infections from the ever
present micro-organisms which cause catarrhal in-
flammation of some mucous tract when normal resist-
ance is lessened. Lessened resistance may be due to
lowered temperature from exposure, from over fa-
tigue, excitement, loss of sleep, mal-nutrition or indi-
gestion. Also from over-feeding, occasional or ha-
bitual. Impure air, also, lowers vitality and invites
infection.
Acute catarrh (acute cold) may affect the mucous
membrane of the nose (Rhinitis); mouth (Stomati-
142
CARE OF CHILDREN
Common
Cold
tis); the middle ear (Otitis); the eyes (Conjuncti-
vitis); the pharynx (Pharyngitis); tonsils (Tonsilli-
tis) ; larynx (Laryngitis); bronchial tubes (Bron-
chitis); stomach (Gastritis); bowels (Enteritis);
large bowel (Colititis or Dysentery); bladder (Cys-
titis); or the genitals (Urethritis, Vaginitis or Vul-
vitis).
Catarrh rarely is confined to a single area but shows
a tendency to extend along the continuous mucous lin-
ing to adjacent tracts. Repeated acute attacks tend
to become chronic under neglect and low vitality. The
secretions or discharges from any catarrhal tract will
positively infect another which is susceptible, hence
their prevalence and the term “common cold.” No
cold is trivial. All colds, with discharges, are con-
tagious.
SORE THROAT
Frequent
Symptom
Sore throat is always due to infection, and though
it may prove trivial it should never be so regarded,
as it is frequently the forerunner of a most grave dis-
ease. No physician ever fails to examine the throat
of a sick child, and the mother should always do so.
The tonsils are very commonly the seat of disease
from which infection readily gains access to the blood
and system. Recurrent attacks of acute tonsillitis re-
sult in permanent enlargement of these structures with
increased tendency to acute attacks, and absorption of
poison which causes enlargement of the neck glands.
SORE THROAT
143
The throat may become nearly closed, breathing in-
terfered with, voice is changed and relief is found only
in removal of the tonsil by the surgeon.
The space above the tonsils, behind the soft palate Anarchlot's
and at the top of the pharynx, is most important. It
Don
may well be called the anarchist's den, for here hidden
Raplie of palate
Uvula
Posterior
Jalatine arch
Pharyngeal
isthmus
Tonsil
Anterior
palatine arch
Tongue
DIAGRAM OF THE MOUTH.
The "Anarchist's Den" is above the "Pharyngeal Isthmus"
from sight more dangerous infections are cultivated
than in any other part of the body. It is called the
"post nasal space." Into it open from in front the
passages from the nose; from the sides, the tubes from
144
CARE OF CHILDREN
thë middle ears; and from below, the upper end of
the pharynx. It is warm, moist, dark and ventilated,
an ideal place for the growth of micro-organisms
which find in the catarrhal secretions of its mucous
lining their ideal food. All nasal catarrhs extend to
this space, and the hawking and spitting is due to ac-
cumulations here.
Repeated attacks of catarrh (cold in the head)
cause soft warty growths, called Adenoids, or "the
Adenoids
AN OIL ATOMIZER
third tonsil," which sometimes fill this space, blocking
the ear tubes, causing ear disease and deafness, shut-
ting off the air and forcing the child to breathe
through the mouth with snoring in sleep. These
adenoids give to the voice a nasal tone, change the
shape of the face, raise the roof of the mouth which
gives the child a stupid expression and ultimately af-
fects both mind and body. The only cure when well
advanced is in removal by the surgeon.
The early habitual care of the nose, naso-pharynx
and throat by sprays and washes will do much to pre-
Care of
the Nose
CROUP
545
vent the numerous ills due to the neglect of this im-
portant area.
With a child subject to colds, the oil atomizer should
be used daily, night and morning. Alboline with some
Oil
Atomizer
GIVING A NASAL DOUCH.
medication such as menthol will be prescribed by a
physician. The formula may need to be weakened at
first by adding plain alboline until the child becomes
accustomed to the treatment
Kinds
of Croup
CROUP
There are two forms of croup, spasmodic and diph-
theritic. The first form occurs usually at night. The
child may or may not have shown signs of illness be-
fore going to sleep. Frequently he has been troubled
NERVOUS DISORDERS
Exciting
Causes
An excitable condition called nervousness is usually
due to unbalanced nutrition or insufficient rest. In-
heritance may exert an influence as a remote or pre-
disposing cause and the "nervous temperament" has
long been recognized.
Among the exciting causes may be mentioned fa-
tigue, indigestion, foreign bodies in the digestive tract,
as worms; local irritations which by reflex action dis-
turb nerve equilibrium, as disorders of the genitals,
irritable bladder, constipation, seat worms; inflamma-
tion of the middle ear; growths in the naso-pharynx;
eye strain; skin eruption as eczema, etc. Also im-
proper clothing which occasions unequal temperature
or discomfort.
Some of the manifestations are seen in disturbed
sleep, grinding of teeth, bad dreams, night terrors,
muscular twitchings, chorea (Saint Vitus's dance),
convulsions or epilepsy.
Some of the minor symptoms appear as fidgeting,
squirming, grimacing, blinking, chewing, nail biting,
head scratching, picking at the nose, bed wetting and
ready crying, which to the experienced eye proclaim
some nerve irritation.
Children should rarely be punished but rather fed
for the correction of these involuntary manifestations
of nervousness. The wise parent will always consult
the physician in these cases.
Symptoms of
Nervousness
-
148
NERVOUS DISORDERS
149
CONVULSIONS, SPASMS, FITS, CRAMPS
the
Cause of
Convulsions
In the category of infantile disorders nothing is
more dreaded and no childhood ailment demands great-
er presence of mind on the part of the mother. It has
frequently been stated that children rarely die of
spasms, that is, the convulsion of itself rarely kills.
Spasms do not constitute the disease, but are only
symptoms of some disorder which disturbs
equilibrium of the nervous system.
We have seen that reflex action was highly devel-
oped at birth and that inhibition (control) was a func-
tion of later development. The younger the infant
the greater the likelihood of muscular contractions
heing excited beyond control of the feeble inhibition.
Therefore anything which powerfully excites mus-
cular contraction may induce convulsions in infants
and young children.
Hyper-excitability and feeble inhibition are also to
a certain extent hereditary. The so-called nervous
constitution finds its best expression in this want of
balance between excitability and inhibition. Nutri-
tion also plays an important part in determining the
balance between these two functions of the nervous
system (see Rickets). What might be a very trilling
disturbance in the adult may induce convulsions in
the infant. Again spasms may be one of the symp-
toms of a very grave disease. It is the cause of the
fits, then, that is of paramount importance.
CONVULSIONS
151
Treatment
sometimes occurs with the breathing and the free flow
of saliva may be churned into a froth which clings to
the lip. The jerking then becomes less marked and
finally ceases and the child soon recovers consciousness
and cries or falls asleep from exhaustion. This cycle
is usually completed in from one to three minutes,
though to the watching parents it may seem many
times that.
The attacks may recur at intervals for many hours
if the cause is not removed and death has been known
to occur apparently from exhaustion.
Since in infancy one of the commonest causes of
convulsions is indigestion or the presence of some irri-
tant in the digestive tract the first thing to be done is
to clean out the stomach and bowels. A prompt
emetic should be given at once, followed by a dose of
castor oil. A copious enema of warm salt solution
(teaspoonful of salt to a pint of warm water) should
also be given.
For the relief of the immediate spasm the child
should be quickly immersed in a hot bath (temperature
110° F. or test with the whole arm) containing a tea-
spoonful of strong mustard to the gallon, with ice cold
cloths to the head. A simpler method of applying
moist heat is to wrap the baby in a small blanket or
turkish towel wrung out of hot water.
A physician should be at once summoned, but if he
is not in reach anıl the convulsions recur an enema of
five grain tablet of sodium bromide dissolved in an
152
CARE OF CHILDREN
ounce of tepid water may be administered and retained
by pressure upon the anus, or half this dose may be
given by mouth to a child of 18 months, every two
hours if necessary.
A NIGHT LIGHT.
After
Effects
Although as stated, death is rarely due to a convul-
sive seizure, it is none the less to be dreaded, and all
means should be employed to ward off its recurrence,
for the reason that severe spasms, from whatever
cause, may result in permanent injury to the delicate
tissues of the brain, among the results of which may
be paralysis, with mental impairment.
CONTAGIOUS DISEASES
Sourco of
Infoction
Contagious diseases are those due to germs carried
to the individual from some other person suffering
from that disease. These germs may come through
direct contact or may be brought by air, water, food,
clothing, books, papers, letters, etc., so that the source
from which the child is exposed is often difficult to
trace.
Of the contagious diseases we will consider only
those most commonly found in infancy and childhood,
viz., measles, scarlet fever, chicken-pox, diphtheria
and whooping cough. They have a common resem-
blance in that they have a stage of incubation (the
interval from exposure to the first symptoms), all are
self limiting diseases (run out their course), all are
accompanied by more or less fever, one attack usually
immunes from a second (except in diphtheria), each
has the characteristic skin eruptions (except diph-
theria and whooping cough), and each has its stage of
invasion (the interval between the first symptoms and
the appearance of the characteristic symptom).
Eruptivo
Fevers
MEASLES
Measles, German measles, scarlet fever and chicken-
pox are called the "eruptive fevers."
Measles is the most frequent and most contagious,
attacking all ages and is most prevalent in the winter
season. It is contagious during stages of incubation,
probably from the breath of the patient, and is rarely
carried by a third person. Though lightly regarded
153
154
CARE OF CHILDREN
Symptoms
of Measles
by most people, measles is a very serious disease, espe-
cially in delicate children, where it may prove fatal
from the broncho-pneumonia or tuberculosis which
frequently follows it.
The attack begins with the symptoms of a bad cold;
eyes red, nose wet, fever, hoarseness, sneezing and
cough, with slight sore throat, coated tongue and fe-
verish breath. About the fourth day the rash appears,
first on the face, gradually spreading downward over
the trunk and limbs, which it usually covers in twenty-
four hours. This consists of dusky red, slightly ele-
vated, flattened papules, from wheat grain to split pea
in size. On the face and trunk, especially, they run
together, giving a blotchy look to the dark red with
little spaces of normal skin between. The rash period
is less than a week and fades away gradually.
The eyes may be very troublesome and permanent im-
pairment often follows. The cough may increase with
symptoms of pneumonia. The fever, in uncompli-
cated cases, subsides with the rash, which is followed
by a falling off of fine branny scales continuing dur-
ing the week of convalescence. Treatment: Call a
doctor, avoid bright light and put child to bed in a
warm room.
GERMAN MEASLES (ROETHELN)
A milder disease than measles, for which it is fre-
quently mistaken. It generally comes in epidemic
form in the winter season. The rash appears on the
second day, first on the face in pale rose spots slightly
SCARLET FEVER
155
elevated, size of pin head, which usually remain sepa-
rate. When they do run together they do not form
blotches like measles but rather a continuous redness
like scarlet fever, for which it is sometimes mistaken.
The rash spreads downward rapidly over the body,
at the same time beginning to fade from the face so
that in three days it has disappeared. The fever is
slight, with a little sore throat and wet eyes and nose.
Usually small scales from the outer skin fall off a few
days after the rash.
Treatment: Protect from broncho-pneumonia by
keeping in bed on light diet.
SCARLET FEVER (SCARLETINA)
Scarlet fever is very common at all ages above six
months. Occurs most frequently in Autumn (after
schools open) and is very contagious. The germs
may be carried in clothing and may live for a year
stowed away in clothes and bedding.
The disease may be so mild as to be overlooked or
so severe as to destroy life in 24 hours. The mildest
case may furnish germs for one of the severest type,
hence the importance of recognizing and isolating
every case. It usually comes on suddenly with vomit-
ing. High fever appears on the first day and rash on
the second. Eruption first appears on the neck and
spreads rapidly over the body and limbs but usually
spares the face. The color is uniformly scarlet in typ-
ical cases with pin points of intense red showing
through. The throat is red and sore from the begin-
Virulence
160
CARE OF CHILDREN
EARACHE
Earache may be the first intimation of an inflamma-
tion of the middle ear. The screaming infant may
sometimes pull his hair or put his hand to the affected
side of the head. Gentle pressure with the thumb in
front of or behind the ear may cause flinching from
tenderness. After pus has formed its pressure will
usually rupture the drum membrane and allow a dis-
charge through the external passage. Inflammation of
the middle ear is usually due to infection from the
throat or naso-pharynx through the tube (eustachian)
which connects the two cavities. Acute congestion of
RUBBER EAR SYRINGE.
the ear with intense pain is sometimes the result of ex-
posure to cold or drafts and may be relieved by hot
applications as salt or water bag. The infected ear
may be gently filled with hot water or warm sweet
oil, care being taken not to burn.
So great harm results from neglected ear trouble
that the best medical advice should be obtained upon
the appearance of the first symptoms. Aside from
pain and danger of impaired hearing from formation
of pus in the middle ear it should be remembered that
Danger of
Meningitis
Table of Contagious Diseases.
DISEASE
From
Exposure
to
First
Symp-
toms
Day of
Charac-
Characteristic Symp-
teristic
toms by which the
Disease is Recog-
Symp-
nized.
toms
Other Principal
Symptoms
Duration of
Disease from Important After
First
Effects
Symptoms
Measles
(Bubeola
12 to 14
days
German
Measles
(Rotheln)
7 to 21
days
and
Scarlet Fever
(Scarletina)
2 to 7
days
Broncho - Pneu-
Dusky red spots, Starts with red
monia, Tuberculo-
4th
slightly elevated be eyes, wet nose, and
7 to 10
sis, Diarrhoea Di.
ginning on face and cough with hoarse-
day
days seases, Eye Disease
spreading over body. ness.
Ear Disease.
Bright pink spots
Slight fever and
1st
3 to 4
or papules beginning but little indisposi-
on face and extend-
Rarely any.
day
days
ing rapidly over body
tion,
Starts with sore
Continuous bright throat, vomiting (or
Ear Disease,
2nd
7 to 10
red rash, extending convulsions)
Heart Disease,
from neck down-
Gland Disease,
day
wards over trunk
itching and feeling
high fever, later days or longer Anarmia, Bright's
and limbs.
of skin.
Disease.
Scattered blisters
1st
5 to 7
on face and body,
A very little fever.
Nothing but
from grain of wheat
days
pock marks.
to split pea in size.
Ear, Nose, or
Greyish white Slight fever, debi.
Throat Diseases.
1st or 2nd membrane on throat lity, sore throat, 1 to 2
Kidney Disease.
or bidden behind the croupy cough, or dis-
Paralysis of Soft
day
weeks
palate or in the charge from the nose
Palate and Sudden
Larynx.
enlarged neck glands
Death.
Recurrent pro-
longed paroxysms of
Bronchitis,
2nd
cough (with or with Vomiting after
6 to 12
Broncho-Pneumo-
week out whoop) fermin- | cough.
weeks
nia, Pulmonary,
ating in gagging or
Phthisis,
vomiting.
Chicken Pox
(Varicella)
12 to 16
days
day
2 to 10
Diphthers.
days
Whooping.
Cough
(Pertussis)
7 to 14
days
164
CARE OF CHILDREN
Ipecac, Syrup of.--As an emetic give a year old baby 1/2 tea-
spoonful, followed by drink of warm water. Repeat
dosė every 15 minutes until vomiting.
Lime Water.
Mustard.
Peppermint, Essence of.
Sweet oil.
Vaseline.
Absorbent Cotton, antiseptic.
Adhesive Plaster.
Alboline Atomizer (Constructed to spray oils).
Ear and Nose Syringe. (Soft rubber.)
Fountain Springe.
Flexible rubber Catheter, number 10 (for rectal tube).
Gauze, antiseptic.
Hot water bottle.
HYGIENE OF THE CHILD AND YOUTH
Moro Caro
Not Loss
Getting the baby out of arms should not diminish
the mother's care, but the same protection as given
in the nursery should extend throughout childhood,
with such modifications as the changing anatomy and
physiology demand. In fact, the child of two or three
years should receive more of her time and thought
than the younger babe, for it is now that his training
in personal hygiene should begin and habits of per-
sonal cleanliness be established. After infancy, the
danger from death may be lessened but not of per-
verted development.
The fact that a child is able to dress himself does
not relieve the mother of the responsibility of seeing
that he is properly clothed, and even though he is old
enough to sit at the family table, especial attention
must still be given to his diet and manner of eating.
Thorough mastication is a most important feature of
the child's early training and he should not be allowed
to “wash down” his food. He should eat some foods
requiring vigorous mastication, such as toast and hard
cracker, to help in developing strong teeth.
Too frequently the temporary teeth are neglected
both as to personal and dental care under the mistaken
impression that their early loss renders them of little
importance. Even were this true (which it is not)
the health and comfort of the child would suggest
that they be kept clean and in perfect condition as long
Care of
the Toeth
165
166
CARE OF CHILDREN
Care of
the Throat
as they remain. To accomplish this end the teeth
should be thoroughly brushed and the mouth cleansed
with a pleasant antiseptic, such as dilute listerine, boro-
lyptol or glyco-thymoline, night and morning (especi-
ally at night) and the slightest decay of the teeth
should be referred to the dentist.
After a child is taught to properly cleanse his mouth
it is but a short step to teach him to garzlé and this
mastered a little tact and patience on the part of the
mother or nurse will soon initiate him into the use of
the atomizer and nasal douche, accomplishments which
may prove of inestimable value at some critical time.
Every night and morning (oftener if necessary) the
nasal passages should be freed from excessive secre-
tion, not only so that the child can breathe through
his nose but to get rid of material which harbors in-
fections. The child should early be taught the use
of the handkerchief and required to carry his own
and impressed with the danger of contact with those
soiled by others.
Any tendency to mouth breathing should be immedi-
ately corrected and if necessary the advice of a physi-
cian sought.
Deep breathing should be early taught and insisted
upon until it becomes a firmly established habit. This
cannot be accomplished with unsuitable clothing or
without correct postures in standing, sitting and walk-
ing. Frequent exercise in the open air, such as taking
a deep inspiration while five, ten or even fifteen sec-
Deep
Broathing
HYGIENE OF THE CHILD
167
Sleep
Bathing
onds are being counted, may be made a game of com-
petition.
The need of plenty of sleep throughout the entire
developing period can not be unduly emphasized and
to this end quiet, well ventilated chambers and indi-
vidual beds are necessary.
Young children should retire soon after the light
supper. Studying, playing or reading by artificial
light may interfere with the rest and recuperation
required after the fatigue of the day.
The frequency, duration and temperature of the
bath should depend upon the reactionary effects upon
the child. A cold tonic shower bath is best given in
the morning and should not last more than half a
minute. The child should stand in warm water which
covers his feet and be gently sprayed with warm water
before turning on the cold shower. If a shower bath
is not available, a quick sponge with tepid to cold
water with a brisk toweling may be given. The
advisability of the cold baths should be decided by the
family physician, as all children should not take them.
The warm bath may be given before retiring if suffi-
cient time be allowed for the digestion of the supper.
General bathing should never immediately follow a
meal.
EDUCATION
Childhood is recognized as the p.aytime of life and
most of the plays of children are educational in their
tendency. That physical development and training
168
CARE OF CHILDREN
Games
for Girls
should take precedence of the mental is self-evident to
all who witness the sad spectacle of an over-trained
mind in a feeble body.
In childhood, at least, girls should share the outdoor
sports of their brothers. There is no reason why the
pleasurable and useful exercise of running, jumping,
swimming, rowing, skating, riding, cycling and most
games should be confined to boys. The cry of "tom-
boy” has deprived many a girl of the physical founda-
tion for the duties and responsibilities of mature
womanhood.
Rousseau says, and truly, the weaker the body is,
the more it commands; the stronger it is, the more it
obeys.
“A well-trained nervous system is the greatest friend
that the mind can have.”-Halleck.
The country affords special advantages for the nor-
mal development of the child, for here it is that he
comes close to nature which furnishes innumerable
object lessons and problems which his inherent curi-
osity impels him to solve. Thus he is led to develop
himself through a symmetrical training of muscles
and brain. For the city child, these conditions should
be approximated as nearly as possible.
The brain, relatively large, even at birth, is suscepti-
ble of very rapid development. If, however, this be
allowed to exceed that of the muscles, irreparable dam-
age may result and mediocrity take the place of early
precocity through early exhaustion of the brain cells
from over stimulation. It must never be forgotten
Development
of the Brain
-
HYGIENE OF THE YOUTH
169
Poriod of
Woak Heart
that young nerve cells tire quickly, not yet having the
stored energy of maturity.
The younger the child the more should the early
educational efforts be restricted to the larger groups
of muscles,-leg, arm and body exercise rather than
those of the fingers and smaller groups of muscles
which require concentrated efforts at finer co-ordina-
tion. The use of the needle, pencil, brush and scissors
may well be deferred and replaced by romping games,
efforts at house building with large blocks or shovel
and sand pile.
The proverbial laziness of the boy of eight years is
based upon a physiological fact which is too frequently
overlooked. His heart at this time has not kept up
with the rapid growth in body length and is barely able
to maintain the circulation of the blood for ordinary
mental and muscular exertion. He is least fitted at
this time for the extra demands made upon him for
running errands and doing all sorts of chores which
he usually does clumsily and tardily because of ex-
cessive fatigue. Many boys and girls are stunted for
life or succumb to infectious disease from excessive
burdens imposed during this period of weak heart,
namely, from the eighth to the twelfth year.
It has been shown often that the purpose of our so-
called educational systems has been defeated by ig-
norance of the child's capacity for concentrative atten-
tion to a given subject. Fifteen minutes is about the
limit for a child between five and seven years of age
Limit of
Attontion
170
CARE OF CHILDREN
and the grammar school pupils rarely show a ca-
pacity for more than thirty minutes of uninterrupted
study. This power may be even further reduced by
debilitating conditions, such as improper food, im-
paired digestion, physical fatigue, insufficient sleep or
vitiated air of the school room.
12 13 14 15 16 YEAR
8
9
10.11
BOYS
GIRLS
TIME
Eyo and Ear
Strain
Krohn's Diagram Representing Relative Time of Fatigue
at Different Ages.
Early exhaustion of nerve force is frequently in-
creased by eye strain from defective vision and pupils
often appear dull at school because they can not see
distinctly maps, charts or blackboard exercises. In
the same category as a cause of apparent mental dull-
ness is defective hearing,—the words of the teacher
failing to make a definite impression upon the child's
sensorium, with resultant confusion of ideas. In this
respect a grave responsibility rests upon parents and
teachers. The oculist and aurist should be frequently
PUBESCENCE
171
Schoo
Hygiene
consulted and any defects in these "avenues to the
mind" corrected.
The subject of school-room hygiene is too broad to
receive more than passing mention here. The parent
should visit the schools and satisfy himself as to the
heating and ventilation of the rooms in which his chil-
dren spend so many hours. The seating with refer-
ence to light and vision, adaptation of seat and desk
to the size of the child so that undue fatigue or actual
deformity may be obviated, should also be given con-
sideration. Is there a judicious alternation between
mental concentration and free-limbed exercise suitable
to the child's age?
PUBESCENCE
Pubescence is a period of the greatest importance in
the development of the child, not only physically but
mentally and morally.
The rounding out of the girl's physique with broad-
ening of the hips and rapid growth of the breasts sug-
gests the approach of menstral function. This should
never be allowed to take the little maiden by surprise,
but the mother should have prepared her daughter's
mind for this sign of womanhood. Unfortunate is the
girl whose mother has not had the tact and courage to
instruct her beforehand concerning the true meaning
of conception, gestation and motherhood. Many lives
have been lost or ruined because the mother has failed
in her duty in this respect.
Probably the best argument for the early study of
Changes
in the
Girl
172
CARE OF CHILDREN
Oaro
biology, including botany, is the natural introduction
thus afforded to the great mysteries of ovulation, fruc-
tification, conception, gestation and parturition and the
true physical relation of the sexes in the great plan of
life. There is nothing to shock the modesty of the
normal girl if these subjects are properly approached
along the lines of comparative biology.
The pubescent girl's periodical indisposition should
be recognized and guarded from undue burdens and
responsibilities, as the foundation for future suffering
and disease is often laid at this time. The woman is
fortunate whose pubescent life escaped the crippling
effect of tight or high-heeled shoes, whose anatomy
has not been distorted and generative organs disar-
ranged by the corset, and whose moral and social edu-
cation has followed natural family and domestic lines
rather than the artificialities of the so-called modern
society.
Wholesome companions and literature, out-of-door
exercises and amusements with reasonable domestic
responsibilities should alternate with judicious selec-
tion of musical, physical and literary curriculum in
well-selected schools.
The judicious parent will endeavor to teach the pu-
bescent boy manliness rather than mannishness, and
to inculcate early reverence and respect for pure
womanhood. He should have the companionship of
pure-minded girls.
The boy ought to be taught by a senior whom he re-
The Boy
PUBESCENCE
173
veres (preferably his father) the true meaning of sex
differentiation and sexual passion. It should be clearly
shown him that venereal disease with its far-reaching
baneful effects lurks ever as the penalty for licentious-
ness. He should be given to understand that an oc-
casional seminal emission while sleeping is no more
sinful than a transient hemorrhage from overcharged
blood vessels or vomiting for an overloaded stomach.
Above all, he should be taught to respect his own
body.
Here again competitive athletic sports, good litera-
ture, the study of natural sciences with abundance of
out-door life will lead the boy away from tendencies
toward immorality and dissipation.
Close confinement to books and literature too fre-
quently causes physical and mental collapse during
pubescence, for which the prizes for scholarship are
not infrequently responsible. Plenty of fresh air both
day and night and the daily cold bath are items of tre-
mendous value in the hygiene of pubescence. Empha-
sis and encouragement to physical development should
be given by the parent at this time (and at all times).
Better take the boy or girl out of school for a term or
two, if necessary, than to harm his body for life. Book
learning can easily be made up, but perverted physical
development often can never be rectified.
Physical
Dovolopment
Most
Important
174.
CARE OF CHILDREN
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Care of the Baby ($1.50, postage .18). J. P. Crozer Griffith,
M. D.
Care of a Child in Health ($1.25, postage .12). N. Oppenheim,
M. D.
Care and Feeding of Children ($.75, postage .08). L. E. Holt,
M. D.
Century Book for Mothers ($2.00, postage .18). Yale and Pol-
lock.
Development of the Child ($1.25, postage .12). N. Oppenheim,
M. D.
Hygiene of the Nursery ($1.00, postage .08). Louis Starr.
Theory and Practice of Infant Feeding ($2.25, postage .20).
Henry Dwight Chapin, M. D.
Food and Principles of Dietetics ($3.00, postage .26). Robt.
Hutchison, M. D. Chapters 24, 25, 26.
School Hygiene (For teachers) ($1.00, postage .10). Edward
R. Shaw.
Medical Books
Diseases of Children ($3.50). A. C. Cotton, M. D.
Pediatrics—Hygiene and Medical Treatment of Children
($6.00). T. M. Rotch, M. D.
Diseases of Infancy and Childhood ($6.00). L. E. Holt, M. D.
TEST QUESTIONS
The following questions constitute the "written reci.
tation" which the regular menībers of the A. S. H. E.
answer in writing and send in for the correction and
comment of the instructor.
They are intended to
emphasize and fix in the memory the most important
points in the lesson.
CARE OF CHILDREN
PART II
Read Carefully. Place your name and address on the first
sheet of the test. Use a light grade of paper and write on
one side of the sheet only. Leave space between the answers
for the notes of the instructor. Answer every question fully.
Read the lesson paper a number of times before attempting
to answer the questions.
4.
1. Does crying benefit the baby? If so, how?
2. Describe different cries and give their interpre-
tation.
3. What do you understand by nervousness in a
child?
Name some causes for nervousness and the
symptoms.
5. (a) What does fever indicate in an infant?
(b) What may be done for its relief?
6. (a) What is an ordinary cold?
(b) Why is no cold trivial ?
7. Give the cause of sore throat.
8. (a) What is the "anarchist's den"?
(b) How may it be cared for?
9. What contagious diseases are the most danger-
ous and why?
Mention the possible after effects of measles.
of scarlet fever.
11. What causes convulsions? Why are they to
be dreaded?
12. What should be done for their immediate re-
lief? What for their prevention ?
IO.
SODIUM CITRATE IN INFANT FEEDING *
BY A. C. COTTON, M. D.
The infant deprived of the breast must, in relation
to his feeding, be regarded as a pathologic problem.
That this statement is axiomatic is shown by the fact
that more earnest work has been bestowed on infant
feeding during the past twenty years than on all other
pediatric subjects combined. That the problem is
still unsolved the high relative mortality and later
morbidity (illness) of artificially fed infants bear
constant witness.
The six essentials of Cheadle, enunciated by that
observer some time in the '8o's, bear witness that the
essential requirements of an artificial food for babies
were broadly understood twenty years ago. Quoting
from memory, they are briefly as follows: 1. Steril-
ity.
2. Antiscorbutic property. 3. Quantity. 4.
Some Animal constituents. 5. Form suitable. 6.
Constituency. Much has been learned since Cheadle
by amassing clinical results and observations. Mean-
while the deductions from a priori reasoning have
proven unsatisfactory for the simple reason that so
little was known of the physiology of infant digestion.
Latterly the premises from which we reasoned have
been proven, almost without exception, to be incor-
rect.
* Read in the Section on Diseases of Children of the American Medical
Association, at the Fifty-seventh Annual Session. June, 1906. Reprinted
from the Journal of the American Medical Association of Octcber 6, 1906.
179
180
CARE OF CHILDREN
Thus the great American experiment known as
the exact percentage method of feeding required
that the baby's diet should consist wholly of cow
products and water, so modified in its five gross
constituents as to coincide quantitatively with simi-
larly named constituents of average breast milk.
One other ingredient only was allowable in this
feeding mixture, viz., some alkalin solution, as lime
water, sodium bicarbonate, or magnesia. This dogma,
which in connection with laboratories established
throughout the country had almost become a cult
in infant feeding, was practically based on seven
assumptions, which have recently been proven
erroneous, to wit:
1. The qualitative similarity in breast and cow's
milk of the lactose, fats, albuminoids, proteids and
their chemical combination with the milk salts.
2. The claimed alkalinity of breast milk in contra-
distinction to the acidity of cow's milk.
3. The possibility of a synthetical substitute for
breast milk from cow products alone.
4. The claim that cereals were not allowable
because indigestible in the infant's secretions and
that they induced dyspepsia and intoxication by
acting as decomposing foreign matter.
5. That cereal gruels were no more efficient in the
prevention of dense milk coagula than dilution with
plain water.
6. That HCI played no part in the digestive process
until later infancy.
184
CARE OF CHILDREN
acidulated milk has been tried; admixture with
gruels has been tried; koumiss, matzoon, and kephir
milk have been tried; the addition of various alka-
lies is much in vogue; all with varying degrees of
success, and each measure has its ardent advocates.
That the question is not yet settled this diversity of
opinion amply indicates. It is still an open field, and
the cry that no chemical tampering with the milk
should be encouraged need deter no one, since it is
proven beyond dispute that cow's milk, however
modified, is not a natural food for the human infant.
The more orthodox observers of the original labora-
tory percentage modification have from the first
chemically tampered with the milk in the addition of
lime water, sodium bicarbonate, etc., in the mistaken
notion of humanizing the mixture by rendering it
alkalin. That we reached further than we intended
in our administration of alkalies and secured tolera-
tion of the curds through neutralization of the normal
gastric acids does not lessen the evils of inhibition
of those digestive processes which can occur only in an
acid medium.
Since deductive methods from a priori reasoning
have thus far failed of a satisfactory solution of this
problem, let us welcome inductive methods conducted
along rational lines, since massed clinical evidence
must ever be the tribunal before which all method
must come to trial. Whether secundus artem or
secundus scientiam, it is the greatest number of babies
186
CARE OF CHILDREN
its effects for a considerable time, also, by the courtesy
of Dr. Vanderslice, a history of 29 cases reported by
him at different times to the Chicago Pediatric Society.
In addition to this I have read carefully Dr. Shaw's
report of 22 cases, making a total of 112 cases embrac-
ing nearly all conditions from simple dyspepsia to
marasmus and ranging in age from the new born to
adults who have suffered from milk dyspepsia.
Sodium citrate being very soluble in water, the
method of employment is simple, as follows: An
aqueous solution is ordered containing from 1 to 5 gr.
to the dram. A quantity of this solution is furnished
the mother or nurse with instructions to add to the
baby's bottle immediately before feeding enough of the
solution to represent 1, 2, or even 3 gr. of the citrate
to each ounce of milk in the feeding mixture, accord-
ing to the prescriber's idea of the requirements. The
feeding mixture may consist of varying dilutions of
milk with water or gruel, with the addition of cane or
milk sugar, with or without cream. No alkalies are
added, the sodium citrate used being a neutral salt. A
most noticeable feature in this method of feeding is the
large proportion of milk in the feeding mixture that
the infant will tolerate without evidence of gastric
disturbance or the appearance of any considerable
amount of undigested casein in the stools. In fact,
the stools of babies fed on citrated milk have come
to be regarded by Drs. Merrill, Vanderslice, and
myself as positively characteristic, being firm enough
188
CARE OF CHILDREN
bring the baby's feeding up toward whole milk as
rapidly as possible. As toleration is established the
amount of citrate is reduced to one, to one half and to
one fourth of a grain per ounce of milk until it can be
discontinued. It happens not infrequently that the
citrate is profitably resumed on the recurrence of
signs of indigestion. In but 6 cases have I felt
obliged to discontinue the citrated milk and adopt
other methods of feeding. Some of these were among
my early cases which, if occurring later, would pos-
sibly have received a more persistent treatment with
citrated milk.
In consideration of this subject three questions
naturally arise: I. Is the employment of sodium
citrate any better than other methods of rendering
cow proteids tolerable and digestible? 2. Is its
employment harmful?
3.
In what manner does
it act?
In answer to the first I would say that this method
seems to allow a more rapid increase in the propor-
tion of milk ingested than any other known to me.
Moreover, the frequency of relief from milk indi-
gestion on the addition of the citrate and the favor-
able reports from all whom I have known to give
it a thorough trial are not without significance.
In regard to its harmfulness, no case of citrated
milk feeding has been brought to my attention in
which there appeared to be cause for regret because
of the employment of this method.
190
CARE OF CHILDREN
milk (to one of which sodium citrate has been added)
drop a given quantity of liquid rennet and dilute
hydrochloric acid. In both milks coagulation occurs,
with this difference, that the citrated milk clots less
promptly and the resultant curd is softer, less dense,
more nearly resembling the curd of breast milk.
My assistant, Dr. F. W. Allin, as the result of more
than a hundred careful comparisons, has obtained
the following results:
Materials Used.—Ordinary dairy milk was used
in these experiments. Wyeth's liquid rennet was
used for curdling agent, which was always added
last. A i per cent hydrochloric acid solution and
4 per cent sodium citrate solution were used. Two
drops of HCl in 5 c.c. milk equals .025 per cent.
Five drops of sodium citrate solution equals .25 per
cent. One grain of sodium citrate to the ounce of
milk would be .20 per cent. The gruels were stand-
ardized to one ounce of flour or oatmeal to the quart
of water and cooked three hours in a double boiler.
Conditions.—The experiments were all performed
at 40 C. in glass test tubes. The milk was used as
whole milk or diluted with water, flour gruel, or oat-
meal gruel. The dilutions made were two thirds,
one half, one third, one fourth, one eighth milk.
CONCLUSIONS
Sodium citrate in .25 per cent, or more, retards,
and very high percentages will inhibit coagulation.
I.
THE SOOTHER
193
milk supply and methods of handling the same, also in
the means of protection from germs which might prove
detrimental to the quality of the milk or injurious
to the digestive apparatus of the infant. Pasteur-
ization, and even sterilization, though undoubted-
ly depreciating the food value of the milk as well as
its digestibility, are advocated by many who would
minimize the danger from the introduction of path-
ogenic micro-organisms with the food. For the
same reason, the improved hygiene, including the
care of the nursing bottle, the sterilization of the nip-
ple, the antiseptic care of the baby's mouth, and
everything pertaining to the act or process of feed-
ing, is widely practiced.
The unanimity of the profession in regard to these
details leads the writer to call attention to a glaring
inconsistency in infant hygiene, which is so wide-
spread as to come under the daily observation of
every baby feeder. The long-tube nursing bottle
is practically obsolete; indeed, some municipalities
have enacted laws against the sale or use, for the
evident reason which has been amply demonstrated
– that the apparatus can not be kept germ-free.
Great cedit is due to Doctor Ernest Mende, of Buffalo,
for his vigorous and successful crusade against this
death-dealing tube. As though the nursling had not
enough to contend with in securing his right to
protection in our unhygienic homes, it would seem
196
CARE OF CHILDREN
formation, the writer does not believe, though he
accepts the deformity or any other condition which
interferes with free nasal respiration as prolific in the
causation of naso-pharyngeal catarrhs, with hyper-
trophy of adenoid tissue. The direct current in-
spired in the mouth-breather incites tonsilar hy-
peremia and hypertrophy, so that the familiar type
of this deformity may prove the starting point to
the lesions of the mucosa above mentioned.
In the absence of heredity it may be questioned
whether intrauterine conditions or pressure at the
time of delivery, with or without forceps, may not
influence the peculiar conformation known as con-
genital adenoid facies." Be that as it may, the
fact is well known that an infant apparently normal
at birth may gradually develop this oro-naso-facial
deformity between the sixth month and the third
year of its life. The not uncommon dental deform-
ity produced by thumb sucking has been thoroughly
exploited. Little, however, so far as the writer
knows, has been said in regard to the effect of the
continuous use of the 'soother” in this connection.
When we recall the plastic condition of the structures
that make up the oral and nasal cavities, giving form
to the infant face, and remember that ossification
is incomplete at birth, proceeding only from numer-
ous ossific centers with intervening areas of plastic
tissue, it is not difficult to perceive that persistent,
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FOOD SUBJECTS
CHEMISTRY OF THE HOUSEHOLD, FOOD AND DIETETICS, by Prof.
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stains, of lighting; home tests, etc. so on; food adulterations, "Food Val-
ues,” etc.
PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY, by Anna
HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT,
Barrows,
by
Columbia University and
Prof. Bertha M. Terrill of University
Chautauqua School of Cookery.
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"A key to the cook books''-ana Household finance; economy in
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HOUSEHOLD BACTERIOLOGY, by PERSONAL HYGIENE, by M. Le-
S. Maria Elliott, Simmons College. Bosquet, S. B., Director of A. S. H. E.
The microscopic forms of life and The human machine; running the
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HOME CARE OF THE SICK, by Amy
HOUSEHOLD HYGIENE, by S. Maria
E. Pope, Presbyterian Hospital, New
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The healthful home; the best situa Essentials of trained nursing; han-
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daging; communicable diseases, etc.
HOUSEHOLD ARTS
THE HOUSE: ITS PLAN, DECORA TEXTILES AND CLOTHING, by Kate
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CHILDREN
CARE OF CHILDREN, by Dr. A. C. STUDY OF CHILD LIFE, by Marion
Cotton, Prof. Children's Diseases, Rush Foster Washburne, editor "Mothers'
Medical College, University of Chi Magazine."
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Sensible and practical directions for
Care of the baby before and after the treatment of children; faults and
hirth: healthful clothing; develop their remedies; character building;
tient and growth; specific directions home occupations; play; associates;
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SUPPLEMENTAL PROGRAM ARRANGED FOR
CLASSES ON
CARE OF CHILDREN
MEETING I
(Study pages 1-31)
Before Baby Comes.
Care of the Child in Health, Oppenheim, pages 1-46.
($1.25, postage 12c.)
Century Book for Mothers, Yale and Pollock, pages 1–24.
($2.00, postage 18c.)
Care of the Baby, Griffith, pages 17–34. ($1.50, postage
18c.)
The New Born Baby and His Care.
Care of the Baby, pages 34-46; Century Book for Mothers,
pages 25-29.
Clothing
Century Book for Mothers, pages 44-58.
Care of the Baby, pages 86–115.
Exhibit.
(1) Make pattern, cut and finish a baby bag," as shown
on page 23 Contrast this with a typical pinning
blanket.
(2) Show simple and tasteful baby's dresses and over
elaborate dresses,
(3) Trace the outline of a child's bare foot.
(4) Show good and bad shoes.
MEETING II
(Study pages 32 - 53)
The Nursery, Sleep, Bathing.
Care of the Baby, pages 213-224, 68–85.
Century Book for Mothers, pages 18–24.
201
202
CARE OF CHILDREN
See article on The Soother in the Supplement.
Development and Growth
Century Book for Mothers, pages 59–76.
Care of the Baby, pages 46–67.
If possible, show a weight chart for some baby.
(Select answers to the Test Questions on Part I and send
them to the School. Report on supplemental reading,
etc. for the first two meetings.)
MEETING III
(Study pages 55 – 75)
Natural Food.
Food and Dietetics, Hutchison, pages 414-427. ($3.00,
postage 26c.)
Care of the Baby, Griffith, pages 116-132.
If not familiar with food principles and their use in the
body, read Food and Dietetics, Norton (Volume VI,
Library of Home Economics), or send to the Department
of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., for some of the free
bulletins called Farmers' Bulletins: No. 142, Principles
of Nutrition and Nutritive Value of Food; No. 42,
Facts about Milk; No. 74, Milk as Food; No. 93, Sugar
as Food; No. 108, Eggs and their Use as Food, etc.
MEETING IV
(Study pages 75 – 122)
Artificial Feeding
Care and Feeding of Infants, Holt. (750. postage 6c.)
Food and Dietetics, Hutchison, pages 428-453. ($3.00.
postage 26c.)
See article in the Supplement on Citrate of Soda in Infant
Feeding.
See Farmer's Bulletin, No. 210, The Covered Milk Pail;
No. 227, Clean Milk.
Have a report on the local milk supply as to sanitary condi-
tion of dairies, age of milk when delivered, enforcement
of local regulations.
.
PROGRAM
203
Visit a model dairy.
Send for the booklets of the manufacturers of the various
“infant foods.” Weigh the evidence.
Food for the Second-year and Older Children.
See Food and Dietetics, Norton (Vol. VI of the Library)
pages 174-178.
How to Feed Children, Hogan. ($1.00, postage roc.)
(Send in answers to the Test Questions on Part II and give
a report of Meetings III and IV.)
MEETING V
(Study pages 123 – 164.)
Food Disorders.
Care and Feeding of Infants, Part III.
Century Book for Mothers, pages 124-135; 258–265.
Minor Troubles.
Send 2 cent stamp to the State Board of Health, Spring-
field, Ill., for their bulletin on “Infant Feeding."
See article on "Soothing Syrups” in Collier's Weekly,
April 28, 1906.
Century Book for Mothers, pages 193-218; 233-242.
Children's Diseases.
Care of the Baby, pages 314-336.
Send to the State Board of Health, Lansing, Michigan, for
their bulletin on Diphtheria, Scarlet Fever, Whooping
Cough, Measles, Meningitis, and Teachers' Bulletin No.
87, “ The Milk Problem."
Also send to the Secretary of your own State Board of
Health (to the capital city) for any bulletins on conta-
gious diseases.
MEETING VI
(Study pages 165-173.)
Hygiene of the Child and Youth.
Report on the ventilation, heating, lighting, and sanitary
care of local schools.
What attention is given to physical education.
204
CARE OF CHILDREN
19
Read extracts from “The Medical Inspection of Schools,"
Lewis S. Somers, M. D. Prize essay, free from the publish-
ers, The Maltine Company, Brooklyn, N. Y. (6c. of the
School.)
(Send answers to the Text Questions on Part III and give
a report of Meetings V and VI.)
206
CARE OF CHILDREN
Croup treatment for, 146
Cry, the, 125
Crying, 37
persistent, 126
Daily outing, 37.
Diaper, material of, 26,
Diarrhea, summer, 130
Dietaries for children, 116
Digestion, completeness of, 77
gastric, 76
Digestive organs, 13
secretions, development of,
46
Diphtheria, cause of, 157
symptoms of, 157
Diseases, contagious, 153
nervous, 148
symptoms of, 123
table of contagious, 162
Drawers, 28
Dress of mother, I
Dressing, care in, 27
Drugs, use of, 130
Earache, 160
Ear strain, 170
Education, 167
Emotion, expression of, 52
Exercise, 37
Eye strain, 170
Eyes, care of, 11, 16
Fats, 63
Feeding, 92
artificial, 76–114, 179
irregular, 59
substitute, 71
Fever, 124
scarlet, 155.
Fevers, eruptive, 153
Fluids, drain of, 132
Fontanelles, 10
Food, artificial, 74
coarse, 129
disorders, 113
first substitute, 73
for mother, 3
Food for older children, 115
natural, 56
other than milk, 109
patent, 110
recipes, 119
semi-solid, 115
test of, 64
unadvisable, 118
Foreign bodies, 159
Formula, making up a,, 104
Formulæ, changing, 106
Fruit juices, 109
Furnishing of nursery, 33
Games for girls, 168
Genitals, care of, 39
Growth, relative, 45
Gruels, 109
Head, development of, 45
shape of, 9
Health, symptoms in, 123
Hearing, development of, 51
Height, table of, 42
Hot weather diet, 114
Infant feeding, sodium citrate
hgyiene, importance of, 6
Kicking, 37
Kumyss, 122
Lactation, period of, 72
Length, gain in, 44
Lime water, 120
Lungs, 12
Malnutrition, cause of, 139
treatment for, 139
Marasnius, 139
Massage, 129
Maternity gown, ?
Materials for children's clothes
31
Measles, 153
German, 154
Medicine chest, 163
Meningitis, 160
Mental attitude of mother, ,
66
in, 179
208
CARE OF CHILDREN
Soother, the, 35, 192
Sore throat, 142
Spasms, cause of, 149
Special senses at birth, 15
Spine, condition at birth, II
Standing, 52
Starch as food, 109
Sterilizing milk, 88
Stimulants, 118
Stomach, capacity of, 46
Stools, color of, 135
Substitute feeding, essentials
in, 78
Sucking cushions, II
thumb, 36
Sugar, 63, 101
Summer complaint, 130
after effects, 134
Surroundings and care, 32
Symptoms in health, 123
Syringe, use of, 159
Taste, development of, 50
Teeth, care of, 39, 165
examination of, 5
Temperature of nursery,
33
variations in, 147
Thirst, 61
Throat, care of, 166
Thumb sucking, 36
Under clothes, 24
Unsafe milk, 88
Uric acid, 62
Urine, examination of, 4
Viscous circle, 36
Vision, development of, 51
Vomiting, 113, 132
cause of, 71
Walking, 52
Water bath, first general, 18
Water, importance of, 62
Weak heart, period of, 169
Weaning, 71
early, 72
time of year, 73
Weight at birth, 9
chart, 43
loss of, 57
rate of increase in, 43
table of, 42
Wet nurse 75
Whey, 120
Whining, 126
Whooping cough, 158
Winter clothes, 25
milk, 47
order of eruption, 47
permanent, 48
Teething, 47
retarded, 50
Temperature, 20, 147
of baths, 38