I THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE GIFT OF John 0" Brian ADVICE TO A MOTHER MANAGEMENT OF HER CHILDREN" ADVICE TO A MOTHER ONTHB MANAGEMENT OF HER CHILDREN AND ON THB TREATMENT ON THE MOMENT OF SOME OF THEIR MORE PRESSING ILLNESSES AND ACCIDENTS BT PYE HENRY gHAVASSE, * La, children and the fruit of the womb are an heritage and gift that cometh of the Lord." THIRTEENTH EDITION LONDON J. AND A. CHURCHILL NEW BURLINGTON STREET TO SIR CHAELES LOCOCK, BART., D.C.L., F.R.S., FIRST PHYSICIAN-ACCOUCHEUR TO HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN. DEAR SIR CHARLES, Your kind and flattering approval of this little Book, and your valuable suggestions for its improve- ment, demand my warmest gratitude and acknowledgments, and have stimulated me to renewed exertions to make it still more complete and useful, and thus more worthy of your approbation. You have greatly added to my obligation, by allowing me to indicate those passages of the work that you considered required correction, addition, and improvement. On refer- ence to these pages, it will be at once perceived how greatly I am indebted to you, and how much I have profited by your valuable advice. I have the honour to remain, DEAR SIR CHARLES, Your faithful and obliged Servant, PYE HENRY CHAVASSE. PREFACE. THIS Book has been translated into French, into German, into Polish, and into Tamil (one of the languages of India); it has been extensively pub- lished in America; and is well-known wherever the English language is spoken. The Twelfth Edition consisting of twenty thou- sand copies being exhausted in less than three years, the THIRTEENTH EDITION is now published. One or two fresh questions have been asked and answered, and two or three new paragraphs have been added. PYE HEKRY CHAVASSE. 214, HAGLEY ROAD, EDGBASTOK, BIRMINGHAM, June, 1878. CONTENTS. PART I, INFANCY. PKKT.IMTSART CoNVEBSATioit ABLUTION .... MANAGEMENT or THB NAVEL NAVEL KUPTURK GROIN RUFTUKB CLOTHING .... DIET .... VACCINATION AMD RE-VACCIXATION DENTITION .... EXERCISE .... SLBK.P .... THE BLADDER AND THE BOWELS . AILMENTS, DISEASE, BTC. . CONCLUDING REMARKS OH INFANCY PAO* 1 S 10 11 18 16 X8 44 63 55 60 61 87 PART II. CHILDHOOD. ABLUTION ......... 88 CLOTHING ... .... 90 DIET 97 THKNURSEET ........ Ill EXERCISE ....... 130 AMUSEMENTS ........ 134 EDUCATION ......... 139 SLEEP 148 SECOND DEsrmoBr .... 147 DISEASE, ETC, ..... . . 147 WARM BATHS ........ 231 WARM EXTERNAL APPLICATIONS ...... 232 ACCIDENTS ......... 234 PART in. BOYHOOD AND GIRLHOOD. ABLUTION, ETC. ....... 252 MANAGEMENT OF THE HAIR ..... 258 CLOTHING ........ 259 DIKT . 263 AIR AND EXERCISB ...... 267 AMUSEMENTS ....... 270 EDUCATION . . . . " . . . . 274 HOUSEHOLD WORK FOR GIRLS ..... 280 CHOICE OF PROFESSION OR TRADE .... 281 SLEEP ........ 283 On THE TEETH AND GUMS . .... 287 PREVENTION OF DISEASE, BTC. ..... 289 CONCLUDING RKMARM ....... 819 IKDEX . .... . Wl ADVICE TO A MOTHER. PART I. INFANCY. Infant and tuckling. 1. SAMUEL. A mm with all its uceetest leasts yet folded, By BOH. Man's breathing Miniature! COLEBIDQB. PRELIMINARY CONVERSATION. 1. / vrish to consult you on many subjects appertaining to the management and the care of children : will you favour me icith your advice and counsel f I shall be happy to accede to your request, and to give you the fruits of my experience in the clearest manner I am able, and in the simplest language I can command freed from all technicalities. I will endeavour to guide you in the management of the health of your offspring ; I will describe to you the symptoms of the diseases of children ; I will warn you of approaching danger, in order that you may promptly apply for medical assistance before disease has gained too firm a footing ; I will give you the treatment on the moment of some of their more pressing illnesses when medical aid cannot at once ba procured, and where delay may be death; I will in- struct you, in case of accidents, on the immediate employment of remedies where procrastination may be dangerous ; I will tell you how a sick child should be nursed, and how a sick-room ought to be managed ; I will use my best energy to banish injurious practices from the nursery; I wiU treat of the means to prevent A 2 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. disease where it be possible ; I will show you the way to preserve the health of the healthy, and how to strengthen the delicate ; and will strive to make a medical man's task more agreeable to himself, and more beneficial to his patient, by dispelling errors and pre- judices, and by proving the importance of your strictly adhering to his rules. If I can accomplish any of these objects, I shall be amply repaid by the pleasing satisfac- tion that I have been of some little service to the rising generation. 2. TJien you consider it important that I should be made acquainted with, and bo well informed upon, the subjects you have just named ? Certainly ! I deem it to bo your imperative duty to study the subjects well. The proper management of children is a vital question, a mother's question, and the most important that can be brought under the con- sideration of a parent ; and, strange to say, it is one that has been more neglected than any other. How many mothers undertake the responsible management of children without previous instruction, or without fore- thought ; they undertake it, as though it may be learned either by intuition or by instinct, or by affection ! The consequence is, that frequently they are in a sea of trouble and uncertainty, tossing about without either rule or compass ; until, too often, their hopes and treasures are shipwrecked and lost. The care and management, and consequently the health and future well-doing of the child, principally devolve upon the mother ; " for it is the mother after all that has most to do with the making or marring of the man."* Dr Guthrie justly remarks that "Moses might have never been the man he was unless he had been nursed by his own mother. How Tnany celebrated men have owed their greatness and their goodness to a mother's training ! " Napoleon owed much to his mother. " ' The fate of a child,' said Napoleon, ' is always the work of * Good Words, Dr W, Lindsay Alexander, March 1861. INFANCY. ABLUTION. 3 his mother;' and this extraordinary man took pleasure in repeating, that to his mother he owed his elevation. All history confirms this opinion The character of the mother influences the children more than that of the father, because it is more exposed to their daily, hourly observation." Woman's Mission. I am not overstating the importance of the subject in hand when I say, that a child is the most valuable treasure in the world, that " he is the precious gift of God," that he is the source of a mother's greatest and purest enjoyment, that he is the strongest bond of affec- tion between her and her husband, and that " A babe in a house is a well-spring of pleasure, A messenger of peace and love.'' Tupper. I have, in the writing of the following pages, had one object constantly in view namely, health " That salt of life, which does to all a relish give, Its standing pleasure, and intrinsic wealth, The body's virtue, and the soul's good fortune health." If the f ollowing pages insist on the importance of ono of a mother's duties more than another it is this, that the mother herself look well into everything appertaining to the management of her oivn child. Blessed is that mother among mothers of whom it can be said, that "she hath done what she could " for her child for his welfare, for his happiness, for his health ! For if a mother hath not " done what she could for her child " mentally, morally, and physically woe betide the unfortunate little creature; better had it been for him had he never been bom ! ABLUTION. 3. Is a neio-liorn infant, for the, first time, to be icaslied in warm or in cold water ? It is not an uncommon plan to use cold water from the first, under the impression of its strengthening the child. This aunears to be a cruel and barbarous practice, and is 4 ADVICE TO A MOTHER likely to hav a contrary tendency. Moreover, it fre- quently produces either inflammation of the eyes, or Htulling of the nose, or inflammation of the lungs, or looseness of the bowels. Although I do not approve of cold water, wo ought not to run into an opposite extreme. as hut water would weaken and enervate the babe, ami thus would predispose him to disease. Luke-warm rain water will bo the best to wash him with. This, if it bo summer, should have its temperature gradually lowered, until it be quite cold ; if it be winter, a dash of warm water ought still to be added, to take off the chill.* (By thermometer = 90 to 92 degrees.) It will be necessary to use soap Castile soap being the best for the purpose it being less irritating to the skin than the ordinary soap. Care should be taken that it doea not get into the eyes, as it may produce either inflammation or smarting of those organs. If the skin be delicate, or if there be any excoriation or "breaking-out" on the skin, then glycerine soap, instead of the Castile soap, ought to be used. 4. At what age do you recommend a mother to com- mence washing her infant either in the tub, or in the nursery basin ? As soon as the navel-string comes away.f Do not be afraid of water, and that in plenty, as it is one of the best strengtheners to a child's constitution. How many infants suffer, for the want of water, from excoriation ! f>. Wliich do you prefer -flannel or sponge to wash a child with ? A piece of flannel is, for the first part of the wasliing A nursery-basin (Wedgwood's make, is considered the best), holding either six or eight quarts of water, and which will be siitlirifntly large to hold the whole body of the child. The basin is generally fitted into a wooden frame which will raise it to a convenient height for the washing of the baby. t Sir Charles Locock strongly recommends that an infant should be washed in a tub from the very commencement. He says," All those that I superintend begin with a tub." Letter to the Author. INFANCY. ABLUTION. 3 very useful that is to say, to use with the soap, and to loosen the dirt and the perspiration ; but for the finish- ing-up process, a sponge a large sponge is superior to flannel, to wash all away, and to complete the bathing. A sponge cleanses and gets into all the nooks, corners, and crevices of the skin. Besides, sponge, to finish up with, is softer and more agreeable to the tender skin of a babe than flannel. Moreover, a sponge holds more water than flannel, and thus enables you to stream the water more effectually over him. A large sponge will act like a miniature shower bath, and will thus brace and strengthen him. 6. To prevent a new-born babe from catching cold, is it necessary to wash his head with brandy ? It is not necessary. The idea that it will prevent cold is erroneous, as the rapid evaporation of heat which the brandy causes is more likely to give than to prevent cold. 7. Ought that tenacious, paste like substance, adhering to the skin of a new-born babe, to be washed off at the firlication ? After sponging the parts with tepid rain water, holding him over his tub, and allowing the water from a well-filled sponge to stream over the parts, and then drying them with a soft napkin (not rubbing, but gently dabbing with the napkin), there is nothing better than dusting the parts frequently with finely powdered Native Carbonate of Zinc-Calamino Powder. The best way of using this powder is, tying up a little of it in a piece of muslin, and then gently dabbing the parts with it. Remember excoriations are generally owing to the want of water, to the want of an abundance of water. An infant who is every morning well soused and well swilled with water seldom suffers either from excoria- tions, or from any other of the numerous skin diseases. Cleanliness, then, is the grand preventative of, and the best remedy for excoriation*. Naaman the Syrian waa g ADVICE TO A MOTHER. ordered "to wash and be clean," and ho was healed, " and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child and he was clean," This was, of course, a miracle ; hut how often does water, without any special intervention, act miraculously both in preventing and in curing skin diseases I An infant's clothes, napkins especially, ought never to be washed with soda ; the washing of napkins with Boda is apt to produce excoriations and breakings-out " As washerwomen often deny that they use soda, it can be easily detected by simply soaking a clean white napkin in fresh water and then tasting the water ; if it be brackish and salt, soda has been employed."* 10. Who if the proper person to wash and dress the babef The monthly nurse, as long as she is in attendance j but afterwards the mother, unless she should happen to have an experienced, sensible, thoughtful nurse, which, unfortunately, is seldom the case.f 1 1. What is the best kind oj aprori for a mother, or for a nurse, to wear, while washing the infant ? Flannel a good, thick, soft flannel, usually called bathcoating apron, made long and full, and which of course ought to be well dried every time before it is used. 12. PerJiapx you mil kindly recapitulate, and rjim me further advice on tJie subject of tJie ablution of my babe. Let him by all means, then, as soon as the navel-string * Communicated by Sir diaries Locock to the Author. t " The Princess of Wales might have been seen on Thursday taking an airing in a brougham in Hyde Park with her baby the future Kincj of England on her lap, without a nurse, and accompanied only by Mrs Bruce. The Princess seems a very pattern of mothers, and it is whispered among the ladies of the Court that every evening the mother of this young gentleman may be seen in a flannel dress, in order that she may properly wash and put on baby's night clothes, and see him safely in bed. It is a pretty subject "for a picture." Pall Mall Gazette. INFANCY. ABLUTION. 9 has separated from the body, be bathed either in his tub, or in his bath, or in his large nursery-basin ; for if he is to be strong and hearty, in the water every morning he must go. The water ought to bo slightly warmer than new milk. It is dangerous for him to remain for a long period in his bath ; this, of course, holds good in a ten- fold degree if the child have either a cold or pain in his bowels. Take care that, immediately after he comes out of liis tub, he is well dried with warm towels. It is well lo let him have his bath the first thing in the morning, and .before he has been put to the breast ; let him be washed before he has his breakfast ; it will refresh him and give him an appetite. Besides, he ought to have his morning ablution on an empty stomach, or it may inter- fere with digestion, and might produce sickness and pain. In putting him in his tub, let his head be the first part washed. We all know, that in bathing in the sea, how much better we can bear -the water if we first \vet our head ; if we do not do so, we feel shivering and starved and miserable. Let there be no dawdling in the wash- ing ; let it be quickly over. When he is thoroughly dried with warm dry towels, let him be well rubbed with the warm hand of the mother or of the nurse. As I previously recommended, while drying him and while rubbing him, let him repose and kick and stretch either on the warm flannel apron, or else on a small blanket placed on the lap. One bathing in the tub, and that in the morning, is sufficient, and better than night and morn- ing. During the day, as I before observed, he may, after the action either of his bowels or of his bladder, re- quire several spongings of lukewarm water, for cleanliness is n. //rand incentive to health and comeliness. Remember it is absolutely necessary to every child from his earliest babyhood to have a bath, to be immersed every morning of his life in the water. This advice, un- less in cases of severe illness, admits of no exception. Water to the body to the whole body is a necessity of life, of health, and of happiness ; it wards off disease, it braces the nerves, it hardens the frame, it is the finest 10 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. tonic in the world. Oli, if every mother would follow to the very letter this counsel how much misery, how much ill health might then be averted ! MANAGEMENT OF THE NAVEL. 13. Should the navel-string be wrapped in SINGED rag 1 There is nothing better than a piece of fine old linen rag, unsinged ; when singed, it frequently irritates the infiint's skin. 14. How ought the navel-string to be wrapped in the ngj Take a piece of soft linen rag, about three inches wide and four inches long, and wrap it neatly round the navel string, in the same manner you would around a cut finger, nii'l then, to keep on the rag, tie it with a few rounds of whity-brown thread. The navel-string thus covered should, pointing upwards, be placed on the belly of the child, and must be secured in its place by means of a flannel belly-band. 15. Ij after the navel-string has been secured, bleeding fhnull (in the absence of the medical man) occur, how m>i.e,iic? without artificial food until he have attained the age of three or four months ; then, it will usually be necessary to feed him with TJie M ilk-water -and-sugar-of-milk Food (see p. 19) twice a day, so as gradually to prepare him to be weaned (if possible) at the end of nine months. The food mentioned in the foregoing Conversation will, when he is six or seven months old, be the best for him. 36. When the mother is not able to suckle her infant herself, what ought to be done 1 It must first be ascertained, beyond all doubt, that a mother is not able to suckle her own child. Many delicate ladies do suckle their infants with advantage, uot only to their offspring, but to themselves. " I will maintain," says Steele, " that the mother grows stronger by it, and will have her health better than she would have otherwise. She will find it the greatest cure, and preservative for the vapours [nervousness] and future miscarriages, much beyond any other remedy whatsoever. Her children will be like giants, whereas otherwise they are but living shadows, and like unripe fruit ; and certainly if a woman is strong enough to bring forth a child, she is beyond all doubt strong enough to nurse it afterwards." Many mothers are never so well as when they are nursing ; besides, suckling prevents a lady from becoming pregnant so frequently as she otherwise would. This, if she be delicate, is an important consideration, and more especially if she be subject to miscarry, The effects of miscarriage are far more weakening than those of suckling. A hireling, let her be ever so well inclined, can never have the affection and unceasing assiduity of a mother, and, therefore, cannot perform the duties of suckling with equal advantage to the baby. 28 ADVICE TO A MOTHER The number of children who die under five years of age is enormous many of them from the want of the mother's milk. There is a regular "parental baby- sLnu'hter " " a massacre of the innocents " constantly goinu on in England, in consequence of infants being thus deprived of their proper nutriment and just dues I The mortality from this cause is frightful, chiefly occur- ring among rich people who are either too grand, or, from luxury, too delicate to perform such duties : poor married women, as a rule, nurse their own children, and, in con- sequence, reap their reward. If it be ascertained, past all doubt, that a mother can- not suckle her child, then, if the circumstances of the parents will allow and they ought to (strain a point to accomplish it a healthy wet-nurse should be procured, as, of course, the food which nature has supplied is far, very far superior to any invented by art Never bring up a baby, then, if you can possibly avoid it, on iirtijicial food. Remember, as I proved in a former Conversation, there is in early infancy no real substitute for either a mother's or a wet-nurse's milk. It is impossible to imitate the admirable and subtle chemistry of nature. The law of nature is, that a baby, for the first few months of his existence, shall be brought up by the breast; and nature's law cannot be broken with impunity.* It will be imperatively necessary then " To give to nature what is nature's due." Again, in case of a severe illness occurring during the first nine months of a child's life, what a comfort either the mother's or the wet-nurse's milk is to him ! it often determines whether he sliall live or die. But if a wet- nurse cannot fill the place of a mother, then asses' milk will be found the best substitute, as it approaches nearer, in composition, than any other animal's, to human milk ; but it is both difficult and expensive to obtain. The next best substitute is goats' milk. Either the one or * For further reasons why artificial food is not desirable, at an early period of infancy, see answer to 35th question, page 26. HffFANOT. DIBT. 29 the other ought to be milked fresh and fresh, when wanted, and should be given by means of a feeding- bottle. Asses' milk is more suitable for a delicate infant, and goats' milk for a strong one. If neither asses' milk nor goats' milk can be procured, then the following Milk-icater-salt-and-sugar Food, from the very commencement, should be given ; and as I Avas the author of the formula,* I beg to designate it as Pye Chavasse's Milk Food : New milk, the produce of OXE healthy cow ; Warm water, of each, equal parts ; Table salt, a few grains a small pinch ; Lump sugar, a sufficient quantity, to slightly sweeten it. The milk itself ought not to be heated over the fire,f but should, as above directed, be warmed by the water ; it must, morning and evening, be had fresh and fresh. The milk and water should be of the same temperature as the mother's milk, that is to say, at about ninety degrees Fahrenheit It ought to be given by means of either Morgan's, or Maw's, or Mather's feeding-bottle, f and care must be taken to scald the bottle out twice a day, for if attention be not paid to this point, the delicate stomach of an infant is soon disordered. The milk should, as he grows older, be gradually increased and the water decreased, until two-thirds of milk and one-third of water be used ; but remember, that either much or little water must always be given with the milk. The above is my old form, and which I have for many years used with great success. Where the above food does not agree (and no food except a healthy mother's own milk does invariably agree) I occasionally substitute * It first appeared in print in the 4th edition of Advice to a, Mother, 1852. t It now and then happens, that if the milk be not boiled, the motions of an infant arc offensive ; u-hen such is the case, let the milk be boiled, but not otherwise. + See answer to Question 24, page 24. 30 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. sugar-of-milk for the lump sugar, in the proportion of a tea-spoonful of sugar-of-milk to every half-pint of food. Jf your child bring up his food, and if the ejected matter be sour-smelling, I should advise you to leave out the sugnr-of-milk altogether, and simply to let the child live, for a few days, on milk and water alone, the milk being of one cow, and in the proportion of two- thirds to one-third of warm water not hot water; the milk should not be scalded with hot water, as it injures its properties ; besides, it is only necessary to give tho child his food with the chill just off. The above food, where the stomach ia disordered, is an admirable one, and will often set the child to rights without giving him any medicine whatever. Moreover, there is plenty of nourishment in it to make the babe thrive ; for after all it is the milk that is the important ingredient in all the foods of infants ; they can live on it, and on it alone, and thrive amazingly. Mothers sometimes say to me, that farinaceous food makes their babes flatulent, and that my food (Pye Chavasse's Milk Food) has not that effect. The reason of farinaceous food making babes, until thoy have commenced cutting their teeth, " windy " is, that the starch of the farinaceous food (and all farinace- ous foods contain more or less of starch) is not digested, and is not, as it ought to be, converted by the saliva into sugar :* hence " wind " is generated, and pain and con- vulsions often follow in the train. The great desideratum, in devising an infant's formula for food, is to make it, until he be nine months old, to resemble as much as possible, a mother's own milk ; and which my formula, as nearly as is practicable, does re- semble : hence its success and popularity. As soon as a child begins to cut his teeth the case is altered, mid farinaceous food, with milk and with water, becomes an absolute necessity I wish, then, to call your especial attention to the * See Pye Cliavasse's Counsel to a Mother, 3d edition. INFANCY. DIET. 31 following facts, for they are facts : Farinaceous foods, of all kinds, before a child commences cutting his teeth (which is when he is about six or seven months old) are worse than useless they are, positively, injurious ; they are, during the early period of infant life, perfectly in- digestible, and may bring on which they frequently do convulsions. A babe fed on farinaceous food alone would certainly die of starvation ; for, " up to six or eeven months of age, infants have not the power of digesting farinaceous or fibrinous substances." Dr Letheby on Food. A babe salivary glands, until he be six or seven months old, does not secrete its proper fluid namely, ptyalin, and consequently the starch of the farinaceous food and all farinaceous food contains starch is not converted into dextrine and grape-sugar, and is, therefore, perfectly indigestible and useless nay, injurious to an infant, and may bring on pain and convulsions, and even death ; hence, the giving of farinaceous food, until a child be six or seven months old, is one and the principal cause of the frightful infant mortality at the present time existing in England, and -which is a disgrace to any civilized land ! In passing, allow me to urge you never to stuft a babe never to overload his little stomach with food ; it is far more desirable to give him a little not enough, than to give him a little too much. Many a poor child has been, like a young bird, killed with stuffing. If a child be at the breast, and at the breast alone, there is no fear of his taking too much ; but if he be brought up on artificial food, there is great fear of bis over-loading his stomach. Stuffing a child brings on vomiting and bowel-complaints, and a host of other diseases which now it -would be tedious to enumerate. Let me, then, urge you on no account, to over-load the stomach of a little child. There will, then, in many cases, be quite sufficient nourishment in the above ; I have known some robust infants brought up on it, and on it alone, without a 33 ADVICE TO A MOTHER particle of farinaceous food, or of any other food, in any shape or form whatever. But if it should not agree with the child, or if there should not be sufficient nourishment in it, then the food recommended in answer to No. 31 question ought to be given, with this only difference a little new milk must from the beginning be added, and should be gradually increased, until nearly all milk bo used. The milk, as a general rule, ought to be unboiled ; but if it purge violently, or if it cause offensive motions which it sometimes does then it must be boiled. The moment the milk boils up, it should be taken off the fire. Food ought for the first month to be given about every two hours ; for the second month, about every three hours ; lengthening the space of time as the baby advances in age. A mother must be careful not to over-feed a child, as over-feeding is a prolific source of disease. Let it be thoroughly understood, and let there be no mistake about it, that a babe during the first nine months of his life, MUST have it is absolutely necessary for his very existence milk of some kind, as the staple and principal article of his diet, either mother's ' wet-nurse's, or asses', or goats', or cow's milk. 37. IIow would you choose a icet-nwse ? I would inquire particularly into the state of her health ; whether she be of a healthy family, of a con- sumptive habit, or if she or any of her family have laboured under " king's evil ; " ascertaining if there be any seams or swellings about her neck ; any eruptions or blotches upon her skin ; if she has a plentiful breast of milk, and if it be of good quality* (which may readily be ascertained by milking a little into a glass) ; if she lias good nipples, sufficiently long for the baby to hold ; that they be not sore ; and if her own child be of the same, or nearly of the same age, as the one you wish her "It should be thin, and of a bluish- white colour, sweet to the taste, and when allowed to stand, should throw up a con- siderable quantity of cream." Maunsell andEvenson on the Lit' eases qf Children. INFANOT. DIET. 83 to nurse. Ascertain, whether she menstruate during Buckling ; if she does, the milk is not so good and nourishing, and you had better decline taking her.* Assure yourself that her own habe is strong and healthy and that he is free from a sore mouth, and from a " breaking-out " of the skin. Indeed, if it be possible to procure such a wet-nurse, she ought to be from the country, of ruddy complexion, of clear skin, and of between twenty and five-and-twenty years of age, as the milk will then be fresh, pure, and nourishing. I consider it to be of great importance that the infant of the wet-nurso should be, as nearly as possible, of the same age as your own, as the milk varies in quality according to the age of the child. For instance, during the commencement of suckling, the milk is thick and creamy, similar to the biestiugs of a cow, which, if given to a babe of a few months old, would cause derangement of the stomach and bowels. After the first few days, the appearance of the milk changes ; it becomes of a bluish-white colour, and contains less nourishment. The milk gradually becomes more and more nourishing as the infant becomes older and requires more support. In selecting a wet-nurse for a very small and feeble babe, you must carefully ascertain that the nipples of the wet-nurse are good and soft, and yet not very large. If they bo very large, the child's- mouth being very small, he may not be able to hold them. You must note, too, whether the milk flows readily from the nipple into the child's mouth ; if it does not, he may not have strength to draw it, and he would soon die of starvation. The only way of ascertaining whether the infant really il raws the milk from the nipple, can be done by examining the mouth of the child immediately after his taking the * Sir Charles Loeock considers that a woman who menstru- ates during lactation is objectionable as a wet-nurse, and " that as a mother with her Qrat child is more liable to that objection, that a second or third child's mother is more eligible than a first," Letter to the Author. 34 ADVICE TO A MOTHEIt breast, and seeing for yourself whether there be actually milk, or not, in his mouth. Very feeble new-born babes sometimes cannot take the bosom, bo the nipples and the breasts ever so good, and although Maw's nipple-shield and glass tube had boen tried. In such a case, cow's milk-water-sugar-and- salt, as recommended at page 29, must be given in small quantities at a time from two to four 'tea-spoonfuls but frequently ; if the child be awake, every hour, or every half hour, both night and day, until he be able to take the breast. If, then, a puny, feeble babe is only able to take but little at a time, and that little by tea- spoonfuls, he must have little and often, in order that " many a little might make a mickle." I have known many puny, delicate children who had not strength to hold the nipple in their mouths, but who could take milk and water (as above recommended) by tea-spoonfuls only at a time, with steady perseverance, and giving it every half hour or hour (according to the quantity swallowed), at length be able to take the breast, and eventually become strong and hearty children ; but such cases require unwearied watching, perseverance, and care. Bear in mind, then, that the smaller the quantity of the milk and water given at a time, the oftoner must it be administered, as, of course, the babe must have a certain quantity of food to sustain life. 38. What, ought to be the diet either of a wet-nurse, or of a mother, who is suckling 1 It is a common practice to cram a wet-nurse with food, and to give her strong ale to drink, to make good nourish- ment and plentiful milk ! This practice is absurd ; for it either, by making the nurse feverish, makes the milk more sparing than usual, or it causes the milk to be gross and unwholesome. On the other hand, we must not run into an opposite extreme. The mother, or the wet- nurse, by using those means most conducive to her own health, will best advance the interest of her little charge. A wet-nurse, ought to live somewnat in the following : . Let her for breakfast have black tea, with one or INFANCY. DIET. 35 two slices of cold meat, if her appetite demand it, but not otherwise. It is customary for a wet-nurse to make a hearty luncheon ; of this I do not approve. If sLo feel either faint or low at eleven o'clock, let her have either a tumbler of porter, or of mild fresh ale, with a piece of dry toast soaked in it. She ought not to dine later than half-past one or two o'clock ; she should eat, for dinner, either mutton or beef, with either mealy potatoes, or asparagus, or French beans, or secale, or turnips, or broccoli, or cauliflower, and stale bread. Rich pastry, soups, gravies, high-seasoned dishes, salted meats, greens, and cabbage, must one and all be carefully avoided; as they only tend to disorder the stomach, and thus to deteriorate the milk. It is a common remark, that " a mother who is suck- ling may eat anything." I do not agree with this opinion. Can impure or improper food make pure and proper milk, or can impure and improper milk make good blood far an infant, and thus good health ? The wet-nurse ought to take with her dinner a moderate quantity of either sound porter, or of mild (but not old or strong) ale. Tea should be taken at half past five or six o'clock ; supper at nine, which should consist either of a slice or two of cold meat, or of cheese if she prefer it, with half a pint of porter or of mild ale ; occasionally a basin of gruel may with advantage be sub- stituted. Hot and late suppers are prejudicial to the mother, or to the wet-nurse, and, consequently, to the child. The wet-nurse ought to be in bed every night by ten o'clock. It might be said, that I have been too minute and particular in my rules for a wet-nurse ; but when it is considered of what importance good milk is to the well- doing of an infant, in making him strong and robust, not only now, but as he grows up to manhood, I shall, I trust, be excused for my prolixity. 39. Have you any more hints to offer wiih rcyard to the management of a wet-nurse ? A wet-nurse ia frequently allowed to remain in bed 86 APVICE TO A MOTHER. until a lato hour in the morning, and during the day to continue in the bouse, as if she were a fixture ! How is it possible that any one, under such treatment, can continue healthy ? A wot nurse ought to rise early, and, if the weather and season will permit, take a walk, which will give her an appetite for breakfast, and will make a good meal for her little charge. This, of course, cannot, during the winter months, be done ; but even then, she ought, some part of the day, to take every opportunity of walking out ; indeed, in the summer time she should live half the day in the open air. She ought strictly to avoid crowded rooms ; her mind should be kept calm and unruffled, as nothing disorders the milk so much as passion, and other violent emotions of the mind ; a fretful temper is very injurious, on which account you should, in choosing your wet-nurse, ondeavour to procure one of a mild, calm, and placid disposition.* A wet-nurse ought never to be allowed to dose her little charge either with Godfrey's Cordial, or with Dalby's Carminative, or with Syrup of White Poppies, or with medicine of any kind whatever. Let her thoroughly understand this, and let there be no mistake in the matter. Do not for one moment allow your children's health to be tampered and trifled with. A baby's health is too precious to be doctored, to be experi- mented upon, and to be ruined by an ignorant person. 40. Have the goodness to state at what age a child ought to be weaned. This, of course, must depend both upon the strength of the child, and upon the health of the parent ; on an * " 'The child is poisoned.' ' Poisoned ! by whom ? ' ' By you. Yon have been fretting. ' Nay, indeed, mother. How can I help fretting ? ' Don't tell me, Margaret. A nursing mother has no business to fret. She must turn her mind away from her grief to the comfort that lies in her lap. Know you not that the child pines if the mother vexes herself r"The Cloister and the Hearth. By Charles Keade. INFANCY. DIET. 37 average, nine months is the proper time. If the mother be delicate, it may be found necessary to wean the infant at six months ; or if he be weak, or labouring under any disease, it may be well to continue suckling him for twelve months ; but after that time, the breast will do him more harm than good, and will, moreover, injure the mother's health, and may, if she be so predisposed, excite consumption. 41. How would you recommend a mother to act ivltcn she weans her child ? She ought, as the word signifies, do it gradually that is to say, she should, by degrees, give him less and less of the breast, and more and more of artificial food ; at length, she must only suckle him at night ; and lastly, it would be well for the mother either to send him away, or to leave him at home, and, for a few days, to go away herself. A good plan is, for the nurse-maid to have a half-pint bottle of new milk which has been previously boiled* in the bed, so as to give a little to him in lieu of the breast. The warmth of the body will keep the milk of a proper temperature, and will supersede the use of lamps, of candle-frames, and of other troublesome contrivances. 42. While a mother is weaning Tier infant, and after she have weaned him, what ought to be his diet ? Any one of the foods recommended in answer to ques- tion 34, page 20. 43. If a child be suffering severely from " wind" is there any objection, to the addition oj a small quantity either of gin or of peppermint to his food to disperse it ? It is a murderous practice to add either gin or pepper- mint of the shops (which is oil of peppermint dissolved in spirits) to his food. Many children have, by such a practice, been made puny and delicate, and have gradually dropped into an untimely grave. An infant who is kept, * The previous boiling of the milk will prevent the warmth of the bed turning the milk sour, which it otherwise would do. 38 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. for the first five or six months, entirely to the breast more especially if the mother be careful in her own diet seldom suffers from " wind ; " those, on the con- trary, who have much or improper food,* suffer severely. (.'.in- in feeding, then, is the grand prevcntativc of " wind ; " but if, notwithstanding all your precautions, the child bo troubled with flatulence, the remedies re- commended under the head of Flatulence will generally answer the purpose. 1 I. Mure you any remarks to make on sugar for sweet- a baby's food? A smalt quantity of sugar in an infant's food is requisite, sugar being nourishing and fattening, and mak- ing cow's milk to resemble somewhat in its properties human milk ; but, bear in mind, it must be used sparingly. Much sugar cloys the stomach, weakens the digestion, produces acidity, sour belchings, and wind : " Things sweet to taste, prove in digestion sour.' Shakspeare. If a babe's bowels be either regular or relaxed, lump sugar is the best for the purpose of sweetening his food ; if his bowels are inclined to bo costive, raw sugar ought to bo substituted for lump sugar, as raw sugar acts on a young babe as an aperient, and, in the generality of cases, is far preferable to physicking him with opening medicine. An infant's bowels, whenever it be practi- cable (and it generally is), ought to be regulated by a judicious dietary rather than by physic. VACCINATION AND RE-VACCINATION. 45. Are you an advocate for vaccination f Certainly. I consider it to be one of the greatest blessings ever conferred upon mankind. Small-pox, * For the first five or six months never, if you can possibly avoid it, give artificial food to an infant who is sucking. There is nothing, in the generality of cases, that agrees, for the first few mouths, like the mother's milk alone INFANCY. VACCINATION AND RE-VACCINATION. 39 before vaccination was adopted, ravaged the country like a plague, and carried off thousands annually ; and those who did escape with their lives were frequently made loathsome and disgusting objects by it. Even inocula- tion (which is cutting for the small-pox) was attended with danger, more especially to the unprotected as it caused the disease to spread like wildfire, and thus it carried off immense numbers. Vaccination is one, and an important cause of our increasing population ; small-pox, in olden times, decimated the country. 46. But vaccination does not always protect a child from small-pox ? I grant you that it does not always protect him, neither does inoculation ; but when he is vaccinated, if he take the infection, he is seldom pitted, and very rarely dies, and the disease assumes a comparatively mild form. There are a few, very few fatal cases recorded after vaccination, and these may be considered as only excep- tions to the general rule ; and, possibly, some of these may be traced to the arm, when the child was vaccinated, not having taken proper effect. If children, and adults were re-vaccinated, say every seven years after the first vaccination, depend upon it, even these rare cases would not occur, and in a short time small-pox would be known only by name. 47. Do you consider it, then, the imperative duty of a mother, in every case, to have, after the lapse of every seven years, her children re-vaccinated 1 I decidedly do : it would be an excellent plan for every person, once every seven years to be re-vaccinated, and even oftener, if small-pox be rife in the neighbour- hood. Vaccination, however frequently performed, can never do the slightest harm, and might do inestimable good. Small-pox is both a pest and a disgrace, and ought to be constantly fought and battled with, until it be banished (which it may readily be) the kingdom. 1 say that small-pox is a pest ; it is worse than the plague, for if not kept in subjection, it is more general 40 ADVICE TO & MOTHER. sparing neither young nor old, rich nor poor, and com- mits greater ravages than the plague ever did. Small- pox is a disgrace : it is a disgrace to any civilised land, as there is no necessity for its presence : if cow-pox wero properly and frequently performed, small-pox would bo unknown. Cow-pox is a weapon to conquer small-pox and to drive it ignominiously from the field. My firm belief, then, is, that if every person were, every seven years, duly and properly vaccinated, small-pox might be utterly exterminated ; but as long as there are such lax notions on the subject, and such gross negligence, tin- disease will always be rampant, for the poison of small-pox never -slumbers nor sleeps, but requires the utmost diligence to eradicate it. The great Dr Jenner, the discoverer of cow-pox as a preventative of small-pox, strongly advocated the absolute necessity of every person being re-vaccinated once every seven years, or even oftener, if there was an epidemic of small-pox in the neighbourhood. 48. Are you not likely to catch not only the cow-pot, but any other disease that the child has from whom fJie matter is taken ? The same objection holds good in cutting for small pox (inoculation) only in a ten-fold degree small-pox being such a disgusting complaint. Inoculated small- pox frequently produced and loft behind inveterate "breakings-out," scars, cicatrices, and indentations of the skin, sore eyes, blindness, loss of eyelashes, scrofula, deafness indeed, a long catalogue of loathsome diseases. A medical man, of course, will be careful to take tho cow-pox matter from a healthy child. 49. Would it not be icell to take the matter direct from the cow ? If a doctor be careful which, of course, he will be to take the matter from a healthy child, and from a well- formed vesicle, I consider it better than taking it direct from the cow, for the following reasons : The cow-pox lymph, taken direct from the cow, produces much more violent symptoms than after it has passed through several INFANCY. VACCINATION AND RE-VACCINATION. 41 persons ; indeed, in some cases, it lias produced effects as severe as cutting for the small-pox, besides, it has caused, in many cases, violent inflammation and even sloughing of the arm. There are also several kinds of spurious cow-pox to which the cow is subject, and which would be likely to be mistaken for the real lymph. Again, if even the genuine matter were not taken from the cow exactly at the proper time, it would be deprived of its protecting power. 50. At what, aye do you recommend an infant to be first vaccinated ? When he is two months old, as the sooner he is pro- tected the better. Moreover, the older he is the greater will be . the difficulty in making him submit to the operation, and in preventing his arm from being rubbed, thus endangering the breaking of the vesicles, and thereby interfering with its effects. If small-pox be prevalent in the neighbourhood, he may, with perfect safety, be vaccinated at the month's end ; indeed if the small-pox be near at hand, he must be vaccinated, regardless of his age, and regardless of everything else, for small-pox spares neither the young nor the old, and if a new-born babe should unfortunately catch the disease, he will most likely die, as at his tender age ho would not have strength to battle with such a formidable enemy. " A case, in the General Lying-in-Hospital, Lambeth, of small-pox occurred in a woman a few days after her admission, and the birth of her child. Her own child was vaccinated when only four days old, and all the other infants in the house varying from one day to a fortnight and more. All took the vaccination ; and the woman's own child, which suckled her and slept with her ; and all escaped the small pox."* 51. Do you consider that the taking of matter from a, child's arm weakens the effect of vaccination on the system ? Certainly not, provided it has taken effect in more than Communicated by Sir Charles Locock to the Author, 42 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. one place. The arm is frequently much inflamed, and vaccinating other children from it abates the inflamma- tion, ami thus affords relief. // is always well to leave one vesicle ?nu the contrary, hurtful. If the vaccination produce slight feverish attack, it will, without the administration of a particle of medicine, subside in two or three days. 55. Have, you any directions to give respecting the arm AFTER vaccination ? The only precaution necessary is to take care that the arm be not rubbed ; otherwise the vesicles may be pre- maturely broken, and the efficacy of the vaccination may be lessened. The sleeve, in vaccination, ought to be large and soft, and should not be tied up. The -tying up of a sleeve makes it hard, and is much more likely to rub the vesicles than if it were put on the usual way. 56. If the arm, AFTEU vaccination, be much inflamed, what ought to le done ? Smear frequently, by means of a feather or a camel's hair brush, a little cream on the inflamed part. This simple remedy will afford great comfort and relief. 57. Have the goodness to describe the proper appear- ance, after the falling-off of the scab of the arm ? It might be well to remark, that the scabs ought always to be allowed to fall off of themselves. They must not, on any account, be picked or meddled with. With re- gard to the proper appearance of the arm, after the falling-off of the scab, " a perfect vaccine scar should be of small size, circular, and marked with radiations and indentations. " Gregory. 44 ADVICE TO A MOTHER, DENTITION. 58. At irhut time does dentition commence t The period at which it commences is uncertain. It may, as a rule, be said that a babo begins to cut his teeth at seven months old. Some have cut teeth at three months ; indeed, there are instances on record of infants having been born with teeth. King Richard the Third is said to have been an example. Shakspeare notices it thus : " YORK. Many, they say my uncle grew so fast, That he could gnaw a crust at two hours old 'Twas full two years ere I could get a tooth. Grandam, this would have been a biting jest." When a babe is born with teeth, they generally drop out. On the other hand, teething, in some children does not commence until they are a year and a half or two years old, and, in rare cases, not until they are three years old. There are cases recorded of adults who have never cut any teeth. An instance of the kind came under my own observation. Dentition has been known to occur in old age. A case is recorded by M. Carre, in the Gazette Medicate de Paris (Sept. 15, I860), of an old lady, aged eighty-five, who cut several teeth after attaining that age ! 59. What is the number of the FIRST set of teeth, and in what order do they generally appear ? The first or temporary set consists of twenty. The first set of teeth are usually cut in pairs. " I may say that nearly invariably the order is 1st, the lower front incissors [cutting teeth], then the upper front, then the upper two lateral incissors, and that not uncommonly a double tooth is cut before the two lower laterals ; but at all events the lower laterals come 7th and 8th, and, not 5th and 6th, as nearly all books on the subject testify."* Then the first grinders, in the lower jaw, afterwards the first upper grinders, then the lower corner- Sir Charles Locock in a Letter to the Author INFANCY. DENTITION, 45 pointed or canine teeth, after which the upper corner or eye-teeth, then the second grinders in the lower jaw, and lastly, the second grinders of the upper jaw. They do not, of course, always appear in this rotation. Nothing is more uncertain than the order of teething. A child seldom cuts his second grinders until after he is two years old. He is usually, from the time they first apj >(/, two years in cutting his first set of teeth. As a rule, therefore, a child of two years old has sixteen, and one of two years and a half old, twenty teeth. 60. If an infant be either feverish or irritable, or otherwise poorly, and if the gums be hot, swollen, and tender, are you an advocate for their being lanced ? Certainly ; by doing so he will, in the generality of instances, be almost instantly relieved. 61. But it han been stated that lancing the gums hardens them ? This is a mistake it has a contrary effect. It is a well-known fact, that a part which has been divided gives way much more readily than one which has not been cut. Again, the tooth is bound down by a tight membrane, which, if not released by lancing, frequently brings on convulsions. If the symptoms be urgent, it may be necessary from time to time to repeat the lancing. It would, of course, be the height of folly to lance the gums unless they be hot and swollen, and unless the tooth, or the teeth, be near at hand. It is not to be considered a panacea for every baby's ill, although, in those cases where the lancing of the gums is indicated, the beneficial effect is sometimes almost magical. 62. Row ought the lancing of a child's gums to be performed ? The proper person, of course, to lance his gums is a medical man. But if, perchance, you should be miles away and be out of the reach of one, it would be well for you to know how the operation ought to be performed. Well, then, let him lie on the nurse's lap upon his back, and let the nurse take hold of his hands in order that he may not interfere with the operation. ADVICE TO A MOTHER i, if it be the upper gum that requires lancing, you ought to go to the head of the child, looking over, as it wore, and into hia mouth, and should steady the gum with the index finger of your left hand ; then, you should take hold of the gum-lancet with your right hand holding as if it were a table-knife at dinner and cut firmly along the inflamed and swollen gum and down to the tooth, until the edge of the gum-lancet grates on the tooth. Each incision ought to extend along the ridge of the gum to about the extent of each expected tooth. If it be the lower gum that requires lancing, you must go to the side of the child, and should steady the outside of the jaw with the fingers of the left hand, and the gum with the left thumb, and then you should perform the operation as before directed. Although the lancing of the gums, to make it intel- ligible to a non-professional person, requires a long description, it is, in point of fact, a simple affair, is soon performed, and gives but little pain. 63. If teething cause convulsions, what ought to be done ? The first thing to be done. (after sending for a medical man) is to freely dash water upon the face, and to sponge the head with cold water, and as soon as warm water can be procured, to put him into a warm bath* of 98 degrees Fahrenheit. If a thermometer be not at hand,f you must plunge your own elbow into the water : a comfort- able heat for your elbow will be the proper heat for the infant He must remain in the bath for a quarter of an hour, or until the fit be at an end. The body must, after coming out of the bath, be wiped with warm and dry and coarse towels ; he ought then to be placed in a warm blanket. The gums must be lanced, and cold water should be applied to the head. An enema, com- * For the precautions to be used in putting a child into a warm bath, see the answer to question on " Warm Baths." t No family, where there are young children, should be with- out Fahrenheit's thermometer. INFANCY. DENTITION. 47 posed of table salt, of olive oil, and warm oatmeal gruel in the proportion of one table-spoonful of salt, of one of oil, and a tea-cupful of gruel ought then to be administered, and should, until the bowels have been well opened, be repeated every quarter of an hour ; as soon as he comes to himself a dose of aperient medicine ought to be given. It may bo well, for the comfort of a mother, to state that a child in convulsions is perfectly insensible to all pain whatever ; indeed, a return to consciousness speedily puts convulsions to the rout. 64. A nurse is in the habit of giving a child, who is teething, either coral, or ivory, to bite : do you approve of the plan f I think it a bad practice to give him any hard, unyielding substance, as it tends to harden the gums, and, by so doing, causes tho teeth to come through with greater difficulty. I have found softer substances, such as either a piece of wax taper, or an India-rubber ring, or a piece of tho best bridle leather, or a crust of bread, of great service. If a piece of crust be given as a gum- stick, he must, while biting it, be well watched, or by accident he might loosen a large piece of it, which might choke him. The pressure of any of these excites a more rapid absorption of the gurn, and thus causes tho tooth to come through more easily and quickly. 65. Have you any objection to my baby, when he is cutting his teeth, sucking his thumb ? Certainly not : the thumb is the best gum-stick in the world : it is convenient ; it is handy (in every sense of the word) : it is of the right size, and of the proper consistence, neither too hard nor too soft ; there is no danger, as of some artificial gum-sticks, of its being swallowed, and thus of its choking the child. The sucking of the thumb causes tho salivary glands to pour out their contents, and thus not only to moisten the dry mouth, but assist the digestion ; the pressure of the thumb eases, while the teeth are " breeding," the pain and irritation of the gums, and helps, when the teeth are 48 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. nufficicnOy advanced, to briug them through the gums. Sucking of the thumb will often make a cross infant contended and happy, and will frequently induce a rest- less babe to fall into a sweet refreshing sleep. Truly inny the thumb be called a baby's comfort By all means, then, let your child suck his thumb whenever he likes, and as long as he chooses to do so. There is a charming, bewitching little picture of a babe sucking his thumb in Kingsley's Water Babies, which I heartily commend to your favourable notice and study. G6. But if an infant be allmoed to suck his thumb, in'lf it not be likely to become a habit, and stick to him for years until, indeed, he become a big boy ? After he have cut the whole of his first set of teeth, that is to say, when he is about two years and a half old, he might, if it be likely to become a habit, be readily cured by the following method, namely, by making a paste of aloes and water, and smearing it upon his thumb. One or two dressings will suffice as after just tasting the bitter aloe* he will take a disgust to hia former enjoyment, and the habit will at once be broken. Many persons I know have an objection to children sucking their thumbs, as for instance, " Perhaps it's as well to keep children from plums, And from pears in the season, and sucking their thumbs.''* My reply is, P'rhaps 'tis as well to keep children from pears ; The pain they might cause, is oft follow'd oy tears ; 'Tis certainly well to keep them from plums ; But certainly not from sucking their thumbs I If a babe suck his thumb 'Tis an ease to his guin ; A comfort ; a boon ; a calmer of grief ; A friend in his need affording relief; A solace ; a good ; a soother of pain ; A composer to sleep ; a charm ; and a gain. * Ligoldsby Legends. INFANCY. DBNTITION. 49 'Tis handy, at oiice, to his sweet mouth to glide ; When done with, drops-gently down by his side ; 'Tis fix'd, like an anchor, while the babe sleeps, And the mother, with joy, her still vigil keeps. 67. A child who is teething dribbles, and thereby wets his chest, which frequently causes him to catch cold ; what had better be done ? Have in readiness to put on several jiannel dribbling bibs, so that they may be changed as often as they become wet ; or, if he dribble very much, the oiled silk dribbling-bibs, instead of the flannel ones, may be used, and which may be procured at any baby-linen ware house. 68. Do you approve of giving a child, during teething, much fruit 1 No ; unless it be a few ripe strawberries or raspberries, or a roasted apple, or the juice of five or six grapes taking care that he does not swallow either the seeds or the skin or the insides of ripe gooseberries, or an orange. Such fruits, if the bowels be in a costive state, will be particularly useful. All stone fruit, raw apples or pears, ought to be care- fully avoided, as they not only disorder the stomach and the bowels, causing convulsions, gripings, &c., but they have the effect of weakening the bowels, and thus of engendering worms. 69. Is a child, during teething, more subject to disease, iniJ, if so, to what complaints, and in what manner may tin'!/ be prevented? The teeth are a fruitful source of suffering and of disease ; and are, with truth, styled " our first and our last plagues." Dentition is the most important period of a child's life, and is the exciting cause of many infantile diseases ; during this period, therefore, he requires constant and careful watching. When we con- sider how the teeth elongate and enlarge in his gums, pressing on the nerves and on the surrounding parts, and thus how frequently they produce pain, irritation, and inflammation; when we further contemplate what D 50 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. sympathy there is in the nervous system, and how susceptible the young are to pain, no surprise can be felt at the immense disturbance, and the consequent suffer- ing and danger frequently experienced by children while cutting their first set of teeth. The complaints or the diseases induced by dentition are numberless, affecting almost every organ of the body, the brain, occasioning convulsions, water on the brain, &c. ; the lungs, producing congestion, inflammation, cough, &c. ; the stomach, exciting sickness, flatulence, acidity, &c. ; the Imvels, inducing griping, at one time costiveness, and at another time purging ; the skin, causing " breakings-out." To prevent these diseases, means ought to be used to invigorate a child's constitution by plain, wholesome food, as recommended under the article of diet; by exercise and fresh air ;* by allowing him, weather permitting, to be out of doors a great part of every day ; by lancing the gums when they get red, hot, and swollen ; by attention to the bowels, and if he suffer more than usual, by keeping them rather in a relaxed state by any simple aperient, such as either castor oil, or magnesia and rhubarb, &c. ; and, let me add, by attention to his temper : many children are made feverish and ill by petting and spoiling them. On this subject I cannot do better than refer you to an excellent little work entitled Abbot's Mother of Home, wherein the author proves the great importance of early training. 70. Have the goodness to describe the symptoms and the treatment of Painful Dentition ? Painful dentition may be divided into two forms (1) the Mild ; and (2) the Severe. In the mild form the * The young of animals seldom suffer from cutting their teeth and what is the reason ? Because they live in the open air, and take plenty of exercise ; while children are frequently cooped up in close rooms, and are not allowed the free use of their limbs. The value of fresh air is well exemplified in the Registrar- Gene- ral's Report for 1843 ; he says that in 1,000,000 deaths, from all diseases, 616 occur in the town from teething, while 120 only take place in the country from the same cause. INFANCY. DENTITION. 51 child is peevish and fretful, and puts his fingers, and everything within reach, to his mouth ; he likes to have his gums rubbed, and takes the breast with avidity ; indeed it seems a greater comfort to him than ever. There is generally a considerable flow of saliva, and he has frequently a more loose state of bowels than is his wont. Now, with regard to the more severe form of painful dentition : The gums are red, swollen, and hot, and he cannot without expressing pain bear to have them touched, hence, if he be at the breast, he is constantly loosing the nipple. There is dryness of the mouth, although before there had been a great flow of saliva. He is feverish, restless, and starts in his sleep. His face is flushed. His head is heavy and hot. He is sometimes convulsed.* He is frequently violently griped and purged, and suffers severely from flatulence. He is predisposed to many and severe diseases. The treatment, of the mild form, consists of friction of the gum with the finger, with a little "soothing syrup," as recommended by Sir Charles Locock ;f a tepid-bath of about 92 degrees Fahrenheit, every night at bed time ; attention to diet and to bowels ; fresh air and exercise. For the mild form, the above plan will usually be all that is required. If he dribble, and the bowels be relaxed, so much the better : the flow of saliva and the increased action of the bowels afford relief, and therefore must not be interfered with. In the mild form, lancing of the gums is not desirable. The gums ought not to be lanced, unless the teeth be near at hand, and unless the gums be red, hot, and swollen. * See answer to Question 63. t " Soothing syrup. " Some of them probably contain opfates, but n perfectly safe and useful one is a little Nitrate of Potass in syrup of Roses one scruple to half an ounce." Communicated by Sir Charles Locock to the Author. This "soothing syrup" is not intended to be given as a mixture ; but to be used as au application to rob the gums with. It may be well to state, that it if & perfectly harmless remedy even if a little of it were swallowed by mistake. 52 ADVIOB TO A MOTHER. In the severe form a medical man should be consulted early, as more energetic remedies will be demanded; that is to say, the gums will require to be freely lanced, warm baths to be used, and medicines to be given, to w.ml off mischief from the head, from the chest, and from the stomach. If you are living in the town, and your baby suffers much from teething, take him into the country. It is wonderful what change of air to the country will often do, in relieving a child who is painfully cutting his teeth. The number of deaths in London, from teething, is frightful ; it is in the country comparatively trifling. 71. Should an infant be purged during teething, or indeed, during any other time, do you approve of either absorbent or astringent medicines to restrain it ? Certainly not. I should look upon the relaxation as an effort of nature to relieve itself. A child is never purged without a cause ; that cause, in the generality of instances, is the presence of either some undigested food, or acidity, or depraved motions, that want a vent. The better plan is, in such a case, to give a dose of aperient medicine, such as either castor oil, or magnesia and rhubarb ; and thus work it off. IP WE LOCK UP THE BOWELS, WE CONFINE THE ENEMY, AND THUS PRODUCE MISCHIEF.* If he be purged more than usual, attention should bo paid to the diet if it be absolutely necessary to give him artificial food while suckling and care must be taken not to overload the stomach. 72. A child is subject to a slight cough during denti' iion called by nurses " tooth-cough " which a parent would not consider of sufficient importance to consult a doctor about : pray tell me, is there any objection to a mother giving her child a small quantity either of syrup of white poppies, or of paregoric, to ease it 1 A cough is an effort of nature to bring up any secretion from the lining membrane of the lungs, or from the ' "I should put this in capitals, it is so important and often mistaken." 0. LococJc. INFANCY. EXERCISE. 53 bronchial tubes, hence it ought not to be interfered with. I have known the administration of syrup of -white poppies, or of paregoric, to stop the cough, and thereby to prevent the expulsion of the phlegm, and thus to produce either inflammation of the lungs, or bronchitis. Moreover, both paregoric and syrup of white poppies are, for a young child, dangerous medicines (unless administered by a judicious medical man), and ought never to be given by a mother. In the month of April 1844, I was sent for, in great haste, to an infant, aged seventeen months, who was labouring under convulsions and extreme drowsiness, from the injudicious administration of paregoric, which had been given to him to ease a cough. By the prompt administration of an emetic he was saved. 73. A child, who is teething, is subject to a " breaking- out," more especially behind the ears which is most disfiguring, and frequently very annoying : what would you recommend 1 I would apply no external application to cure it, as I should look upon it as an effort of the constitution to relieve itself ; and should expect, if the " breaking-out " were repelled, that either convulsions, or bronchitis, or inflammation of the lungs, or water on the brain, would be the consequence. The only plan I should adopt would be, to be more careful in his diet ; to give him loss meat (if he be old enough to eat animal food), and to give him, once or twice a week, a few doses of mild aperient medicine ; and, if the irritation from the " breaking-out " be great, to bathe it, occasionally, either with a little warm milk and water, or with rose water. EXERCISE. 74. Do you recommend exercise in tJie open air for a baby ? and if so, how soon after birth ? I am a great advocate for his having exercise in tho open air. " The infant in arms makes known its desire for fresh air, by restlessness ; it cries, for it cannot speak its wants; is taken abroad and is quiet" 54 ADVICE TO A MOTHER The ago at which ho ought to commence taking exer- cise will, of course, depend upon the season and upon the weather. If it be summer, and the weather be fine, he should be carried in the open air, a week or a fortnight after birth ; but if it be winter, he ought not on any account to be taken out under the month, and not even then, unless the weather be mild for the season, and it be the middle of the day. At the end of two mouths lie should breathe the open air more frequently. And after the expiration of three months, ho ought to bo carried out every day, even if it be wet under foot, provided it be fine above, and the wind bo neither in an easterly nor in a north-easterly direction : by doing so we shall make him strong and hearty, and give the skin that mottled appearance, which is so characteristic of health. He must, of course, be well clothed . I cannot help expressing my disapprobation of the practice of smothering up an infant's face with a handker- chief, with a veil, or with any other covering, when he is taken out into the air. If his face be so muffled up, he may as well remain at home ; as, under such circum- stances, it is impossible for him to receive any benefit from the invigorating effects of the fresh air. 75. Can you devise any rm.'tfiod to induce a bale him- self to take exercise ? He must be encouraged to use muscular exertion ; and, for tliis purpose, he ought to be frequently laid either upon a rug, or carpet, or the floor : he will then stretch Ids limbs and kick about with perfect glee. It is a pretty sight, to see a little fellow kicking and spraw- ling on the floor. He crows with delight and thoroughly enjoys himself : it strengthens his back ; it enables him to stretch his limbs, and to use his muscles ; and is one of the best kinds of exercise a very young child can take. Whole going through his performances, his diaper, if he wear one, should be unfastened, in order that he might go through his exercises untrammelled. By adopting the above plan, the babe quietly enjoys himself liis brain is not over excited by it : this is an important considera- INFANCY. SLEEP. 55 tion, for both mothers and nurses are apt to rouse, and excite very young children to their manifest detriment. A babe requires rest, and not excitement. How wrong it is, then, for either a mother or a nurse to be exciting and rousing a new-born babe. It is most injurious and weakening to his brain. In the early period of his ex- istence his time ought to be almost entirely spent in sleeping and in sucking ! 76. Do you approve of tossing an infant much about ? I have seen a child tossed nearly to the ceiling ! Can anything be more cruel or absurd ? Violent tossing of a yi.'.iug babe ought never to be allowed; it only frightens him, and has been known to bring on convul- sions. Ho should be gently moved up and clown (not tossed) : such exercises causes a proper circulation of the blqod, promotes digestion, and soothes to sleep. Ho must always be kept quiet immediately after taking the breast ; if he be tossed directly afterwards, it interferes with his digestion, and is likely to produce sickness. SLEEP. 77. Ought the infant's sleeping apartment to le kept warm ? The lying-in room is generally kept too warm, its heat being, in many instances, more that of an oven than of a room. Such a place is most unhealthy, and is fraught with danger both to the mother and the baby. We are not, of course, to run into an opposite extreme, but are to keep the chamber at a moderate and comfortable tem- perature. The door ought occasionally to be left ajar, in onlcr the more effectually to change the air and thus to make it more pure and sweet. A new-born babe, then, ought to be kept comfortably warm, but not very warm. It is folly in the extreme to attempt to harden a very young child either by allowing him, in the winter time, to be in a bedroom without a fire, or by dipping him in cold water, or by keeping him with scant clothing on his bed. The temperature of a 58 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. bedroom, in the winter time, should be, as nearly as possible, at 60" Fahr. Although the room should bo comfortably warm, it ought from tune to time to be properly ventilated An unventilated room soon becomes foul, and, therefore, unhealthy. How many in this world, both children and adults, are " poisoned with their own breaths ! " An infant should not be allowed to look at the glare either of a fire or of a lighted candle, as the glare tends to weaken the sight, and sometimes brings on an inflam- mation of the eyes. In speaking to, and in noticing a baby, you ought always to stand before, and not behind him, or it might make him squint. 78. Ought a babe to lie alone from the first 1 Certainly not : at first say, for the first few months he requires the warmth of another person's body, especially in the winter ; but Rare must be taken not to overlay him, as many infants, from carelessness in this particular, have lost their lives. After the first few months he had better lie alone, on a horse-hair mattress. 79. Do you approve of rocking 'an.inf ant to sleep ? I do not. If the rules of health be ob.-trved, he will sleep both soundly and sweetly without r?^:dng; if they be not, the rocking might cause him to fall into a feverish, disturbed slumber, but not into a refreshing, calm sleep. Besides, if you once take to that habit, he will not go to sleep without it. 80. Then don't you approve of a rocking-chair, and of >< kcrs to the cradle ? Certainly not : a rocking-chair, or rockers to the cradle, may bo useful to a lazy nurse or mother, and may induce a child to sleep, but that restlessly, when he does not need sleep, or when he is wet and uncomfortable, and requires " changing ; " but will not cause him to have that sweet and gentle and exquisite slumber so character- istic of a baby who has no artificial appliances to make him sleep. No ! rockers are perfectly unnecessary, and the sooner they are banished the nursery the better will it be for the infant community. I do not know a more INFANCY. SLEEP. 57 wearisome and monotonous sound than the everlasting rockings to and fro in some nurseries ; they are often accompanied by a dolorous lullaby from the nurse, which adds much to the misery and depressing influence of the performance. 81. While the infant is asleep, do you advise the head of the crib to be covered with a handkerchief, to shade his ci/es from the light, and, if it be summer time, to keep off the flies? If the head of the crib be covered, the babe cannot breathe freely ; the air within the crib becomes con* taminated, and thus the lungs cannot properly perform their functions. If his sleep is to be refreshing, ho must breathe pure air. I do not even approve of a head to a crib. A child is frequently allowed to sleep on a bed Avith the curtains drawn completely close, as though it were dangerous for a breath of air to blow upon him !* This practice is most injurious. An infant must have the full benefit of the air of the room; indeed, the bed-room door ought to be frequently left ajar, so that the air of the apartment may be changed ; taking care, of course, not to expose him to a draught. If the flies, while he is asleep, annoy him, let a net veil be thrown over his face, as he can readily breathe through net, but not through a handkerchief. 82. Have you any suggestions to o/ei- as to the way a babe should be dressed when he is put down to sleep ? Whenever he be put down to sleep, be more than usually particular that his dress be loose in every part ; te careful that there be neither strings nor bands, to cramp him. Let him, then, during repose, be more than ordinarily free and unrestrained "If, whilst in cradled rest your infant sleeps, Your watchful eyes unceasing vigil keeps, Lest cramping bonds his pliant limbs constrain, And cause defects that manhood may retain." * I have somewhere read that if a cage, containing a canary, be suspended at night within a bed where a person is sleeping, and the curtains be drawn closely around, that the bird will, in the morning, in all probability, be found dead I 58 ADVIOB TO A MOTHER 83. la it a good sign for a young child to sleep much 9 A Imbo who sleeps a great deal thrives much more than one who does not I have known many children, who were born* small and delicate, but who slept the greatest part of their time, become strong and healthy. On the other hand, I have known those who were born largo and strong, yet who slept but little, become weak and unhealthy. The common practice of a nurse allowing a baby to sleep upon her lap is a bad one, and ought never to bo countenanced. He sleeps cooler, more comfortably, and soundly in his crib. The younger an infant is the more he generally sleeps, so that during the early months he is seldom awake, and then only to take the breast 84. How is it that much sleep causes a young child to thrive so well 1 If there be pain in any part of the body, or if any of the functions be not properly performed, he sleeps but * It may be interesting to a mother to know the average weight of new-born infants. There is a paper on the subject in the Medical Circular (April 10, 1861), and which lias been abridged in Braithwaite's Retrospect of Medicine (July and December 1861). The following are extracts: "Dr E. von Siebold presents a table of the weights of 3000 infants (1586 male and 1414 female), weighed immediately after birth. From this table (for which we have not space) it results that by far the greater number of the children, 2215 weighed between 6 and 8 Ibs. From 5 j to 6 Ibs. the number rose from 99 to 208 ; and from 8 to 8J Ibs. they fell from 226 to 67, and never rose again at any weight to 100. From 8f to 9J Ibs. they sank from 61 to 8, rising, however, at 9 Ibs. to 21. Only six weighed 10 Ibs., one 10 j Ibs., and two 11 Ibs. The author has never but once met with a child weighing 11 f Ibs. The most frequent weight in the 3000 was 7 Ibs., numbering 426. It is a remarkable fact, that until the weight of 7 Ibs. the female infants exceeded the males in number, the latter thenceforward predominating. From these statements, and those of various other authors hero quoted, the conclusion may be drawn that the nor- mal weight of a mature new-born infant is not less than six nor more than 8 Ibs., the average weight being 6Jor7 Ibs., the smaller number referring to female and the higher to male infants." INFANCY. SLEEP. 69 little. On the contrary, if there be exemption from pain, and if there be a due performance of all the func- tions, he sleeps a great deal ; and thus the body becomes refreshed and invigorated. 85. As muck sleep is of such advantage, if an infant sleep but little, would you advise composing medicine to le given to him ? Certainly not The practice of giving composing medicine to a young cliild cannot be too strongly repro- bated. If he does not sleep enough, the mother ought to ascertain if the bowels be in a proper state, whether they be sufficiently opened, that the motions be of a good colour namely, a bright yellow, inclining to orange colour and free from slime or from Lad .smell. An occasional dose of rhubarb and magnesia is frequently the best composing medicine he can take. 86. We often hear of coroner's inquests upon infants who have been found dead in bed accidentally overlaid ; iclinl is usually the cause? Suffocation, produced either by ignorance, or by carelessness. .From ignorance in mothers, in their not knowing the common laws of life, and the vital import- ance of free and unrestricted respiration, not only when babies are xip and about, but when they are in bed and asleep. From carelessness, in their allowing young and thoughtless servants to have the charge of infants at night ; more especially as young girls are usually heavy sleepers, and aie thus too much overpowered with sleep to attend to their necessary duties. A foolish mother sometimes goes to sleep while allowing her child to continue sucking. The unconscious babe, after a time, looses the nipple, and buries his head in the bed-clothes. She awakes in the morning, finding, to her horror, a corpse by her side, with his nose flattened, and a frothy fluid, tinged with blood, exuding from his lips ! A mother ought, therefore, never to go to Bleep until her child have finished sucking. The following arc a few rules to prevent an infant from being accidentally overlaid ; (1.) Let your baby 60 ADVICE TO A M< iTHKIL while asleep have plenty of room in the bed. (2.) Do not allow him to be too near to you ; or if he bo un- avoidably near you (from the small size of the bed), let his face be turned to the opposite side. (3.) Let him lie fairly either on his side, or on his back. (4.) Be cnrt'ful to ascertain that his mouth be not covered with the bed-clothes ; and, (5) Do not smother his face with ciothes, as a plentiful supply of pure air is as necessary when he is awake, or even more so, than when he is asleep. (6.) Never let him lie low in the bed, (7.) Let there be no pillow near the one his head is resting on, lest he roll to it, and thus bury his head in it Kemember, a young child has neither the strength nor the sense to get out of danger ; and, if he unfortunately either turn on his face, or bury his head in a pillow that is near, the chances are that he will be suffocated, more especially as these accidents usually occur at night, when the mother, or the nurse, is fast asleep. (8.) Never intrust him at night to a young and thoughtless servant THE BLADDER AND THE BOWELS OP AN INFANT. 87. Have you any hints to offer respecting the bowels and the bladder of an infant during the first three months of his existence ? A mother ought daily to satisfy herself as to the state of the bladder and the bowels of her child. She her- self should inspect the motions, and see that they are of a proper colour (bright yellow, inclining to orange), and consistence (that of thick gruel), that they are neither slimy, nor curdled, nor green ; if they should be either the one or the other, it is a proof that she herself has, in all probability, been imprudent in her diet, and that it will be necessary for the future that she be more careful both in what she eats and in what she drinks. She ought, moreover, to satisfy herself that the urine does not smell strongly, that it does not stain the diapers, and that he makes a sufficient quantity. ^INFANCY. AILMENTS, DISEASE, ETC. 61 A frequent cause of a child crying is, he is wet, and uncomfortable, and wants drying and changing, and the only way he has of informing his mother of the fact is by crying lustily, and thus telling her in most expressive language of her thoughtlessness and carelessness. 88. How soon may an infant dispense with diapers ? A babe of three months and upwards, ought to be held out, at least, a dozen times during the twenty-four hours if such a plan were adopted, diapers might at the end of three months be dispensed with a great desideratum and he would be inducted into clean habits a blessing to himself, and a comfort to all around, and a great saving of dresses and of furniture. " Teach your children to be clean. A dirty child is the mother's disgrace."* Truer words were never written, A DIRTY CHILD is THE MOTHER'S DISGRACE. AILMENTS, DISEASE, ETC. 89. A new born babe frequently has a collection of mucus in t/te air passages, causing him to icheeze : is it a dangerous symptom 1 No, not if it occur immediately after birth ; as soon as the bowels have been opened, it generally leaves him, or even before, if he give a good cry, which as soon as he is born ho usually does. If there be any mucus either within or about the mouth, impeding breathing, it must with a soft handkerchief be removed. 90. Its it advisable, as soon as an infant is born, to give him medicine ? It is now proved that the giving of medicine to a babe immediately after birth is unnecessary, nay, that it is hurtful that is, provided he be early put to the breast, as the mother's first milk is generally sufficient to open the bowels. Sir Charles Locockf makes the following sensible remarks on this subject : " I used to limit any * Hints on Household ^Management. By Mrs C. L. Balfour. t In a Letter to the Author. 62 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. aperient to anew-bDrn infant to those which had not the first milk, and who had wet-nurses, whose milk was, of course, some weeks old, but for many years I have never allowed any aperient at all to any new-born infant, and I am satisfied it is the safest and the wisest plan." The advice of Sir Charles Locock to give no aperient to a new-born infant is most valuable, and ought to be strictly followed. By adopting his recommendation, much after misery might be averted. If a new-born babe's bowels be costive, rather than give him an aperient, try the effect of a little moist sugar, dissolved in a little water, that is to say, dissolve lialf a tea-spoonful of pure unadulterated raw sugar in a tea-spoonful of warm water and administer it to him ; if in four hours it should not operate, repeat the dose. Butter and raw sugar is 9 popular remedy, and is sometimes used by a nurse to open the bowels of a new-born babe, and where there is costiveness, answers the purpose exceedingly well, and is far superior to castor oil. Try by all means to do, if possible, without a particle of opening medicine. If you once begin to give aperients, you will have frequently to repeat them. Opening physic leads to opening physic, until at length his stomach and bowels will become a physic shop ! Let me, then, emphatically say, avoid, if possible, giving a new-born babe a drop or a grain of opening medicine. If from the first you refrain from giving an aperient, he seldom requires one afterwards. I 1 is ti\Q fit-tit step, in this as in all other things, that is so important to take. If a new-born babe have not for twelve hours made water, the medical man ought to be informed of it, in order that he may inquire into the matter, and apply the proper remedies. Be particular in attending to these directions, or evil consequences will inevitably ensue.' 91. Smne persons say, that new-born female infant* have milk in their bosoms, and that it is necessary to squeeze them, and apply plasters to disperse the milk. The idea of there being real milk in a baby's breast is doubtful, the squeezing of the bosom is barbarous, and . AILMENTS, DISEASE, ETCl 63 the application of plasters is useless. " Without actually saying," says Sir Charles Locock, " there is milk secreted in the breasts of infants, there is undoubtedly not rarely considerable swelling of the breasts both in female and male infants, and on squeezing them a serous fluid oozes out. I agree with you that the nurses should never be allowed to squeeze them, but be ordered to leave them alone."* 92. Have the goodness to mention the SLIGHT ailments which are not of sufficient importance to demand the unafntance of a medical man ? ' I deem it well to make the distinction between seriou* and slight ailments ; I am addressing a mother. With regard to serious ailments, I do not think myself justified, except in certain urgent cases, in instructing a parent to deal with them. It might be well to make a mother ac- quainted with the symptoms, but not with the treatment, in order that she might lose no time in calling in medical aid. This I hope to have the pleasure of doing in future Conversations. Serious diseases, with a few exceptions, and which I will indicate in subsequent Conversations, ought never to be treated by a parent, not even in the early stages, for it is in the easly stages that the most good can generally be done. It is utterly impossible for any one who is not trained to the medical profession to understand a serious disease in all its bearings, and thereby to treat it satisfactorily. There are some exceptions to these remarks. It will be seen in future Conversations that Sir CHARLES LOCOCK considers that a mother ought to be made acquainted with the treatment of some of the more serious diseases, where delay in obtaining immediate medical assistance might be death. I bow to his superior judgment, and have supplied the deficiency in subsequent Conversations. The ailments and the diseases of infants, such as may, in the absence of the doctor, be treated by a parent, are * Letter to the Author. 64 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. the following : Chafings, Convulsions, Costivenesa, Flatulence, Gripings, Hiccup, Looseness of the 1 > (Diarrho3a), Dysentery, Nettle-rash, Red-gum, Stuiling of the Xose, Sickness, Thrush. In all these complaints I will tell you What to do, and What NOT to do. 93. What are ihe causes and the treatment of Chafing ? The want of water : inattention and want of cleanli- ness are the usual causes of chafing. What to do. The chafed parts ought to be well and thoroughly sponged with tepid rain water allowing the water from a well-filled sponge to stream over them, and, afterwards, they should be thoroughly, but tenderly, dried with a soft towel, and then be dusted, either with finely-powdered starch, made of wheaten flour, or with Violet Powder, or with finely -powdered Native Carbonate of Zinc, or they should be bathed with finely-powdered Fuller's-earth and tepid water If, in a few days, the parts be not healed discontinue the above treatment, and use the following application : Beat up well together the whites of two eggs, then add, drop by drop, two table-spoonfuls of brandy. When well mixed, put it into a bottle and cork it up. Before using it let the excoriated parts be gently bathed with lake- warm rain water, and, with a soft napkin, be tenderly dried ; then, by means of a camel's hair brush, apply the above liniment, having first shaken the bottle. But bear in mind, after all that can be said and done, tJiat there is not king in these cases like water there is nothing like keeping the parts clean, and the only way of thoroughly effecting this object is by putting him tveri/ morning INTO his tub. What NOT to do. Do not apply white lead, as it is a poison. Do not be afraid of using plenty of water, as cleanliness is one of the most important items of the treatment 94. What are the causes of Convulsions of an infant t Stuffing him, in the early months of his existence, icith food, the mother having plenty of breast-milk the while the constant physicking of a child by his own INFANCt. AILMENTS, DISEASE, ETC. 65 mother ; teething ; hooping-cough, when attacking a veiy young baby. I never knew a case of convulsions occur say for the first four months (except in very young infants labour- ing under hooping-cough), where children lived on the breast-milk alone, and where they were not frequently quacked by their mothers ! For the treatment of the convulsions from teething, see page 46. What to do in a case of convulsions which has been caused by feeding an infant either with too much or with artificial food. Give him, every ten minutes, a tea- spoonful of ipecacuanha wine, until free vomiting be ex- cited, then put him into a warm bath (see Warm Baths) ; and when he comes out of it administer to him a tea- spoonful of castor oil, and repeat it every four hours, until the bowels be well opened. Wliat NOT to do. Do not, for at least a month after the fit, give him artificial food, but keep him entirely to the breast. Do not apply leeches to the head. What to do in a case of convulsions from hooping cough. There is nothing better than dashing cold water on the face, and immersing him in a warm bath of 98 degrees Fahr. If he be about his teeth, and they be plaguing him, let the gums be both freely and frequently lanced. Convulsions seldom occur in hooping-cough, unless the child be either very, young or exceedingly delicate. Convulsions attending an attack of hooping- cough make it a serious complication, and requires the assiduous and skilful attention of a judicious medical man. Wliat NOT to do in such a case. Do not apply leeches ; the babe requires additional strength, and not to be robbed of it : and do not attempt to treat the case your- self. 95. Wliat are the best remedies for the Costiveness of an infant ? I strongly object to the frequent administration of opening medicine, as the repetition of it increases the misdiief to a tenfold degree. 66 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. }\ltnt to do. If a babe, after the first few months, were held out, and if, at regular intervals, he were put upon his chair, costiveness would not so much prevail It is wonderful how soon the bowels, in the generality of cases, by this simple plan, may be brought into a regular state Besides, it inducts an infant into clean habits. I know many careful mothers who have accustomed their children, after the first three months, to do without diapers altogether. It causes at first a little trouble, but that trouble is amply repaid by the good consequences that ensue ; among which must be named the dispensing with such encumbrances as diapers. Diapers frequently chafe, irritate, and gall the tender skin of a baby. But they cannot of course, at an early age be dispensed with, unless a mother have great judgment, sense, tact, and perseverance, to bring her little charge into the habit of having his bowels relieved and his bladder emptied every time he is either held out or put upon his chair. Before giving an infant a particle of aperient medicine, try, if the bowels are costive, the effect of a little raw sugar and water, either half a tea-spoonful of raw sugar dissolved in a tea-spoonful or two of water, or give him, out of your fingers, half a tea-spoonful of raw sugar to eat I mean by raw sugar, not the white, but the pure and unadulterated sugar, and which you can only procure from a respectable grocer. If you are wise, you will defer as long as you can giving an aperient If you once begin, and continue it for a while, opening medicine be- comes a dire necessity, and then woe betide the poor un- fortunate child. Or, give a third of a tea-spoonful of honey, early in the morning, occasionally. Or, administer a warm water enema a ta blespoonf ul, or more, by means of a 2 oz, India Rubber Enema Bottle. Wliat NOT to do. There are two preparations of mercury I wish to warn you against administering of your own accord, viz. (1) Calomel, and a milder preparation called (2) Grey-powder (mercury with chalk). It is a common practice in this country to give calomel, on account of the readiness with which it can be administered tKPANCY. AILMENTS, DISEASE, ETC. 67 it being small in quantity, and nearly tasteless. Grey powder also, is, with many mothers, a favourite in tlvj nursery. It is a medicine of immense power either for good or for evil ; in certain cases it is very valuable ; but in others, and in the great majority, it is very detrimental This practice, then, of a mother giving mercury, whether in the form either of calomel or of grey-powder, cannot be too strongly reprobated, as the frequent administration either of the one or of the other weakens the body, pre- disposes it to cold, and frequently excites king's-evil a disease too common in this country. Calomel and grey- powder, then, ought never to be administered unless ordered by a medical man. Syrup of buckthorn and jalap are also frequently given, but they are griping medicines for a baby, and ought to be banished from the nursery. The frequent repetition of opening medicines, then, in any shape or form, very much interferes with digestion ; they must, therefore, be given as seldom as possible. Let me, at the risk of wearying you, again urge the importance of your avoiding, as much as possible, giving a babe purgative medicines. They irritate beyond measure the tender bowels of an infant, and only make him more costive afterwards ; they interfere with his digestion, and are liable to give him cold. A mother who is always, of her own accord, quacking her child with opening physic, is laying up for her unfortunate offspring a debilitated constitution a miserable existence. For further information on this important subject see the 3d edition of Counsel to a Mother (being the com- panion volume of Advice to a Mother), on the great im- portance of desisting from irritating, from injuring, and from making still more costive, the obstinate bowels of a costive child, by the administration of opening medicine, however gentle and well-selected the aperients might bo. Oh, that the above advice could be heard, and be acted upon, through the length and the breadth of the land ; how much misery and mischief would then be averted J CS ADVICE TO A 96. Are there any means of preventing the Costivenesb of an infant f If greater car were paid to the rules of health, such as attention to diet, exercise in the open air, thorough ablution of the whole body more especially when he is being washed causing the water, from a large and well- filled sponge, to stream over the lower part of his bowels ; the regular habit of causing him, at stated periods, to be held out, whether he want or not, that he may solicit a stool If all these rules were observed, costiveness would not so frequently prevail, and one of the miseries of the nursery would be done away with. Some mothers are frequently dosing their poor unfor- tunate babes either with magnesia to cool them, or with castor oil to heal their bowels ! Oh, the folly of such practices ! The frequent repetition of magnesia, instead of cooling an infant, makes him feverish and irritable. The constant administration of castor oil, instead of heal- ing the bowels, wounds them beyond measure. No ! it would be a blessed tiling if a babe could be brought up without giving him a particle of opening medicine ; his bowels would then act naturally and well : but then, as I have just now remarked, a mother must be particular in attending to Nature's medicines to fresh air, to exer- cise, to diet, to thorough ablution, infant ? A babe can only express his wants and his necessities by a cry ; he can only tell his aches and his pains by a cry ; it is the only language of babyhood ; it is the most ancient of all languages ; it is the language known by our earliest progenitors ; it is, if listened to aright, a very ex- pressive language, although it is only but the language of aery * "Soft L'ancy, that nothing canst but cry." Shakspeare. There is, then, a language in the cry of an infant, which to a mother is the most interesting of all languages, aii'l which a thoughtful medical man can well interpret. The cry of a child, to an experienced doctor, is, each and all, a distinct sound, and is as expressive as the notes of the gamut. The cry of passion, for instance, is a furious cry ; the cry of sleepiness is a drowsy cry ; the cry of grief is a sobbing cry ; the cry of an infant when roused from sleep is a shrill cry ; the cry of hunger is very char- acteristic, it is unaccompanied with tears, and is a wailing cry ; the cry of teething is a fretful cry ; the cry of pain tells to the practised ear the part of pain ; the cry of oar- ache is short, sharp, piercing, and decisive, the head being moved about from side to side, and the little Land being often put up to the affected side of the head ; the cry of bowel-ache is also expressive, the cry is not so piercing as from ear-ache, and is an interrupted, straining cry, accompanied with a drawing-up of the legs to the belly ; the cry of bronchitis is a gruff and phlegmatic cry ; the crv of inflammation of the lungs is 84 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. more a moan than a cry ; the cry of croup is hoarse, and rough, and ringing, and is so characteristic that it may truly be called " the croupy cry ; " the cry of inflamma- tion of the membranes of the brain is a piercing shriek a danger signal most painful to hear ; the cry of a child recovering from a severe illness is a cross, and wayward, and tearful cry; he may truly be said to be in a quarrelsome mood; he bursts out, without rhyme or reason, into a passionate flood of tears into "a tempest of tears : " tears are always, in a severe illness, to be looked upon as a good omen, as a sign of amendment, as " The tears that heal and bless.'' H. Bcmar. Tears, when a child is dangerously ill, are rarely, if ever, seen ; a cry, at night, for light a frequent cause of a babe crying is a restless cry : " An infant crying in the night ; An infant crying for the light : And with no language but a cry." Tennyson. 111. If an infant be delicate, have you any objection to his having either veal or mutton broth, to strengtlien him ? Broths seldom agree with a babe at the breast. I have known them produce sickness, disorder the bowels, and create fever. I recommend you, therefore, not to make the attempt Although broth and beef-tea, when taken by the mouth, will seldom agree with an infant at the breast, yet, when used as an enema, and in small quantities, so that they may be retained, I have frequently found them to be of great benefit, they have in some instances appeared to have snatched delicate children from the brink of the grave. 112. My baby's ankles are very weak: what do you advice to strengthen them ? If his ankles be weak, let them every morning be bathed, after the completion of his morning's ablution, for five miiiutcs each time, with bay-salt and water, a INFANCY. AILMENTS, DISEASE, ETC. 85 small handful of bay-salt dissolved in a quart of rain water (with the chill of the water off in the winter, and of its proper temperature in the summer time) ; then let them be dried ; after the drying, let the ankles be well rubbed with the following liniment : Take of Oil of Rosemary, three drachms ; Liniment of Camphor, thirteen drachms : To make a Liniment. Do not let him be put on bis feet early ; but allow him to crawl, and sprawl, and kick about the floor, until his body and his ankles become strong. Do not, on any account, without having competent advice on the subject, use iron instruments, or mechani- cal supports of any kind : the ankles are generally, by such artificial supports, made worse, in consequence of the pressure causing a further dwindling away and en- feebling of the ligaments of the ankles, already wasted and weakened. Let him wear shoes with straps over the insteps to keep them on, and not boots : boots will only, by wasting the ligaments, increase the weakness of the ankles. 113. Sometimes there is a difficulty in restraining the Heading of leech bites. What is the best met/tod 1 The difficulty in these cases generally arises from the improper method of performing it. For example a mother endeavours to stop the haemorrhage by loading the part with rag ; the more the bites discharge, the more rag she applies. At the same time, the child probably is in a room with a large fire, with two or three candles, with the doors closed, and with perhaps a dozen people in the apartment, whom the mother has, in her fright, sent for. This practice is strongly reprehensible. If the bleeding cannot be stopped, in the first place, the fire must be extinguished, the door and windows should be t'irown open, and tlio room ought to be cleared of persons, with the exception of one, or, at the most, two ; and every rag should be removed. " Stopping of leech bites. The simplest and most certain way, till the 80 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. proper assistance is obtained, is the pressure of the finger, with nothing intervening. It cannot bleed through that"* Many babies, by excessive loss of blood from leech bites, have lost their lives from a mother not knowing how to act, and also from the medical man either living at a distance, or not being at hand. Fortunately for the infantile community, leeches are now very seldom ordered by doctors. 114. Supposing a baby to be poorly, have you any advice to give to his mother as to her own management ? She must endeavour to calm her feelings or her milk will be disordered, and she will thus materially increase his illness. If he be labouring under any inflammatory disorder, she ought to refrain from the taking of beer, wine, and spirits, and from all stimulating food ; other- wise, she will feed his disease. Before concluding the first part of my subject the Management of Infancy let me again urge upon you the importance the paramount importance if you wish your babe to be strong and hearty, of giving him as little opening physic as possible. The best physic for him is Nature's physic fresh air, and exercise, and simplicity of living. A mother who is herself always drugging her child, can only do good to two persons the doctor and the druggist ! If an infant from his birth be properly managed, if he have an abundance of fresh air for his lungs, if he have plenty of exercise for liis muscles (by allowing him to kick and sprawl on the floor), if he have a good swilling and sousing of water for his skin, if, during the early months of his life, he have nothing but the mother's milk for his stomach, he will require very little medicine the less the better ! He does not want his stomach to be made into a doctor's shop ! The grand thing is not to take every opportunity of administering physic, but of using every means of with- Sir Charles Locock, in a, Letter to the Author. INFANCY. AILMENTS, DISEASE, ETC. 87 holding it ! And if physic be necessary, not to doctor him yourself, unless it be in extreme and urgent cases (which in preceding and succeeding Conversations I either have or will indicate), but to employ an ex- perienced medical man. A babe who is always, without rhyme or reason, being physicked, is sure to be puny, delicate, and unhealthy, and is ready at any moment to drop into an untimely grave ! I will maintain that a healthy child never requires drugging with opening physic, and that costiveness is brought on by bad management. Aperient medicines to a healthy child are so much poison ! Let me impress the above remarlcs on every mother's mind; for it is a subject of vital importance. Never, then, give a purgative to a healthy child ; for, if he be properly managed, he will never require one. If you once begin to give aperients, you will find a difficulty in discon- tinuing them. Finally, I will only say with Punch, "Don't." CONCLUDING REMAKKS ON INFANCY. 115. In concluding the first part of our subject Infancy I beg to remark : there are four things essentially necessary to a babe's well-doing, namely, (1) plenty of water for his skin ; (2) plenty of fresh genuine milk mixed with water for his stomach (of course, giving him ONLY his mother's milk during the first six, eight, or nine months of liis existence) ; (3) plenty of pure air for his lungs ; (4) plenty of sleep for his brain : these are the four grand essentials for an infant ; without an abundance of one and all of them, perfect health is utterly impossible ! Perfect health ! the greatest earthly blessing, and more to be coveted than ought else beside ! There is not a more charming sight in the universe than the beaming face of a perfectly healthy babe, " His are the joys of nature, his the smile, The cherub smile, of innocence and health." Kuwx. PART II. CHILDHOOD. The child it father of the man. WORDSWORTH. Bairns are blessings. SIIAKSPEABE. These are MY jewels I CORNELIA. ABLUTION. 116. At twelve months old, do you still recommend a child to be PUT IN HIS TUB to be washed ? Certainly I do, as I have previously recommended at page 6, in order that his skin may he well and thoroughly cleansed. If it be summer time, the water should be used cold ; if it be winter, a dash of warm must be added, so that it may be of the temperature of new milk : but do not, on any account use very warm water. The head must be washed (but not dried) before he be placed in a tub , then, putting him in the tub (containing the necessary quantity of water, and washing him as previously recommended),* a large sponge should be filled with the water and squeezed over his head, so that the water may stream over the whole surface of his body. A jugful of water should, iust before taking him out of his bath, be poured over and down his loins ; all this ought rapidly to be done, and he must be quickly dried with soft towels, and then expeditiously dressed. For the washing of your child I would recommend you to use Castile soap in See Infancy Ablution, page 6. CHILDHOOD. ABLUTION. 89 preference to any other; it is more pure, and less irritating, and hence does not injure the texture of the skin. Take care that the soap does not get into his eyes, or it might produce irritation and smarting. 117. Some mothers object to a child's STANDING in the water. If the head be wetted before he be placed in the tub, and if he be washed as above directed, there can be no valid objection to it. He must not be allowed to remain in his tub more than five minutes. 118. Does not washing the child's head, every morning, make him more liable to catch cold, and does it not tend to weaken his sight ? It does neither the one nor the other ; on the con- trary, it prevents cold, and strengthens his sight ; it cleanses his scalp, prevents scurf, and, by that means, causes a more beautiful head of hair. The head, after each washing, ought, with a soft brush, to be well brushed, but should not be combed. The brushing causes a healthy circulation of the scalp ; but combing the hair makes the head scurfy, and pulls out the hair by the roots. 119. If the head, notwithstanding the washing, be fiirfy, what should be done? After the head has been well dried, let a little cocoa-nut oil be well rubbed, for five minutes each time, into the roots of the hair, and, afterwards, let the head be well brushed, but not combed. The fine-tooth comb will cause a greater accumulation of scurf, and will scratch and injure the scalp. 120. Do you recommend a child to be icashed IN HIS TUB every night and morning ? No ; once a day is quite sufficient ; in the morning in preference to the evening ; unless he be poorly, then, evening instead of morning; as, immediately after he has been washed and dried, he can be put to bed. 121. Ought a child to be placed in his tub whilst he is in a state of perspiration ? Not whilst he is perspiring violently, or the perspiia- 90 ADVIOB TO A MOTHER. tion might be checked suddenly, and ill consequences would ensue ; nor ought he to be put in his tub when he is cold, or his blood would be chilled, and would be sent from the skin to some internal vital part, and thus would be likely to light up inflammation probably of the lungs. His skin, when be is placed in his bath, ought to be moderately and comfortably warm ; neither too hot nor too cold. 122. When the child is a year old, do you recommend cold or warm water to be used t If it be winter, a little warm water ought to be added, so as to raise the temperature to that of new milk. As the summer advances, less and less warm water is required, so that, at length, none is needed. 1 23. If a child be delicate, do you recommend anything to be added to the water which may tend to brace and strengtlien him ? Either a handful of table-salt, or half a handful of bay-salt, or of Tidman's sea-salt, should be previously dissolved in a quart jug of cold water ; then, just before taking the child out of his morning bath, let the above be poured over and down the back and loins of the child holding the jug, while pouring its contents on the back, a foot distant from the child, in order that it might act as a kind of douche bath. 124. Do you recommend the child, after he has been dried with the towel, to be rubbed icith the hand ? I do ; as friction encourages the cutaneous circulation, and causes the skin to perform its functions properly, tli us preventing the perspiration (which is one of the impurities of the body) from being sent inwardly either to the lungs or to other parts. The back, the chest, the bowels, and the limbs are the parts that ought to be well rubbed. CLOTHING, 125. Have you any remarks to make on the clothing of a child ? Children, boys and girls, especially if they be delicate, CHILDHOOD. CLOTHING. 91 ought always to wear high dresses up to their necks. The exposure of the upper part of the chest (if the child be weakly) is dangerous. It is in the upyer part of the lungs, in the region of the collar bones, that consump- tion first shows itself. The clothing of a child, more especially about the chest, should be large and full in every part, and be free from tight strings, so that the circulation of the blood may not be impeded, and that there may be plenty of room, for the full development of the rapidly-growing body. His frock, or tunic, ought to be of woollen material warm, light, and porous, in order that the perspiration may rapidly evaporate. The practice of some mothers in allowing their children to wear tight bands round their waists, and tight clothes, is truly reprehensible. Tight bands or tight belts around the waist of a child are very injurious to health ; they crib in the chest, and thus interfere with the rising and the falling of the ribs so essential to breathing. Tight hats ought never to be worn; by interfering with the circulation ihey cause headaches. Nature delights in freedom, and resents interference ! 126. What parts of the body in particular ovei fVrt diet, and is capable of maintaining life in infancy without the aid of any other substance, it is marvellous that the consumption of it is practically limited to so small a class ; and not only so, but that in sick-rooms, where the patient is surrounded with every luxury, arrow-root, and other compounds containing much less nutriment, should so often be preferred to it." T1it> : Do not let me be misunderstood. I do not mean to say, but that the mixing of farinaceous food such as Lemann's Biscuit Powder, Eobb's Biscuit, Hard's Farinaceous Food, Brown and Poison's Corn Flour, and the like, with the milk, is an improvement, in some cases a great improvement ; but still I maintain that a child might live and thrive, and that for a lengthened period, on milk and on milk alone ! A dog will live and fatten for six weeks on milk alone ; while he will starve and die in a shorter period on strong beef-tea, alone ! It is a grievous sin for a milkman to adulterate milk. How many a poor infant has fallen a victim to that crime ! for crime it may be truly called. It is folly in the extreme for a mother to bate a milk- man down in the price of his milk ; if she does, the milk is sure to be either of inferior quality, or adulterated, or dilated with water ; and woe betide the poor unfortunate child if it be either the one or the other ! The only way to insure good milk is, to go to a respectable cow-keeper, and let him be made to thoroughly understand the importance of your child having genuine milk, and that you are then willing to pay a fair remunerative price for it Rest assured, that if you have to pay one penny or even twopence a quart more for genuine milk, it is one of the best investments CHILDHOOD. DIET. 103 that you ever have made, or that you are ever likely to make in this world ! Cheap and inferior milk might well be called cheap and nasty ; for inferior or adulterated milk is the very essence, the conglomeration of nastiness ; and, moreover, is very poisonous to a child's stomach. One and the principal reason why so many children are rickety and scrofulous, is the horrid stuff called milk that is usually given to them. It is a crying evil, and demands a thorough investigation and reformation, and the individual interference of every parent. Limited Liability Companies are the order of the day ; it would really be not a bad speculation if one were formed in every large town, in order to insure good, genuine, and undiluted milk. Young children, as a rule, are allowed to eat too much meat It is a mistaken notion of a mother that they require so much animal food. If more milk were given and less meat, they would be healthier, and would not be so predisposed to disease, especially to diseases of debility, and to skin-disease. I should strongly recommend you, then, to be extrava- gant in your milk score. Each child ought, in the twenty-four hours, to take at least a quart of good, fresh, new milk. It should, of course, be given in various ways, as bread and milk, rice-puddings, milk and differcnts kinds of farinaceous food, stir-about, plain milk, cold milk, hot milk, any way, and every way, that will please his palate, and that will induce him to take an abundant supply of it. The " advice " I have just given you is of paramount importance, and demands your most earnest attention. There would be very few rickety children in the world if my " counsel " were followed out to the very letter. 1 40. But suppose my child will not take milk, he hav- ing an aversion to it, what ought then to be done ? Boil the milk, and sweeten it to suit his palate. After he has been accustomed to it for a while, he will then, probably, like milk. Gradually reduce the sugar, until at length it be dispensed with. A child will often 104 ADVICE TO A MOTHEB. tuko millc this way, whereas he will not otherwise touch it If a child will not drink milk, he must eat meat ; it is absolutely necessary that he should have either the one or the other ; and, if he liave cut nearly all his teeth, he ought to have both meat and milk the former in moderation, the latter in abundance. 141. Supposing milk should not agree with my child, what must then be done / Milk, either boiled or unboiled, almost always agrees with a child. If it does not, it must be looked upon as the exception, and not as the rule. I would, in such a case, advise one-eighth of lime water to be added to seven-eighths of new milk that is to say, two table- spoonfuls of lime water should be mixed with half a pint of new milk. 142. Can you tell me of a way to prevent milk, in hot weather, from turning sour ? Let the jug of milk be put into a crock, containing ice Wenham Lake is the best either in the dairy or in the cellar. The ice may at any time be procured of a respectable fishmonger, and should be kept, wrapped either in flannel or in blanket, in a cool place, until it be wanted. 143. Can you tell me why the children of the rich suffer so much more from costiveness than do the children of the poor ? The principal reason is that the children of the rich drink milk without water, while the children of the poor drink water without, or with very little, milk milk being binding, and water opening to the bowels. Be sure then, and bear in mind, as this is most important advice, to see that water is mixed with all the milk that is given to your child. The combination of milk and water for a child is a glorious compound strengthening, fattening, refreshing, and regulating to the bowels, and thus doing away with that disgraceful proceeding so common in nurseries, of everlastingly physicking, irritat- ing and irreparably injuring the tender bowels of a child. CHILDHOOD. DIET. 105 My opinion is, that aperients, as a rule, are quite unnecessary, and should only be given in severe illness, and under the direction of a judicious medical man. How much misery, and injury, might be averted if milk were always given to a child in combination with water ! Aperients, by repetition, unlike water, increase the mischief tenfold, and cork them up most effectually ; so that the bowels, in time, will not act without them ! A mother before she gives an aperient to her child should ponder well upon what I have said upon the sub- ject, it being a vital question, affecting, as it does, the well-being and the well-doing of her child. 144. But, if a child's boicels le vei*y costive, what is to be done to relieve them ? Do not give him a grain or a drop of opening medicine, but in lieu thereof, administer, by means of a 6 oz. India-rubber Enema Bottle, half a tea-cup or a tea-cupful, according to the age of the child,* of warm water ; now this will effectually open the bowels, without confining them afterwards, which opening physic would- most assuredly do ! 145. Is it necessary to give a child luncheon? If he want anything to eat between breakfast and dinner let him have a piece of dry bread ; and if he have eaten very heartily at dinner, and, like Oliver Twist, " asks for more ! " give him, to satisfy his craving, a piece of dry bread. He will never eat more of that than will do him good, and yet he Avill take sufficient to satisfy his hunger, which is very important. 1 46. What ought now to le his dinner ? He should now have meat, either mutton or beef, daily, which must be cut up very small, and should be mixed with mealy, mashed potato and gravy. He ought always to be accustomed to eat salt with his dinner. Let a * For a babe, from birth until he be two years old, one, two, or three table-spoonfuls of warm water will be sufficient, and a 2 oz. Enema Bottle will be the proper size for the purpose of administering it. 106 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. mother see that this advice is followed, or evil conse- quences will inevitably ensue. Let him be closely watched, to ascertain that ho well masticates his food, and that he does not eat too quickly ; for young cliildren are apt to bolt their food. 147. Have you any objection to pork for a change ? I have a great objection to it for the young. It is a rich, gross, and therefore unwholesome food for the delicate stomach of a cliild, I have known it, in several instances, produce violent pain, sickness, purging, and convulsions. If a child be fed much upon such meat, it will be likely to produce " breakings-out " on the skin. In fine, his blood will put on the same character as the food lie is fed with. Moreover, pork might be considered a strong meat, and " strong meat and strong drink can only be taken by strong men." 1 48. Do you approve of veal for a child ? My objection to pork was, that it was rich and gross ; this does not apply to veal ; but the objection to it is, that it is more difficult of digestion that either mutton or beef ; indeed, all young meats are harder of digestion than meats of maturity ; thus mutton is more digestible than lamb, and beef than veal. 149. Do you disapprove of salted and boiled beef for a child ? If beef be much salted it is hard of digestion, and therefore ought not to be given to him ; but if it have been but slightly salted, then for a change there will be no objection to a little. There is no necessity in the winter time to salt meat intended for boiling ; then boiled unsuHcd meat makes a nice change for a child's dinner. Salt, of course, must with the unsalted meat be eaten. 1 50. But suppose there is nothing on the table that a child may with impunity eat? He should then have either a grilled mutton chop, or a lightly-boiled egg ; indeed, the latter, at any time, makes an excellent change." There is great nourishment in an egg ; it will not only strengthen the frame, but it will give animal heat as well : these two qualities of an CHILDHOOD. DIET. 107 egg are most valuable ; indeed, essential for the due per- formance of health : many articles of food contain the one qualification, but not the other : hence the egg is admirably suitable for a child's occasional dinner. 151. Are potatoes an unwlwlesome food for a child ? New ones are ; but old potatoes well cooked and mealy, are the best vegetable he can have. They ought to be well mashed, as I have known lumps of potatoes cause convulsions. 152. Do you approve of any other vegetables for a c/t H<1 / Occasionally : either asparagus or broccoli, or cauli- flower, or turnips, or French beans, which latter should be cut up fine, may with advantage be given. Green peas may occasionally be given, provided they be thoroughly well boiled, and mashed with the knife on the plate. Underdone and un mashed peas are not fit for a child's stomach : there is nothing more difficult of digestion than underdone peas. It is important, too, to mash them, even if they be well done, as a child generally bolts peas whole ; and they pass through the alimentary canal without being in the least digested. 153. Might not a mother be too particular in dieting h< r rhild ? Certainly not If blood can be too pure and too good she might ! When we take into account that the food we eat is converted into blood ; that if the food be good the blood is good ; and that if the food be improper or impure, the blood is impure likewise ; and, moreover, when we know that every part of the body is built up by the blood, we cannot be considered to be too particular in making our selection of food. Besides if indigestible or improper food be taken into the stomach, the blood will not only be made impure, but the stomach and the bowels will be disordered. Do not let me be misunderstood : I am no advocate for a child having the same food one day as another certainly not Let there be variety, but let it be wholesome variety. Variety in a child's (not in infant's) food is necessary. If he were fed, day after day, on mutton, his stomach would at 108 ADVICE TO A MOTHER length be brought into that state, that in time it would not properly digest any other meat, and a miserable ex- istence would be the result. 154. What ought a child to drink with his dinner ? Toast and water, or, if he prefer it, plain spring water. Let him have as much as he likes. If you give him water to drink, there is no fear of his taking too much ; Nature will tell him when he has had enough. Be care- ful of the quality of the water, and the source from which you procure it If the water be hard provided it be free from organic matter so much the better.* Spring water from a moderately deep well is the best If it come from a land spring, it is apt, indeed, is almost sure to be contaminated by drains, e not in a crowded thoroughfare, to his riding occasionally in a jK'nunbiilatoi ; hut when he is older still, and can sit either a donkey or a pony, such exercise will be far more benelirial, and will afford him much greater pleasure. 17"). ,S'//////'/.-'//// out ? If the wind be neither in the east nor the north-east, and if the air IK- not damp, let him be well wrapped up and be sent out If he be labouring under an inflamma- tion of the lungs, however slight, or if he be just recovering from ore, it would, of course, l>e highly im- proper. In the management of a child, we mast take e:ire neither to coddle nor to expose him unnecessarily, as both are dangerous. Xever send a child out to walk in a fog ; he will, if you do, be almost sure to catch cold. It would be much safer to send him out in rain than in fog, though neither the one nor the other would be desirable. 1 76. How many times a day in fine iceather outjld a child to be sent out 1 Let him be sent out as often as it be possible. If a child lived more in the open air than he is wont to do, he woidd neither be so susceptible of disease, nor would he sutler so much from teething, nor from catching cold. 177. Supposing the day to be wet, what exercise would you then recommend ? The child ought to run either about a large room, or about the hall ; and if it does not rain violently, you should put on his hat and throw up the window, taking care while the window is open that he does not stand stilL A wet day is the day for him to hold his high court of revelry, and " to make him as happy as the day is long." Do not on any account allow him to sit any length of time at a table, amusing himself with books. C."* Parents often make Sunday a day of gloom : to this I much object. Of all the days in the week, Sunday should be the most cheerful and pleasant. It is con- sidered by our Church a festival; and a glorious festiv;:! it ought to be made, and one on which our Heavenly Father wishes to see all His children happy and full of innocent joy ! Let Sunday, then, be made a cheerful, joyous, innocently happy day, and not, as it frequently is, the most miserable and dismal in the week. It is my firm conviction that many men have been made irreligious by the ridiculously strict and dismal way they were compelled, as children, to spend their Sundays. You can no more make a child religious by gloomy * From an excellent article About Toys, by J. Hamilton Fyfe in Good Words for December 1862. 138 ADVICE TO A MOTHER asceticism, than you can make people good by Act of Parliament. One of the great follies of the present ago is, children's parties, where they are allowed to l>e dressed up like grown-up women, stuck out in petticoats, and encouraged to eat rich cake and pastry, and to drink wine, and to sit up late at night ! There is something disgusting and demoralising in all this. Their pure minds are blighted by it. Do not let me be misunderstood : there is not the least objection, but, on the contrary, great advantage, for friends' children to meet friends' children ; but then let them be treated as children, aud not as men and women ! 180. Do you approve of public play-grounds for cliillren t It would be well, in every village, and in the outskirts of every town, if a large plot of ground were set apart for children to play in, and to go through regular gymnastic exercises. Play is absolutely necessary to a child's very existence, as much as food and sleep ; but in many parts of England where is he to have it? Playgrounds and play are the best schools we have ; they teach a great deal not taught elsewhere ; they give lessons in health, which is the grandest wealth that can be bestowed " for health is wealth : " they prepare the soil for the future schoolmaster ; they clear the brain, and thus the intellect ; they strengthen the muscles ; they make the blood course merrily through the arteries ; they bestow healthy food for the lungs they give an appetite ; they make a child, in due time, become every inch a man ! Play-grounds and play are one of the finest institutions we possess. What would our large public schools be without their play and cricket grounds ? They would be shorn of half their splendour and their usefulness ! There is so much talk now-a-days about useful know- ledge, that the importance of play and play-grounds is likely to be forgotten. I cannot help thinking, however, that a better state of things is dawning. " It seems to CHILDHOOD. EDUCATION. 1 39 bo found out that in our zeal for useful knowledge, that knowledge is found to be not the least useful which treat boys as active, stirring, aspiring, and ready."* EDUCATION. 181. Do you approve of infant schools ? I do, if the arrangements be such that health is pre- ferred before learning.! Let children be only confined for three or four hours a day, and let what little they learn be taught as an amusement rather than as a labour. A play-ground ought to be attached to an infant school ; where, in fine weather, for every half-hour they spend in-doors, they should spend one in the open air ; and, in Avet weather, they ought to have, in lieu of the play- ground, a large room to romp, and shout, and riot in. To develop the different organs, muscles, and other parts of the body, children require fresh air, a free use of their lungs, active exercise, and their bodies to be thrown into all manner of attitudes. Let a child mope in a corner, and he will become stupid and sickly. The march of intellect, as it is called, or.rather the double quick march of intellect, as it should be called, has stolen a march upon health. Only allow the march of intellect and the march of health to take equal strides, and then we shall have " mens sana in corpore sano " (a sound mind in a sound body). In the education of a young child, it is better to in- struct him by illustration, by pictures, and by encourag- * The Saturday Review, December 13, 1862. t " According to Aristotle, more care should be taken of the body than of the mind for the first seven years ; strict attention to diet be enforced, &c The eye and ear of the child should be most watchfully and [severely guarded against con- tamination of every kind, and unrestrained communication with servants be strictly prevented. Even his amusements should be under due regulation, and rendered as interesting and intellectual as possible." The Rev Jehu Williams, in his Life and Actions of Alexander the Great 140 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. ing observation on things around ami about him, than by books. It is surprising how much, without endanger- ing his health, may be taught in this way. In educating your child, be careful to instil and to form good habits they will then stick to him for life. Children at the present day are too highly educated their brains are over-taxed, and thus weakened. The consequence is, that as they grow up to manhood, if they grow up at all, they become fools ! Children are now taught what formerly youths were taught. The chord of a child's life is ofttimes snapped asunder in consequence of over education : " Screw not the cord too sharply, lest it snap." Tennyson. You should treat a child as you would a young colt Think only at first of strengthening his body. Let him have a perfectly free, happy life, plenty of food to eat, abundance of air to breathe, and no work to do ; there is plenty of time to think of his learning of giving lu'm brain Avork. It will come sadly too soon ; but do not make him old before his time. 182. At ichat age do you advise my child to begin his course of education to have his regular lessons ? In the name of the prophet, Figs ! Fiddlesticks ! about courses of education and regular lessons for a child ! You may as well ask me when he, a child, is to begin Hebrew, the Sanscrit, and Mathematics ! Let him have a course of education in play ; let him go through regular lessons in foot-ball, bandy, playing at tic, hares and hounds, and such like excellent and really useful and health-giving lessons. Begin his lessons ! Begin brain work, and make an idiot of him ! Oh ! for shame, ye mothers ! You who pretend to love your children so much, and to tax, otherwise to injure, irreparably to in- jure their brains, and thus their intellects and their health, and to shorten their very days. And all for what 1 To make prodigies of them ! Forsooth ! to make fools of them in the end. 183. Well, then, as you have sudi a great objection to CHILDHOOD. EDUCATION. 141 a child commencing his education early in life, at what age may he, with safety, commence his lessons ? and which do you prefer home or school education ? Home is far preferable to a school education. He is, if at home, under your own immediate observation, and is not liable to be contaminated by naughty children ; for, in every school, there is necessarily a great mixture of the good and of the bad ; and a child, unfortunately, is more likely to be led by the bad than by the good. Moreover, if he be educated at home, the mother can see that his brain is not over-worked. At school the brain is apt to be over-worked, and the stomach and the muscles to be under- worked. Remember, as above stated, the brain mu*t have lut very little tcork until the child be seven years old : impress this advice upon your memory, and let no foolish ambition to make your child a clever child alloAv you, for one moment, to swerve from this advice. Build up a strong, healthy body, and in due time the brain will bear a moderate amount of intellectual labour. As I have given you so much advice, permit me. fur one moment, to address a word to the father of your child : Let me advise you, then, Mr Paterfamilias, to be careful how you converse, what language you use, while in the company of your child. Bear in mind, a child is very observant, and thinks much, weighs well, and seldom forgets all you say and all you do ! Let no hasty word, then, and more especially no oath, or no impious language, ever pass your lips, if your child be within hearing. It is, of course, at all times wicked to swear ; but it is heinously and unpardonably sinful to swear in the presence of your child ! " Childhood is like a mirror, catching and reflecting images. One impious or profane thought, uttered by a parent's lip, may operate upon the young heart like a careless spray of water thrown upon polished steel, staining it with rust, which no after scouring can efface." 142 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. Never talk secrets before a child " little pitchers have long ears ; " if you do, and he disclose your secrets as most likely he will and thus make mischief, it will be cruel to scold him ; you will, for your impru- dence, have yourself- only to blame. Be most careful, then, in the presence of your child, of what you say, and of whom you speak. This advice, if followed, might save a great deal of annoyance and vexation. 184. Are you an advocate for a child Icing taught singing ? I am : I consider singing a part of his education. Singing expands the walls of his chest, strengthens and invigorates his lungs, gives sweetness to his voice, im- proves his pronunciation, and is a great pleasure and amusement to him. 8LEJBP. 185. Do you approve of a child sleeping on a. FEATHER bed? A feather bed enervates his body, and, if he be so predisposed, causes rickets, and makes him crooked. A horse-hair mattress is the best for a child to lie on. The pillow, too, should be made of horse-hair. A feather pillow often causes the head to be bathed in perspiration, thus- enervating the child, and making him liable to catch cold. If he be at all rickety, if he be weak in the ueck, if he be inclined to stoop, or if he be at all crooked, let him, by all means, lie without a pillow. 186. Do you recommend a child, in the middle oftfo day, to be put to sleep ? Let him be put on his mattress awaJce, that he may sleep for a couple of hours before dinner, then he will rise both refreshed and strengthened for the remainder of the day. I said, let him be put down awake. Ho might, for the first few times, cry, but, by perseverance, he will without any difficulty fall to sleep. The practice of sleeping before dinner ought to be continued until he be three years old, and, if he can be prevailed upon, even longer. For if he do not have sleep in the middle of CHILDHOOD. SLEEP. 143 the dry, he will all the afternoon and the evening be cross ; and when he does go to bed, he will probably be too tired to sleep, or his nerves having been exhausted by the long wakefulness, he will fall into a troubled, broken slumber, and not into that sweet, soft, gentle repose, so characteristic of healthy, happy childhood ! 187. At what hour ought a child to be put to bed in the evening ? At six in the winter, and at seven o'clock in the summer. Regularity ought to be observed, as regularity is very conducive to health. It is a reprehensible practice to keep a child up until nine or ten o'clock at night. If this be done, he will, before his time, become old, and the seeds of disease will be sown. As soon as ho can run, let him be encouraged, for half an hour before he goes to bed, to race either about the hall, or the landing, or a large room, which will be the best means of wanning his feet, of preventing chilblains, and of making him sleep soundly. 188. Have you any directions to give me as to the placing of my child in his led f If a child lie alone, place him fairly on his side in the middle of the bed ; if it be winter time, see that his arms and hands be covered with the bed-clothes ; if it be summer, his hands might be allowed to be outside the clothes. In putting him down to sleep, you should ascertain that his face be not covered with the bed- clothes ; if it be, he will be poisoned with his own breath the breath constantly giving off carbonic acid gas ; which gas must, if his face be smothered in the clothes, be breathed carbonic acid gas being highly poisonous. You can readily prove the existence of carbonic acid gas in the breathing, by simply breathing into a little lime-water ; after breathing for a few seconds into it, a white film will form on the top ; the carbonic acid gas from the breath unites with the lime of the lime-water, and the product of the white film is carbonate of lime. 189. Do you advise a, bedroom to be darJcened at night 9 1 44 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. Certainly ; a child sleeps sounder and sweeter in a dark than in a light room. There is nothing better for the purpose of darkening a bedroom, than Venetian blinds. Ivemember, then, a well-ventilated, but a darkened, chamber at night. The cot or the crib ought not to face the window,-" as the light is best behind."* 10. Wli!<-li !* the beet position for a child irli> n slecpiiKj on Itis back, or on his side ? His side : he ought to be accustomed to change about, on the right side one night, on the left another ; and occasionally, for a cliange, he should lie on his back. By adopting this plan, you will not only improve his figure, but likewise his health. Lying, night after night, in one position, would be likely to make him crooked. 191. Do you udi'ise, in the icinter time, that therA should be afire in the night nursery? Certainly not, unless the weather be intensely cold. I dislike fires in bedrooms, especially for children ; they are very enervating, and make a child liable to catch cold. Cold weather is very bracing, particularly at night. " Generally speaking," says the Siede, " during winter, Apartments are too much heated. The temperature in them ought not to exceed 16 Centigrade (59 Fahren- heit) ; and even in periods of great cold scientific men declare that 12 or 14 had better not be exceeded. In the wards of hospitals, and in the chambers of the sick, care is taken not to have greater heat than 15. Clerks in offices, and other persons of sedentary occupa- tions, when rooms in which they sit are too much heated, are liable to cerebral [brain] congestion and to pulmonary [lung] complaints. In bedrooms, and particularly those of children, the temperature ought to be maintained rather low ; it is even prudent only rarely to make fires in them, especially during the night." If " a cold stable make a healthy horse," I am quite sure that a moderately cold and well-ventilated bedroom help* to make a healthy child. But, still, in the winter * Sir Charles Locock in a Letter to the Author. CHILDHOOD. SLEEP. 14J> time, if the weather be biting cold, a little fire in the bedroom grate is desirable. In bringing up children, wo must never run into extremes the coddling system and the hardening system are both to be deprecated ; the (fiddling system will make the strong child weakly, while the hardening system will probably kill a delicate one. A child's bed ought, of course, to be comfortably clothed with blankets I say blankets, as they are ranch superior to coverlids ; the perspiration will more readily pass through a blanket than a coverlid. A thick coverlid ought never to be used ; there is nothing better, for a child's bed, than the old-fashioned patchwork coverlid, as the perspiration will easily escape through it. 192. Should a child be icashcd and dressed AS SOON AS HE AWAKE in the morning ? He ought, if he awake in anything like reasonable time : for if he doze after he be once awake, such slumber does liim more harm than good. He should be up every morning as soon as it is light. If, as a child, he be taught to rise early, it will make him an early riser for life, and will tend greatly to prolong both his existence and his happiness. Never awake a child from his sleep to dress him, to give him medicine, or for any other purpose ; let him ahvays sleep as long as he can ; but the moment he awakes let him be held out, and then let him be washed and dressed, and do not wait, as many a silly nurse does, until he have wet his bed, until his blood be chilled, and until he be cross, miserable, and uncomfort- able ! How many babes are made ill by such foolish practices ! The moment he leaves his bed, turn back to the fullest extent the clothes, in order that they may be thoroughly ventilated and sweetened. They ought to be exposed to the air for at least an hour before the bed be made. As soon as he leaves his room, be it winter or summer, throw open the windows. 193. Ought a child to lie alone ? 146 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. Ho should, after he is weaned. He will rest more comfortably, and his sleep will be more refreshing. 194. Supposing a child should not sleep well, what ought to be done ? Would you give him a dose of com- posing medicine ? Certainly not. Try the effects of exercise. Exerciso in the open air is the l>est composing medicine in llm world. Let the little fellow be well tired out, and tln-io will be little fear of his not sleeping. 195. Have you any further observations to make on the subject of sleep ? Send a child joyful to bed. Do not, if yon can pos- sibly help it, let him go to bed crying. Let the last im- pressions ho has at night bo of his happy home, and of his loving father and mother, and let his last thoughts be those of joy and gladness. He will sleep all the sounder if he be sent to bed in such a frame of mind, and he will be more refreshed and nourished in the morning by his sleep. 196. Wliat are the iisual causes of a child walking in his sleep, and ichat measures, during such times, ought to be adopted to prevent his injuring himself ? A disordered stomach, in a child of nervous tempera- ment, or worms, are usually the causes. The means to be adopted to prevent his throwing himself out of the window, are to have bars to his chamber casement, and if that be not practicable, to have either nails or screws driven into the window sash to allow the window to open only for a sufficient space for ventilation, and to have a screw window fastening, in order that he cannot, without difficulty, open the window ; to have a trusty person to sleep in his room, who should have directions given not to rouse him from his sleep, but to gently lead him back to his bed, which may frequently be done without awaking him ; and to consult a medical man, who will adopt means to destroy the worms, to put his stomach into order, to brace his nerves, and to strengthen his general system. A trip to the coast and sea-bathing, in such a case, is often of great service. CHILDHOOD. ON DISEASE, ETC. 147 SECOND DENTITION. 197. When does a child commence to cut his SECOND set of teeth ? Generally at seven years old. He begins to cut them at about that time ; but it should be borne in mind (so wonderful are the works of God) that the second crop of teeth, in embryo, is actually bred and formed from the very commencement of his life, under' the first tier of teeth, but which remain in abeyance for years, and do not come into play until the first teeth, having done their duty, loosen and fall out, and thus make room for the more numerous, larger, stronger, and more permanent teeth, which latter have to last for the remainder of his existence. The first set is sometimes cut with a great deal of difficulty, and produces various diseases; the second, or permanent teeth, come easily, and are un- accompanied with any disorder. The following is the process : One after another of the first set gradually loosen, and either drop out, or with little pain are readily pulled out ; under these, the second the permanent teeth make their appearance, and fill up the vacant spaces. The fang of the tooth that has dropped out is nearly all absorbed or eaten away, leaving little more than the crown. The first set consists of twenty ; the second (including the wise-teeth, which are not, generally cut until after the age of twenty-seven) consists of thirty- two. I would recommend you to pay particular attention to the teeth of your children ; for, besides their being ornamental, their regularity and soundness are of great importance to the present as well as to the future health of your offspring. If there be any irregularity in the appearance of the second set, lose no time in consulting an experienced and respectable dentist. ON DISEASE, ETC. 198. Do you think it important that I should be made acquainted icith the symptoms of the SERIOUS diseases of children. 148 ADVICB TO A MOTHER. Certainly. I am not advocating the doctrine of a mother treating serious diseases ; far from it, it is not her province, except in certain cases of extreme urgency, where a medical man cannot be procured, and where delay might be death ; but I do insist upon the necessity of her knowing the symptoms of disease. My belief is, that if parents were better informed on such subjects, many children's lives might be saved, much suffering averted, and sorrow spared. The fact is, the knowledge of the symptoms of disease is, to a mother, almost a sealed book. If she were better acquainted with these matters, how much more useful would she be in a sick-room, and how much more readily would she enter into the plans and views of the medical man ! By her knowledge of the symptoms, and by having his advice in time, she would nip disease in the bud, and the fight might end in favour of life, for "sickness is just a fight between life and death." Geo. M' Donald. It is really lamentable to contemplate the amount of ignorance that still exists among mothers in all that appertains to the diseases of children : although, fortunately, they are beginning to see and to feel the importance of gaining instruction on such subjects ; but the light is only dawning. A writer of the Medical Times and Gazette makes the following remarks, which somewhat bear on the subject in question. He observes " In spite of the knowledge and clear views possessed by the profession on all that concerns the management of children, no fact is more palpable than that the most grievous ignorance and incompetency prevail respecting it among the public. We want some means of making popular the knowledge which is now almost restricted to medical men, or, at most, to the well-educated classes." In the earlier editions of this work I did not give the treatment of any serious diseases, however urgent. In the eight last editions, I have been induced, for reasons I will presently state, to give the treatment of some of the more urgent serious diseases, when a medical man can- CHILDHOOD. ON DISEASE, ETO, 149 not instantly be procured, and where delay might be death. Sir CHARLES LOCOCK, who has taken a kind interest in this little work, has given me valid reasons why a mother should be so enlightened. The following extracts are from a letter which I received from Sir CHARLES on the subject, and which he has courteously allowed me to publish. He says, " As an old physician of some experience in complaints of infants and children, I may perhaps be allowed to suggest that in a future edition you should add a few words on the actual treatment of some of the more urgent infantile diseases. It is very right to caution parents against superseding the doctor, and attempting to manage serious illness themselves ; but your advice, with very small exceptions, always being, ' to lose no time in sending for a medical man,' much valuable and often irremediable time may be lost when a medical man is not to be had. Take, for instance, a case of croup : there are no directions given at all, except to send for a medical man, and always to keep medicines in the house which he may have directed. Hut how can this apply to a first attack ? You state that a first attack is generally the worst. But why is it so ? Simply because it often occurs when the parents do not recognise it, and it is allowed to get a worse point than in subsequent attacks, when they are thoroughly alive to it. As the very best remedy, and often the only essential one, if given early, is a full emetic, surely it is letter that you should give some directions as to tlii.s in a future edition, and I can speak from my own experience when I say that an emetic, given in time, and repeated to free vomiting, will cut short any case of croup. In nine cases out of ten the attack takes place in the evening or early night, and Avhen vomiting is effected the dinner of that day is brought up nearly undigested, and the severity of the symptoms at once cut short. Whenever any remedy is valuable, the more by its being administered in time, it is surely wiser to give directions as to its use, although, as a general rule, it 150 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. is much better to advise the sending for medical advice." The above reasons, coming from such a learned and experienced physician as Sir Charles Locock, are con- clusive, and have decided me to comply with his advice, to enlighten a mother on the treatment of some of the more urgent diseases of infants and of children. In a subsequent letter addressed to myself, Sir Charles has given me the names of those urgent diseases, which ho considers may be treated by a mother, " where a medical man cannot be procured quickly, or not at all ; " they are Croup ; Inflammation of the Lungs ; Diphtheria ; Dysentery ; Diarrhoea ; Hooping-cough, in its various stages; and Shivering Fit. Sir Charles sums up his letter to me by saying, " Such a book ought to be made as complete as possible, and the objections to medical treatment being so explained as to induce mothers to try to avoid medical men is not so serious as that of leaving them without any guide in those instances where every delay is dangerous, and yet where medical assistance is not to be obtained or not to be had quickly." In addition to the above, I shall give you the treatment of Bronchitis, Measles, and Scarlet Fever. Bronchitis is one of the most common diseases incidental to childhood, and, with judicious treatment, is, in the absence of the medical man, readily managed by a sensible mother. Measles is very submissive to treatment. Scarlet Fever, if it be not malignant, and, if it be not complicated with diphtheric-croup, and if certain rules be strictly followed, is also equally amenable to treatment. I have been fortunate in treating Scarlet Fever, and I therefore think it desirable to enter fully into the treatment of a disease which is looked upon by many parents, and, according to the usual mode of treatment, with just cause, with great consternation and dread. By giving my plan of treatment, fully and simply, and with- out the slightest reservation, I am fully persuaded, through God's blessing, that I may be the humble means of saving the lives of numbers of children. CHILDHOOD. ON DISEASE, ETC. 151 The diseases that might be treated by a mother, in the absence of a medical man, Avill form the subject of future Conversations. I think it right to premise that in all the prescriptions for a child I have for the use of a mother given, 1 have endeavoured to make them as simple as possible, and have, whenever practicable, avoided to recommend powerful drugs. Complicated prescriptions and power- ful medicines ought, as a rule, to be seldom given ; and when they are, shoidd only be administered by a judicious medical man; a child requiring much more care and gentleness in his treatment than an adult ; in- deed, I often think it would be better to leave a child to nature rather than to give him powerful and large doses of medicines. A remedy calomel, for instance has frequently done more mischief than the disease itself; and the misfortune of it is, the mischief from that drug has oftentimes been permanent, while the complaint might, if left alone, have only been temporary. 1 ( J9. At what aye does Water on the Brain usually ot'fur, 'ind how is a mother to know that her child in about to 1'ilioitr under that disease ? Water on the brain is, as a rule, a disease of child- hood : after a child is seven years old it is comparatively rare. It more frequently attacks delicate children children who have been dry-nursed (especially if they have been improperly fed), or who have been suckled too long, or who have had consumptive mothers, or who have suffered severely from teething, or who are naturally of a feeble constitution. Water on the brain sometimes follows an attack of inflammation of the lungs, more especially if depressing measures (such as excessive L'lM'liing and the administration of emetic tartar) have been adopted. It occasionally follows in the train of contagious eruptive diseases, such as either small-pox or scarlatina. We may divide the symptoms of water on the brain into two stages. The first the premonitory stage which lasts four or five days, in which medical 153 ADVICE TO A MOTHER aid might l>e of great avail : the second the stage of drowsiness and of coma which usually ends in death. I hall dwell on the first the premonitory stage in cmliT that a mother may sec the importance without loss of time of calling in a medical man : If her child be feverish and irritable, if his stomach be disordered, if he have urgent vomitings, if he have a foul breath, if his appetite be capricious and bad if his i sights be disturbed (screaming out in his sleep), if his bowi-ls bo disordered, more especially if they be con- ftijiaU-d, if he be more than usually excited, if his eye gleam with unusual brilliancy, if his tongue run faster than it is wont, if his cheek be flushed and his head be hot, and if ho be constantly putting his hand to his head ; there is cause for suspicion. If to these symptoms be added, a more than usual carelessness in tumbling about, in hitching his foot in the carpet, or in dragging one foot after the other ; if, too, he has complained of darting, shooting, lancinating pains in his head, it may then be known that the first stage of inflammation (the forerunner of water on the brain) either has taken, or is about taking place. Eemember no time ought to be lost in obtaining medical aid : for the commencement of the disease is the golden opportunity, when life might pro- bably be saved. 200. At ivhat age, and in what neighbourhood, is a child most liable to croup, and when is a mother to know that it is about to tube place ? It is unusual for a child until he be twelve months old to have croup : but, from that time until the age of two years, he is more liable to it than at any other period. The liability after two years, gradually, until lie be ten years old, lessens, after which time it is rare. A child is more liable to croup in a low and damp, than in a high and dry neighbourhood ; indeed, in some situations, croup is almost an unknown disease ; while in others it is only too Avell understood. Croup is more likely to prevail when the wind is either easterly or north-easterly. CHILDHOOD. ON DISEASE, ETC. 153 There is no disease that requires more prompt treat- ment than croup, and none that creeps on more insidiously. The child at first seems to be labouring under a slight cold, and is troubled with a little dry cough ; he is hot and fretful, and hoarse when he cries. Hoarseness is one of the earliest symptoms of croup ; and it should be borne in mind that a young child, unless ho be going to have croup, is seldom hoarse ; if, there- fore, your child be hoarse, he should be carefully watched, in order that, as soon as croup be deln -d h air, of cold, dry pure air, and of plenty of it the more the little fellow can inhale, during the day, the better it will bo for him, it will be far better than any drug con- tained in the pharmacopoeia. I have dwelt on this subject at some length it being a most important one as, if the above advice were more generally known and followed, nearly every child, labouring under this complaint, would be saved ; while now, as coroners' inquests abundantly testify, the disease carries off yearly an immense number of victims. 204. When is a mother to Jcnoio that a cough is not a " tooth cough" but one of the symptoms of Inflammation of the lungs ? If the child has had a shivering fit ; if his skin bo very hot and very dry ; if his lips be parched ; if there be great thirst ; if his cheeks be flushed ; if he be dull and heavy, wishing to be quiet in his cot or crib ; if his appetite be diminished ; if his tongue be furred ; if his mouth be burning hot and dry ;* if his urine be scanty and high-coloured, staining the napkin or the linen ; if his breathing be short, panting, hurried, and oppressed ; if there be a hard dry cough ; and if his skin be burning hot ; then there is no doubt that inflammation of the lungs has taken place. No time should be lost in sending for medical aid ; * If you put your finger into the mouth of a child labouring tinder inflammation of the lungs, it is like putting your finger into a hot apple pie, the heat is so great CHILDHOOD. ON DISEASE, ETC. 161 indeed, the hot, dry mouth and skin, and short, hurried breathing would be sufficient cause for your procuring immediate assistance. If inflammation of the lungs were properly treated at the onset, a child would scarcely ever be lost by that disease. I say this advisedly, for in my own practice, provided I am called in early, and if ni>/ plans are strictly carried out, I scarcely ever lose a child from inflammation of the lungs. You may ask What are your plans 1 I will tell you, in case you cannot promptly obtain medical advice, as delay might be death ! The treatment of Inflammation of the Lungs, what to do. Keep the child to one room, to his bedroom, and to his bed. Let the chamber be properly ventilated. If the weather be cool, let a small fire be in the grate ; otherwise, he is better without a fire. Let him live on low diet, such as weak black tea, milk and water (in equal quantities), and toast and water, thin oatmeal gruel, arrow-root, and such like simple beverages, and give him the following mixture : Take of Wine of Ipecacuanha, three drachms ; Simple Syrup, three drachms; Water, six drachms : Make a Mixture. A tea-spoonful of the mixture to be taken every four hours. Be careful that you go to a respectable chemist, in order that the quality of the Ipecacuanha Wine may be good, as the child's life may depend upon it. If the medicine produce sickness, so much the better ; continue it regularly until the short, oppressed, and hurried breathing has subsided, and has become natural. If the attack be very severe, in addition to the above medicine, at once apply a blister, not the common blister, but Smith's Tela Vesicatoria* a quarter of n sheet If the child be a year old, the blister ought to be kept on for three hours, and then a piece of dry, soft * Manufactured by T. & H. Smith, chemists, Edinburgh, and may be procured of Southalls, chemists, Birmingham. L 162 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. linen rag should be applied for another three hours. At the end of which time six hours there will be a beautiful blister, which must then, with a pair of scissors, be cut, to let out the water ; ami then let the blister be dressed, night and morning, with simple cerate spread on lint. If the little patient be more than one year, say two years old, let the Tela remain on for five hours, and tho dry linen rag for five hours more, before the blister, as above recommended, be cut and dressed. If in a day or two the inflammation still continue violent, let another Tela Vesicatoria be applied, not over the old blister, but let a narrow strip of it be applied on each side of the old blister, and managed in the same manner as before directed. I cannot speak too highly of Smith's Tela Vesicatoria. It has, in my hands, through God's blessing, saved the lives of scores of children. It is far, very far, superior to the old-fashioned blistering plaster. It seldom, if tho above rules be strictly observed, fails to rise ; it gives much less paiii than the common blister ; when it has had the desired effect, it readily heals, which cannot always be said of the common fly-blister, more especially with children. My sheet anchors, then, in the inflammation of the lungs of children are, Ipecacuanha Wine and Smith's Tela Vesicatoria. Let the greatest care, as I before advised, be observed in obtaining the Ipecacuanha "\Vino genuine and good. This can be only depended upon by having the medicine from a highly respectable chemist. Ipecacuanha "Wine, when genuine and good, is, in many children's diseases, one of the most valuable of medincies. What, in a case of inflammation of the lungs, NOT to do. Do not, on any account, apply leeches. They draw out the life of the child, but not his disease. Avoid emphatically let me say so giving emetic tartar. It is one of the most lowering and death-dealing medicines that can be administered either to an infant CHILDHOOD. ON DISEASE, ETC. 163 or to a child ! If you wish to try the effect of it, take a dose yourself, and I am quite sure that you will then never be inclined to poison a child with such an abominable preparation ! In olden times many, many years ago I myself gave it in inflammation of the lungs, and lost many children ! Since leaving it off, the recoveries of patients by the Ipecacuanha treatment, combined with the external application of Smith's Tcla Vefdcatoria, have been in many cases marvellous. Avoid broths and Mine, and all stimulants. Do not put the child into a warm bath; it only oppresses the already oppressed breathing. Moreover, after he is out of the bath, it causes a larger quantity of blood to rush back to the lungs and to the bronchial tubes, and thus feeds the inflammation. Do not, by a large fire, keep the temperature of the room high. A small fire, in the winter time, encourages ventilation, and in such a case does good. When the little patient is on the mother's or on the nurse's lap, do not burden him either with a heavy blanket or with a thick shawL Either a thin child's blanket, or a thin woollen shawl, in addition to his usual nightgown, is all the clotliing necessary. 205. Is Bronchitis a more frequent disease than In- flammation of the Lwvjs ? \V7iich is the most dangerous ? Wliat are the symptoms of Bronchitis ? Bronchitis is a much more frequent disease than in- flammation of the lungs ; indeed, it is one of the most common complaints both of infants and of children, while inflammation of the lungs is comparatively a rare disease. Bronchitis is not nearly such a dangerous disease as inflammation of the lungs. The symptoms. The child for the first few days labours under symptoms of a heavy cold ; he has not his usual spirits. In two or three days, instead of the cold leaving him, it becomes more confirmed ; he is now really poorly, fretful, and feverish; his breathing becomes rather hurried and oppressed ; his cough is hard and dry, and loud ; he wheezes, and if you put your ear to his naked back, between his shoulder blades, you 164 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. will hoar the wheezing more distinctly. If at the bivast, ho does not suck with his usual avidity; the cough, notwithstanding the breast is a great comfort to him, compels him frequently to loose the nipple ; his urine is scanty, and rather high-coloured, staining the napkin, and smelling strongly. He is generally worse at night. Well, then, remember if the child be feverish, if he have symptoms'of a heavy cold, if ho have an eppression of breathing, if he wheeze, and if he have a tight, dry, noisy cough, you may be satisfied that he has an attack of bronchitis. 206. How can I ftutittffttuh between Bronchitis and Inflammation of the Lungs? In bronchitis the skin is warm, but moist ; in inflam- mation of the lungs it is hot and dry : in bronchitis the mouth is warmer than usual, but moist ; in inflamma- tion of the Imigs it is burning hot : in bronchitis the breathing is rather hurried, and attended with wheez- ing ; in inflammation of the lungs it is very short and panting, and is unaccompanied with wheezing, although occasionally a very slight crackling sound might be heard : in bronchitis the cough is long and noisy ; in inflammation of the lungs it is short and feeble : in bron- chitis the child is cross and fretful ; in inflammation of the lungs he is dull and heavy, and his countenance denotes distress. We have sometimes a combination of bronchitis and of inflammation of the lungs, an attack of the latter follow- ing the foitner. Then the symptoms will be modified, and will partake of the character of the two diseases. 207. How would you treat a case of Bronchitis ? If a medical man cannot be procured, I will tell you What to do : Confine the child to his bedroom, and if very ill, to his bed. If it be winter time, have a little fire in the grate, but be sure that the temperature of the chamber be not above 60 Fahrenheit, and let the room be properly ventilated, which may be effected by occa- sionally leaving the door a little ajar. CHILDHOOD. ON DISEASE, ETC. 165 Let him lie either outside the bed or on a sofa ; if he be very ill, inside the bed, Avith a sheet and a blanket only to cover him, but no thick coverlid. If he be allowed to lie on the lap, it only heats him and makes him restless. If he will not lie on the bed, let him rest on a pillow placed on the lap ; the pillow will cause him to lie cooler, and will more comfortably rest his Avearied body. If he be at the breast, keep him to it ; let him have no artificial food, unless, if he be tliirsty, a little toast and Avater. If he be Avcaned, let him have either milk and water, arrow-root made with equal parts of milk and water, toast and water, barley water, or weak black tea, Avith plenty of new niilk in it, &c. ; but, until the inflammation have subsided, neither broth nor beef-tea. Now, Avith regard to medicine, the best medicine is Ipecacuanha Wine, given in large doses, so as to produce constant nausea. The Ipecacuanha abates fever, acts on the skin, loosens the cough, and, in point of fact, hi the majority of cases, Avill rapidly effect a cure. I have in u preceding Conversation given you a prescription for tli^ I ] iceacuanha "Wine Mixture. Let a tea-spoonful of the mixture be taken every four hours. If in a day or two he be no better, but worse, by all means continue the mixture, whether it produce sickness or otherwise ; and put on the chest a Tela Vesicatoria, a quarter of a sheet. The Ipecacuanha Wine and the Tela Vesicatoria are my sheet anchors in the bronchitis, both of infants and of children. They rarely, even in very severe cases, fail to effect a cure, provided the Tela Vesicatoria be properly applied, and the Ipecacuanha Wine bo genuine and of good quality. If there be any difficulty in procuring good Ipecacu- anha Wine, the Ipecacuanha may be given in pOAvder instead of the wine. The following is a pleasant form : Take of Powder of Ipecacuanha, twelve grains ,, White Sugar, thirty-six grains : Mix well together, and divide into twelve powders. One of the powders to be put dry 011 the tongue every tour hours. 166 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. Tho Ipecacuanha Powder mil keep better than the "Wine an important consideration to those living in country places ; nevertheless, if the Wine can be pro- cured fresh and good, I far prefer tho \Vine to the Powder. When the hronchitis has disappeared, the diet ought gradually to be improved rice, sago, tapioca, and light batter-pudding, &c.; and, in a few days, either a little chicken or a mutton chop, mixed with a well-mashed potato and crumb of bread, should be given. But let the improvement in his diet be gradual, or tho inflam- mation might return. What NOT to do. Do not apply leeches. Do not give either emetic tartar or autimonial wine, which is emetic tartar dissolved in wine. Do not administer either paregoric or syrup of poppies, ei ;her of which would stop the cough, and would thus prevent the ex- pulsion of the phlegm. Any fool can stop a cough, but it requires a wise man to rectify the mischief. A cough is an effort of Nature to bring up the phlegm, which would otherwise accumulate, and in the end cause death. Again, therefore, let me urge upon you the immense importance of not stopping the cough of a child. The Ipecacuanha Wine will, by loosening the phlegm, loosen the cough, which is the only right way to get rid of a cough. Let what I have now said be impressed deeply upon your memory, as thousands of children in England are annually destroyed by having their coughs stopped. Avoid, until the bronchitis be relieved, giving him brotlis, and meat, and stimulants of all kinds. For further observations on wliat NOT to do in bronchitis, I beg to refer you to a previous Con- versation we had on what NOT to do in inflammation of the lungs. That which is injurious in the one case is equally so in the other. 208. What are the symptoms of Diphtheria, or, as it is sometimes called, Boulogne Sore-throat ? This terrible disease, although by many considered to be a new complaint, is, in point of fact, of very ancient CHILDHOOD. ON DISEASE, ETC. 167 origin. Homer, and Hippocrates, the Father of Physic, have both described it. Diphtheria first appeared in England in the beginning of the year 1857, since which time it has never totally left our shores. The symptoms. The little patient, before the disease really shows itself, feels poorly, and is "out of sorts." A shivering fit, though not severe, may generally be noticed. There is heaviness, and slight headache, prin- cipally over the eyes. Sometimes, but not always, there is a mild attack of delirium at night. The next day he complains of slight difficulty of swallowing. If old enough, he will complain of constriction about the swallow. On examining the throat, the tonsils will be found to be swollen and redder more darkly red than usual. Slight specks will be noticed on the tonsils. In a day or two an exudation will cover them, the back of the swallow, the palate, the tongue, and sometimes the inside of the cheeks and of the nostrils. This exudation of lymph gradually increases until it becomes a regular membrane, which puts on the appearance of leather ; hence its name diphtheria. This membrane peels off in pieces ; and if the child be old and strong enough he will sometimes spit it up in quantities, the membrane again and again rapidly forming as before. The dis- charges from the throat are occasionally, but not always, offensive. There is danger of croup from the extension of the membrane into the wind-pipe. The glands about the neck and under the jaw are generally much swollen ; the skin is rather cold and clammy ; the urine is scanty and usually pale ; the bowels at first are frequently relaxed. This diarrhoea may, or may not, cease as the disease advances. The child is now in a perilous condition, and it be- comes a battle between his constitution and the disease. If, unfortunately, as is too often the case diphtheria being more likely to attack the weakly the child be very delicate, there is but slight hope of recovery. The danger of the disease is not always to be measured by the state of the throat. Sometimes, when the patient 168 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. appears to bo getting well, a sudden change for the worse rapidly carries him off. Hence the importance of great caution, in such cases, in giving an opinion as to ulti- mate recovery. I have said enough to prove the terrible nature of the discus -, ami to show the necessity of calling in, at the earliest period of the symptoms, an experienced and skilful medical man. 209. Is Diphtheria contagious t Decidedly. Therefore, when practicable, the rest of the children ought instantly to be removed to a distance. 1 say children, /or it is emphatically a disease of child- hood. When adults have it, it is the exception and not the rule : " Thus it will be seen, in the account given of the Boulogne epidemic, that of 366 deaths from this cause, 341 occurred amongst children under ten years of age. In the Lincolnshire epidemic, in the autumn of 1858, all the deaths at Horncastle, 25 in number, occurred amongst children under twelve years of age. " * 210. What are, the causes of Diphtheria ? Bad and imperfect drainage ; f want of ventilation ; overflowing privies ; low neighbourhoods in the vicinity of rivers ; stagnant waters ; indeed, everything that vitiates the air, and thus depresses the system, more especially if the weather be close and muggy ; poor and improper food ; and last, though not least, contagion. Bear in mind, too, that a delicate child is much more predisposed to the disease than a strong one. * Diphtheria : by Ernest Hart. A valuable pamphlet on tlio subject. Dr Wade of Birmingham has also written aii inter- esting aud useful monograph on Diphtheria. I am indebted to the above authors for much valuable information. t " Now all my carefully conducted inquiries induce me to believe that the disease comes from drain-poison. All the cases into which I could fully inquire, have brought conviction to my mind that there is a direct law of sequence in some peculiar conditions of atmosphere between diphtheria and bad drainage ; and, if this be proved by subsequent investigations, we may be able to prevent a disease which, in too many cases, our known remedies cannot cure." W. Carr, Esq., Blackheath. British Medical Journal, December 7, 1861. CHILDHOOD. ON DISEASE, ETC. 169 211. Wl<((t / the treatment of Diphtheria ? What to do. Examine well into the ventilation, for as diphtheria is frequently caused by deficient ventila- tion, the best remedy is thorough ventilation. Look well both to the drains and to the privies, and see that the drains from the water-closets and from the privies do not in any way contaminate the pump-water. If the drains be defective or the privies be full, the disease in your child will be generated, fed, and fostered. Not only so, but the disease will spread in your family and all around you. Keep the child to his bedroom and to his bed. For the first two or three days, while the fever runs high, put him on a low diet, such as milk, tea, arrow-root, &c. Apply to his throat every four hours a warm barm and oatmeal poultice. If he be old enough to have the knowledge to use a gargle, the following will be found serviceable : Take of Permanganate of Potash, pure, four grains ; Water, eight ounces : . To make a Gargle. Or, Take of Powdered Alum, one drachm ; Simple Syrup, one ounce ; Water, seven ounces : To make a Gargle. The best medicine for the first few days of the attack, is the following mixture : Take of Chlorate of Potash, two drachms ; Boiling Water, seven ounces ; Syrup of Ked Poppy, one ounce : To Make a mixture. A table-spoonful to be taken every four hours. Or, the chlorate of potash might be given in the form of powder : Take of -Chlorate of Potash, two scruples ; Lump Sugar one, drachm : Mix, and divide into eight powders. One to be put into a dry tea-spoon and then placed on the tongue every three hours. These powders are very useful in diphtheria ; tliey are very cleansing to the tongue and throat. If they produce much smart 170 ADVICB TO A MOTHER. ing, as where the mouth is very sore they sometimes do, let the patient, after taking one, drink plentifully of milk ; indeed, I nave known these powders induce a patient to take nourishment, in the form of milk, which he otherwise would not have done, and thus to Lave saved him from dying of starvation, which, before taking the powders, there was every probability of his doiiif,'- An extensive experience has demonstrated to me the great value of these povders in diphtheria ; but they must be put on the tongue dry. As soon as the skin has lost" its preternatural heat, beef-tea and chicken-broth ought to be given. Or if great prostration should supervene, in addition to the beef-tea, port wine, a table-spoonful every four hours, should be administered. If the child be cold, and there be great sinking of the vital powers, brandy and water should be substituted for the port wine. Remember, in ordinary cases, port wine and brandy are not necessary ; but in cases of extreme exhaustion they are most valuable. As soon as the great heat of the skin has abated and the debility has set in, one of the following mixtures will be found useful : Take of Wine of Iron, one ounce and a half ; Simple Syrup, one ounce ; Water, three ounces and a half : To make a Mixture. A table-spoonful to be taken every four hours. Or, Take of Tincture of Perchloride of Iron, one drachm j Simple Syrup, one ounce ; Water, three ounces : To make a Mixture. A table-spoonful to be taken three times a day. If the disease shoidd travel downwards, it will cause all the symptoms of croup, then it must be treated as croup ; with this only difference, that a blister (Tela Vesicatoria) must not be applied, or the blistered surface may be attacked by the membrane of diphtheria, which may either cause death or hasten that catastrophe. In every other respect treat the case as croup, by giving an emetic, a tea-spoonful of Ipecacuanha Wine every five minutes, until free vomiting be excited, and then ad- CHILDHOOD. ON DISEASE, ETC. 171 minister smaller doses of Ipecacuanha Wine every two or three hours, as I recommended when conversing with you on the treatment of croup. What NOT to do. Do not, on any account, apply either leeches or a blister. If the latter be applied, it is almost sure to be covered with the membrane of diph- theria, similar to that inside of the mouth and of the throat, which would be a serious complication., Do not give either calomel or emetic tartar. Do not depress the system by aperients, for diphtheria is an awfully depress- ing complaint of itself ; the patient, in point of fact, is labouring under tho depressing effects of poison, for the blood has been poisoned either by the drinking water being contaminated by faecal matter from either a privy or from a water-closet ; by some horrid drain ; by proximity to a pig-sty ; by an overflowing privy, espe- cially if vegetable matter be rotting at the same time in it ; by bad ventilation, or by contagion. Diphtheria may generally be traced either to the one or to the other of the above causes ; therefore let me urgently entreat you to look well into all these matters, and thus to stay the pes- tilence ! Diphtheria might long remain in a neighbour- hood if active measures be not used to exterminate it. 212. Have the goodness to describe the symptoms of Measles commences with symptoms of a common cold ; the patient is at first chilly, then hot and feverish ; lie has a running at the nose, sneezing, watering, and redness of the eyes, headache, drowsiness, a hoarse and peculiar ringing cough, which nurses call "measle- cough," and difficulty of breathing. These symptoms usually last three days before the eruption appears ; on the fourth it (the eruption) generally makes it.s appear- ance, and continues for four days and then disappears, lasting altogether, from the commencement of the symp- toms of cold to the decline of the eruption, seven days. It is important to bear in mind that the eruption con- sists of crec6Kt-*haped half-moon-shaped patches ; that they usually appear first about the face and the 172 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. neck, in which places they are the best marked ; then on the body and on the arms ; and, lastly, on the legs, and that they are slightly raised above the surface of the skin. The face is swollen, more especially the eye-lids which are sometimes for a few days closed. Well, then, remember, the running at the nose, t/te MWZI'HIJ, the pci-iiliur hoarse couf/h, and the half-iumm- flni)n'd patches, are the leading features of the disease, and point out for a certainty that it is measles. '2 1 o. Wliat eOiuMvtet the print! pal danyer in Munxl'-* / The atl'ection of the chest. The mucous or lining membrane of the bronchial tubes is always more or loss inflamed, and the lungs themselves are sometinn s tfiected. 214. Do you recommend "surfeit water" and saffron tcii to throw out the eruption in Measles? Certainly not. The only way to throw out the erup- tion, as it is called, is to keep the body comfortably warm, and to give the beverages ordered by the medical man, with the chill off. " Surfeit water, " saffron tea, and remedies of that class, are hot and stimulating. The only effect they can have, will be to increase the fever and the inflammation to add fuel to the fire. 215. What is the treatment of Measles ? What to do. The child ought to be confined both to his room and to his bed, the room being kept comfort- ably warm ; therefore, if it be winter time, there should be a small fire in the grate ; in the summer time, a fire would be improper. The child must not be exposed to draughts ; notwithstanding, from time to time, the door ought to be left a little ajar in order to change the air of the apartment ; for proper ventilation, let the disease be what it may, is absolutely necessary. Let the child, for the first few days, be kept on a low diet, such as on milk and water, arrow-root, bread and butter, &c. If the attack be mild, that is to say, if the breathing be not much affected (for in measles it always is more or less affected), and if there be not much wheezing, the CHILDHOOD. ON DISEASE, ETC. 173 Acidulated Infusion of Roses' Mixture* will be all that is necessary. But '^ippose that the breathing is short, and that there & a great wheezing, then instead of giving him the mixture just advised, give him a tea-spoonful of a mixture composed of Ipecacuanha Wine, Syrup, and Water, f every four hours. And if, on the following day, the breathing and the wheezing be not relieved, in addition to the Ipecacuanha Mixture, apply a Tela Vesicatoria, as advised under the head of Inflammation of the Lungs. When the child is convalescing, batter-puddings, rice, and sago-puddings, in addition to the milk, bread and butter, &c., should be given ; and, a few days later, chicken, mutton chops, &c. The child ought not, even in a mild case of measles, and in favourable weather, to be allowed to leave the hoxise under a fortnight, or it might bring on an attack of bronchitia What NOT to do. Do not give either " surfeit water" or wine. Do not apply leeches to the chest. Do not expose the child to the cold air. Do not keep the bed- room very hot, but comfortably warm. Do not let the child leave the house, even iinder favourable circum- stances, under a fortnight. Do not, while the eruption is out, give aperients. Do not, " to ease the cough," administer either emetic tartar or paregoric the former drug is awfully depressing ; the latter will stop the cough, and will thus prevent the expulsion of the plilegm. 216. Wliat is the difference between Scarlatina and Scarlet Fever ? They are indeed one and the same disease, scarlatina being the Latin for scarlet fever. But, in a popular sense, when the disease is mild, it is usually called scar- latina. The latter term does not sound so formidable to the ears either of patients or -of parents. * See page 178. t See page 161, 174 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. 217. Will you describe the symptoms of Scarlet Fever t The patient is generally chilly, languid, drowsy, feverish, and poorly for two days before the eruption appears. At the end of the second day, the character- istic, bright scarlet efflorescence, somewhat similar to the colour of a boiled lobster, usually first shows itself. The scarlet appearance is not confined to the skin ; but the tongue, the throat, and the whites of the eyes put on the same appearance ; with this only difference, that on the tongue and on the throat the scarlet is much darker ; and, as Dr Elliotson accurately describes it, " the tongue looks as if it had been slightly sprinkled with Cayenne pepper ; " the tongue, at other times, looks like a strawberry ; when it does, it is called " the strawberry tongue." The eruption usually declines on the fifth, and is generally indistinct on the sixth day ; on the seventh it has completely faded away. There is usually, after the first few days, great itching on the surface of the body. The skin, at the end of the week, begins to peel and to dust off, making it look as though meal had been sprinkled upon it. There are three forms of scarlet fever ; the one where the throat is little, if at all, affected, and this is a mild form of the disease ; the second, which is generally, especially at night, attended with delirium, where the throat is much affected, being often greatly inflamed and ulcerated; and the third (which is, except in certain unhealthy districts, comparatively rare, and which is VERY dangerous), the malignant form. 218. Would it be wall to give a little cooling, opening physic as soon as a child begins to sicken for Scarlet Fever ? On no account whatever. Aperient medicines are, in my opinion, highly improper and dangerous both before and during the period of the eruption. It is my firm conviction, that the administration of opening medicine, at such times, is one of the principal causes of scarlet fever being so frequently fatal. This is, of course, more applicable to the poor, and to those who are unable to procure a skilful medical man. CHILDHOOD. ON DISEASE, ETC. 175 219. W7iat constitutes the principal danger in Scarlet Fever 1 The affection of the throat, the administration of opening medicine during the first ten days, and a pecu- liar disease of the kidneys ending in anasarca (dropsy) ; dii which account, the medical man ought, when prac- ticable, to be sent for at the onset, that no time may be lost in applying proper remedies. When Scarlet Fever is complicated as it sometimes is -with diphtheria, the diphtheric membrane is very apt to travel into the wind-pipe, and thus to cause diphtheric croup ; it is almost sure, when such is the case, to end in death. When a child dies from such a complication, the death might truly be said to be owing to the diphtheric croup, and not to the Scarlet Fever; for if the diphtheric croup had not occurred, the child would, in all probability, have been saved. The deaths from diphtheria are generally from diphtheric croup; if there be no croup, there is, as a rule, frequent re- covery. 220. How would you distinguish between Scarlet Fever and Measles ? Measles commences with symptoms of a common cold ; scarlet fever does not. Measles has a peculiar hoarse cough ; scarlet fever has not. The eruption of measles is in patches of a, half-moon shape, and is slightly raised above the skin ; the eruption of scarlet fever is not raised above the skin at all, and is one con- tinued mass. The colour of the eruption is much more vivid in scarlet fever than in measles. The chest is the part principally affected in measles, and the throat in scarlet fever. There is an excellent method of determining, for a certainty, whether the eruption be that of scarlatina or otherwise. I myself have, in several instances, ascer- tained the truth of it : " For several years M. Bouchut has remarked in the eruptions of scarlatina a curious phenomenon, which serves to distinguish this eruption from that of measles, erythema, erysipelas &c., a phe- 176 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. nomeuon essentially vital, and which is connected with the excessive contractability of the capillaries. The phenomenon in question is a white l!n<; which can bo produced at pleasure by drawing the back of the nail along the skin where the eruption, is situated. On drawing the nail, or the extremity of a hard body (such as a pen-holder), along the eruption, the skin is observed to grow pale, and to present a white trace, which re- mains for one or two minutes, or longer, and then disappears. In this way the diagnosis of the disease may be very distinctly written on the skin ; the word ' Scarlatina ' disappears as the eruption regains its uni- form tint" Edinburgh Mediccd Journal. 221. Is it ofso much importance, then, to distinguish between Scarlet Fever and Measles ? It is of great importance, as in measles the patient ought to be kept moderately warm, and the drinks should be given with the chill off ; while in scarlet fever the patient ought to be kept cool indeed, for the first few days, cold ; and the beverages, such as spring- water, toast and water, &c., should be administered quite cold. 222. Do you believe in " Hybrid " Scarlet Fever 11, >li time, open- ing the window. The air of the apartment cannot be too pure ; therefore, let the evacuations from the bowels be instantly removed, either to a distant part of the house, or to an out-house or to the cellar, as it might be necessary to keep them for the medical man's inspection. Before using either the night-commode, or the pot-de- chambre, let a little water, to the depth of one or two inches, he put in the pan, or pot ; in order to sweeten the motion, and to prevent the foecal matter from adhering to the vessel Let there be frequent change of linen, as in sickness it is even more necessary than in health, more especially if the complaint be fever. In an attack of fever, clean sheets ought, every other day, to be put on the bed ; clean body-linen every day. A frequent change of linen in sickness is most refreshing. If the complaint be fever, a fire in the grate will not be necessary. Should it be a case either of inflammation of the lungs or of the chest, a small fire in the winter time is desirable, keeping the temperature of the room as nearly as possible at 60 Fahrenheit. Bear in mind that a large fire in a sick-room cannot be too strongly con- demned ; for if there be fever and there are scarcely any complaints without a large fire only increases it Small fires, in cases either of inflammation of the lungs or of the chest, in the winter time, encourage ventilation of the apartment, and thus carry off impure air. If it be summer time, of course fires would be improper. A o 210 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. thermometer is an indispensable requisite in a sick- room. In fever, free and thorough ventilation is of vital im- portance, more especially in scarlet fever ; then a patient cannot have too much air ; in scarlet fever, for the first few days the windows, he it winter or summer, must to the widest extent he opened. The fear of the patient catching cold by doing so is one of the numerous pre- judices and baseless fears that haunt the nursery, and the sooner it is exploded the better it will be for human life. The valances and bed-curtains ought to be re- moved, and there should be as little furniture in the room as possible. If it be a case of measles, it will be necessary to adopt a different course ; then the windows ought not to be opened, but the door must from time to time be left ajar. In a case of measles, if it be winter time, a small fire in the room will be necessary." In inflammation of the lungs or of the chest, the windows should not be opened, but the door ought occasionally to be left unfastened, in order to change the air and to make it pure. Eemember, then, that ventilation, either by open window or by open door, is in all diseases most necessary. Ventilation is one of the best friends a doctor has. In fever, do not load the bed Avith clothes ; in the summer a sheet is sufficient, in winter a sheet and a blanket. In fever, do not be afraid of allowing the patient plenty either of cold water or of cold toast and water ; Nature will tell him when he has had enough. In measles, let the chill be taken off the toast and water. In croup, have always ready a plentiful supply of hot water, in case a warm bath might be required. In child-crowing, have always in the sick-room a supply of cold water, ready at a moment's notice to dash upon the face. In fever, do not let the little patient lie on the lap ; he will rest more comfortably on a horso-hair mattress in his crib or ooi If he have pain in the bowels, the lap is CHILDHOOD. ON DISEASE, ETC. 211 most agreeable to him ; the warmth of the body, either of the mother or of the nurse, soothes him ; besides, if lie be on the lap, he can be turned on his stomach and on his bowels, which often affords him great relief and comfort. If he be much emaciated, when he is nursed, place a pillow upon the lap and let him lie upon it. In licad affections, darken the room with a green calico blind ; keep the chamber more than usually quiet ; let \vliiit little talking is necessary be carried on in whispers, but the less of that the better ; and in head affections, never allow smelling salts to be applied to the nose, as they only increase the flow of blood to the head, and consequently do harm. It is often a good sign for a cliild, who is seriously ill, to suddenly become cross. It is then he begins to feel his weakness and to give vent to his feelings. " Chil- dieii are almost always cross when recovering from an illness, however patient they may have been during its severest moments, and the phenomenon is not by any moans confined to children." Geo. McDonald. A sick child must not be stuffed with much food at a time. He will take either a table-spoonful of new milk or a table-spoonful of chicken broth every half hour with greater advantage than a tea-cupful of either the one or the other every four hours, which large quantity would very probably be rejected from his stomach, and may cause the unfortunately treated child to die of starvation ! If a sick child be peevish, attract his attention either by a toy or by an ornament ; if he be cross, win him over to gojpd humour by love, affection, and caresses, but let it be done gently and without noise. Do not let visitors see him ; they will only excite, distract, and irritate him, and help to consume the oxygen of the at- mosphere, and thus rob the air of its exhilarating health- giving qualities and purity; a sick-room, therefore, is not a proper place, either for visitors or for gossips. In selecting a sick-nurse, let her bo gentle, patient, cheerful, quiet, and kind, but firm withal ; she ought to be neither old nor young : if she be old she is often 212 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. garrulous and prejudiced, and thinks too much of her trouble ; if she be young, she is frequently thoughtless and noisy ; therefore choose a middle-aged woman. Do not lot there be in the sick-room more than, besides the mother, one efficient nurse ; a greater number can bo of no service they will only be in each other's way, and will distract the patient. Let stillness, especially if the head be the part affected, reign in a sick-room. Creaking shoes* and rustling silk dresses ought not to be worn in sick-chambers they are quite out of place there. If the child be asleep, or if he bo dozing, perfect stillness must he enjoined, not even a whisper should bo heard : " In the sick-room be calm, Move gently and with care, Lest any jar or sudden noise, Come sharply unaware. You cannot tell the harm, The mischief it may bring, To wake the sick one suddenly, Besides the suffering. The broken sleep excites Fresh pain, increased distress ; The quiet slumber undisturb'd Soothes pain and restlessness. Sleep is the gift of God : Oh ! bear these words at heart, 'He giveth His beloved sleep,' And gently do thy part." If there be other children, let them foe removed to a * Nurses at these times ought to wear slippers, and not shoes. The best slippers in sick-rooms are those manufactured by the North British Rubber Company, Edinburgh ; they enable nurses to walk in them about the room without causing the slightest noise ; indeed, they might truly be called " the noiseless slipper," a great desideratum in such cases, more especially in all head affections of children. If the above slippers cannot readily be obtained, then list slippers soles and all being made of list will answer the purpose equally as well. * Household Verses on Health and Happiness. London : Jarrold mid Sons. A mo.it delightful little volume. CHILDHOOD. ON DISEASE, ETCl 213 distant part of the house ; or, if the disease be of an infectious nature, let them be sent away from home altogether. In all illnesses and bear in mind the following is most important advice a child must be encouraged to try and make water, whether he ask or not, at least four times during the twenty -four hours ; and at any other time, if he express the slightest inclination to do so. I have known a little fellow to hold his water, to his great detriment, for twelve hours, because either the mother had in her trouble forgotten to inquire, or tho child himself Avas either too ill or too indolent to make the attempt See that the medical raan's directions are, to the very letter, carried out. Do not fancy that you know better than he does, otherwise you have no business to employ him. Let him, then, have your implicit confidence and your exact obedience. What you may consider to be a trifling matter, may frequently be of the utmost import- ance, and may sometimes decide whether the case shall end either in life or death 1 Lice. It is not very poetical, as many of tho grim facts of every-day life are not, but, unlike a great deal of poetry, it is unfortunately too true that after a severe and dangerous illness, especially after a bad attack of fever, a child's head frequently becomes infested with vermin with lice ! It therefore behoves a mother herself to thoroughly examine, by means of a fine-tooth comb,* her child's head, in order to satisfy her mind that there be no vermin there. As soon as he be well enough, he ought to resume his regular ablutions that is to say, that he must go again regularly into his tub, and have his head every morning thoroughly washed with soap and water. A mother ought to p be particular in seeing * Which fine-tooth comb ought not to be used at any other time except for the purpose of examination, as the constant use of a fine- tooth comb would scratch the scalp, and would encourage a quantity of scurf to accumulate 214 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. that the nurse washes the hair-brush at least once every week ; if she does not do so, the dirty brush which had during the illness been used, might contain the " nits " the eggs of the lice and wcmld thus propagate the vermin, as they will, when on the head of the child, soon hatch. If there be already lice on the head, in addition to the regular washing every morning with the soap and water, and after the head has been thoroughly dried, let the hair be well and plentifully dressed with camphorated oil the oil being allowed to remain on until the next washing on the following morning. Lice cannot live in oil (more especially if, as in camphorated oil,'camphor be dissolved in it), and as the camphorated oil will not, "in the slightest degree, injure the hair, it is the best application that can be used. But as soon as the vermin have disappeared, let the oil be discontinued, as the natural oil of the hair is, at other times, the only oil that is required on the head. The " nit " the egg of the louse might be distin- guished from scurf (although to the naked eye it is very much like it in appearance) by the former fastening firmly on one of the hairs as a barnacle would on a rock, and by it not being readily brushed off as scurf would, which latter (scurf) is always loose. 259. My child, in the summer time, is much tormented with fleas : what are the best remedies ? A small muslin bag, filled with camphor, placed in the cot or bed, will drive fleas away. Each flea-bite should, from time to time, be dressed by means of a camel's hair brush, with a drop or two of Spirit of Cam- phor ; an ounce bottle of which ought, for the purpose, to be procured from a chemist. Camphor is also an excellent remedy to prevent bugs from biting. Bugs and fleas have a horror of camphor; and well they might, for it is death to them ! There is a famous remedy for the destruction of fleas manufactured in France, entitled " La Poudre Insecti- cide" which, although perfectly harmless to the human economy, is utterly destructive to fleas. Bugs are best CHILDHOOD. ON DEBASE, ETC. 215 destroyed either by Creosote or by oil of Turpentine : the places they do love to congregate in should be well saturated by means of a brush, with the creosote or with the oil of turpentine. A few dressings will effectually destroy both them and their young ones. 260. Is not the pulse a great sign either of health or of disease 1 It is, and every mother should have a general idea of what the pulse of children of different ages should be both in health and in disease. " Every person should know how to ascertain the state of the pulse in health ; then, by comparing it with what it is when he is ailing, he may have some idea of the urgency of his case. Parents should know the healthy pulse of each child, since now and then a person is born with a peculiarly slow or fast pulse, and the very case in hand may be of such peculiarity. An infant's pulse is 140, a child of seven about 80, and from 20 to 60 years it is 70 beats a minute, declining to 60 at fourscore. A healthful grown person beats 70 times in a minute, declining lo 60 at fourscore. At 60, if the pulse always exceeds 70, there is a disease ; the machine working itself out, there is a fever or inflammation somewhere, and the body is feeding on itself, as in consumption, when the pulse is quick." 261. Suppose a child to have had an attack either of inflammation of the lungs or of bronchitis, and to be much predisposed to a return : what precautions would you take to prevent either the one or the other for the future ? I would recommend him to wear fine flannel instead of lawn shirts ; to wear good lamb's-wool stockings above the knees, and good, strong, dry shoes to his feet ; to live, weather permitting, a great part of every day in the open air ; to strengthen his system by good nourishing food by an abundance of both milk and meat (the former especially) ; to send him, in the autumn, for a couple of months, to the sea-side ; to administer to him, from time to time, cod-liver oil ; in short, to think only of hia 216 ADVICE TO A MOTHER health, and to let learning, until he "be stronger, bo left alone. I also advise either table salt or bay salt, or Tid- luan's Sea Salt, to be added to the water in which the child is washed with in the morning, in a similar manner as recommended in answer to a previous question. 262. Then do you not advise siicl/ ckfld to be con- within doors ? If any inflammation be present, or if he have but just, recovered from one, it would be improper to send him into the open air, but not otherwise, as the fresh air would be a likely means of strengthening the lungs, and thereby of preventing an attack of inflammation for the future. Besides, the more a child is coddled within doors, the iftoro likely will he be to catch cold, and to renew the inflammation. If the weather be cold, yet neither wet nor damp, he ought to be sent out, but let him be well clothed; and the nurse should have strict injunctions not to stand about entries or in any draughts indeed, not to stand about at all, but to keep walking about all the time she is in the open air. Unless you have a trustworthy nurse, it will be well for you either to accompany her in her walk with your child, or merely to allow her to walk with him in the garden, as you can then keep your eye upon both of them. 263. If a child be either chicken-breasted, or if lie be narrow-chested, are there any means of expanding and of strengthening his chest ? Learning ought to be put out of the question, atten- tion must be paid to his health alone, or consumption will probably mark him as its own 1 Let him live as much as possible in the open air ; if it be country, so much the better. Let him rise early in the morning, and let him go to bed betimes ; and if he be old enough to use the dumb-bells, or what is better, an India-rubber chest-expander, he should do so daily. He ought also to bo encouraged to use two short sticks, similar to, but heavier than, a policeman's staff, and to go, every morning, through regular exercises with them. As soon aa he is old enough, let him have lessons from a drill- CHILDHOOD. ON DISEASE, ETC. 217 sergeant and from a dancing-master. Let him be made both to walk and to sit upright, and let him be kept as much as possible upon a milk diet,* and give him as much as he can eat of fresh meat every day. Cod-liver oil, a tea-spoonful or a dessert-spoonful, according to his age, twice a day, is serviceable in these cases. Stimu- lants ought to be carefully avoided. In short, let every means be used to nourish, to strengthen, and invigorate the system, without, at the same time, creating fever. Such a child should be a child of nature; he ought almost to live in the open air, and throw his books to the winds. Of what use is learning without health? In such a case as this you cannot have both. 264. If a child be round-shouldered, or if either of his d i milder-blades have " groivn out," ichat had better be done ? Many children have either round-shoulders, or have their shoulder-blades grown out, or have their spines twisted, from growing too fast, from being allowed to slouch in their gait, and from not having sufficient nourishing food, such as meat and milk, to support them while the rapid growth of childhood is going on. If your child be affected as above described, nourish him well on milk and on farinaceous food, and on meat once a day, but let milk be his staple diet ; he ought, during the twenty-four hours, to take two or three pints of new milk. He should almost live in the open air, and must have plenty of play. If you can so contrive it, let him live in the country. When tired, let him lie, for half an hour, two or three times daily, flat on his back on the carpet. Let him rest at night on a horse- hair mattress, and not on a feather bed. Let him have every morning, if it be summer, a thorough cold water ablution ; if it be winter, let the * Where milk does not agree, it may generally be made to do BO by the addition of one part of lime water to seven parts of new milk. Moreover, the lime will be of service in hardening his bones ; and, in these cases, the bones require hardening. 218 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. water be made tepid. Let either two hand fills of table salt or a handful of bay salt be dissolved in the water. Lot the salt and water stream well over his shoulders and down his back and loins. Let him lie well dried with a moderately coarse towel, and then let his back be. well rubbed, and his shoulders be thrown back exer- i isiiiLj them much in the same manner as in skipping, for five or ten minutes at a time. Skipping, by-the-by, is of great use in these cases, whether the child be either a boy or a girl using, of course, the rope backwards, and not forwards. Let books be utterly discarded until his shoulders have become strong, and thus no longer round, and his shoulder-blades have become straight. It is a painful sight to see a child stoop like an old man. Let him have, twice daily, a tea-spoonful or a dessert- spoonful (according to his age) of cod-liver oil, giving it him on a full and not on an empty stomach. When he is old enough, let the drill-sergeant give him regular lessons, and let the dancing- master be put in requisition. Let him go through regular gymnastic exercises, provided they are not of a violent character. But, bear in mind, let there be in these cases no mechanical restraints no shoulder-straps, no abomin able stays. Make him straight by natural means by making him strong. Mechanical means would only, by weakening and wasting the muscles, increase the mis- chief, and thus the deformity. In this world of ours there is too much reliance placed on artificial, and too little on natural means of cure. 265. WJiat are the causes of Bow Legs in a child ; and what is the treatment ? Weakness of constitution, poor and insufficient nourishment, and putting a child, more especially a fat and heavy one, on his legs too early. Treatment. Nourishing food, such as an abundance of milk, and, if he be old enough, of meat ; iron medi- cines ; cod-liver oil ] thorough ablution, every morning, of the whole body ; an abundance of exercise, either on CHILDHOOD. ON DISEASE, ETC. 219 pony, or on donkey, or in carriage, but not, until his legs be stronger, on foot. If they are much bowed, it will be necessary to consult an experienced surgeon. .266. If a child, while asleep, " icct his bed," is there any method of preventing him from doing so ? Let him be held out just before he himself goes to bed, and again when the family retires to rest. If, at the time, he be asleep, he will become so accustomed to it, that he will, without awaking, make water. He ought to be made to lie on his side ; for, if he be put on his back, the urine will rest upon an irritable part of the bladder, and, if he be inclined to wet his bed, he will not be able to avoid doing so. He must not be allowed to drink much with his meals, especially with his supper. Wetting the bed is an infirmity with some children they cannot help it. It is, therefore, cruel to scold and chastise them for it. Occasionally, however, wetting the bed arises from idleness; in which case, of course, a little wholesome correction might be neces- sary. Water-proof Bed-sheeting one yard by three-quarters of a yard will effectually preserve the bed from being wetted, and ought always, on these occasions, to be used. A mother ought, every morning, to ascertain for her- self, whether a child have wet his bed ; if he have, and if, unfortunately, the water-proof cloth have not been used, the mattress, sheets, and blankets must be instantly taken to the kitchen fire and be properly dried. Inatten- tion to the above has frequently caused a child to suffer either from cold, from a fever, or from an inflamma- tion ; not only so, but, if they be not dried, he is wallow- ing in filth and in an offensive effluvium. If both mother and mirse were more attentive to their duties in frequently holding a child out, whether he ask or not a child wetting his bed would be the exception, and not, as it frequently is, the rule. If a child be dirty, you may depend upon it, the right persons to blame are the mother and the nurse, and not the child I 220 ADVICE TO A MOTHER, 267. If a child should catch Small-pox, what are the best means to prevent pitting ? He ought to be desired neither to pick nor to rub the pustules. If he be too young to attend to these direc- tions, his hands must be secured in bags (just large enough to hold them), which bags should be fastened round the -wrists. The nails must be cut very close. Cream smeared, by means of a feather, frequently in the day, on the pustules, affords great comfort and benefit Tripe liquor (without salt) has, for the same purpose, been strongly recommended. I myself, in several cases, have tried it, and with the happiest results. It ia most soothing, comforting, and healing to the skin. 268. Can you tell me of any plan to prevent CJiilblains, or, if a child be suffering from them, to cure them 9 First, then, the way to prevent them. Let a child, who is subject to them, wear, in the winter time, a square piece of wash-leather over the toes, a pair of warm lamb's- wool stockings, and good shoes ; but, above all, let him be encouraged to run about the house as much as possible, especially before going to bed ; and on no account allow him either to warm his feet before the fire, or to bathe them in hot water. If the feet be cold, and the child be too young to take exercise, then let them be well rubbed with the warm hand. If adults suffer from chilblains, I have found friction, night and morn- ing, with horse-hair flesh-gloves, the best means of pre- venting them. Secondly, the way to cure them. If they be unbroken : the old-fashioned remedy of onion and salt is one of the best of remedies. Cut an onion in two ; take one half of it, dip it in table salt and well rub, for two or three minutes, the chilblain with it. The onion and salt is a famous remedy to relieve that intolerable itching which sometimes accompanies chilblains: then let them be covered with a piece of lint, over which a piece of wash- leather should be placed. If they be broken, let a piece of lint be spread with spermaceti cerate, and be applied, every morning, to the CHILDHOOD. Qy DISEASE, ETC. 221 part, and let a white-bread poultice be used every night, 269. During the winter time my child's hands, legs, Sfc., chap very much ; what ought I to do ? Let a tea-cupful of bran be tied up in a muslin bag, and be put, over the night, into either a large water-cau or jug of rain water; * and let this water from the can or jug be the water he is to be washed with on the following morning, and every morning until the chaps be cured. As often as water is withdrawn, either from the water-can or from the jug, let fresh rain water take its place, in order that the bran may be constantly soak- ing in it. The bran in the bag should be renewed about twice a week. Take particular care to dry the skin well every time he bo washed ; then, after each ablution, as well as every night at bed-time, rub a piece of deer's sxiet over the parts affected : a few dressings will perform a cure. The deer's suet may be bought at any of the shops where venison is sold. Another excellent remedy is glycerine,! which should be smeared, by means of the finger or by a camel's hair brush, on the parts affected, two or three times a day. If the child be very young, it might be necessary to diluie the glycerine with rose-water ; fill a small bottle one-third with glycerine, and fill up the remaining two-thirds of the bottle with rose-water shaking the bottle every time just'before using it. The best soap to use for chapped hands is the glycerine soap : no other being required. 270. What is the best remedy for Chapped Lips ? Cold-cream (which may be procured of any re.spect- * llain water ought always to be used in the washing of a child ; pump water is likely to chap the skin, and to make it both rough and irritable. t Glycerine prepared by Price's Patent Candle Company is by far the best. Sometimes, if the child's skin be very irritable, the glycerine requires diluting with water say, two ounces of glycerine to bo mixed in a bottle with fouj ounces of rain water the bottle to be well bhaken just before using it. 222 ADVICE TO A MOTHBBi ablo chemist) is an excellent application for chapped lips. It ought, by means of tha finger, to be frequently smeared on the parts affected. 271. Have tlie goodness to inform me of the different varieties of Worms that infest a child's bowels ? Principally three 1, The tape-worm ; 2, the long round-worm ; and 3, the most frequent of all, the com- mon thread or maw-worm. The tape-worm infests the whole course of the bowels, both small and large : the long round-worm, principally the small bowels, occasion- ally the stomach ; it sometimes crawls out of the child's mouth, causing alarm to the mother ; there is, of course, no danger hi its doing so : the common thread-worm 01 maw-worm infests the rectum or fundament. 272. What are the causes of Worms ? The causes of worms are : weak bowels ; bad and im- proper food, such as unripe, unsound, or uncooked fruit, and much green vegetables ; pork, especially underdone pork ; * an abundance of sweets ; the neglecting of giving salt in the food. 273. What are the symptoms and the treatment of Worms ? The symptoms of worms are emaciation ; itching and picking of the nose ; a dark mark under the eyes ; grat- ing, during sleep, of the teeth ; starting in the sleep ; foul breath ; furred tongue ; uncertain appetite some- times voracious, at other times bad, the little patient sitting down very hungry to his dinner, and before scarcely tasting a mouthful, the appetite vanishing ; large bowels ; colicky pains of the bowels ; slimy mo- tions ; itching of the fundament Tape-worm and round- worm, more especially the former, are apt, hi children, * One frequent, if not the most frequent, cause of tape-worm is the eating of pork, more especially if it be underdone. Under- done pork is the most unwholesome food that can Le eaten, and is the most frequent cause of tape-worm known. Underdone beef also gives tape-worm ; let the meat, therefore, be well and pro- perly cooked. These facts ought t be borne in mind, as preven- tion is always better than cure. CHILDHOOD. ON DISEASE, ETC. 223 to produce convulsions. Tape-worm is very weakening to the constitution, and usually causes great emaciation and general ill-health ; the sooner, therefore, it is ex- pcllud from the bowels the ftetter it will be for the patient. Many of the obscure diseases of children arise from worms. In all doubtful cases, therefore, this fact should be borne in mind, in order that a thorough investigation may be instituted. AVith regard to treatment, a medical man ought, of course, to be consulted. He will soon use means both to dislodge them, and to prevent a future recurrence of them. Let me caution a mother never to give her child patent medicines for the destruction of worms. There is one favourite quack powder, which is composed principally of large doses of calomel, and which is quite as likely to destroy tho patient as the worms ! JSo, if your child have worms, put him under the care of a judicious medical man, who will soon expel them, without, at the same time, injuring health or constitu- tion ! 274. How may worms be prevented, from infesting a child's bowels ? AYoi-ms generally infest weak bowels ; hence, the moment a child becomes strong worms cease to exist. The reason why a child is so subject to them is owing to the improper food which is usually given to him. When he be stuffed with unsound and with, unripe fruits, with much sweets, with rich puddings, and with pastry, and when he is oftentimes allowed to eat his meat without salt, and to bolt his food without chewing it, is there any wonder that he should suffer from worms? The way to prevent them is to avoid such things, and, at the same time, to give him plenty of salt to his/Vetf/i and well- cooked meat. Salt strengthens and assists digestion, and is absolutely necessary to -the human economy. Salt is emphatically a worm destroyer. The truth of this statement may be readily tested bv 224 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. sprinkling a little salt on the common earth-worm, " What a comfort and real requisite to human life is salt ! It enters into tke constituents of the human blood, and to do without it is wholly impossible." The Grocer. To do without it is wholly impossible ! These are truo words. Look well to it, therefore, ye mothers, and beware of the consequences of neglecting such advice, and see for yourselves that your children regtdariy eat salt with their food. If they neglect eating salt with their food, they must of necessity have tconm, and worms that will eventually injure them, and make them miserable. All food, then, should be " flavoured with salt ; " flavoured, that is to say, salt should be used in each and every kind of food not in excess, but in 'moderation. 275. You have a great objection to the frequent ad- ministration of aperient medicines to a child : can you advise any method to prevent their use ? Although we can scarcely call constipation a disease, yet it sometimes leads to disease. The frequent giving of aperients only adds to the stubbornness of the bowels. I have generally found a draught, early every morning, of cold pump water, the eating either of Huntley and Palmer's loaf ginger-bread, or of oatmeal gingerbread, a variety of animal and vegetable food, ripe sound fruit, Muscatel raisins, a fig, or an orange after dinner, and, when he be old enough, coffee and milk instead of tea and milk, to have the desired effect, more especially if, for a time, aperients be studiously avoided. 276. Have you any remarks to make on Rickets ? Eickets is owing to a want of a sufficient quantity of earthy matter in the bones ; hence the bones bend and twist, and lose their shape, causing deformity. Eickets generally begins to show itself between the first and second years of a child's lifa Such children are generally late in cutting their teeth, and when the teeth do come they are bad, deficient of enamel, discoloured, and readily decay. A rickety child is generally stunted CHILDHOOD. ON DISEASE, ETC. 225 in stature ; he has a large head, with overhanging fore- head, or what nurses call a wateiy -head-shaped forehead. The fontanelles, or openings of the head, as they are called, are a long time in closing. A rickety child is usually talented ; his brain seems to thrive at the expense of his general health. His breast-bone projects out, and the sides of his chest are flattened ; hence he becomes what is called chicken-breasted or pigeon- breasted ; his spine is usually twisted, so that he is quite awry, and, in a bad case, he is hump-backed ; the ribs, from the twisted spine, on one side bulge out ; he is round-shouldered ; the long bones of his body, being soft, bend ; he is bow-legged, knock-kneed, and weak-ankled. Rickets are of various degrees of intensity, the hump- backed being among the worst. There are many mild forms of rickets ; weak ankles, knocked-knees, bowed- legs, chicken-breasts, being among the latter number. Many a child, who is not exactly hump-backed, is very round-shouldered, which latter is also a mild species of rickets. Show me a child that is rickety, and I can generally prove that it is owing to poor living, more especially to poor milk. If milk were always genuine, and if a child liad an abundance of it, my belief is that rickets would be a very rare disease. The importance of genuine milk is of national importance. We cannot have a race of strong men and women unless, as children, they have had a good and plentiful supply of milk. It is utterly impossible. Milk might well be considered one of the necessaries of a child's existence. Genuine, fresh milk, then, is one of the grand preventatives, as well as one of the best remedies, for rickets. Many a child would not now have to swallow quantities of cod-liver oil if previously he had imbibed quantities of good genuine milk. An insufficient and a poor supply of milk in childhood sows the seeds of many diseases, and deatli often gathers the fruit Can it be wondered at, when there is so much poor and nasty milk in England, that rickets in one shape or another is BO prevalent 1 p 226 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. will mothers arouse from their slumbers, nib their eyes, and see clearly the importance of the subject ? When will they know that all the symptoms of rickets I have just enumerated usually proceed from the want of nourishment, more especially from the want of genuine, and of an abundance of, milk ? There are, of, course, other means of warding off rickets besides an abundance of nourishing food, such as thorough ablution, plenty of air, exercise, play, and sunshine but of all these splendid remedies, nourishment stands at the top of tho list. I do not mean to say that rickets always proceeds from poorness of living from poor milk. It sometimes arises from scrofula, and is an inheritance of one or of both the parents. Rickety children, if not both carefully watched and managed, frequently, when they become youths, die of consumption. A mother, who has for some time neglected the advice I have just given, will often find, to her grievous cost, that the mischief has, past remedy, been done, and that it is now " too late ! too late ! " 277. How may a child be prevented from becoming rickety ? or, if he be rickety, how owjht lie to be treated ? If a child be predisposed to be rickety, or if he be actually rickety, attend to the following rules : Let him live well, on good nourishing diet, such as on tender rump-steaks, cut very fine, and mixed with mashed potatoes, crumb of bread, and with the gravy of the meat. Let him have, as I have before advised, an abundance of good new milk a quart or three pints during every twenty-four hours. Let him have milk in every form as milk gruel, Du Barry's Arabica Revalenta made with milk, batter and rice puddings, suet puddings, bread and milk, &c. To harden the bones, let lime water be added to the milk (a table-spoonful to each tea-cupful of milk.) Let him have a good supply of fresh, pure, dry air. He must almost live in the open air the country, if CHILDHOOD. ON DISEASE, ETC. 227 practicable, in preference to the town, and the coast in summer and autumn. Sea bathing and sea breezes are often, in these cases, of inestimable value. He ought not, at an early age, to be allowed to bear his weight upon his legs. He must sleep on a horse-hair mattress, and not on a feather bed. He should use every morning cold baths in the summer and tepid baths in the winter, with bay salt (a handful) dissolved in the water. Friction with the hand must, for half an hour at a thin', every night and morning, be sedulously applied to the back and to the limbs. It is wonderful how much good in these cases friction does. Strict attention ought to be paid to the rules of health as laid down in these Conversations. Whatever is con- ducive to the general health is preventive and curative of rickets. Books, if he be old enough to read them, should bo thrown aside ; health, and health alone, must be the one grand object. The best medicines in these cases are a combination of cod-liver oil and the wine of iron, given in the following manner : Put a tea-spoonful of wine of iron into a Avine-glass, half fill the glass with water, sweeten it with a lump or two of sugar, then let a tea-spoonful of cod- liver oil swim on the top ; let the child clrink it all down together, twice or three times a day. An hour after a meal is the best time to give the medicine, as both iron and cod-liver oil sit better on a, full than on an '//////// stomach The child in a short time will become fond of the above medicine, and will be sorry when it is dis- continued. A case of rickets requires great patience and steady perseverance ; let, therefore, the above plan have a fair and long-continued trial, and I can then promise that there will be every probability that great beneiit will be derived from it. 278. If a child be subject to a scabby emotion about the mouth, what is the lest local application ? 228 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. Leave it to nature. Do not, on any account, a)]>1y iiny local application to heal it ; if you do, you may pro- duce injury ; you may either bring on an attack of in- flammation, or you may throw him into convulsions. Js r o ! This " breaking-out " is frequently a safety-valve, ;ind must not therefore l>e needlessly interfered with. Should the eruption be severe, reduce the child's diet ; keep him from butter, from gravy, and from fat meat, or, indeed, for a few days from meat altogether ; and give him mild aperient medicine ; but, above all tilings, do not quack him cither with calomel or with grey-pow- der. 279 Will i/on have thfi ij.tmlu-** In " flu; er /n. As milk-crust is a tedious affair, and will require a variety of treatment, it will be necessary to consult an experienced medical man ; and although he will be able to afford great relief, the child will not, in all probability, be quite free from the eruption until he have cut the whole of his first set of teeth until he be upwards of two years and a half old when, with judicious and careful treatment, it will gradually dis- appear, and eventually leave not a trace behind. It will be far better to leave the case alone to get well of itself rather than to try to cure the complaint either by outward applications or by strong internal medicines ; " the remedy is often worse than the disease," of this I am quite convinced. 280. Have you any advice to give me as to my conduct fninintu my medical man ( live him your entire confidence Be truthful and he candid with him Tell him the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Have no reserva- tions ; give him, as near as you can, a plain, unvarnished statement of the symptoms of the disease. Do not ma-nii'y, and do not make too light of any of them. Be prepared to state the exact time the child first showed 230 ADVICE TO A MOTHER symptoms of illness. If he have had a shivering fit, however Alight, do not fail to tell your medical man of it. Note the state uf tin- skin; if there he a "breaking- nut " he it ever so trifling let it he pointed out to him. Make yourself acquainted with the quantity and witli th" appearance of the urine, taking care to liave a little of it saved, in case the doctor may wish to see and examine it. Take notice of the state of the motions their number during the twenty-four hours, their colour, their smell, and their consistence, keeping one for his inspection. Xever leave any of these questions to he answered by a servant ; a mother is the proper person to give, the necessary and truthful answers, which answers frequently decide the fate of the patient. Bear in mind, then, a mother's untiring care and love, attention and truthfulness, frequently decide whether, in a serious illness, the little fellow shall live or die ! Fearful responsibility ! A medical man has arduous duties to perform ; smooth, therefore, his path as much as you can, and you will be amply repaid by the increased good he will be able to do your child. Strictly obey a doctor's orders in diet, in medicine, in everything. Never throw obstacles in his way. Never omit any of his suggestions; for, depend upon it that if he be a sensible man, directions, however slight, ought never to be neglected; bear in mind, with a judicious medical man, "That nothing walks with aimless feet." Tennyson. If the case be severe, requiring a second opinion, never of your own accord call in a physician, without first consulting and advising with your own medical man. It Avould be an act of great discourtesy to do so. In attention to the foregoing advice has frequently caused injury to the patient, and heart-burnings and ill-will among doctors. Speak, in the presence of your child, with respect and kindness of your medical man, so that the former may look upon the latter as a friend as one who will strive, CHILDHOOD. -^WARM BATHS. 231 with God's blessing, to relieve his pain and suffering. Remember the increased power of doing good the doctor will have if the child be induced to like, instead of dislike, him. Not only be careful that you yourself speak before your child respectfully and kindly of the medical man, but see that your domestics do so likewise ; and take care that they are never allowed to frighten your child, as many silly servants do, by saying that ilu-y will send for the doctor, who will either give him nasty medicine, or will perform some cruel operation upon him. A nurse-maid should, then, never for one moment be permitted to make a doctor an object of terror or of dislike to a child. Send, whenever it be practicable, for your doctor fHi-hj in the morning, as he will then make his arrange- ments accordingly, and can by daylight better ascertain the nature of the complaint, more especially if it be a .vkin disease. It is utterly impossible for him to form a correct opinion of the nature of a " breaking-out " either by gas or by candle light. If the illness come on at night, particularly if it be ushered in either with a severe shivering, or with any other urgent symptom, no time should be lost, be it night or day, in sending for him. " A little fire is quickly trodden out , Which, being suffer'd, rivers cannot quench." Sluxkspeare. WARM BATHh. 281. Have the goodness to mention the complaints of a child for which warm batJis are useful. 1. Convulsions ; 2. Pains in the bowels, known by the child drawing up his legs, screaming violently , &c. ; 3. Restlessness from teething ; 4. Flatulence. The warm bath acts as a fomentation to the stomach and the bowels, and gives ease where the usual remedies do not rapidly relieve. 282. Will you mention the precautions, and the rules to be observed in putting a child into a warm bath ? 232 ADVICE TO A MOTHEIt Carefully ascertain before he be immersed in the bath that the water be neither too hot nor too cold. Careless- ness, or over-anxiety to put him in the water as quickly as possible, has frequently, from his being immersed in the bath when the water was too hot, caused him great pain and suffering. From 96 to 98 degrees of Fahrenheit is the proper temperature of a warm batlu If it be necessary to add fresh warm water, let him be either removed the while, or let it not be put in when very hot ; for if boiling water be added to increase the heat of the bath, it naturally ascends, and may scald him. Again, let the fresh water be put in at as great a distance from him as possible. The usual time for him to remain in a bath is a quarter of an hour or twenty minutea Let the chest and the bowels be rubbed with the hand while lie is in the bath. Let him be immersed in the bath as high up as the neck, taking care that he be the while supported under the armpits, and that his head be also rested. As soon as he comes out of the bath, he ought to be carefully but quickly rubbed dry ; and if it be necessary to keep up the action on the skin, he should be put to bed, between the blankets ; or if the desired relief has been obtained, between the sheets, which ought to have been previously warmed, where, most likely, he will fall into a sweet refreshing sleep. WARM EXTERNAL APPLICATIONS. 283. In case of a child suffering pain either in his stomach or in his bowels, or in case he has a feverish cold, can you tell me of the best way of applying heat to them t In pain either of the stomach or of the bowels, there is nothing usually affords greater or speedier relief than the external application of heat. The following are four different methods of applying heat : 1. A bag of hot salt that is to say, powdered table-salt put either into the oven or into a frying-pan over the fire, and thus made hot, and placed in a flannel bag, and then applied, as the case may be, either to the stomach or to the CHILDHOOD. WARM EXTERNAL APPLICATIONS. 233 bowels. Hot salt is an excellent remedy for these pains. 2. An india-rubber hot-water bottle,* half filled with hot water it need not be boiling applied to the stomach or to the bowels, will afford great comfort. 3. Another and an excellent remedy for these cases is a hot bran poultice. The way to make it is as follows : Stir bran into a vessel containing either a pint or a quart (accord- ing to size of poultice required) of boiling water, until it be of the consistence of a nice soft poultice, then put into a flannel bag and apply it to the part affected. "When cool, dip it from time to time in hot water. 4. In case a child has a feverish cold, especially if it be attended, as it sometimes is, with pains in the bowels, the following is a good external application : Take a yard of flannel, fold it in three widths, then dip it in very hot water, wring it out tolerably dry, and apply it evenly and neatly round and round the bowels ; over this, and to keep it in its place, and to keep in the mois- ture, put on a dry flannel bandage, four yards long and four inches wide. If it be put on at bed-time, it ought to remain on all night. Where there are children, it is desirable to have the yard of flannel and the flannel bandage in readiness, and then a mother will be prepared for emergencies. Either the one or the other, then, of the above applications will usually, in pains of the stomach and bowels, afford great relief. There is one great advantage of the external application of heat it can never do harm : if there be inflammation, it will do good ; if there be either cramps or spasms of the stomach, it will be serviceable ; if there be colic, it will be one of the licst remedies that can be used; if it be a feverish cold, by throwing the child into a perspiration, it will 1x5 beneficial It is well for a mother to know how to make a white bread poultice ; and as the celebrated Abernethy was noted for his poultices, I will give you his directions, * Every house where there are children ought to have one of these India-rubber hot-water bottles. It may be procured at any respectable Vulcanised India-rubber warehouse. 234 ADVICE TO A MOTHEB. and in his very words : " Scald out a basin, for you can never make a good poidtice unless you have perfectly boiling water, then, having put in some hot water, throw in coarsely crumbled bread, and cover it with a plate. When the bread has soaked up as much water as it will imbibe, drain olf the remaining water, and there will be left a light pidp. Spread it a third of an inch thick on folded linen, and apply it when of the temperature of a warm bath. It may bo said that this poultice will be very inconvenient if there be no lard in it, for it will soon get dry ; but this is the very thing you want, and it can easily be moistened by dropping warm water on it, whilst a greasy poultice will be moist, but not wet." South'a Household Surgery. ACCIDENTS. 284. Supposing a child to cut his finger, what is the best application ? There is nothing better than tying it up with rag in its blood, as nothing is more healing than blood. Do not wash the blood away, but apply the rag at once, tak- ing care that no foreign substance be left in the wound. If there be either glass or dirt in it, it will of course be necessary to bathe the cut in warm water, to get rid of it before the rag be applied. Some mothers use either salt or Fryar's Balsam, or turpentine, to a fresh wound; these plans are cruel and unnecessary, and frequently make the cut difficult to heaL If it bleed immoderately, sponge the wound freely with cold water. If it be a severe cut, surgical aid, of course, Avill be required. 285. If a child receive a blow, causing a bruise, what had better be done ? Immediately smear a small lump of fresh butter on the part affected, and renew it every few minutes for two or three hours ; this is an old-fashioned, but a very good remedy. Olive oil may if fresh butter be not at hand be used, or soak a piece of brown-paper in one third of French brandy and two-thirds of water, and immediately apply it to the part ; when dry renew it. CHILDHOOD. ACCIDENTS. 235 Either of these simple plans the butter plan is the best will generally prevent both swelling and dis- A " Black Eye." If a child, or indeed any one else, receive a blow over the eye, which is likely to cause a " black eye," there is no remedy superior to, nor more likely to jawc-nt one, than well buttering the parts for two or three inches around the eye with fresh butter, renewing it every few minutes for the space of an hour or two ; if such be well and perseveringly done, the disagreeable appearance of a " black eye " will in all probability be prevented. A capital remedy for a " black eye " is the Arnica Lotion, Take of Tincture of Arnica, one ounce ; Water, seven ounces ; To make a Lotion. The eye to be bathed by means of a soft piece of linen rag, with this lotion frequently ; and, between times, let a piece of linen rag, wetted in the lotion, be applied to the eye, and be fastened in its place by means of a bandage. The white lily leaf, soaked in brandy, is another excellent remedy for the bruises of a child. Gather the white lily blossoms when in full bloom, and put them in a wide-mouthed bottle of brandy, cork the bottle, and it will then always be ready for use. Apply a leaf to the part all'ei-U'd, and bind it on either with a bandage or with a handkerchief. The white lily root sliced is another valuable external application for bruises. 286. //" a child fall upon his head and be stunned, irhfif diujht to be done? If he fall upon his head and be stunned, he will look deadly pale, very much as if he had fainted. He will in a few minutes, in all probability, regain his conscious- ness. Sickness frequently supervenes, which makes the case more serious, it being a proof that injury, more or less severe, has been done to the brain ; send, therefore, instantly for a medical man. In the meantime, loosen both his collar and necker- chief, lay him flat on his back, sprinkle cold water upon liis face, open the windows so as to admit plenty of 230 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. fresh air, and do not let people crowd round him, nor shout at him, as some do, to make him speak. "While he is in an unconsckms state, do not on any account whatever allow a drop of blood to be taken from him, either by leeches or from the arm venesection ; if you do, he will probably never rally, but will most likely " sleep the sleep that knows not breaking." 287. A mow sometimes drops an infant and injures 7//x lack ; what onglit to be done ? Instantly send for a surgeon ; omitting to have proper advice in such a case has frequently made a child a cripple for life. A nurse frequently, when she has dropped her little charge, is afraid to tell her mistress ; the consequences might then be deplorable. If ever a child scream violently without any assignable cause, ami the mother is not able for some time to pacify him, the safer plan is that she send for a doctor, in order that he might strip and carefully examine him ; much after misery might often be averted if this plan were more frequently folloAved. 288. Have you any remarks to make and directions to give on accidental poisoning by lotions, by liniments, fyc. ? It is a culpable practice of either a mother or nurse to leave external applications within the reach of a child. It is also highly improper to put a mixture and an external application (such as a lotion or a liniment) on tho same tray or on the same mantel-piece. Many liniments contain large quantities of opium, a tea-spoon- ful of which would be likely to cause the death of a child. " Hartshorn and oil," too, has frequently been swallowed by children, and in several instances has caused death. Many lotions contain sugar of lead, which is also poisonous. There is not, fortunately, generally sufficient lead in the lotion to cause death ; but if there be not enough to cause death, there may l>e more than enough to make the child very poorly. All these accidents occiir from disgraceful carelessness. A mother or a nurse ought always, before administer- ing a dose of medicine to a child, to read the label on CHILDHOOD. ACCIDENTS. 237 the bottle ; by adopting this simple plan many serious acridfiits and much after misery might be averted. Again, I say, let every lotion, every liniment, and indeed everything for external use, be either locked up or be put out of the way, and far away from all medicine that is given by the mouth. This wlricc admits of no exception. If your child have swallowed a portion of a liniment containing opium, instantly send for a medical man. In tlic meantime force a strong mustard emetic (composed of two tea-spoonfuls of flour of mustard, mixed in half a tea-cupful of warm water) down his throat. Encourage the vomiting by afterwards forcing him to swallow warm water. Tickle the throat either with your ringer or with a feather. Souse him alternately in hot and then in a cold bath. Dash cold water on his head and face. Throw open the windows. Walk him about in the open air. Rouse him by slapping him, by pinching him, and by shouting to him ; rouse him, indeed, by every means in your power, for if you allow him to go to sleep, it will, in all probability, be the sleep that knows no waking ! If a child have swallowed " hartshorn and oil," force him to drinl: vinegar and water, lemon-juice and water sweetened with sugar, barley water, and thin gruel. If he have swallowed a lead lotion, give him a mustard emetic, and then vinegar and water, sweetened cither with honey or with sugar, to drink. 289. Are not lucifer matches poisbnotis ? Certainly, they are very poisonous; it is, therefore, desirable that they should be put out of the reach of children. A mother ought to be very strict with servants on this head. Moreover, lucifer matches are not only poisonous but dangerous, as a child might set himself on fire with them. A case bearing on the subject has just come under niy own observation. A little boy three years old, was left alone for two or three minutes, during which time he obtained possession of a lucifer match, and struck a light by striking the match 238 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. against tin.! wall. Instantly there was a Maze. For- Innately for him, in his fright, he threw the match on tin' lloor. His mother at this moment entered the room. If his clothes had taken fire, which they might have done, had he not have thrown the match away, or if his mother had not been so near at hand, he would, in all probability, have either been severely burned or have been burned to death. 290. If a child's clothes take fire, what ought to be done to Kcttngwtihed ///? 1 Lay him on the floor, then roll him either in the rug, or in the carpet, or in the door-mat, or in any thirk article of dress you may either have on, or have at hand if it be woollen, so much the better ; or, throw him down, and roll him over and over on the floor, as, by excluding the atmospheric air, the llamc, will go out : hence the importance of a mother cultivating presence of mind. If parents were better prepared for such emergencies, such horrid disfigurations and frightful deaths would be less frequent. You ought to have a proper tire-guard before the nursery grate, and should be strict in not allowing your child to play with fire. If he still persevere in playing with it, when he has been repeatedly cautioned not to do so, he should be punished for his temerity. If anything would justify corporal chastisement, it would surely be such an act of disobedience. There are only two acts of disobedience that I would flog a child for namely, the playing with fire and the telling of a lie ! If after various warnings and wholesome corrections he still per- sist, it would be well to let him slightly taste the pain of his doing so, either by holding his hand for a moment very near the fire, or by allowing him to slightly touch either the hot bar of the grate or the flame of the candle. Take my word for it the above plan will effectually cure him he will never do it again. It would be well for the children of the poor to have pinafores made either of "woollen or of stuff materials. The dreadful deaths from CHILDHOOD. ACCIDENTS. 239 burning, which so often occur in winter, too frequently arise from cotton pinafores first taking lire.* If all dresses after being washed, and just before being dried, were, for a short time, soaked in a solution of tungstate of soda, such clothes, when dried, would be perfectly fire-proof. Tungstate of soda may be used either with or without starch ; but full directions for the using of it will, at the time of purchase, be given by the chemist. 291. Is a burn mor<> ei/e, what is the lest method of removing it ? If there be grit, or sand, or dust, or particle of coal, or gnat, or a hair, or an eye-lash in the eye, it ought to be tenderly removed by a small tightly-folded paper spill, holding down the lower lid with the fore-finger of the left hand the while ; and the eye, if inflamed, should be frequently bathed with warm milk and water ; but gene- rally as soon as the cause is removed the effect will cease, and after treatment will be unnecessary. If a particle of metal be sticking on the cornea of the eye, as it sometimes does, it will require the skilled hand of a surgeon to remove it. Any foreign substance, however minute, in the eye, is very painful ; but a piece of burning lime is excruciating. Shakspeare gives a graphic description of the pain from the presence of any foreign substance, however small, in the eye : " heaven ! that there were but a mote in yours, A grain, a dust, a gnat, a wand'ring hair, Any annoyance in that precious sense ! Then, feeling what small things are boist'rous there, Your vile intent must needs seem horrible." 295. What ought to be done in a case of choking f How often does a hungry little child, if not carefully watched, fill his mouth so full, and swallow lumps of food in such hot haste, as to choke himself " With eager feeding, food doth choke the feeder." Shakspeare. '/'/< it ment. Instantly put your finger into the throat and fool if the substance be within reach ; if it be food, force it down, and thus liberate the breathing ; should it, be a hard substance, endeavour to hook it out ; if you cannot reach it, give a good smart blow or two with the flat of the hand on the back ; or, as recommended by a 244 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. contributor to the Lancet, on the chest, taking care to " seize the little patient, and place him between your knees side ways, and in this or some other manner to i-ni/i/ii-f'ss the abdomen [the belly], otherwise the power of the blow will be lost by the yielding of the abdominal purietirs [walls of the belly], and the respiratory effort will not be produced." If that does not have the desired effect, tickle the throat with your finger, so as to ensure immediate vomiting, and the subsequent ejection of the offending substance. 296. Should my child be bitten by a dog supposed to be mad, what ought to be done ? Instantly well rub for the space of five or ten seconds seconds, not minutes a stick of nitrate of silver (lunar- caustic) into the wound. The stick of lunar-caustic should be pointed, like a cedar pencil for writing, in order the more thoroughly to enter the wound.* This, if properly done directly after the bite, will effectually prevent hydrophobia. The nitrate of silver acts not only as a caustic to the part, but it appears effectually to neutralise the poison, and thus, by making the virus perfectly innocuous, is a complete antidote. If it be either the lip, or the parts near the eye, or the wrist, that have been bitten, it is far preferable to apply the caustic than to cut the part out ; as the former is neither so formidable, nor so dangerous, nor so disfiguring as the latter, and yet it is equally as efficacious. I am in- debted to the late Mr Youatt, the celebrated veterinary surgeon, for this valuable antidote or remedy for the firevention of the most horrible, heart-rending, and in- curable disease known. Mr Youatt had an immense practice among dogs as well as among horses. He AVUS a keen observer of disease, and a dear lover of his pro- fession, and ho had paid great attention to rabies dog- madness. He and his assistants had been repeatedly bitten by rabid dogs ; but knowing that he was in pos- * A stick of pointed nitrate of silver, in a case, ready for use, may be procured of any respectable chemist. CHILDHOOD. ACCIDENTS. 245 session of an infallible preventive remedy, he never dreaded the wounds inflicted either upon himself or upon his assistants. Mr Youatt never knew lunar- caustic, if properly and immediately applied, to fail. It is, of course, only a preventive. If hydrophobia be once developed in the human system, no antidote has ever yet, for this fell and intractable disease, been found. While walking the London Hospitals, upwards of forty years ago, I received an invitation from Mr Youatt to attend a lecture on rabies dog-madness. He had, during the lecture, a dog present labouring under inri'jin>nt madness. In a day or two after the lecture, he requested me and other students to call at his infir- mary and see the dog, as the disease was at that time fully developed. We did so, and found the poor animal raving mad frothing at the mouth, and snapping at the iron bars of his prison. I was particularly struck with a peculiar brilliancy and wildness of the dog's eyes. He seemed as though, with affright and consternation, he beheld objects unseen by all around. It was pitiful to witness his frightened and anxious countenance. Death soon closed the scene ! I have thought it my duty to bring the value of lunar- caustic as a preventive of hydrophobia prominently before your notice, and to pay a tribute of respect to the memory of Mr Youatt a man of talent and of genius. Never kill a dog supposed to be mad who has bitten either a child, or any one else, until it has, past all doubt, been ascertained whether he be really mad or not. He ought, of course, to be tied up ; and be carefully watched, and be prevented the while from biting any one else. The dog by all means should be allowed to live at least for some weeks, as the fact of his remaining well will be the best guarantee that there is no fear of the bitten child having caught hydrophobia. There is a foolish prejudice abroad, that a dog, be lie mad or not, who has bitten a person ought to be innm'- ilinliJij destroyed : that although the dog be not at the time mad, but should at a future period become so, the 246 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. person who had been bitten when tlio f doing which is by means of a large sponge, holding his head and his face over awash-hand basin, half filled with cold water, and filling the sponge from the basin, and squeezing it over his head and face, allow- ing the water to continuously stream over them for an hour or two, or until the effects of the poison have passed away. This sponging of the head and face is very useful in poisoning by opium, as well as in poisoning by belladonna ; indeed, the treatment of poisoning by the one is very similar to the treatment of poisoning by the other. I, therefore, for the further treatment of poison- ing by belladonna, beg to refer you to a previous Conversation on the treatment of poisoning by opium. 302. Should a child put either a pea or a bead, or any other foreign substance, up the nose, what ought to be done f Do not attempt to extract it yourself, or you might push it further in, but send instantly for a surgeon, who will readily remove it, either with a pair of forceps, or by means of a bent probe, or with a director. If it be a ]M a, and it lie allowed for any length of time to remain in, it will swell, and will thus become difficult to extract, and may produce great irritation and inflammation. A child ought not to be allowed to play with peas or with beads (unless the beads are on a string), as he is apt, for amusement, to push them up his nose. 303. If a child have put either a pea, a bean, a bead, a i'lt< rri/ xtone, or any other smooth substance, into his ear, what ought to be done to remove it ? Turn his head on one side, in order to let the ear with the pea or the bead in it be undermost, then give with the llat of your hand two or three sharp, sudden slaps or boxes on the other, or uppermost ear, and most likely the ollcnding substance will drop out. Poking at the ear will, in the majority of cases, only send the substance further in, and will make it more difficult (if the above simple plan does not succeed) for the medical man to 250 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. remove. The surgeon will, in all probability, syringe the ear ; therefore have a supply of warm water in readi- ness for him, in order that no time may be lost. 304. If an earwig or any other living thing, should get into the ear of a child, what ought to be done ? Lay the child on his side, the affected ear being upper- most, and fill the ear, from a tea-spoon, with either water or sweet oil. The water or oil will carry the liv- ing thing, whatever it be, out of the ear, and the child is at once relieved. 305. If a child swallow a piece of broken yla#8, what ought to be done ? Avoid purgatives, as the free action on the bowels would be likely to force the spiculae of glass into the mucous membrane of the bowels, and thus would wound them, and might cause ulceration, and even death. " The object of treatment will be to allow them to pas:> through the intestines well enveloped by the other con- tents of the tube ; and for this purpose a solid, farinaceous diet should be ordered, and purgatives scrupulously avoided." Shaw's Medical Remembrancer, by Hutchinson. 306. If a child swallow a pin, ichat should be done ? Treat him as for broken glass. Give him no aperients, or it might, in action, force the pin into the bowel. I have known more than one instance where a child, after swallowing a pin, to have voided it in his motion. 307. If a child swallow a coin of any land, is danger likely to ensue, and what ought to be done ? There is, as a rule, no danger. A dose or two of castor oil will be all that is usually necessary. The evacuations ought to be carefully examined until the coin be dis- covered. I once knew a child swallow a pennypiece, and pass it in his stool. 308. If a child, while playing with a small coin (such as either a threepenny or a fourpenny piece), or any other substance, should toss it into his mouth, and inad- vertently allow it to enter the windpipe, what ought to be done? CHILDHOOD. ACCIDENTS. 251 Take hold of him by the legs, allowing his head to hang downwards ; then give him with the palm of your hand several sharp blows on his back, and you may have the good fortune to see the coin coughed out of his mouth. Of course, if this plan does not succeed, send instantly for a medical man. 309. How can a mother prevent her child from li'iriittj an accident ? By strict supervision over him on her own part, and by not permitting her child to be left to the tender mercies of servants ; by not allowing him to play with fire, to swing over banisters, and to have knives and playthings of a dangerous character ; to keep all poisonous articles and cutting instruments out of his reach ; and, above all and before all, insisting, lovingly, affectionately, but firmly, upon implicit obedience. Accidents generally arise from one of three causes, namely, either from wilful disobedience, or fron. gneiss carelessness, or from downright folly. I quite agree with Davenant, that they do not arise from chance "If we consider accident, And how, repugnant unto sen^e, It pays desert with bad event, We shall disparage Providence." PART III. BOYHOOD AND GIELHOOD, Jutt at the age 'ttrij-t boy and youth. When thought ii tpeech. and tpeech it truth. SCOTT. 'Tit with him e'en standing water. Between man and boy. SHAKSPEARI. ^landing uiith reluctant feet. Where the brook and riter meet. Womanliood and childhood feet.' LONGTELLOW. ABLUTION, ETC. 310. Have you any remarlcs to make on the ablution of hoys and girls ? How is it that a mother thinks it absolutely necessary (which it really is) that her babe's ichole body should, every morning, be washed ; and yet who does not deem it needful that her girl or boy, of twelve years old, should go through the process of daily and thorough ablution ? If the one case be necessary, sure I am that the other is equally if not more needful Thorough ablution of the body every morning at least is essential to health. I maintain that no one can be in the enjoyment of perfect health who does not keep his skin the whole of his skin clean. In the absence of cleanliness, a pellicle forms on the skin which engenders disease. Moreover, a person who does not keep his skin clean is more susceptible of contracting contagious disease, such as small-pox, typhus fever, cholera, diphtheria, scarlet fever, &c. Thorough ablution of the body is a grand requisite of YOUTH. ABLUTION. ETC. 253 health. I maintain that no one can be perfectly healthy unless he thoroughly wash his body the whole of his body ; if filth accumulate which, if not washed off, it is sure to do, disease must, as a matter of course, follow. Besides, ablution is a delightful process ; it makes one feel fresh and sweet, and young and healthy ; it makes the young look handsome, and the old look young ! Thorough ablution might truly be said both to renovate and to rejuvenise ! A scrupulously clean skin is one of the grand distinctive characteristics both of a lady and of a gentleman. Dirty people are not only a nuisance to themselves, but to all around ; they are not only a nuisance but a danger, as their dirty bodies are apt to carry from place to place contagious diseases. It is important that parts that are covered should be kept cleaner than parts exposed to the air, as dirt is more apt to fester in dark places ; besides, parts exposed to the air have the advantage of the air's sweetening properties ; air acts as a bath, and purifies the skin amazingly. It is desirable to commence a complete system of washing early in life, as it then becomes a second nature, and cannot afterwards be dispensed with. One accustomed to the luxury of his morning ablution, if any- thing prevented him from taking it, would feel most un- comfortable ; he would as soon think of dispensing with his breakfast as with his bath. Every boy, every girl, and every adult, ought each to have either a room or a dressing-room to himself or to herself, in order that he or she might strip to the skin and thoroughly wash themselves ; no one can wash Dropevly and effectually without doing so. !S T OW, for the paraphernalia required for the process : (1.) A large nursery basin, one that will hold six or eight quarts of water (Wedgwood's make being considered the best) ; (2.) A piece of coarse flannel, a yard long and half a yard wide ; (3.) A large sponge ; (4.^ A tablet either of the best yellow or of ctml soap ; (5.) Two towels one being a diaper, and the other a Turkish rubber. Now, 254 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. as to the manner of performing ablution. You ought to fill the basin three parts full with rain water ; then, having well-soaped and cleansed your hands, re-soap them, dip your head and face into the water, then with the soaped hands well rub and wash your head, face, neck, chest, and armpits ; having done which, take the wetted sponge, and go over all the parts previously travelled over by the soaped hands ; then fold the flannel as you would a neck-kerchief, and dip it in the water, then throw it, as you would a skipping-rope, over your shoulders and move it a few times from right to left and from left to right, and up and down, and then across the back and loins ; having done which, dip the sponge in the water, and holding your head over the water, let the water stream from the sponge a time or two over your head, neck, and face. Dip your head and face in the water, then put your hands and arms (as far as they will go) into the water, holding them there while you can count thirty. Having reduced the quantity of water to a third of a basinful, place the basin on the floor, and sit (while you can count fifty) in the water ; then put one foot at a time in the water, and quickly rub, with soaped hands, up and down your leg, over the foot, and pass your thumb between each toe (this latter procedure tends to keep away soft corns) ; then take the sponge, filled with water, and squeeze it over your leg and foot, from the knee downwards, then serve your other leg and foot in the same way. By adopting the above plan, the whole of the body will, every morning, be thoroughly washed. A little warm water might at first, and during the winter time, be added, to take off the chill ; but the sooner quite cold water is used the better. The body ought to be quickly dried (taking care to wipe between each toe), first with the diaper, and then with the Turkish rubber. In drying your back and loins, you ought to throw as you would a skipping-rope, the Turkish rubber over your shoulders, and move it a few times from side to side, until the parts be dry. YOUTH. ABLUTION, ETC. 255 Although the above description is necessarily prolix, the washing itself ought to be very expeditiously per- formed ; there should be no dawdling over it, otherwise the body will become chilled, and harm instead of good will be the result. If due dispatch be used, the whole of the body might, according to the above method, be thoroughly washed and dried in the space of ten minutes. A boy ought to wash his head, as above directed, every morning, a girl, who has much hair, once a week, with soap and water, with flannel and sponge. The hair, if not frequently washed, is very dirty, and nothing is more repulsive than a dirty head ! It might be said, " Why do you go into particulars 1 why dwell so much upon minutiae ? Every one, without being told, knows how to wash himself ! " I reply, " That very few people do know how to wash themselves properly ; it is a misfortune that they do not they would be healthier and happier and sweeter if they did !" 311. Have you any remarks to make on boys and girls learning to swim ? Let me strongly urge you to let your sons and daughters be early taught to swim. Swimming is a glorious exercise one of the best that can be taken ; it expands the chest ; it promotes digestion ; it develops the muscles, and brings into action some muscles that in any other form of exercise are but seldom brought into play ; it strengthens and braces the whole frame, and thus makes the swimmer resist the liability of catching cold ; it gives both boys and girls courage, energy, and self-reliance, splendid qualities in this rough world of ours. Swimming is oftentimes the means of saving human life ; this of itself would be a great recommenda- tion of its value. It is a delightful amusement ; to breast the waves is as exhilarating to the spirits as clearing on horse-back a five-barred gate. Tlie art of learning to swim is quite as necessary to be learned by a girl as by a boy ; the former has similar muscles, lungs, and other organs to develop as the latter. 256 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. It is very desirable that in large towns swimming- baths for ladies should be instituted. Swimming ought, then, to bo a part and parcel of the education of every boy and of every girl. Swimming does not always agree. This sometimes arises from a person being quite cold before he plunges into the water. Many people have an idea that they ought to go into the water while their bodies are in a cool state. Now this is a mistaken notion, and is likely to produce dangerous consequences. The skin ought to be comfortably warm, neither very hot nor very cold, and then the bather will receive every advantage that cold bathing can produce. If he go into the bath whilst the body is cold, the blood becomes chilled, and is driven to internal parts, and thus mischief is fre- quently produced. A boy, after using col.l bathing, ought, if it . with him, to experience a pleasing glow over the whole surface of his body, his spirits and appetite should l>e increased, and he ought to feel stronger ; but if it dis- agree with him, a chilliness and coldness, a lassitude and a depression of spirits, will be the result ; the face will be pale and the features will be pinched, and, in some instances, the lips and the nails will become blue ; all these are signs that cold bathing is injurious, and, there- fore, that it ought on no account to be persevered in, unless these symptoms have hitherto proceeded from his going into the bath whilst he was quite cold. He may, previously to entering the bath, warm himself by walking briskly for a few minutes. Where cold sea water bathing does not agree, warm sea bathing should be substituted. 312. Wliicli do you prefer sea bathing or fresh water bathing 1 Sea bathing. Sea bathing is incomparably superior to fresh water bathing ; the salt water is far more refreshing and invigorating ; the battling with the waves is more, exciting ; the sea breezes, blowing on the nude body, breathes (for the skin is a breathing apparatus) TOUTH. ABLUTION, ETC. 257 health and strength into the frame, and comeliness into the face ; the sea water and the sea breezes are splendid cosmetics ; the salt water is one of the finest applications, both for strengthening the roots and brightening the colour of the hair, provided grease and pomatum have not been previously used. 313. Have you any directions to give as to the time nii'l tlte seasons, and the best mode of sea bathing ? Summer and autumn are the best seasons of the year for cold sea bathing August and September being the best months. To prepare the skin for the cold sea bathing, it would be well, before taking a dip in the sea, to have on the previous day a warm salt water bath. It is injurious, and even dangerous, to bathe immediately after a fidl meal ; the best time to bathe is about two hours after breakfast that is to say, at about eleven or twelve o'clock in the forenoon. The bather as soon as he enters the water, ought instantly to wet his head; this may be done either by his jumping at once from the machine into the water, or, if he have not the courage to do so, by plunging his head without loss of time completely under the water. He should remain in the water about a quarter of an hour, but never longer, than half an hour. Many bathers by remaining a long time in the water do themselves great injury. If sea bathing be found to be invigorating and how often to the delicate it has proved to be truly magical a patient may bathe once every day, but on no account oftener. If he be not strong, he had better, at first, bathe only every other day, or even only twice a week. The bather, after leaving the machine, ought for half an hour to take a brisk walk in order to promote a reaction, and thus to cause &. free circulation of the blood. 314. Do you think atepid bath* may bemore safely used? A tepid bath may be taken at almost any time, and a bather may remain longer in one, with safety, than in a cold bath. * A tepid bath from 62 to 96 degrees of_Fahrenheit B 258 ADVICE TO A MOTHER 315. Do you approve of warm bathing? A warm bath* may with advantage be occasionally used say, once a week. A warm bath cleanses the .skin more effectually than either a cold or a tepid bath ; but, as it is more relaxing, ought not to be employed so often as either of them. A person should not continue longer than ten minutes in a warm bath. Once a week, as a rule, is quite often enough for a warm batli ; and it would be an excellent plan if every boy and girl and adult would make a practice of having one regularly every week, xinless any special reason should arise to forbid its use. 31G. But does not warm bathing, by relaxing the pores of the skin, cause a person to catch cold if he expose him- self to the air immediately afterwards ? There is, on this point, a great deal of misconception and unnecessary fear. A person, immediately after using a warm bath, should take proper precautions that is to say, he must not expose himself to draughts, neither ought he to wash himself in cold water, nor should lie, immediately after taking one, drink cold water. But he may follow his usual exercise or employment, pro- vided the weather be fine, and the wind be neither in the east nor the north-east. Every house of any pretension ought to have a bath- room. Nothing would be more conducive to health than regular systematic bathing. A hot and cold bath, a sitz bath, and a shower bath each and all in their turn are grand requisites to preserve and procure health. If the house cannot boast of a bath-room, then the Cor- poration Baths (which nearly every large town possesses) ought to be liberally patronised. MANAGEMENT OP THE HAIR. 317. WJiat is the best application for the Jiair? A sponge and cold water, and two good hair-brushes. Avoid grease, pomatum, bandaline, and all abominations * A warn bath from 97 to 100 degrees of Fahrenheit TOUTH. CLOTHING 259 of that kind. There is a natural oil of the hair, is far superior to either Rowland's Macassar Oil or any other oil ! The best scent for the hair is an occasional dressing of soap and water ; the best beantifier of the hair is a downright thorough good brushing with two good hair brushes ! Again, I say, avoid grease of all kin'l* to the hair. " And as for woman's hair, don't plaster it with scented and sour grease, or with any grease ; it lias an oil of its own. And don't tie up your hair tight, and make it like a cap of iron over your skull. And why are your ears covered? You hear all the worse, and they are not the cleaner. Besides, the ear is beautiful in itself, and plays its own part in the concert of the features."* If the hair cannot, without some application, be kept tidy, then a little castor oil, scented, might, by means of an old tooth-brush, be used to smooth it ; castor oil is, for the purpose, one of the most simple and harmless of dressings ; but, as I said before, the hair's own natural oil cannot be equalled, far less surpassed ! If the hair fall off, the castor oU, scented with a few drops either of otto of roses or of essence of bergamot, is a good remedy to prevent its doing so ; a little of it ought, night and morning, to be well rubbed into the roots of the hair. Cocoa-nut oil is another excellent application for the falling off of the hair, and can never do harm, which is more than can be said of many vaunted remedies for the hair ! CLOTHING. 318. Do you approve of a boy wearing flannel next the skin 1 England is so variable a climate, and the changes from heat to cold, and from dryness to moisture of the atmo- sphere, are so sudden, that some means are required to guard against their effects. Flannel, as it is a bad con- ductor of heat, prevents the sudden changes from affect- ing the body, and thus is a great preservative against cold. Health. By John Brown, M,D. 260 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. Fhumel is as necessary in the summer as in the winter time ; indeed, we are mo-e likely both to sit and to stand in draughts in the summer than in the winter ; and thus we arc more liable to become chilled and to catch cold. Woollen shirts are now much worn ; they are very comfortable and beneficial to health. Moreover, they simplify the dress, as they supersede the necessity of wearing either both flannel and linen, or flannel and calico shirts. 319. Flannel tomettOMt jjroduces great irritation of lite * kin : irlmt txujht to be done to prevent it 1 Have a moderately fine flannel, and ]>ersevere in its use ; the skin in a few days will bear it comfortably. The Angola and wove-silk waistcoats have been recom- mended as substitutes, but there is nothing equal to the old-fashioned Welsh flannel 320. If a boy have delicate lunys, do you approve of his wearing a prepared hare-akin vwr ihe chest I I do not : the chest may be kept too warm as well as too cold. The hare-skin heats the chest too much, and thereby promotes a violent perspiration ; which, by his going into the cold air, may become suddenly checked, and may thus produce mischief. If the chest be delicate, there is nothing like flannel to ward oil' colds. 321. After an attack of Rheumatic Fever, what extra clothing do you advise i In the case of a boy, or a girl, just recovering from a severe attack of Rheumatic Fever, flannel next the skin ought always, winter and summer, to be worn flannel drawers as well as a flannel vest. 322. Have you any remarks to make on boys' waixt- coats ? Fashion in this, as in most other instances, is at direct variance with common sense. It would seem that fashion was intended to make work for the doctor, and to swell the bills of mortality ! It might be asked, What part of the chest, in particular, ought to be kept warm? The uppei part needs it most. It is in the upper part of the lungs that tubercles (consumption) YOUTH. CLOTHIXG. 261 usually first make their appearance ; and is it not pre- posterous to have such parts, in particular, kept cool ? Double-breasted waistcoats cannot be too strongly re- commended for delicate youths, and for all men who have weak chests. 323. Have you tm>i directions to c/ice respecting the shoes and the stockings ? The shoes for winter should be moderately thick and waterproof. If boys and girls be delicate, they ought to have double soles to their, shoes, with a piece of bladder between each sole, or the inner sole may be made of cork ; either of the above plans will make the soles of boots anil shoes completely water-proof. In wet or dirty weather India-rubber over-shoes are useful, as they keep the tipper as well as the under leathers perfectly dry. The socks, or stockings, for winter, ought to be either lambs-wool or worsted ; it is absurd to wear cotton socks or stockings all the year round. I should advise a boy to wear socks not stockings, as he will then be able to dis- pense with garters. Garters, as I have remarked in a previous Conversation, are injurious they not only in- terfere with the circulation of the blood, but also, by pressure, injure the bones, and thus the shape of the legs. I 'x>ys and girls cannot be too particular in keeping their feet warm and dry, as cold wet feet are one of the, most frequent exciting causes of bronchitis, of sore throats, and of consumption. 324. When should a girl begin to wear stays She ought never to wear them. 325. Do not stays strengthen the body ? No ; on the contrary, they weaken it. (1.) They wi'uki'H the iiiiwlt.'s. The pressure upon them causes them to wa*te ; so that, in the end, a girl cannot do without them, as the stays are then obliged to perform the duty of the wasted muscles. (2.) They weaken the linnjx by interfering with their functions. Every in- spiration is accompanied by a movement of the ribs. If this movement be impeded, the functions of the lungs are impeded likewise ; and, consequently, disease is likely 262 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. to follow ; nncl cither difficulty of breathing, or cough, or consumption, may ensue. (3.) They weaken the heart's action, and thus frequently produce palpitation, and, perhaps, eventually, organic or incurable disease of the heart. (4.) Tliey wcaltcn the digestion, by pushing down the stomach and the liver, and by compressing tho latter; and thus induce indigestion, flatulence, and liver- disease.* (5.) Tltey weaken the boicels, by impeding their proper peristaltic (spiral) motion, and thus might produce either constipation or a rupture. Is it not pre sumptuous to imagine that man can improve upon God's works ; and that if more support had been required, the Almighty would not have given it? " God never made his work for man to mend.'' Dryden. 326. Have you any remarks to maJce on female dress t There is a perfect disregard of health in everything appertaining to fashion. Parts that ought to be kept warm, remain unclothed ; the upper portion of the chest, most prone to tubercles (consumption), is completely exposed ; the feet, great inlets to cold, are covered with thin stockings, and with shoes as thin as paper. Parts that should have full play are cramped and hampered ; tlie chest is cribbed in with stays, the feet with tight shoes, hence causing deformity, and preventing a free circulation of blood. The mind, that ought to be calm and unruffled, is kept in a constant state of excitement by balls, and concerts, and plays. Mind and body sympathise with each other, and disease is the con- sequence. Night is turned into day ; and a delicate girl leaves the heated ball-room, decked out in her airy finery, to breathe the damp and cold air of night. She goes to bed, but, for the first few hours, she is too much excited to sleep ; towards morning, when the air is pure and invigorating, and, when to breathe it, would be to * Several years ago, while prosecuting my anatomical studies in London University College Dissecting-rooms, on opening a young women, I discovered an immense indentation of the liver large enough to admit a rolling-pin, produced by tight-lacing! YOUTH. DIET. 263 inhale health and life, she falls into a feverish slumber, and wakes not until noon-day. Oh, that a mother should be so blinded and so infatuated ! 327. Have you any observations to malic on a girl wear hi j>rrr u f them ? Certainly not : the natural and the graceful curve of the back is not the curve of a straight-backed i-hair. Straight-backed chairs are instruments of torture, and are more likely to make a girl crooked than to make hoi straight. Sir Astley Cooper ridiculed straight-backed chairs, and well he might. It is always well foi a mother to try, for some considerable time, such ridiculous inventions upon herself before she experiments upon her unfortunate daughter. The position is most unnatural I do not approve of a girl lounging and lolling on a sofa ; but, if she be tired and wants to rest herself, let her, like any other reasonable being, sit upon a comfortable ordinary chair. If you want her to be straight, let her be made strong ; and if she is to be strong, she must use plenty of exercise and exertion, such as drilling, dancing, skipping, archery, croquet, hand-swinging, horse-exercise, swimming, bowls, [> <>j Sleeping-rooms, are, generally, the smallest in the house, whereas, for health's sake, they ought to be the largest If it be impossible to have a large bedroom, I should advise a parent to have a dozen or twenty holes (each about the size of a florin) bored with a centre-bit 284 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. in the upper part of the chamljer door, and the same number of holes in the lower part of the door, so as constantly to admit a free current of air from the passages. If this cannot readily be done, then let the bedroom door be left ajar all night, a door chain being on the door to prevent intrusion ; and, in the summer time, during the night, let the window-sash, to the extent of about two or three inches, be left open. If there be a dressing-room next to the bedroom, it will be well to have the dressing-room window, instead of the bedroom window, open at night. The dressing- room door will regulate the quantity of air to be admitted into the bedroom, opening it either little or much, as the weather might be cold or otherwise. Fresh air duriwj sleep is indispensable to health. If a bedroom be close, the sleep, instead of being calm and refreshing, is broken and disturbed ; and the boy, when he awakes in the morning, feels more fatigued than when he retired to rest. If sleep is to be refreshing, the air, then, must be pure, and free from carbonic acid gas, which is constantly being evolved from the lungs. If sleep is to be health- giving, the lungs ought to have their proper food oxygen, and not to be cheated by giving them instead a poison carbonic acid gas. It would be well for each boy to have a separate room to himself, and each girl a separate room to herself. If two boys are obliged, from the smallness of the house, to sleep in one room, and if two girls, from the same cause, are compelled to occupy the same chamber, by all means let each one have a separate bed to himself and to herself, as it is so much more healthy, and expedient for both boy and girl to sleep alone. The roof of the bed should be left open that is to say, the top of the bedstead ought not to be covered with bed furniture, but should be open to the ceiling, in order to encourage a free ventiJation of air. A bed- curtain may be allowed on the side of the bed where there are windv currents of air ; otherwise bed-curtains YOUTH. SLEEP. 285 and valances ought on no account to be allowed. They prevent a free circulation of the air. A youth should sleep on a horse-hair mattress. Such mattresses greatly improve the figure and strengthen the frame. During the day-time, provided it does not rain, the windows must be thrown wide open, and, directly after he has risen from bed, the clothes ought to be thrown entirely back, in order that they may become, before the bed be made, well ventilated and purified by the air : " Do you wish to be healthy ? Then keep the house sweet ; As soon as you're up Shake each blanket and sheet. Leave the beds to get fresh. On the close crowded floor Let the wind sweep right through- Open window and door. The bad air will rash out As the good air comes in, Just as goodness is stronger And better than sin. Do this, it's soon done, In the fresh morning air, It will lighten your labour And lessen your care. You are weaiy no wondet, There's weight and there's gloom Hanging heavily round In each over-full room. Be sure all the trouble Is profit and gain, For there's head-ache and heart-ache, And fever and pain Hovering round, settling down In the closeness and heat ; Let the wind sweep right through Till the air's fresh and sweet, And more cheerful you'll feel Through the toil of the day ; More refreshed you'll awake When the night's passed away. '* * Household Verses on Health and Happiness. London : Jarrold and Sons. Every mother should read these fortes. 286 ADVICE TO A MOTHER, Plants ami flowers ought not to be allowed to remain in a chamber at night. Experiments have proved that plants and flowers take up, in the day-time, carbonic acid gas (the refuse of respiration), and give off oxygen (a gas so necessary and beneficial to health), but give out, in the night season, a poisonous exhalation. Early rising cannot be too strongly insisted upon ; nothing is more conducive to health and thus to long life. A youth is frequently allowed to spend the early part of the morning in bed, breathing the impure atmo- sphere of a bedroom, when he should be up and about, inhaling the balmy and health-giving breezes of the morning : " Rise with the lark, and with the lark to bed : The breath of night's destructive to the hue Of ev'ry flower that blows. Go to the field, And ask the humble daisy why it sleeps Soon as the sun departs ? Way close the eyes Of blossoms inliuite long ere the moon Her oriental veil puts off? Think why, Nor let the sweetest blossom Nature boasts Ho thus exposed to night's unkindly damp. Well may it droop, and all its freshness lose, Compell'd to taste the rank and pois'nous steam Of midnight theatre and morning ball. Give to repose the solemn hour she claims ; And from the forehead of the morning steal The sweet occasion. Oh ! there is a charm Which morning has, that gives the brow of age A smack of youth, and makes the lip of youth Shed perfume exquisite. Expect it not Ye who till noon upon a down-bed lie, Indulging feverish sleep. " Hurdis. If early rising be commenced in childhood it becomes a habit, and will then probably be continued through life. A boy ought on no account to be roused from his sleep ; but, as soon as he be awake in the morning, he should be encouraged to rise. Dozing that state between sleeping and waking is injurious ; it enervates both body and mind, and is as detrimental to health as dram drinking ! But if he rise early he must go to bed betimes ; it is a bad practice to keep him up until the YOUTH. ON THE TEETH AND THE GUM!?. 287 family retire to rest Ho ought, winter and summer, to svfk his pillow by nine o'clock, and should rise as soon as he awake in the morning. Let me urge upon a parent the great importance of i/ot allowing the chimney of any bedroom, or of any room in the house, to be stopped, as many arc in the habit of doing to prevent, as they call it, a draught, but to prevent, as / should call it, health. 357. How memy hoot* of tletp ought a boy t li? This, of course, will depend upon the exercise he takes : but, on an average, he should have every night at least eight hours. It is a mistaken notion that a boy docs liffffi' with little sleep. Infants, children, and youths require more than those who are further advanced in years ; hence old people can frequently do with little sleep. This may in a measure be accounted for from the quantity of exercise the young take. Another reason may be, the young have neither racking pain, nor hidden sorrow, nor carking care, to keep them awake ; while, on the contrary, the old have frequently, the one, the other, or all : " Care keeps his watch on every old man's eye, And where care lodges, sleep will never lie. " ShaJcspcare. ON THE TEETH AND THE GUMS. 358. Wliatnre tlio. best means of k'f]>!inj the teeth ami the (iimix in (i ItcnUhy state ? I would recommend the teeth and the gums to be well brushed with warm salt and water, in the propor- tion of one large tea-spoonful of salt to a tumbler of water. I was induced to try the above plan by the recommendation of an American writer Todil. The salt and water should be used every night. Tho following is an excellent tooth-powder : Take of Finely-powder Peruvian Bark ; ,, Prepared Coral ; ,, Prepared Chalk ; ,, Myrrh, of each half an ounce ,, Orris root, a quarter of an ounce : Mix them well together in a mortar, and preserve the powder in a \vide-inoatlied stoppered bottle. 288 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. The teeth ought to be well brushed with the above tooth-powder every morning. If the teeth be much decayed, and if, in consequence, the breath be offensive, two ounces of finely-powdered charcoal well mixed with the above ingredients will be found a valuable addition. Some persons clean their teeth eyery morning with soap ; if soap be used it ought to be Castile soap ; and if the teeth be not white and clean, Castile soap is an excellent cleanser of the teeth, and may be used in lieu of the tooth powder as before recommended. There are few persons who brush their teeth properly. I will tell you the right way. First of all procure a tooth brush of the best make, and of rather hard bristles, to enable it to penetrate into all the nooks and corners of the teeth ; then, having put a small quantity of warm water into your mouth, letting the principal of it escape into the basin, dip your brush in warm water, and if you are about using Castile soap, rub the brush on a cake of the soap, and then well brush your teeth, first upwards and then downwards, then from side to side from right to left, and from left to right then the backs of the teeth, then apply the brush to the tops of the crowns of the teeth both of the upper and of the lower jaw, so that ever// part of each tooth, including the gums, may in turn be well cleansed and be well brushed. Be not afraid of using the brush ; a good brushing and dressing will do the teeth and the gums an immensity of good ; it will make the breath sweet, and will preserve the teeth sound and good. After using the brush the mouth must, of course, be well rinsed out with warm water. The finest set of teeth I ever saw in my life belonged to a middle-aged gentleman ; the teeth had neither spot nor blemish, they were like beautiful pearls. He never had toothache in his life, and did not know what toothache meant ! He brushed his teeth, every morning, with soap and water, in the manner I have previously recommended, I can only say to you go and do likewise ! YOUTIT. PREVENTION OF DfSEASE, ETC. 285 Camphor ought never to bo used as an ingredient of tooth-powder, it makes the teeth brittle. Camphor certainly has the effect of making the teeth, for a time, look very white ; but it is an evanescent beauty. Tartar is apt to accumulate between and around the teeth ; it is better in such a case not to remove it by scaling instruments, but to adopt the plan recommended by l)r Richardson, namely, to well brush the teeth with pure vinegar and water. PREVENTION OF DISEASE, ETC 359 If a boy or a girl show great precocity of intel- lect, is any organ likely to become affected ? A greater quantity of arterial blood is sent to the brain of those who are prematurely talented, and hence it becomes more than ordinarily developed. Such advan- tages are not unmixed with danger ; this same arterial blood may exite and feed inflammation, and either con- vulsions, or water on the brain, or insanity, or, at last, idiocy may follow. How proud a mother is in having a precocious child ! How little is she aware that precocity is frequently an indication of disease ! 360. How can danger in such a case be tcarded off? It behoves a parent, if her son be precocious, to re- strain him to send him to a quiet country place, free from the excitement of the town ; and when he is sent to school, to give directions to the master that he is not on any account to tax liis intellect (for a master is apt, if he have a clever boy, to urge him forward) ; and to keep him from those institutions where a spirit of rivalry is maintained, and where the brain is thus kept in a state of constant excitement. Medals and prizes are well enough for those who have moderate abilities, but dangerous, indeed, to those who have brilliant ones. An over-worked precocious brain is apt to cause the death of the owner ; and if it does not do so, it in too many instances injures the brain irreparably, and the possessor of such an organ, from being one of the most T 290 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. intellectual of children becomes one of the most common- place of men. Let mo urge you, if you have a precocious child, to give, and that before it be too late, the subject in ques- tion your best consideration. 361. Are precocious boys in their general health usually strong or delicate ? , Delicate : nature seems to have given a delicate body to compensate for the advantages of a talented mind. A precocious youth is predisposed to consumption, more so than to any other disease. The hard study which ho frequently undergoes excites the disease into action. It is not desirable, therefore, to have a precocious child. A writer in " Eraser's Magazine " speaks very much to the purpose when he says, " Give us intellectual beef rather than intellectual veal" 362. WJiat habit of body is most predisposed to scrofula ? He or she who has a moist, cold, fair, delicate and almost transparent skin, large prominent blue eyes, pro- tuberant forehead, light-brown or auburn hair, rosy cheeks, pouting lips, milk-white teeth, long neck, high shoulders, small, flat, and contracted chest, tumid bowels, large joints, thin limbs, and flabby muscles, is the person most predisposed to scrofula. The disease is not entirely confined to the above ; sometimes she or he who has black hair, dark eyes and complexion, is subject to it, but yet, far less frequently than the former. It is a remarkable fact that the most talented are the most prone to scrofula, and being thus clever their intellects are too often cultivated at the expense of their health. In infancy and childhood, either water on the brain or mesenteric disease ; in youth, pulmonary consumption is frequently their doom : they are like shining meteors ; their life is short, but brilliant. 363. How may scrofula be warded off? Strict attention to the rules of health is the means to prevent scrofula. Books, unless as an amusement, ought to be discarded. The patient must almost live in the YOUTH. PREVENTION OF DISEASE, ETC. 291 open air, and his residence should lie a healthy country place, where the air is dry and bracing ; if it be at a farm-house, in a salubrious neighbourhood, so much the better. In selecting a house for a patient predisposed to scrofula, good pure water should be an important r> i/tiiaite ; indeed for every one who values his health. Early rising in such a case is most beneficial. Wine, spirits, and all fermented liquors ought to be avoided. Beef-steaks and mutton-chops in abundance, and plenty of milk and of farinaceous food such as rice, sago, arrowroot, &c., should be his diet. Scrofula, if the above rules be strictly and perseveringly followed, may be warded off; but there must be no half measures, no trying to serve two masters to cultivate at the same time the health and the intellect. The brain, until the body becomes strong, must not be taxed. "You may prevent scrofula by care, but that some children are originally predisposed to the disease there cannot be the least doubt, and in such cases the educa- tion and the habits of youth should be so directed as to ward off a complaint, the effects of which are so frequently fatal." Sir Astley Cooper on Scrofula. 364. But suppose the disease to be aJmirfy formed, I'-lnt inu4 then be done? The plan recommended above must still be pursued, not by fits and starts, but steadily and continuously, for it is a complaint that requires a vast deal of patience and great perseverance. Warm and cold sea-bathing in such a case are generally most beneficial In a patient with confirmed scrofula it will of course be necessary to consult a skilful and experienced doctor. But do not allow without a second opinion any plan to be adopted that will weaken the system, which is already too much depressed. No, rather build up the body by good nourishing diet (as previously recom- mended), by cod-liver oil, by a dry bracing atmosphere, such as, either Brighton, or Eamsgate, or Llandudno ; or if the lungs be delicate, by a more sheltered coast, such as, either St Leonards or Torquay. 292 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. Let no active purging, no mercurials, no violent, desperate remedies bo allowed. If the patient cannot be cured without them, I am positive that he will not be cured with them. But do not despair ; many scrofulous patients are cured by time and by judicious treatment But if desperate remedies are to be used, the poor patient had better ly fur be left to Nature : " Let me fall now into the hand of the Lord ; for very great are his mercies ; but let mo not fall into the hand of man." Chronicles. 365. Have you any remarks to make on a girl stoojnnrj'i A girl ought never to be allowed to stoop : stooping spoils the figure, weakens the chest, and interferes with the digestion. If she cannot help stooping, you may depend upon it that she is in bad health, and that a medical man ought to be consulted. As soon as her health is improved the dancing-master should be put in requisi- tion, and calisthenic and gymnastic exercises should be resorted to. Horse exercise and swimming in such a case are very beneficial. The girl should live well, on good nourishing diet, and not be too closely confined either to the house or to her lessons. She ought during the night to lie on a horsehair mattress, and during the day, for two or three hours, flat on her back on a reclin- ing board. Stooping, if neglected, is very likely to lead to consumption. 366. If a boy be round-shouldered and slouching in his gait, what ought to be done ? Let him be drilled ; there is nothing more likely to benefit him than drilling. You never see a soldier round- shouldered nor slouching in his gait. He walks every inch like a man. Look at the difference in appearance between a country bumpkin and a soldier ! It is the drilling that makes the difference : " Oh, for a drill- sergeant to teach them -to stand upright, and to turn out their toes, and to get rid of that slouching, hulking gait, which gives such a look of clumsiness and stupidity ! "* *A. K. H. B., Frascrs Magazine, October 1861. YOUTH. PREVENTION OP DISEASE, ETC. 293 367. MIJ daughter lias grown out of shape, she has grown on one side, her spine is not straight, and her ribs bulge out more on the one side than on the other ; what is the cause, and can anything be done to remedy the deform it;/ ? The causes of this lateral curvature of the spine, and consequent bulging out of the ribs that you have just now described, arise either from delicacy of constitution, from the want of proper exercise, from too much learn- ing, or from too little play, or from not sufficient or proper nourishment for a rapidly-growing body. I am happy to say that such a case, by judicious treatment, can generally be cured namely, by gymnastic exercises, such as the hand-swing, the fly-pole, the patent parlour gymnasium, the chest-expander, the skipping rope, the swimming bath ; all sorts of out-door games, such as croquet, archery, &c. ; by plenty of good nourishment, by making her a child of Nature, by letting hsr almost live in the open air, and by throwing books to tho winds. But let me strongly urge you not, unless ordered by an experienced surgeon, to allow any mechanical restraints or appliances to be used. If she be made strong, the muscles themselves will pull both the spine and the ribs into their proper places, more especially if judicious games and exercises (as I have before advised), and other treatment of a strengthening and bracing nature, which a medical man will indicate to you, be enjoined. Mechanical appliances will, if not judiciously applied, and in a proper case, waste away the muscles, and will thus increase the mischief ; if they cause tho ribs to be pushed in in one place, they will bulge them out in another, until, instead of being one, there will be a series of deformities. No, the giving of strength and the judicious exorcising of the muscles are, for a- lateral curvature of the spine and the consequent bulging out of one side of the ribs, the proper remedies, and, in the majority of cases, are most effectual, and quite sufficient for tho purpose. I think it well to strongly impress upon a -mother's 294 ADVICE TO A MOTHER mind the great importance of early treatment. If the above advice be followed, every curvature in the beginning might be cured. Cases of several years' standing might, with judicious treatment, be wonderfully relieved. Bear in mind, then, that if the girl is to be made straight, she is first of all to be made strong ; the latter, together with the proper exercises of the muscles, will lead to the former ; and the earlier a medical man takes it in hand, the more rapid, the more certain, and the more effectual will be the cure. An inveterate, long-continued, and neglected case of curvature of the spine and bulging out of the ribs on one side might require mechanical appliances, but such a case can only be decided on by an experienced surgeon, who ought always, in the first place, to be consulted. 368. Is a slight spitting of blood to le loolced upon as a dangerous symptom 1 Spitting of blood is always to be looked upon with suspicion ; even when a youth appears, in other respects, to be in good health, it is frequently the forerunner of consumption. It might be said that, by mentioning the fact, I am unnecessarily alarming a parent, but it would be a false kindness if I did not do so : " I must be cruel, only to be kind." Shakspeare. Let me ask, "When is consumption to be cured ? Is it at the onset, or is it when it is confirmsd ? If a mother had been more generally aware that spitting of blood was frequently the forerunner of consumption, she would, in the management of her offspring, have taken greater precautions ; she would have made everything give way to the preservation of their health ; and, in many in- stances, she would have been amply repaid by having the lives of her children spared to her. We frequently hear of patients, in confirmed consumption, being sent to Mentone, to Madeira, and to other foreign parts. Can anything be more cruel or absurd ? If there be any disease that requires the comforts of home and truly YOUTH. PREVENTION OP DISEASE, ETC. 295 may an Englishman's dwelling be called home/ and good nursing more than another, it is consumption. 369. Wliat is the death-rate of consumption in Eng- land ? At ichat age dues consumption most frequently occur ? Are girls more liable to it than boys ? What are the symptoms of this disease ? It is asserted, on good authority, that there always are in England, 78,000 cases of consumption, and that the yearly death-rate of this fell disease alone is 39,000 ! Consumption more frequently shows itself between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one : after then, the liability to the disease gradually diminishes, until, at the age of forty -five, it becomes comparatively rare. Boys are more prone to this complaint than girls. Some of the most important symptoms of pulmonary consumption are in- dicated by the stethoscope ; but, as I am addressing a mother, it would, of course, be quite out of place to treat of such signs in Conversations of this kind. The symptoms it might be well for a parent to recognise, in order that she may seek aid early, I will presently describe. It is perfectly hopeless to expect to cure con- sumption unless advice be sought at the onset, as the only effectual good in this disease is to be done at first. It might be well to state that consumption creeps on insidiously. One of the earliest symptoms of this dread- ful scourge is a slight, dry, short cough, attended with tickling and irritation at the top of the throat. This cough generally occurs in the morning ; but, after some time, comes on at night, and gradually throughout the day and the night. Frequently during the early stage of the disease a slight spitting of blood occurs. Now, this is a most dangerous symptom ; indeed, I may go so far as to say that, as a rule, it is almost a sure sign that the patient is in ilia first stage of a consumption. There is usually hoarseness, not constant, but coming on if the patient be tired, or towards the evening ; there is also a sense of lassitude and depression, shortness of breath, a feeling of being quickly wearied more especially on the slightest exertion. The hair of a con- 296 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. sumptivc person usually falls off, and what little remains is weak and poor ; the joints of the fingers become en- larged, or clubbed as it is sometimes called ; the patient loses flesh, and, after some time, night sweats make their appearance : then we may know that hectic fever has commenced. Hectic begins with chilliness, which is soon followed by flushings of the face, and by burning heat of the hands and the feet, especially of the palms and the soles. This is soon succeeded by perspirations. The patient has generally, during the day, two decided paroxysms of hectic fever the one at noon, which lasts above five hours ; the other in the evening, which is more severe, and ends in violent perspirations, which perspirations continue the whole night through. He may, during tho day, have several attacks of hectic flushes of the face, especially after eating ; at one moment he complains of being too hot, and rushes to the cool air; the next moment he is too cold, and almost scorches himself by sitting too near the fire. Whenever the circumscribed hectic flush is on the cheek, it looks as though the cheek had been painted with vermilion, then is the time when the palms of the hands are burning hot. Crabbe, in the following lines, graphically describes the hectic flush : "When his thin cheek assumed a deadly hue, And all the rose to one small spot withdrew : They call'd it hectic ; 'twas a fiery flush, More fix'd and deeper than the maiden blush." The expectoration at first is merely mucus, but after a time it assumes a characteristic appearance; it has a roundish, flocculent, woolly form, each portion of phlegm keeping, as it were, distinct ; and if the expec- toration be stirred in water, it has a milk-like appearance. The patient is commonly harassed by frequent bowel com- plaints, which rob him of what little strength he has left. The feet and ankles swell. The perspiration, as before remarked, com.es on in the evening, continues all night more especially towards morning, and while the patient is asleep ; during the time he is awake, even at night, he YOUTH. PREVENTION OP DISEASE, ETC. 297 seldom sweats much. The thrush generally shows itself towards the close of the disease, attacking the tongue, the tonsils, and the soft palate, and is a sure harbinger oj cqijiroKchiiKj death. Emaciation rapidly sets in. If we consider the immense engines of destruction at work viz., the colliquative (melting) sweats, the violent bowel complaints, the vital parts that are affected, the harassing cough, the profuse expectoration, the hectic fever, the distressing exertion of struggling to hreathe we cannot be surprised that " consumption had hung out her red flag of no surrender," and that death soon closes the scene. In girls, provided they have been previously regular, menstruation gradually declines, and then rntiivly disappears. 370. What are the causes of consumption ? The predisposing causes of consumption are the tuberculous habit of body, hereditary predisposition, narrow or contracted chest, deformed spine, delicacy of constitution, bad and scanty diet, or food containing but little nourishment, impure air, close in-door confinement in schools, in shops, and in factories, ill-ventilated apartments, dissipation, late hours, over-taxing with book-learning the growing brain, thus producing debility, want of proper out-door exercises and amuse- ments, tight lacing.; indeed, anything and everything, that either will debilitate the constitution, or will inter- fere with, or will impede, the proper action of the lungs, will be the predisposing causes of this fearful and lamentable disease. An ill, poor, and insufficient diet is the mother of many diseases, and especially of consumption : " "What- soever was the father of a disease, an ill diet was the mother." The most common exciting causes of consumption are slighted colds, neglected inflammation of the chest, long continuance of influenza, sleeping in damp beds, allowing wet clothes to dry on the body, unhealthy employ- ments such as needle-grinding, pearl button making, &c. 298 ADVIOB TO A MOTHER. 371. Supposing a youth to have spitting of blooa t what precaution woidd you take to prevent it from end- ing in consumption 1 Let his health be the first consideration ; throw books to the winds ; if he bo at school, take him away ; if ho be in trade, cancel his indentures ; if he be in the town, send him to a sheltered healthy spot in the country, or to the south coast ; as, for instance, either to St Leonarls- on-Sea, to Torquay, or to the Isle of Wight. I should be particular in his clothing, taking especial care to keep his chest and feet warm. If he did not already wear flannel waistcoats, let it be winter or summer, I should recommend him immediately to do so : if it be winter, I should advise him also to take to flannel drawers. The feet must be carefully attended to ; they ought to be kept both warm and dry, the slightest dampness of either shoes or stockings should cause them to be immediately changed. If a boy, he ought to wear double-breasted waistcoats ; if a girl, high dresses. The diet must be nutritious and generous ; he should be encouraged to eat plentifully of beef and mutton. There is nothing better for breakfast, where it agree, than milk ; indeed, it may be frequently made to agree by previously boiling it. Good home-brewed ale or sound porter ought, in moderation, to be taken. Wine and spirits must on no account be allowed. I caution parents in this particular, as many have an idea that wine, in such cases, is strengthening, and that rum and milk is a good thing either to cure or to prevent a cough ! If it be summer, let him be much in the open air, avoiding the evening and the night air. If it be winter, he should, unless the weather be mild for the season, keep within doors. Particular attention ought to be paid to the point the wind is in, as he should not be allowed to go out if it is either in the north, in the east, or in the north-east; the latter is more especially dangerous. If it be spring, and the weather be favour- YOUTH. PREVENTION OP DISEASE, ETC. 299 able, or summer or autumn, change of air, more especially to the south-coast to tbe Isle of Wight, for instance would be desirable; indeed, in a case of spitting of blood, I know of no remedy so likely to ward off that formidable, and, generally, intractable complaint con- sumption as change of air. The beginning of the autumn is, of course, the best season for visiting the coast. It would be advisable, at the commencement of October, to send him either to Italy, to the south of France to Meutone* or to the mild parts of England more especially either to Hastings, or to Torquay, or to the Isle of "Wight to winter. But remember, if he be actually in a confirmed consumption, I would not on any account whatever let him leave his home ; as then the comforts of home will far, very far, out-weigh any benefit of change of air. 372. Suppose a youth to be much predisposed to a sore throat, what precautions ought he to take to ward off future attaclis ? He must use every morning thorough ablution of the body, beginning cautiously ; that is to say, commencing with the neck one morning, then by degrees, morning after morning, sponging a larger surface, until the whole of the body be sponged. The chill at first must be taken off the water ; gradually the temperature ought to be lowered until the water be quite cold, taking care to rub the body thoroughly dry with a coarse towel a Turkish rubber being the best for the purpose. He ought to bathe his throat externally every night and morning with hike -warm salt and water, the tempera- ture of which must be gradually reduced until at length no warm water be added. He should gargle his throat either with barm, vinegar, and sage tea,t or with salt and water two tea-spoonfuls of table salt dissolved in a tumbler of water. Ho ought to harden himself by taking * See Winter and Spring on the Shores of tJie Mediterranean. By J. Henry Bennet, M. D. , London : Churchill. t A wine-glassful of barm, a wine-glassful of vinegar, and the remainder sage tea, to make a half-pint bottle of gargle. 300 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. plenty of exercise in the open air. He must, as much as possible, avoid cither sitting or standing in a draught ; if he be in one, he should face it. He ought to keep his feet warm and dry. He should take as little aperient medicine as possible, avoiding especially both calomel and blue-pilL As he grows up to manhood he ought to allow his beard to grow, as such would be a natural covering for his throat : I have known great benefit to arise from this simple plan. The fashion is now to wear the beard, not to use the razor at all, and a sensible fashion I consider it to be. The finest respirator in the world is the beard. The beard is not only good for sore throats, but for weak chests. The wearing of the beard is a splendid innovation ; it saves no end of trouble, is very beneficial to health, and is a great improvement " to the human face divine." 373. Have you any remarJcs to make on the almost l habit of boys and of very young men smoking ? I am not now called upon to give an opinion of the effects of tobacco smoking on the middle-aged and on the aged. I am addressing a mother as to the desir- ability of her sons, when boys, being allowed to smoke. I consider tobacco smoking one of the most injurious and deadly habits a boy or young man can indulge in. It contracts the chest and weakens the lungs, thus pre- disposing to consumption. It impairs the stomach, thus producing indigestion. It debilitates the brain and nervous system, thus inducing epileptic fits and nervous depression. It stunts the growth, and is one cause of the present race of pigmies. It makes the young lazy and disinclined for work. It is one of the greatest curses of the present day. The following cases prove, more than any argument can prove, the dangerous and deplorable effects of a boy smoking. I copy the first case from Public Opinion. " The France mentions the following fact as a proof of the evil consequences of smoking for boys : ' A pupil in one of the colleges, only twelve years of age, was some time since seized with epileptic fits, which became worse and worse in spite of all the YOUTH. PREVENTION OP DISEASE, ETC. 301 remedies employed. At last it was discovered that the lad had been for two years past secretly indulging in the weed. Effectual means were adopted to prevent his obtaining tobacco, and he soon recovered.'" The other case occurred about fifteen years ago in my own practice. The patient was a youth of nineteen. He was an inveterate smoker. From being a bright in- telligent lad, he was becoming idiotic, and epileptic fits were supervening. I painted to him, in vivid colours, the horrors of his case, and assured him that if he still persisted in his bad practices, he would soon become a drivelling idiot ! I at length, after some trouble and contention, prevailed upon him to desist from smoking altogether. He rapidly lost all epileptic symptoms, his face soon resumed its wonted intelligence, and his mind asserted its former power. He remains well to this day, and is now a married man with a family. 374. Wliat are the best methods to restrain a violent !>//', tl/'ng from the nose? Do not, unless it be violent, interfere with a bleeding from the nose. A bleeding from the nose is frequently an effort of Nature to relieve itself, and therefore, unless it be likely to weaken the patient, ought not to be re- strained. If it be necessary to restrain the bleeding, press firmly, for a few minutes, the nose between the finger and the thumb; tlu's alone will often stop the bleeding ; if it should not, then try what bathing the nose and the forehead and the nape of the neck with water quite cold from the pump, will do. If that does not succeed, try the old-fashioned remedy of putting a cold large door-key down the back. If these plans fail, try the effects either of powdered alum or of powdered matico, used after the fashion of snuff a pinch or two either of the one or of the other, or of both, should be sniffed up the bleeding nostril. If these should not answer the purpose, although they almost invariably will, apply a large lump of ice to the nape of the neck, and put a small piece of ice into the patient's mouth for him to auck. 302 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. If these methods do not succeed, plunge the hand and the fore-arm into cold water, keep them in for a few minutes, then take them out, and either hold, or let be heM up, the arms and the hands high above the head : this plan has frequently succeeded when others have failed. Let the room bo kept cool, throw open the windows, and do not have many in the room to crowd around the patient. Doubtless Dr Richardson's local anaesthetic the ether gpray playing for a few seconds to a minute on the nose and up the bleeding nostril, would act most beneficially in a severe case of this kind, and would, before resorting to the disagreeable operation of plugging the nose, deserve a trial I respectfully submit this suggestion to my medical brethren. The ether rectified ether used for the spray ought to be perfectly pure, and of the specific gravity of 0723. If the above treatment does not soon succeed, send for a medical man, as more active means, such as plugging of the nostrils lohicU is not done unless in extreme cases might be necessary. But before plugging of the nose is resorted to, it will be well to tiy the effects of a cold solution of alum : Take of Powdered Alum, one drachm ; Water, half a pint : To make a Lotion. A little -of the lotion should be put into the palm of the hand and sniffed up the bleeding nostril ; or, if that does not succeed, some of the lotion ought, by means of a syringe, to be syringed up the nose. 375. In case of a young lady fainting, what had better be done ? Lay her flat upon her back, taking care that the head be as low as, or lower than, the body ; throw open the windows, do not crowd around her,* unloosen her dress * Shakspeare knew the great importance of not crowding around a patient who has fainted. He says " So play the foolish throngs with one that swoons ; Come all to help him, and so stop the air By which he should revive;" YOUTH. PREVENTION OF DISEASE, ETC. 303 as quickly as possible ; ascertain if she Lave been guilty of tight-lacing for fainting is sometimes produced by that reprehensible practice. Apply smelling salts to her nostrils ; if they be not at hand, burn a piece of rag under her nose ; dash cold water upon her face ; throw open the window ; fan her ; and do not, as is generally done, crowd round her, and thus prevent a free circula- tion of air. As soon as she can swallow, give her either a draught of cold water or a glass of wine, or a tea- spoonful of sal-volatile in a wine glassful of water. Toprevent fainting for the future. I would recommend early hours ; country air and exercise ; the stays, if worn at all, to be worn slack ; attention to diet ; avoidance of wine, beer, spirits, excitement, and fashionable amuse- ments. Sometimes the cause of a young lady fainting, is either a disordered stomach, or a constipated state of the bowels. If the fainting have been caused by disordered stomach, it may be necessary to stop the supplies, and give the stomach, for a day or two, but little to do ; a fast will frequently prevent the necessity of giving medicine. Of course, if the stomach be much disordered, it will be desirable to consult a medical man. If your daughter's fainting have originated from a costive state of the boicels (another frequent cause of fainting), I beg to refer you to a subsequent Conversa- tion, in which I will give you a list of remedies for the prevention and the treatment of constipation. A young lady's fainting occasionally arises from debility from downright weakness of the constitution ; then the best remedies will be, change of air to the coast, good nourishing diet, and the following strengthening mixture : Take of Tincture of Perchloride of Iron, two drachms ; Tincture of Culumba, six drachms ; Distilled Water, seven ounces : Two table-spoonfuls of this mixture to be taken three times a day. Or for a change, the following :- 304 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. Take of Wine of Iron, one ounce and a-half ; Distilled Water, six ounces and a-half To make a Mixture. Two table-spoonfuls to be taken three times a day. Iron medicines ought always to be taken after instead of before a meaL The best times of the day for taking either of the above mixtures will be eleven o'clock, four o'clock, and seven o'clock. 376. You hud a great objection to a mother adminis ti'riii'i calomel either to an infant or to a child, haveyou the same objection to a boy or a girl taking it when lie or she requires an aperient ? Equally as great. It is my firm belief that the fre- quent use, or rather the abuse, of calomel and of other preparations of mercury, is often a source of Hver disease and an exciter of scrofula. It is a medicine of great value in some diseases, when given by a judicious medical man ; but, at the same time, it is a drug of great danger when either given indiscriminately, or when too often prescribed. I will grant that in liver diseases it frequently gives temporary relief ; but when a patient has once commenced the regular use of it, he cannot do without it, until, at length, the functional ends in organic disease of the liver. The use of calomel predisposes to cold, and thus frequently brings on either inflammation or consumption. Family aperient pills ought never to contain, in any form whatever, a particle of mercury. 377. Will you give me a list of remedies for the pre- vention and for the cure of constipation ? If you find it necessary to give your son or daughter an aperient, the mildest should be selected ; for instance, an agreeable and effectual one, is an electuary composed of the following ingredients : Take of Best Alexandria Senna, powdered, one ounce Best figs, two ounces ; Best Raisins (stoned\ two ounces ; All chopped very fine. The size of a nutmeg or two to be eaten, either early in the morning 01 at bedtime. Or, one or two tea-spoonfuls of Compound Confection YOUTH. PREVENTION OP DISEASE, ETG. 305 of Senna (lenitive electuary) may occasionally, early in the morning, be taken. Or, for a change, a tea-spoonful of Henry's Magnesia, in half a tumblerful of warm water. If this should not be sufficiently active, a tea-spoonful of Epsom salts should be given with the magnesia. A Seidlitz Powder forms another safe and mild aperient, or one or two Compound Rhubarb Pills may be given at bed-time. The following prescription for a pill, where an aperient is absolutely necessary, is a mild, gentle, and effective one for the purpose : Take of Extract of Socotriue Aloes, eight grains ; Compound Extract of Colocyiith, forty-eight grains ; Hard Soup, twenty-four grains ; Treacle, a sufficient quantity : To make twenty-four Pills. One or two to be taken at bed- time occasionally. But, after all, the best opening medicines are cold ablutions every morning of the whole body ; attention to diet ; variety of food ; bran-bread ; grapes ; stewed prunes ; French plums ; Muscatel raisins ; Tigs ; fruit both cooked and raw if it be ripe and sound ; oatmeal porridge ; lentil powder, in the form of l)u Barry's Arabica Kevalenta ; vegetables of all kinds, especially spinach ; exercise in the open air ; early rising ; daily visiting the water-closet at a certain hour there is nothing keeps the bowels open so regularly and well as establishing the habit of visiting the water-closet at a certain hour every morning ; and the other rules of health specified in these Conversations. If more attention were paid to these points, poor school-boys and school-girls would not be compelled to swallow such nauseous and disgusting messes as they usually do to their aversion and injury. Should these plans not succeed (although in the majority of cases, with patience and perseverance, they will) I would advise an enema once or twice a week, either simply of warm water, or of one made of gruel, table-salt, and olive-oil, in the proportion of two table- spoonfuls of salt, two of oil, and a pint of warm gruel, which a boy may administer to himself, or a girl to her- self, by means of a proper enema apparatus. u 30G ADVICE TO A MOT11EIL lly.lropathy is oftentimes very serviceable in prevent- ing and in curing costiveness ; and as it will sometimes prevent the necessity of administering medicine, it is both a boon and a blessing. " Hydropathy also supplies us with various remedies for constipation. From the simple glass of cold water, taken early in the morning, to the various douches and sea-baths, a long list of useful appliances might bo made out, among which we may mention the ' wet compresses ' worn for three hours over the abdomen [bowels], with a gutta percha covering." I have here a word or two to say to a mother who ia always physicking her family. It is an unnatural thing to be constantly dosing either a child, or any one else, with medicine. One would suppose that some people were only sent into the world to be physicked ! If more care were paid to the rules of health, very little medicine would be required ! This is a bold assertion ; but I am confident that it is a true one. It is a strange admission for a medical man to make, but, nevertheless, my convic- tions compel me to avow it. 378. What is the reason yirls are so subject to costive- ness? The principal reason why girls suffer more from costiveness than boys, is that their habits are more sedentary ; as the best opening medicines in the world are an abundance of exercise, of muscular exertion, and of fresh air. Unfortunately, poor girls in this enlightened age must be engaged, sitting all the while, several hours every day at fancy work, the piano, and other accomplishments ; they, consequently, have little time for exercise of any kind. The bowels, as a matter of course, become constipated ; they are, therefore, dosed with pills, with black draughts, with brimstone and treacle Oh ! the abomination ! and with medicines of that class, almost ad infinitum. What is the conse- quence ? Opening medicines, by constant repetition, lose their effects, and, therefore, require to be made stronger and still stronger, until at length, the strongest will scarcely act at all, and the poor unfortunate girl, when TOUTS. PREVENTION OF DISEASE, ETC. 307 she becomes a woman, if she ever does become one, is spiritless, heavy, dull, and listless, requiring daily doses of physic, until she almost lives on medicine ! All this misery and wretchedness proceed from Nature's laws having been set at defiance, from artificial means taking the place of natural ones from a mother adopting as her rule and guide fashion and folly, rather than reason and common sense. When will a mother awake from her folly and stupidity 1 ? This is strong language to address to a lady ; but it is not stronger than the subject demands. Mothers of England ! do, let me entreat you, ponder well upon what I have said. Do rescue your girls from the bondage of fashion and of folly, which is worse than the bondage of the Egyptian task -masters ; for the Israelites did, in making bricks without straw, work in the open air " So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble in- stead of straw ; " but your girls, many of them, at least, have no work, either in the house or in the open air they have no exercise whatever. They are poor, drawling, dawdling, miserable nonentities, with muscles, for the want of proper exercise, like ribands ; and with faces, for the lack of fresh air, as white as a sheet of paper. What a host of charming girls are yearly sacrificed at the shrine of fashion and of folly. Another, and a frequent cause of costiveness, is the bad habit of disobeying the call of having the bowels opened. The moment there is the slightest inclination to relieve the bowels, instantly it ought to be attended to, or serious results will follow. Let me urge a mother to instil into her daughter's mind the importance of this advice. 379. Young people are subject to pimples on tlie face, is tlie remedy ? These hard red pimples (acne " the grub pimple ") are a common and an obstinate affection of the skin, affecting the forehead, the temples, the nose, the chin, and the cheeks; occasionally attacking the neck, the 308 ADVICB TO A MOTHER. shoulders, tho back, and the chest ; and as they more fre- quently affect the young, from tho age of 1 5 to 35, and are disfiguring, they cause much annoyance. " These pimples are so well known by most persons as scarcely to need description ; they are conical, red, and hard ; after a while, they become white, and yellow at the point, then discharge a thick, yellow-coloured matter, mingled with a whitish substance, and become covered by a hard brown scab, and lastly, disappear very slowly, sometimes very imperfectly, and often leaving an ugly scar behind them. To these symptoms are not unfre- quently added considerable pain, and always much un- sightliness. When these little cones have the black head of a ' grub ' at their point, they constitute the variety termed spotted acne. These latter often remain stationary for months, without increasing or becoming red ; but when they inflame, they are in nowise different in their course from the common kind." Wilson on Healthy Skin. I find, in these cases, great benefit to be derived from bathing the face, night and morning, with strong salt and water a table-spoonful of table-salt to a tea-cupful of water ; by paying attention to the bowels ; by living on plain, wholesome, nourishing food ; and by taking a great deal of out-door exercise. Sea-bathing, in these cases, is often very beneficial. Grubs and worms have a mortal antipathy to salt. 380. What is the cause of a Gum-boil? A decayed root of a tooth, which causes inflammation and abscess of the gum, which abscess breaks, and thus becomes a gum-boil 381. What is the treatment of a Gum-boil ? Foment the outside of the face with a hot camomile and poppy head fomentation,* and apply to the gurn- * Four poppy heads and four ounces of camomile blows to be Boiled in four pints of water for half an hour, and then to be trained to make the fomentation YOUTH. PREVENTION OP DISEASE, ETC. 309 boil, between the cheek and the guni, a small white bread and milk poultice,* which renew frequently. As soon as the gum-boil has become quiet, Inj all means have the affected tooth extracted, or it mignt cause disease, and consequently serious injury of the jaw ; and whenever the patient catches cold there will be a renewal of the inflammation, of the abscess, and of the gum-boil, and, as a matter of course, renewed pain, trouble, and annoyance. Moreover, decayed fangs of teeth often rause the breath to be offensive. 382. What is the lest reined)/ for a Corn ? The best remedy for a hard corn is to remove it. The usual method of cutting, or of paring a corn away, is erroneous. The following is the right way Cut with a sharp pair of pointed scissors around the circumference of the com. Work gradually round and round and towards the centre. When you have for some considerable distance well loosened the edges, you can either with your fingers or with a pair of forceps generally remove the corn bodily, and that without pain and without the loss of any blood : this plan of treating a corn I can recommend to you as being most effectual. If the corn be properly and wholly removed it will leave a small cavity or round hole in the centre, where the blood-vessels and the nerve of the corn vulgarly railed the root really were, and which, in point of fact, constituted the very existence or the essence of the corn. Moreover, if the corn be entirely removed, you will, without giving yourself the slightest pain, be able to squeeze the part affected between your finger and thumb. Hard corns on the sole of the foot and on the sides of the foot are best treated by filing by filing them with a sharp cutting file (flat on one side and convex * Cut a piece of bread, about the size of the little finger without breaking it into crumb pour boiling hot milk upon it, cover it over, and let it stand for five minutes, then apply the soaked bread over the gum-boil, letting it rest between the cheek and the gum. 310 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. on the other) neither too coarse nor too fine in the cutting. The corn ought, once every day, to be filed, and should daily bo continued until you experience a slight pain, which tells you that the end of the corn is approaching. Many cases of hard corn that have resisted every other plan of treatment, have been entirely cured by means of the file. One great advantage of the file is, it cannot possibly do any harm, and may be used by a timid person by one who would not readily submit to any cutting instrument being applied to the corn. The file, if properly used, is an effectual remedy for a hard corn on the sole of the foot. I myself have seen the value of it in several cases, particularly in one case, that of an old gentleman of ninety-five, who had had a corn on the sole of his foot for upwards of half a century, and which had resisted numerous, indeed almost innumerable remedies ; at length I recommended the file, and after a few applications entire relief was obtained, and the corn was completely eradicated. The corns between the toes are called soft corns. A soft corn is quickly removed by the strong Acetic Acid Acid. Acetic Fort. which ought to be applied to the corn every night by means of a camel's hair brush. The toes should be kept asunder for a few minutes, in order that the acid may soak in ; then apply between the toes a small piece of cotton wool. Galbanum Plaster spread either on wash leather, or on what is better, on an old white kid glove, has been, in one of our medical journals, strongly recommended as a corn-plaster ; it certainly is an admirable one, and when the corn is between the toes is sometimes most comfortable affording immense relief. Corns are like the little worries of life very teazing and troublesome : a good remedy for a corn which the Galbanum Plaster undoubtedly is is therefore worth knowing. Hard corns, then, on the sole and on the side of the foot are best treated by the file ; hard corns on the toes YOUTH. PREVENTION OF DISEASE, ETC. 311 by the scissors ; and soft corns between the toes either by the strong Acetic Acid or by the Galbanum Plaster. In the generality of cases the plans recommended above, if properly performed, will effect a cure ; but if the corn, from pressure or from any other cause, should return, remove it again, and proceed as before directed. If the corn have been caused either by tight or by ill- fitting shoes, the only way to prevent a recurrence is, of course, to have the shoes properly made by a clever shoemaker by one who thoroughly understands his business, and who will have a pair of lasts made purposely for the feet.* The German method of making boots and shoes is a capital one for the prevention of corns, as the boots and shoes are made, scientifically to fit a real and not an ideal foot. One of the best preventatives of as well as of the best remedies for corns, especially of soft corns between the toes, is washing the feet every morning, as recom- mended in a previous Conversation,! taking especial care to wash with the thumb, and afterwards to wipe with the towel between each toe. 383. What are the lest remedies to destroy a Wart ? As long as fashion instead of common sense, is followed in the making of both boots and shoes, men and women will, as a matter of course, suffer from corns. It has often struck me as singular, -when all the professions and trades are so overstocked, that there should be, as there is in every large town, such a want of chiropodists (corn-cutters) of respectable chiropodists of men who would charge a fixed sum for every visit the patient may make ; for instance to every working-man a shilling, and to every gentleman half-a-crown or five shillings for each sitting, and not for each corn (which latter system is a most unsatisfactory way of doing business). 1 am quite sure that if such a plan were adopted, every town of nny size in the kingdom would employ regularly one chiropodist at least. However we might dislike some few of the American customs, we may copy them with advantage in this particular namely, in having a regular staff of chiropodists botn in civil and in military life. t Youth Ablution, page 250. 3 1 2 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. Pure nitric acid,* carefully applied to the wart by means of a small stick of cedar wood a camel's hair pi-nril-hdldcr every other day, will soon destroy it. Care must be taken that the acid does not touch the healthy skin, or it will act as a caustic to it. The nitric acid should be preserved in a stoppered bottle and must be put out of the reach of children. Glacial Acetic Acid is another excellent destroyer of warts : it should, by means of a camel's hair brush, be applied to each wart, every night just before going to bed. The warts will, after a few applications, completely disappear. 384. Wliat is the best remedy for tender feet, for firt'ntij f'-t't, and for smelling feet ? Cold water : bathing the feet in cold water, beginning with tepid water; but gradually from day to day reducing the warm until the water be quite cold. A large nursery-basin one-third full of water, ought to be placed on the floor, and one foot at a time should be put in the water, washing the while with a sponge the foot, and with the thumb between each toe. Each foot should remain in the water about half a minute. The feet ought, after each washing, to be well dried, taking care to dry with the towel between each toe. The above process must be repeated at least once every day every morning, and if the annoyance be great, every night as well. A clean pair of stockings ought in these cases to be put on daily, as perfect cleanliness is absolutely necessary both to afford relief and to effect a cure. If the feet be tender, or if there be either bunions, or corns, the shoes and the boots made according to the German method (which are fashioned according to the actual shape of the foot) should alone be worn. 385. What are the causes of so many young ladies of the present day being weak, nervous, and unhappy ? * A very small quantity of Pure Nitric Acid just a drain at the bottom of a stoppered bottle is all that is needed, and which may be procured of_a chemist. YOUTH. PREVENTION OF DISEASE, ETC. 313 The principal causes are ignorance of the laws of health, Nature's laws being set at nought by fashion and by folly, by want of fresli air and exercise, by want of occupation, and by want of self-reliance. Weak, nervous, and unhappy ! Well they might be ! "NY hat have they to make them strong and happy 1 Have they work to do to brace the muscles 1 Have they occupation useful, active occupation to make them happy ? No ! they have neither the one nor the other ! 386. What diseases are girls most subject to ? The diseases peculiar to girls are Chlorosis Green- sickness and Hysterics. 387. Wliat are the usual causes of Chlorosis ? Chlorosis is caused by torpor and debility of the whole frame, especially of the womb. It is generally produced by scanty or by improper food, by the want of air and of exercise, and by too close application within doors. Here we have the same tale over again close application within doors, and the want of fresh air and of exercise ! When will the eyes of a mother be opened to this im- portant subject 1 the most important that can engage her attention ! 388. What is tlie usual age for Chlorosis to occur and what are the symptoms ? Chlorosis more frequently attacks girls from fifteen to twenty years of age ; although unmarried women, much older, occasionally have it. I say unmarried, for, as a rule, it is a complaint of the tingle. The patient, first of all, complains of being languid, tired, and out of spirits ; she is fatigued with the slightest exertion ; she has usually palpitation of the heart (so as to make her fancy that she has a disease of that organ, which, in all probability, she has not); she has shortness of breath, and a short dry cough ; her face is flabby and pale; her complexion gradually assumes a yellowish or greenish hue hence the name of chlorosis ; there is a dark, livid circle around her eyes ; her lips lose their colour, and become almost white ; her tongue is generally white and pasty, her appetite is bad, and is frequently 314 ADVICE TO A MOTHEH. depraved the patient often preferring chalk, slate-pencil, cinder, and even dirt, to the daintiest food ; indigestion frequently attends chlorosis ; she has usually pains over the short-ribs, on the left side ; she suffers greatly from " wind " is frequently nearly choketl by it ; her bowels are generally costive, and the stools are unhealthy ; she has pains in her hips, loins, and back ; and her feet and ankles are oftentimes swollen. The menstrual J/sc/uirt/e is either suspended or very partially performed ; if the latter, it is usually almost colourless. Hysterical fits not unfrequently occur during an attack of chlorosis. 389. How may Clilorosis be prevented ? If health were more and fashion were less studied, chlorosis would not be such a frequent complaint. This disease generally takes its rise from mismanagement from Nature's laws having been set at defiance. I have heard a silly mother express an opinion that it is not genteel for a girl to eat lieartily ! Such language is per- fectly absurd and cruel How often, too, a weak mother declares that a healthy, blooming girl looks like a milk maid ! It would be well if she did ! How true and sad it is, that " a pale, delicate face, and clear eyes, indicative of consumption, are the fashionable desiderata at present for complexion." Dublin University Magazine. A growing girl requires plenty of good nourishment as much as her appetite demands ; and if she have it not, she will become either chlorotic, or consumptive, or delicate. Besides, t/te greatest beautifier in the world is health ; therefore, by a mother studying the health of her daughter, she will, at the same time, adorn her body with beauty ! I am sorry to say that too many parents think more of the beauty than of the health of their girls. Sad and lamentable infatuation ! Nathaniel Hawthorne a distinguished American gives a graphic description of a delicate young lady. He says " She is one of those delicate nervous young creatures not uncommon in New England, and whom I suppose to have become what we find them by the gradually refin- ing away of the physical system among young women. YOUTH. PREVENTION OF DISEASE, ETC. 315 Some philosophers choose to glorify this liahit of body by terming it spiritual ; but in my opinion, it is rather the effect of unwholesome food, bad air, lack of out-door exercise, and neglect of bathing, on the part of these damsels and their female progenitors, all resulting in a kind of hereditary dyspepsia," [Nathaniel Hawthorne was right Such ladies, when he wrote, were not uncommon ; but within the last two or three years, to their great credit be it spoken, " a change has come o'er the spirit of their dreams," and they are wonderfully improved in health ; for, with all reverence be it spoken, " God helps them who help themselves," and they have helped themselves by attending to the rules of health : " The women of America are growing more and more handsome eveiy year for just this reason. They are growing rounder of chest, fuller of limb, gaining substance and development in every direction. Whatever may be urged to the contrary we believe this to be a demonstrable fact. . . . When the rising generation of American girls once begin to wear thick shoes, to take much exercise in the open air, to skate, to play at croquet, and to affect the saddle, it not only begins to grow more wise but more health- ful, and which must follow as the night the day more beautiful." The Round Table. If a young girl had plenty of wholesome meat, varied from day to day, either plain roast or boiled, and neither stewed, nor hashed, nor highly seasoned for the stomach ; if she has had an abundance of fresh air for her lungs ; if she had plenty of active exercise, such as skipping, dancing, running, riding, swimming, for her muscles ; if her clothing were warm and loose, and adapted to the season; if her mind were more occupied with active useful occupation, such as household work, than at present, and if she were kept calm and untroubled from the hurly-burly and excitement of fashionable life chlorosis would almost be an unknown disease. It is a complaint of rare occurrence with country girls, but of great frequency with fine city ladies. 316 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. 390. What treatment should you advise? The treatment which would prevent should be adopted when the complaint first makes its appearance. If the above means do not quickly remove it, the mother must then apply to a medical man, and he will give medicines which will soon have the desired effect. Chlorosis is very amenable to treatment. If the disease be allowed for any length of time to run on, it may produce either organic incurable disease of the heart, or consumption or in- digestion, or confirmed ill-health. 391. At what period of life is a lady most prone to Hysterics, and what are the symptoms? The time of life when hysterics occur is generally from the age of fifteen to fifty. Hysterics come on by paroxysms hence they are called hysterical fits. A patient, just before an attack, is low-spirited ; crying without a cause ; she is " nervous," as it is called ; she has flushings of the face ;\she is at other times very pale ; she has shortness of breath and occasional palpitations of the heart; her appetite is usually bad ; she passes quan- tities of colourless limpid urine, having the appearance of pump water ; she is much troubled with flatulence in her bowels, and, in consequence, she feels bloated and uncomfortable. The " wind " at length rises upwards towards the stomach, and still upwards to the throat, giving her the sensation of a ball stopping her breathing, and producing a feeling of suffocation. The sensation of a ball in the throat (globus hystericus) is the commence- ment of the fit. She now becomes partially insensible, although she seldom loses complete consciousness. Her face becomes flushed, her nostrils dilated, her head thrown back, and her stomach and bowels enormously distended with " wind." After a short time she throws her arms and her legs about convulsively, she beats her breast, tears her hair and clothes, laughs boisterously and screams violently ; at other times she makes a peculiar noise ; sometimes she sobs and her face is much distorted. At length she brings up enormous quantities of wind j af tei YOUTH. PREVENTION OP DISEASE, ETC. 31 7 a time she bursts into a violent flood of tears, and then gradually conies to herself. As soon as the fit is at an end she generally passes enormous quantities of colourless limpid urine. She might, in a short time, fall into another attack similar to the above. When she comes to herself she feels ex- hausted and tired, and usually complains of a slight headache, and of great soreness of the body and limbs. She seldom remembers what has occurred during the fit. Hysterics are sometimes frightful to witness ; but, in themselves, are not at all dangerous. Hysterics an hysterical fit is sometimes styled hysterical passion : Shakspeare, in one of his plays, calls it hyxtericapassio : " Oh, how this, mother, swells up toward my heart ! Hystcricapassio /" Sir Walter Scott graphically descrilxjs an attack : " The hysterical passion that impels tears is a terrible violence a sort of throttling sensation then succeeded by a state of dreaming stupidity." 392. What are the causes of Hysterics? Delicate health, chlorosis, improper and not sufficiently nourishing food, grief, anxiety, excitement of the mind, closely confined rooms, want of exercise, indigestion, flatulence and tight-lacing, are the causas which usually produce hysterics. Hysterics are frequently feigned ; indeed, oftener than any other complaint ; and even a genuine case is usually much aggravated by a patient herself giving way to them. 393. What do you recommend an hysterical lady to do? To improve her health by proper management; to rise early and to take a walk, that she may breathe pure and wholesome air, indeed, she ought to live nearly half her time in the open air, exercising herself with walking, skipping, &c. ; to employ her mind with botany, croquet, archery, or with any out-door amusement ; to confine her- self to plain, wholesome, nourishing food ; to avoid tight 318 ADVICE TO A MOTHER. lacing ; to eschew fashionable amusements ; and, above all, not to give way to her feelings, but, if she feel an attack approaching, to rouse herself. If the Jit be upon her, the better plan is, to banish all the male sex from the room, and not even to have many women about her, and for those around to loosen her dress ; to lay her in the centre of the room, flat upon the ground, with a pillow under her head ; to remove combs and pins and brooches from her person ; to dash cold water upon her face ; to apply cloths, or a large sponge wetted in cold water, to her head ; to throw open the window, and then to leave her to herself ; or, at all events, to leave her with only one female friend or attendant. If such be done, she will soon come round ; but what is the usual practice ? If a girl be in hysterics, the whole house, and perhaps the neighbourhood, is roused ; the room is crowded to suffocation ; fears are openly expressed by those around that she is in a dangerous state ; she hears what they say, and her hysterics are increased ten-fold. 394. Have you any remarks to make on a patient re- covering from a severe illness ? There is something charming and delightful in the feelings of a patient recovering from a severe illness : it is like a new birth : it is almost worth the pain and anguish of having been ill to feel quite well again : everything around and about him wears a charming aspect a roseate hue : the appetite for food returns with pristine vigour ; the viands, be they ever so homely, never tasted before so deliciously sweet ; and a draught of water from the spring has the flavour of ambrosial nectar : the convalescent treads the ground as though he were on the ambient air : and the earth to him for a while is Paradise : the very act of living is a joy and gladness : " See the wretch that long has tost On the thorny bed of pain Again repair his vigour lost, And walk and run again. YOUTH. PREVENTION OF DISEASE, ETC. 319 The meanest flow'ret of the vale, The simplest note that swells the gale, The common air, the 'earth, the skies, To him are opening Paradise." Gray CONCLUDING REMARKS. If this book is to be of use to mothers and to the rising generation, as I humbly hope and trust that it has been, and that it will be still more abundantly, it ought not to be listlessly read, merely as a novel or as any other piece of fiction ; but it must be thoughtfully and carefully studied, until its contents, in all its bearings, be com- pletely mastered and understood. In conclusion : I beg to thank you for the courtesy, confidence, and attention I have received at your hands ; and to express a hope that my advice, through God's blessing, may not have been given in vain ; but that it may be one among many an humble instrument for improving the race of our children England's priceless treasures ! O, that the time may come, and may not be far distant, " That our sons may grow up as the young plants, and that our daughters may be as the polished corners of the temple 1 " INDEX, ABLUTION of a child, 88. ol an infant, 3. of a youth, 252. thorough, of boy and girl, 252. Accidents of children, 234. how to prevent, 251. Acne, symptoms and treatment of, 307. Advice to a mother if her infant be poorly, 86. to Mr Paterfamiliat, 141. Ailments, the distinction between se- rious and tlight, 63. of infants, 61. Air and exercise for youth, 267. the importance of good, 114. the necessity of fresh, and chang- ing the, 114. Airing an infant's clothes, 15. Alternately to each breast, 18. American ladies, 314. Amusements for a child, 134. for a boy, 270. for a girl, 272. Ankles, weak, 84. Antipathies of a child, 113. Aperients for a child. 201. for an infant, 66. for a new-born babe. 62. for A youth, 304. danger of frequent, 306. Appeal to mothers, 307. Appetite, on a child losing his, 110. Applications, hot, 232. Apron, washing, 8. Archery, 272. Arnold, Dr, on corporal punishment. 276. Arrow-root for an infant, 23. Artificial food for an infant at breast, 20. Asses' milk, 28. BABES should kick on floor, 54. Babe's clothing. 13. Bnbe himself taking exercise, 54. Babyhood, the language of, 83. Baby slaughter, 28. Baked crumb of bread foran Infant, 91. flour for an infant, 20 Bakers' and home made bread. 113. Burliing after /u// meal. '2..7. Baths, cold, tepid, an. I warm, 2S7. warm, iis remedy for flatu- lence. 69. Beard, best respirator, 300. Bud. on placing child in, 143. Beds, feather, 142. purification of, 185. Bed-rooms, the ventilation of, 281. cool, 14 . large, 283. a plan to ventilate, 283. Bee, the sting of, 246. Beef, salted or boiled, 106. Beer, on giving child, 108. Belladonna, poisoning by, 248 Belly-band, best kind. 13. when to discontinue, 18. Beverage for a child, 108. " Black-eye," remedies for, 235. Bladder and bowels of an infant, 60. Bleeding from navel, how to restrain, 10. of nose, 301. Blood, spitting of, 294. Blows and bruises, 234. Boarding schools for femi.les, 277. on cheap (note) 279. Boiled bread for infants' fond. 20. flour for infants' food, 20. Boils, the treatment of, 198. Boots and shoes, 94, 311. Bottles, the best nursing, 25. Boulogne sore-throat, 166. Bow-legs, 218. Bowels, large, of children, 200. looseness of. 73. protrusion of lower, 203. regulation of. by diet. 68. Boys should be made strong. 270. Brain, water on the, 151. Bran to soften water, 221. Bran Poultices, 233. Breakfast of a child, 99. of a youth, 264. Breast on early putting an Infant to, 16. Breathing exercise, 272. Brimstone and treacle, 208. 322 INDEX. Brown and Polton's Corn Floor, 22. Bronchitis the treatment of, 163. Broth for infanta, 84. (or a nrw-l>orn Infant, 21. and soup, 265. Brothers and Misters, 278. Bruises, remedies for, 234. Bullying a child, 125. Burns and scalds, 239. Butter, wholesome, 100. CADBURT'S Cocoa Essence, 100. Calomel, the danger of a mother pre- scribing. 6C. the ill effects of, 304. Camphor makes teeth brittle, 289. Caning a boy, 275. Caps flannel, 13. Care in preparation of food, 24. Carpets in nurseries. 129. Carriage exercise, 270. Carron oil in burns. 24". Castor oil " to heal the bowels." 68. Cat, bites and scratches of a, 246. "Chatings" of infants, the treatment of, 64. Chairs, straight-backed, 279. Change of air, 207. linen in sickness, 209. Chapped hands, legs, , 24. for dry-nursed infants, 19, 27. for infants who are sucking, 19. Formula, for milk, water, salt, and sugar, 19. 29. Friction after ablution, 6, 90. Frightening a child, 120. Fruit as an aperient, 202. during teething, 49. GARTERS impede circulation, 94 Gently speak to child, 125. Gin or pepperment in infant's food, 37. Giving joy to a child, 122. Glass, a child swallowing broken, 250. Gluttony, 267. Glycerine srap, 221. Goats' milk. '.<9. Godfrey's Cordial, 69. poisoning by treat- ment, 247. Grazed skin, 247. Green dresses poisonous, 117, 261. paper hangings for nurseries, 116. peas as a vegetable, 107. "Gripinfrs " of infants, 70. Groin rupture, 11. "Gross superstition," 177. " Grub-pimple," 307. Gums, the lancing of the, 45. Gum-boil, cause and treatment, 308. Gum-sticks, the best, 47. Gymnasium, value of, 271. HAIR, the best application for, 258. falling off, 259. making tidy, 259. management of, 258. Half -washed and half-starved child, 133. Hand-swing, 272. Happiness to a child, 122. Happy child, 122. Hard's Farinaceous Food, 22. Hardening of children's constitutions, 93. of infants, 54. Hartshorn, on swallowing, '.'36. Hats for a child, the best kind, 91. Hawthorn, Nathaniel, on American ladies, 314. Head, fail upon, 235. Heat, external application of, 232. Hectic flush, description of, 296. Hiccups of Infants, 71. llintx conducive to the well-doing of a child, 119. Home of childhood the nursery, 118. Hooping-cough, 191. ol.stin.-it>, 195. treatment of, 192. Horse exercise for boj s or girls, 269. and pony exercise, '269. Hot-water bag or bott!. Household work for girls-, '.'80. Hurdis on early rising, 28ti. Hydrophobia, 244. Hysterica pattio, 317. Hysterics, 316, 317. ICE, on the value of, 104. Illness, recovery from. 318. Importance of our subject, 1. India-rubber hot-water botlle, 233. Ingoldsby Legend on thumb-sucking, 48. Infants should be encouraged to use exertion, 54. Infant schools, 139. Ipecacuanha wine, preservation of, 156. JOYFDL to bed, on sending child, 146. LADIES " affecting the saddle," 269. Laudanum, poisoning by, 247. Laugh of a child, 123. Law, physic, and divinity, 283. Leaden cisterns, 108. Learning without health, 278. Leech- bites, the way to restrain bleed- ing from, 85. Lessons for child, 140. Lice in head after illness, 213. Light, best artificial, for nursery, 118. the impoitance of, to health, 118. Lightly clad child, 93. Lime in the eye, 242. to harden the bones, 226. Lime-water and milk, 104. " Looseness of the bowels," the treat- ment of, 73. Love of children, 122. Lucifer-matches, the poisonous effecU of, 161, 237. Luncheon for a child, 105. Lungs, inflammation of, 93, 160. precautions to pi event, 215. symptoms of, 160. treatment of, 161. 325 Lying lips of a child, 126. MAD DOG, the bite of, 244. description of, 245. Magnesia to cool a child, 68. Management of child a mother's ques- tion, 2. Massacre of innocents, 28. Matti esses, horse-hair, best for child, 142. May, the month of, 96. Meals, a child's, 109. Measles, 171. and scarlet fever, 175. treatment of, 172. Meat, daily, on giving, 264. raw. in long-standing diarrhoea, 206. In exhaustive diseases, 206. when a child should commence taking, 98. Meddlesome treatment, 229. Medical man, a mother's treatment towards, 229. Medicine, the best way of administer- ing, 208. on giving new-born Infants, 61. on making palatable (note), 208. Menstruating female during suckling, 33. Mercury, on the danger of parents giving, 67,304. Milk, on the importance of having it from OMB cow, 25, 29. bad, very nasty, 103. for bnbe indispensable, 30. In every form, 104. or meat, or both, 103. apian to make a child take, 103. sugar of, and water, 19. the value of, for children, 101. unboiled, 32. a way to prevent, turning sour, 104. -crust, 228. MUmnnaged baby, 2. Modified small-pox and chicken-pox, 188. Mother fretting, injurious to infant, 36. a foolish, 69. of many diseases. 297. Mother's and cow's milk, on mixing, 20. In ali h during suckling, 27. Influence, 3. Motions, healthy, of babe, 72. Mumps, 197. NAAHAN, the Syrian, 7. M ajikuis, when to dispense, with, 61, 66. Nature's physic, 86. Navel, management of the, 10. rupture of, 11. gore, 11. -string separation of, 10. Neaves' Farinaceous Food, 22. Nervous and unhappy young ladies, 312, 313. Nettle-rash, 78. New-born infants and aperient?, 61. when feeble, 33. Night-commode, 208. Night-terrors, 120. Nose, removal of foreign substances from, 249. bleeding from, means to restrain, 301. Nurse, on the choice of a, 119. a lazy, 121. strong and active, 119. young, not desiiable, 119. lor the sick, 211. Nursery-basin. 4. of a sick child, 209. a child's own domain, 119, 135. selection, warming, ventila- tion, arrangements of, 114, on the light of a, 118. must be airy, 114. observations, further, 114. windows to be often opened, 114, 118. Nursing-bottles, ihe best, 25. OPIUM, a case of poisoning by, 53. the danger of administering, to infants, 70, 71. the treatment of poisoning by, 247. Over-education, 140. Over-lying a child, 69, 60. PAIH, convulsions, and death, 31. Paint-boxes dangerous as toys, 136, 137. Parental baby-slaughter. 28. Parritch, the halesome, 101. Peevishness of a child, the plan to allay, 124. Perambulators, 131. Physicking a child, on the frequent, 86. Pies and Pudding?, 98. Pimples on the face, treatment of, 807. Pin, on a child swallowing, 250. Pins, in dressing of babe, 14. Play, a course of education in, 138. Hay-grounds for children. 188. and play, 138. Pleasant words to a child, 124, 126. INDEX. Poisoning, accidental, 247. by the breath, 148. Poppy-syrup, 70. Pork, an improper meat for children, Position of a sleeping child, 143, 144. Potatoes for children, 107. Poultice, a white-bread, 233. Powder, " dusting," 7. Precocity of intellect, 289. Precocious youths, the health of, 289. Prescriptions for a child, 151. Princess of Wales and her baby (note). 8. Professions and trades, 281. Proper person to wash an infant, 8, Prunes, the best way of stewing, 202. Profession or trade, choice of, fur de- licate youth, 281. delicate youths should be brought up to, 283. Puddings for children, 98. Pulse of child, 213. Pye Chavasse's Fresh Air Treatment of scarlet fever, 177, 181. Milk Food, 29. QtTACK MEDICINES, 71. Quacking an infant, 70. Quick lime in eye, 242. RAIN-WATER, 7. Recapitulation of ablution, 8. Red gum. 79 Respiration, products of poisonous, 284. Rest, the best time for a child to re- tire to, 142. Re- vaccination, importance of, 39. every seven years, 39. recommended by Jen- ner, 40. Revalcnta Arabica, 23. Rheumatic fever, flannel rest and drawers, 260. Ribs, bulging out of, 293. Rice, prepared as an infant's food, 23. Rich chiMren, 104. Richardson, Dr, ether spray, 302. Rickets, 224. various degrees of, 225. Roberton on child-orowing, 159. Rocking-chairs, and rockers to cradle, 56. Rocking infants to sleep, 56. Rooms, ill effects of dark, 116. Round shoulders, 217, 292. Round-worm, 222. Running scall, 228. Rapture, 11, 12. Ruks, 22. SAI.I.OWXESS,, cause of In young glrli, 267. Salt water and fresh water, 256. should be added to an infant's food, 26. bag of hot, 232. necessary to human life, 223. Salt-and-water ablutions for a delicate child, 90. for teeth ami gums, 287. meats for children, 106. Scalds and bums, 239. of mouth, 239. Scarlatina, 17:1. Scarlet-fever 174. and diphtheria, 175. the contagion of, 186. the danger of giving aperients In, 175. the dropsy of, 175, 184. Fresh-Air Treatment of, 177, 181. hybrid, 176. management of child after. 184. and measles, the Import- ance of distinguishing between. 176. the principal danger of 175. purification of bouse after, 185. treatment of, 177. utter prostration In, 183. Schools, female boarding, 278. public. 274. Screaming in sleep, 196. Scrofula, 290. prevention of, 290. Scurfy head, 89. Sea-bathing and fresh-water bathing 256. for a young child, 207. Secrets, talking, before child, 142. Senna as an aperient, 201. Shivering fit, importance of attending to a,J95. treatment of, 196. Shoes, plan to waterproof, 261. preferable to boots. 94. sound and whole, 194. and stockings for children and youths, 95, 261. the ill effects of tight, 94. "Shortening" an infant. 16. Shoulder-blades " growing out," 217 Sick child, the nursing of a, 209 not to be stuffed with food, 211. Sick-room, management of, 209 INDEX. 327 Sickness of Infants, 79. Staging and reading aloud, 274. beneficial to a child, 142. Single-stick. 270. Sitting with back to fire, 115. Sit /-hath for protrusion of bowels, 205. Skating for buys and girls, 273. Skin, grazed, 247. Sleep of children. 142. Sleep, infant's. 55. In midille of day beneficial, 142. much, necessary for infants, 58. temperature of an infant's bed- room duilng, 56. right time of putting a child to, 148. rocking Infants to, 56. of youth, -.'83. -walker, 14fi. Sleeping on lap, 58. -rooms, importance of well- ventilating, 283. Sleepless child, 58. Slippers, the best for sick-room (note), 212. Small-pox, 39. a pest and disgrace, 39. modified, 188. when in neighbourhood, 39. to prevent pitting of, 220. Smoking, on a boy, 300. Smothering of infants, the cause, 59. Socks and Stockings for a child, 93. Soda, ill effect> of washing clothe* with, 8. Sounds, joyful, 123. Soups and broths, 265. Speak gently to a child, 125. S]>< nrer, a knitted worsted, 16. Spines, distorted, 144, 293. Spine, injuiy to, 236. curvature of, 293. twisted. '217. Spirits, deadly effects of, to the young, 266. Spitting Of blood, 294. 298. precautions, 298. Spurious cwp, 157. Stammering, cause of. 127. cure of, 128. Stays, the 111 effects of. 261. Stiliness of Kick-room, 212. Sting of a bee or wasp, 246. Stir-about and milk, 100. Stockings and shoes. 94, 261. Stooping in a girl, 292. Stopping of chimneis, 129, 209. Stoves in nursery. 115. Strawberry-tong'ip. 174. Stuffing a sick-hiid with food, 211. a bubu, 31. " Stuffing of the nose ** of infants, 79 Stunning of a child. 2">. r >. " Stye," treatment of, 200. Substitute for mother's milk, 20. Sucking of thumb, 47. Suckling, the proper times of, 18 Suet pudding, 98. Sugar for infants, 26, 38. confectionery, 111. -of-miik, 19, 30. raw, as an aperient, 38. Sun-stroke, 92. Sunday, 137. Supper for a child and for a youth. 109, 266. Surfeit water and saffron tea, 172. Sweet things and sour digestion, 38. Sweetmeats an'i cukes, 111. Swimming, on boys and girls, 255. Symptoms of serious diseases, 148. TAPE-WORM, 222. Taste for things refined, 117. Tea, on giving a child. 111. green, the ill effects <>f, 111, 266. Teeth, attention to, importance of, 287. child should not have meat till he have cut several, 98. the diet of a child who has cut all his. 99. and IMIIIIS, 287. right way of brushing, 288. appearance HI d number of first set of, 44. second set of, 147. second crop of, 147. Teething, 44. causing convulsions, 46. eruptions from, 53. frequent cause of sickness 80. fruitful source of disease, 49. purging during, 61. restlessness from, 231. second, 147. ymptoms and treatment of painful, 50. In town or country, 52. Temperature and ventilation of a nursery. 114. of a warm-bath, 232. Thread-worm, 222. Throats, sore, precautions to prevent, 299. Thrush, cause, symptoms, prevention and cure of, 81. Thumb best gum-stick, 47. Tight bands, belts, and hats, 14, 91. Tight -lacing, the ill effects of, 261. Times for kuckllug an infant, 18. 328 INDEX. Tobacco-smoking for boys, 300. cases Illustrating the danger of, 300, 301. Toe-nails, the right way of cutting, 96. Tongue-tied, an Infant, 17. "Tooth-cough," 62. Tooth-powder, an excellent, 287. Top-crust of bread as infant's food, 22. Tossing mi Infant, 55. Tous-les-mois, 20. Toys, children's, 136. painted with arsenic, 117, 13C. Trade or profession for delicate youth, 281. Treatment of a delicate child ,207. of some urgent serious diseases, 63, 148. Troubles of child, 124. Truth, the love of, 126. Tub, commencement of washing In- fant in, 4. Tubbing a child, 88. Tumbling and rolling of a child, 133. VACCINATION, 38. appearance of scab, 43. arm after, 48. giving medicine after, 42. making babe poorly, 42. Veal for a child. 106. Vegetables for a child, 107. Ventilation, and stopping of chim- neys, 129,209. and sleep, 283. of a nursery, 114. Violet-powder, 7. WALKING, on tl.e early, of infants, 130. exercise, value, 268. in his sleep, a chiH, 146. Warm-batlis for children, 231. external applications, 232. Waits, 312. Washing of tx>y and girls, 231. Washing a child, 88. an infant, 3. a new-born infant'* head with brandy, 5. Washing a nursery floor, 116. Wasp, the sting of a, 246. Water, on the importance of good, 108. on the brain, 151. closet, on going regularly to, 805, 307. cold and warm for ablution. SO. hard for drinking, 108. -fright, 246 pure, essential to health, 108. to whole of skin, 9. Weaned child, the diet of a, 37, 97. Weaning, proper time and manner of 36. Weather, on a child almost living in the air In fine, 130. on the sending a child out in wet, 132. Weight of new-born infants (note), 68. Wet flannel application, 233. Wet-nurse, 28, 32. diet of, 34. for feeble babe, 33. management of, 34. " Wetting the bed " during sleep, 219 Wheezing of a new-born infmt, 61. White lily leaf for bruises. 235. " Wind," babe suffering from, 37. Windows of a nursery, 118. Wind pipe, foreign substance in, 250 Wine and youth, 265. Wine for children and youths, 110, 265. Winter clothing, 96. Woollen garments, 92, 259. Worms, 222. quack medicines for, 228. University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 405 Hilgard Avenue, Lot Angeles, CA 90024-1388 Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. A 000 883 584 5