The Physical Life of Woman: Advice to the Maiden, Wife and Mother

It does not follow that children whose teeth show themselves early, will have, therefore, a quicker general development. Such cases are merely instances of irregularity in the time of dentition, and carry with them no particular significance. Irregularities in regard to the order in which the teeth are cut are also of frequent occurrence.

While, therefore, it cannot be maintained that all healthy children cut their teeth in a certain regular order and time, yet it is certain that those children who follow the general rule which prevails in this respect, suffer least from the difficulties and effects of dentition. As all mothers desire to know at what time they may expect the teeth, we will state the rule of their development in the great majority of cases.

The lower teeth generally precede those of the upper jaw by two to three months.

The twenty milk-teeth usually appear in the five following groups:—

First, Between the fourth and eighth months of life the two lower front middle teeth appear almost simultaneously; then a pause of from three to nine weeks ensues.

Second, Between the eighth and tenth months of life the five upper front teeth appear, following shortly upon each other, the two central preceding the two on each side of them. Another pause of from six to twelve weeks succeeds.

Third, Between the twelfth and sixteenth months of life six teeth appear nearly at once. They are first the two front grinding teeth in the upper jaw, leaving a space between them and the front teeth which before appeared; next the two lower front teeth, situated one on each side of the central ones, which were the first to appear; and, lastly, the two front grinders of the lower jaw. A pause until the eighteenth month now ensues.

Fourth, Between the eighteenth and twenty-fourth months of life the canine teeth cut through (the upper ones are called eye-teeth). Again a pause until the thirtieth month.

Fifth, Between the thirtieth and thirty-sixth months the second four grinders finally make their appearance.

This concludes the first teething. The child has now twenty milk-teeth.

We have mentioned that children are sometimes born with teeth. It is also true that sometimes they never acquire any. Instances are on record of adults who have never cut any teeth. Dentition has been known to take place very late in life. A case is related, on excellent authority, of an old lady aged eighty-five, who cut several teeth after attaining that age.

APPEARANCE OF THE PERMANENT TEETH.

Between the fifth and sixth years of life the second dentition begins. The front grinders are the ones first cut through. Between the sixth and tenth years all the front teeth appear, followed by the canines before the twelfth year. At this time the second grinders show themselves; and finally, between the sixteenth and twenty-fourth year, the wisdom-teeth complete the dental furniture of the mouth.

VACCINATION.

This operation, to which every infant should be subjected, is one of great practical importance. The attempt has been made of late to shake the public faith in its efficacy, and to revive the old fabulous stories and foolish notions as to the production of serious affections of the blood and skin in this manner. At the same time, the increasing frequency and virulence of small-pox are becoming only too evident. We therefore consider it our duty, in treating of the maternal management of infancy, to lay some stress upon the necessity for vaccination as a preservative of life and health. If observation and experience ever taught anything, they have taught the protective power of this operation against the most loathsome and one of the most fatal diseases that ever afflicted the human race. And that mother who is careless and indifferent in this matter neglects for her children a means of preventing disfigurement and saving life, compared with which all other means are scarcely worthy of mention.

In order to appreciate the value of vaccination, it is only necessary to consider what small-pox was before its discovery,—to look at that disease through the eyes of our fathers and grandfathers. Until the close of the last century it was the most terrible of all the ministers of death. It filled the churchyards with corpses. When Jenner published his great discovery, about seventy years ago, the annual death-rate from small-pox in England was estimated at three thousand in the million of population. In other countries of Europe the rate reached as high as four thousand in the million. And these fatal cases must be multiplied by five or six, to give the entire number of persons annually attacked by the disease. It spared neither high nor low. Macaulay informs us that Queen Mary, the wife of William III., fell a victim to it. Those in whom the disease did not prove fatal, carried about with them the hideous traces of its malignity; for it 'turned the babe into a changeling at which the mother shuddered,' and made 'the eyes and cheeks of the betrothed maiden objects of horror to the lover.' Few escaped being attacked by this fell disease. Nearly one-tenth of all the persons who died in London during the last century died of this one cause. Children were peculiarly its victims. In some of the great cities of England more than one-third of all the deaths among children under ten years of age arose from small-pox. Two-thirds of all the applicants for relief at the Hospital for the Indigent Blind had lost their sight by small-pox. The number of hopeless deafened ears, crippled joints, and broken-down constitutions from the same cause cannot be accurately computed, but was certainly very large. Vaccination is all that now stands between us and all these horrors of the last century.

Is the strength of this barrier doubted?—Its efficacy is readily proved. In England, during the twelve years (1854-1865) in which vaccination has been to a certain extent compulsory, the average annual rate of deaths by small-pox has been two hundred and two in the million of population. Contrast this with the annual death-rate of three thousand to the million, which was the average of thirty years previous to the introduction of vaccination. Mr. John Simon, medical officer of Her Majesty's Privy Council, one of the best statisticians in England, has collected a formidable array of figures, 'to doubt which would be to fly in the face of the multiplication-table.' From his mountain-height of statistics Mr. Simon says: 'Wheresoever vaccination falls into neglect, small-pox tends to become again the same frightful pestilence it was in the days before Jenner's discovery; and wherever it is universally and properly performed, small-pox tends to be of as little effect as any extinct epidemic of the Middle Ages.'

Are other diseases ever produced by vaccination?—The popular belief would answer this question in the affirmative. All affections of the skin and swelling's of the glands noticed in children soon after vaccination, are attributed by parents in many cases to this operation. They forget that such diseases are met with constantly in infancy and childhood, as often among the unvaccinated as the vaccinated. Observation does not show that they occur with greater frequency among the vaccinated. An English physician has been at the trouble to examine and record a thousand cases of skin disease in children: he found no evidence whatever that vaccination disposes the constitution to such affections. It has been stated with apparent justness, that parental complaints of this kind frequently arise from their unwillingness to believe there is anything wrong in their offspring. Hence, when other diseases follow, vaccination gets blamed for what is really and truly due to other causes. So far from doing any harm to the system, it has been observed in those countries where vaccination has been most thoroughly practised, that, leaving small-pox out of the question, there have been fewer deaths from other maladies. This is especially true of two of the most important classes of diseases, namely, scrofulous affections and low fever. For this reason, some medical statisticians have attributed to vaccination an indirect protective influence against these disorders.

At what age should the child be vaccinated?—If the health permit, the operation should always be performed in very early infancy. The chief sufferers from small-pox are young children. One-fourth of all who die from this fatal disease in England are children under the age of one year. In Scotland, where until recently vaccination has been much more neglected than in England, the proportion even amounted to nearly one-third; and of these, one-fourth were under the age of three months. The great risk, particularly in large towns, where small-pox is seldom absent, of delaying vaccination is obvious. City children, if hearty, should be vaccinated when a month or six weeks old. Rarely or never ought it to be delayed beyond two or three months. This early period of life is also particularly suitable to vaccination, because the accompanying fever will then be over before the disturbing influence of teething begins.

RE-VACCINATION.

If the first vaccination be found imperfect in character, that is, if it has not properly 'taken,' the operation should be repeated at the earliest opportunity. It has been recommended, in all cases, to perform a second vaccination not later than the sixth or eighth year. If small-pox be prevailing, it is proper to vaccinate all who have not been vaccinated within three or four years. In any event, re-vaccination at or after the period of puberty is of extreme importance. It will give additional security even to those whose original vaccination was perfect. In some cases, the susceptibility to small-pox is not wholly exhausted by one vaccination. Inasmuch as it is desirable for every one to escape this disease, even in its most modified form, re-vaccination should always be performed, as it affords a very sure and trustworthy means of such escape. After successful re-vaccination, small-pox, even in its mildest shape, is rarely met with. In girls especially, in whom the changes which occur at puberty are most marked, re-vaccination should be performed about the age of fourteen.

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT.

During infancy the body grows with great rapidity. About the end of the third year one-half of the adult height of the body is attained. After this period growth is more gradual; for in order to reach the remaining half, about eighteen years more are required. At twenty years of age the height is somewhat more than three and a half times that at birth, and the weight about twenty times. Development does not go on at an equal rate in all parts of the body. The lower limbs, small at birth, increase proportionally more rapidly, while the head, relatively large at birth, developes more slowly. The muscular system is gradually strengthened. At the end of the third month the infant is able, if in good health, readily to support its head; at the fourth month it can be held upright; at the ninth month it crawls about the floor; by the end of the year it is able with assistance to step; and between one and two years, at different times, according to its vigor and activity, it acquires the power of standing and walking alone. The periods of greatest and least growth of the child are, on the one hand, spring and summer; on the other, autumn and winter. It has long been known that animals grow more rapidly in the spring than at any other season of the year. This has been attributed to the abundance of herbage they are then able to obtain. It has been ascertained by actual measurement, that children grow chiefly in the spring.

At six months of age the child begins to lisp, and at twelve months it is usually able to utter distinct and intelligible sounds of one or two syllables. The development of the senses and of the mind proceeds gradually. The sense of hearing is more active and further advanced than that of sight. Sounds are appreciated sooner than light or bright colored objects. The next sense which is developed is perhaps that of taste; then follow smell and touch.

THE FOOD OF INFANTS AND CHILDREN.

The diet of children is frequently improper either in regard to quantity, quality, or variety. In 1867, a committee, of which Professor Austin Flint, Jr., was chairman, was appointed in New York city to revise the 'Dietary Table of the Children's Nurseries on Randall's Island.' In the report rendered, attention was forcibly called to the fact that in childhood 'the demands of the system for nourishment are in excess of the waste, the extra quantity being required for growth and development. If the proper quantity and variety of food be not provided, full development cannot take place, and the children grow up, if they survive, into young men and women, incapable of the ordinary amount of labor, and liable to diseases of various kinds. This is frequently illustrated in the higher walks of life, particularly in females; for many suffer through life from improper diet in boarding schools, due to false and artificial notions of delicacy or refinement. After a certain period of improper and deficient diet in children, the appetite becomes permanently impaired, and the system is rendered incapable of appropriating the amount of matter necessary to proper development and growth.'

Charlotte Bronté has drawn, in Jane Eyre, a graphic and physiologically true picture of the effects upon young girls of long-continued insufficiency of food. Let mothers bear in mind that proper food cannot be too abundantly eaten by children, and that the greatest danger to which they are exposed arises from defective nutrition. We would again urge the value of a large amount of milk in the dietary of young people. The disorders of the bowels, which are not uncommon in infancy and childhood, are due to errors in diet by which improper food is supplied, and not to an excess of simple and proper nourishment.

We have already given some directions for the preparation of infants' food in treating of 'bringing-up by hand.' In addition to the various substitutes for the mother's milk there mentioned, we wish to note that known as Liebig's soup. This great chemist thus describes the method of making it:

'Half an ounce of wheat flour, half an ounce of malt meal, and seven and a half grains of bicarbonate of potass, are weighed off. They are first mixed by themselves, then with the addition of one ounce of water, and lastly, of five ounces of milk. This mixture is then heated upon a slow fire, being constantly stirred until it begins to get thick. At this period the vessel is removed from the fire, and the mixture is stirred for five minutes, is again heated and again removed when it gets thick, and, lastly, it is heated till it boils. This soup is purified from bran by passing it through a fine sieve (a piece of fine muslin), and now it is ready for use.'

Barley-malt can be obtained at any brewery. First, it is separated from the impurities, and then ground in an ordinary coffee-mill to a coarse meal. Care should be taken to get the common fresh wheat-flour, not the finest, because the former is richest in starch.

In practice, the troublesome weighing of the materials may be dispensed with, as a heaped table-spoonful of wheat-flour weighs pretty nearly half an ounce, and a like table-spoonful of malt-meal, not quite as heaped, weighs also half an ounce. The bicarbonate of potass can be obtained from the druggist put up in powders of seven and a half grains, each ready for use. The amount of water and of milk prescribed can be attained with sufficient accuracy by means of the table-spoon; two table-spoonfuls will give the quantity of water (one ounce), and ten table-spoonfuls the quantity of milk (five ounces). These directions will enable any sensible mother to make the preparation without difficulty. The soup tastes tolerably sweet, and, when diluted with water, may be given to very young infants.

Although the method of preparing Liebig's soup is a somewhat tedious one, yet, as it is a combination which has long been so highly recommended by physicians of the largest experience for having visibly saved the lives of many wasting children, it deserves a trial in all cases in which the ordinary kinds of food disagree.

On page 276 are recorded the directions given by Dr. J. Forsyth Meigs for an article of diet, consisting of gelatine and arrowroot, which he prefers to all other kinds of artificial infant food. Another method of preparing a useful arrowroot mixture is as follows:—

Place a tea-spoonful of arrowroot in a porcelain vessel, with as much cold water as will make it into a fine dough; then add a cupful of boiling milk or of beef-tea; stir the mixture a little, and allow it to boil for a few minutes until the whole acquires the consistency of a fine light jelly.

The manner in which nutriment is administered to infants is not immaterial. The custom of feeding them from a small spoon, or from a cup with a snout, is objectionable. The use of a sucking-bottle most nearly imitates the way in which nature designed the nursling to obtain its nourishment. By the act of sucking, the muscles of the face are exercised in an equal manner, and the saliva is mixed with the food to an extent which is not possible if any other mode of feeding be resorted to. Children drink very readily out of the perforated rubber nipples, which are now so popular for this purpose: they are made to fit over the mouth of the bottle, and are especially to be recommended on account of their cleanliness. The bottle should never be refilled until both it and the rubber cap have been thoroughly cleansed in warm water. A white glass bottle only should be employed in order that any want of cleanliness may readily be detected. It should be recollected that milk very quickly sours when kept in this way in a warm room; it is therefore better always to empty the bottle and fill it afresh each time it is given to the child, rather than to wait until its contents are exhausted before replenishing it.

We have hitherto been treating mainly of the diet proper for the first year of life. In the second year children may be permitted to have soft, finely-cut meat. Fresh ripe fruit in season ordinarily agrees excellently well. But boiled green vegetables and husk fruits are very apt to cause indigestion and diarrhœa. Fruit for children should be freed from the stones and skins; which latter are indigestible, and often do harm.

As an example of a diet suitable for a child two years of age we append the following:—In the mornings, between six and seven o'clock in summer, or between seven and eight in winter, milk-gruel; between nine and ten o'clock, a piece of wheat bread with a little butter on it; at twelve o'clock, well-prepared beef-tea, or chicken, lamb, mutton broth, or meat with a little gravy; or in place of the meat, a meal-broth prepared with eggs, but with very little fat; green vegetables to be allowed very rarely, and in very small quantities. At this noon meal a mealy well-mashed potato is unobjectionable; so also is rice pudding for a change. In the afternoon, between three and four, bread and milk, with the addition in summer of fresh ripe fruit; in the evening, at seven, bread and milk.

It will be observed that this dietetic table calls for five meals a day. Should the child eat so frequently? We answer yes. But the meals should be at regular intervals. A child, in order to replace the waste of the system, and to furnish over and above sufficient material to build up the growing body, requires a much larger proportionate amount of food than an adult. It also requires its food at shorter intervals. By observing the hours for meals stated above, regularity, which is of so much importance to the health of the digestive organs, will be secured. If a young child be allowed only the three ordinary meals of the family, it will crave for something between times, and too often have its craving met with a piece of cake or other improper food. Its appetite for dinner or supper will in this manner be destroyed, and the stomach and the general health suffer.

After the third or fourth year children are able to eat all kinds of vegetables. They may then very appropriately be allowed to eat at the table with the family. It is only necessary to refuse them very salt, sour, and highly-spiced victuals. Of all others they may partake in moderation. Neither wine nor any malt liquor should be given them. Tea and coffee are also, to say the least, unnecessary. They should have a regular luncheon between the meals which are furthest apart. This must be at a regular hour, and consist of bread and butter, with milk or water.

Pains should be taken to see that children do not fall into the habit of eating rapidly. Too often this pernicious habit, so destructive to healthy digestion, is formed in early life, and becomes the source of that dyspepsia which is the bane of so many lives. Food that is gulped down enters the stomach unmasticated, and unmixed with the secretions of the mouth. A dog may bolt his food without injury, but a human being cannot.

A child should be taught to eat everything that is wholesome, and not be permitted to become finical or fastidious in its appetite. It ought not, however, to be forced to eat any particular article for which it is found that there is an invincible dislike. Variety of diet is good for a child, after the second or third year.

THE POSITION OF THE CHILD WHEN FED.

An infant, no matter how young, should not receive its meals when lying. Its head should always be raised in the nurse's arm, if it be too young to support it itself. The practice of jolting and dandling the infant after eating is a wrong one. Rest of the body should be secured by placing the child on a bed, or holding it on the mother's knee, for a half hour or so. Observe the inclination which all animals show for repose and sleep after a full repast, and respect the same inclination in the infant.

In our remarks upon bathing we pointed out the importance of the mother herself performing for her child this office. So again, in connection with children's food, we must notice the necessity of the mother being always present at their meals, in order that they may be taught to take them quietly, with cleanliness and without hurry. Such advice is not needed by the poor nor by women of moderate fortune, who ordinarily have their children constantly under their eyes. But affluence brings with it many occupations which are frequently deemed of more moment than presiding over a child's dinner.

CONCERNING SLEEP IN EARLY LIFE.

There is a natural desire for much sleep during infancy, childhood, and youth; and there is reason for its free indulgence. Infants pass the greater portion of both day and night in sleep. Children up to the age of six years require, as a rule, twelve hours of repose at night, besides an hour or more in the middle of the day. About the sixth year the noon nap may be discontinued, but the night sleep ought not to be abridged before the tenth year, and then only to a moderate extent until the age of puberty. From this time the period of slumber may be gradually reduced to nine or ten hours. No further diminution should be attempted until the completion of growth, when another hour or two may be taken away, leaving about eight hours of daily sleep as the proper amount during middle life.

It is wrong, therefore, to wake a young child in the morning. It should be allowed to sleep as long as it will, which will be until the wants of the system are satisfied, if it be not aroused by noise or light.

When after a few months the infant is awake a considerable portion of the day, it should be brought into the habit of taking its second sleep near the middle of the day, say from eleven to one o'clock, and again, from half an hour to an hour, about three o'clock. It should not be permitted a nap later than this in the afternoon, as it would be very apt to cause a disturbed night. Although some physicians recommend that the sleep during the day be discontinued after the infant has attained the age of fifteen months, the wisdom of such advice may well be doubted. As soon as the child begins to walk, not only are its movements very constant and active, but its mind is busily employed and its nervous system excited. It therefore thrives better if its day be divided into two by sleep for an hour or two.

Should the infant sleep alone?—We have mentioned the danger of being overlain to which it is exposed when in bed with its mother or nurse. On the other hand, it must be remembered that an infant keeps warm with difficulty even when well covered, and that contact with the mother's body is the best way of securing its own warmth. Hence, during the first months the child had better be allowed to sleep with its mother. How, then, can the risk of being suffocated, which is no imaginary one, be lessened? The following rules are those given by a physician of reputation, to prevent an infant from being accidentally overlain.

'Let the baby while asleep have plenty of room in the bed. Do not allow him to be too near, or, if this be unavoidable from the small size of the bed, let his face be turned to the opposite side. Let him lie fairly, either on his side or on his back. Be careful to ascertain that his mouth be not covered with the bed-clothes. Do not smother his face with clothes, as a plentiful supply of pure air is as necessary as when he is awake. Never let him lie low in the bed. Let there be no pillow near the one his head is resting on, lest he roll to it and bury his head in it. Remember 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. Never entrust him at night to a young, giddy, and thoughtless servant. A foolish mother sometimes goes to sleep while allowing her child to continue sucking. The unconscious babe, after a time, loses the nipple, and buries his head in the bed-clothes. She awakes in the morning, finding, to her horror, a corpse by her side! A mother ought therefore never to go to sleep until her child has ceased sucking.'

When a couple of months have elapsed, the child, if a healthy one, may sleep alone. What the child sleeps in is not a matter of great moment, provided it has a sufficiency of clothing, and be not exposed to currents of air. A large clothes-basket will serve all the purposes of a crib. The mistake is often made of burying the child under too heavy a mass of bed-clothes in a warm room when asleep. And this inconsistency is committed by the very mothers who scantily clad the child during the day in order to inure it to the cold. The great transition from its wrappings by night to those by day is injurious to the health and comfort of the infant.

'In arranging night coverings, the soft feather-bed is very often estimated as nothing; or, in other words, the same provision of blankets is considered indispensable, whether we lie upon a hard mattress or immersed in down. The mother, looking only to the covering laid over the child, forgets those on which it lies, although in reality the latter may be the warmer of the two. An infant deposited in a downy bed has at least two-thirds of its body in contact with the feathers, and may thus be perspiring at every pore, when, from its having only a single covering thrown over it, the mother may imagine it to be enjoying the restorative influence of agreeable slumber. In hot weather much mischief might be done by an oversight of this kind.'

It is of course essential to the health and comfort of the infant that its bed and bed-clothing be kept perfectly dry and sweet. They should frequently be taken out and exposed to the air.

A child should be accustomed early to sleep in a darkened room. Plutarch praises the women of Sparta for, among other things, teaching their children not to be afraid in the dark. He says they 'were so careful and expert, that without swaddling-bands their children were all straight and well proportioned; and they brought them up not to be afraid in the dark or of being alone, and never indulged them in crying, fretfulness, and ill-humour; upon which account Spartan nurses were often bought by people of other countries.'

Position in sleeping.—It has long been a popular opinion that the position of our bodies at night, with reference to the cardinal points of the compass, has some influence on the health. This belief has recently been corroborated by some observations made by a prominent physician, Dr. Henry Kennedy. In an essay on the 'Acute Affections of Children,' published in the Dublin Quarterly Journal of Medical Science, he states that for several years he has put in force in his practice a plan of treatment by means of the position of the patient, and often with very marked results. He asserts that, in order to ensure the soundest sleep, the head should lie to the north. Strange as this idea may at first sight appear, it has more in it than might be supposed. There are known to be great electrical currents always coursing in one direction around the globe. In the opinion of Dr. Kennedy there is no doubt that our nervous systems are in some mysterious way connected with this universal agent, as it may be called, electricity. He relates several cases of acute diseases in children, in which, by altering the position of the body so that the patient should lie from north to south instead of from east to west, quiet sleep was induced. This plan of invoking sleep is often successful; but not always so, for all are not equally susceptible. It applies likewise to adults. It is not so striking in its effects on the poorer as on the richer classes of society. This is what might be expected, for it cannot be doubted that the nervous system in the middle and upper ranks is always in a much more sensitive state than with their poorer brethren. It is worth noting, that even in healthy persons sleep will often be absent or of a broken kind, from the cause of which we are now speaking. It is very common to hear people saying they can never sleep in a strange bed. Although many causes may conspire to this, Dr. Kennedy cannot doubt that amongst these ought to be placed the one to which we are now drawing attention.

THE CLOTHING OF INFANTS AND YOUNG CHILDREN.

A fertile cause of disease and death is to be found in the negligence or ignorance displayed in regard to the dress of children. And it is not the poorly attired, but nearly always the fashionably robed child, which suffers the most. To parental vanity can be traced many a catarrh on the chest or the inflammation of the bowels which has resulted in death. Most mothers appear to be ignorant of the fact that children are exceedingly susceptible to the influence of cold. The returns of the Registrar-General of England show that a very cold week always greatly increases the mortality of the very young. While adults carefully protect themselves against every change of the weather, and against currents of air, children, who most need such protection, are too often neglected.

The warmth of the infant's body is best secured by that of the nurse, and by warm clothing. It is more effectually and healthfully provided for in this manner than by confining the child to a warm atmosphere. Young children should never be dressed décolleté—in low necks and short sleeves. That fashion is a dangerous one which leaves the neck, shoulders, and arms uncovered. To this irrational custom may be traced a vast amount of the suffering and many of the deaths of early life; doubtless, also, in many cases it lays the foundation of consumption, which manifests itself a little later. But, it is said, the child will be 'hardened' by having its chest and limbs thus exposed. The surest and safest way to harden the child is to so care for it that it shall pass through its first months and years of life without any ailment. Every mother should see to it, that her charge is so clothed that every part of the body is effectually protected from dampness and cold. She can then best secure for it a hardened constitution by carrying it daily into the sunlight of the open air.

The material of the clothing should be such as will unite lightness with warmth. Flannel and calico are therefore to be preferred. At first, as the skin of the child is very delicate, a shirt of fine linen may be interposed between it and the flannel. But, after the first few months, the gentle friction of fine soft flannel next the skin is desirable, as it stimulates the circulation of the blood on the surface of the body, and promotes health. Flannel under-clothing should be continued all the year, during the summer months a very light texture being used. When the dress of the child is shortened, care must be taken that the feet are well covered with soft stockings of cotton or woollen (which in winter should extend up above the knees), and with light leather shoes.

The night-dress, at least during cold weather, is best made of flannel, thin or thick according to the climate. It has been recommended that, after the child is somewhat advanced, the night-clothes be constructed in the form of night-pants, so that it may not be exposed if the bed-clothing be thrown off. Every article of dress worn during the day ought to be removed at night.

The rule in regard to the quantity of clothing is, that it should be in sufficient amount to preserve due warmth. It must therefore be regulated by the season of the year and the state of the weather. We have mentioned the fatal practice of leaving bare at all seasons of the year the upper part of the chest and arms of the little one, while the rest of the body is warmly clad. We can scarcely speak too emphatically nor too often of the danger to which the mother thus exposes that life, which it is her duty to wisely and safely conduct through the period of dependent infancy and childhood. It is of course possible for the child to be too closely enveloped, and the skin thus rendered highly susceptible to the impressions of cold. The prevalent error, however, at the present time, is in the direction of too scanty clothing.

The make of the dress should be loose and easy, so as to permit of the free movement of all portions of the body; it should be cut high in the neck, and with sleeves to the wrists; its construction should be simple, so that it may be quickly put off and on; and the fastenings employed should, as far as possible, be tapes, not pins. In the clothing of children the laws of hygiene, and not the code of fashion, should direct the shape and style.

THE BATHING OF INFANTS AND YOUNG CHILDREN.

Many advantages attach to the daily use of the bath for infants. It secures cleanliness, strengthens the nervous system, and preserves from colds and coughs.

We have already endeavoured to impress upon the mind of the reader the great susceptibility to cold which exists in early life. On this account the water for the bath should be warm (96° or 98°) for the first few weeks of infancy, especially during the winter season. Gradually the temperature may be reduced to that of the apartment, never to actual coldness. It is as foolish and hazardous to attempt to 'harden' infants by plunging them into cold water, as it is by carrying them with uncovered necks, chests, and limbs into the keen and damp air. Knowledge of these facts would bring safety to many children who now suffer, because of the dangerous ignorance of mothers in regard to the susceptibility of the infant organisation.

An infant should be immersed in its tub every morning. Besides the regular morning bath, it is often advisable to put the child for a few minutes in tepid water in the evening. This will quiet the nervous system, and induce sleep. The bath should not be too long a one, for fear of exciting perspiration; nor, for the same reason, should the water be too warm. If the child be of a delicate constitution, the evening bath will be especially useful, and can be made more so by the addition of two table-spoonfuls of salt to the water necessary for the bath.

The time immediately after nursing or feeding is not proper for bathing. An hour or two after a meal should be allowed to elapse. Neither should a bath ever be given in a cold room. Even in a warm atmosphere, care should be taken, both after and during the ablution, that the wet skin of the infant be not exposed to the air. Its body should be completely immersed; it should not be held up out of the water, nor, if it be old enough, allowed to stand or sit in the tub. It is well also to have a warm blanket in which to receive the child as it comes dripping from the bath. It should be wrapped up in this for a few minutes, to absorb a part of the moisture. Then a portion of the body should be uncovered at a time, and dried before exposing the rest.

Drying the skin.—For this purpose a piece of soft flannel will be found serviceable. By gently rubbing the surface of the body with it the skin will be warmed and stimulated, and the resulting glow will be as agreeable to the child as is that in the adult which follows the Turkish bath. The actual grooming of the human body is very useful to improve the health of scrofulous children.

At first from three to five minutes will be a sufficiently long immersion. In a little while, however, this period may be lengthened, all the precautions mentioned against injurious exposure being observed.

The lukewarm daily bath, taken either in the morning or evening, ought to be continued until at least the age of four years. If, after the fourth or fifth year, ablutions of the entire body be resorted to only every second or third day, the practice should be commenced of sponging the chest every morning with cold, or alternately with cold and hot water, followed by brisk frictions.

Soap is to be used but sparingly in the bath of young children. It must be of the blandest and purest quality. Various eruptions are caused by the employment of impure soaps, and even by the excessive application of the best kind.

In illustration of the importance of our present subject, we may state that Dr. Hufeland, to whose admirable work on the art of prolonging life we have before alluded, lays down, as one of the means which lengthen life, the care of the skin. He dwells upon the benefit of paying such attention to it from infancy that it may be kept in a lively, active, and useful condition.

The power of the bath to ward off disease in childhood is not sufficiently appreciated by parents. Properly managed, it soothes, but never increases, any internal irritation which may exist, and often does away with the necessity of resorting to the administration of drugs. If due attention were paid to the condition of the skin in early life, many of the most common ailments of childhood would be averted. The daily employment of the bath, and scrupulous attention to cleanliness of the person and clothing, would materially lessen the demand both for purgative medicines and for soothing syrups.

One word more in regard to the washing of the infant. The mother herself, if she be in health, should always perform this office, and not entrust it to the child's nurse. Plutarch awards high praise to Cato the censor, for his invariable custom of being present when his child was washed. Every mother, at least, would do well to follow the example of this old Roman. It will give her the opportunity to detect many incipient affections which would for a long while escape her attention if she saw the child only when dressed. The mother will also take pains to engage the mind of the little one, and render the bath a source of amusement to it.

After the fourth or fifth year, two or three baths a week during the colder seasons of the year will be sufficient to keep the skin clean, and properly active. During the summer, however, a daily bath is of great advantage to children, and ought not to be neglected.

Swimming is very useful and very invigorating to the health of both sexes. It is desirable that children be taught this art.

The importance of the culture of the skin to the well-being of infancy and childhood cannot be brought too prominently to the notice of all mothers. We have therefore endeavoured to give some useful hints in regard both to the preservation of its cleanliness, and to the prevention, by means of garments and warming, of its exposure to too great changes of temperature.

By proper attention to the skin in the manner pointed out, many of the eruptions with which children are afflicted might be prevented. The appearance of these the mother ought to regard as a great calamity, for they are often difficult of cure, and render the child an object of disgust. She ought also to look upon them as the mischievous consequences of the neglect of those laws of health which it is her duty to learn and observe.

AIR AND VENTILATION IN CHILDHOOD.

Fresh air is necessary for the robust development of infancy and childhood. Infants born in the summer season should be carried out daily when the weather is pleasant, from the second or third day after birth. Those born in the winter should be kept in the house for two or three months before being introduced to the outer world on some sunny noonday. Older children can scarcely pass too much time in the open air.

A change in the dress must, of course, be made before exposing the child to the outdoor air. The head should be covered, and the chest and limbs well protected from the cold.

As a rule, a child ought to be carried out, or permitted, when old enough, to walk out, at least once every pleasant day during the year. The time of the day is to be varied with the season. In the winter, the middle of the day is to be chosen; in summer, the early portion of the forenoon, a few hours after sunrise.

Children show very quickly, even when in ill-health, the beneficial results of a ride or walk. It quiets the irritability to which they are liable, more effectually than any other procedure. For a delicate child, or one recovering from sickness, fresh air and sunshine are the best tonics which can be administered. A fretful, peevish child will soon learn to look forward to its daily jaunt on the street or road, and will be quieted by it for the rest of the day.

At all times of the year regard must be had to the state of the weather. The infant ought never to be taken out on a wet day. Exposure to a damp atmosphere is one of the most powerful causes of catarrh on the chest and inflammation of the lungs, to which young children are so subject. A very high wind, even though the day be bright and dry, is injurious to a young infant, as it has been known to suspend its breathing for a time, which accident might, if not at once observed, bring about a fatal result.

Besides fresh air, light is an indispensable requisite to the health of children. Nothing can compensate for the absence of its beneficial effects. It is to be remembered, however, that during the first week or two the eyes of the new-born babe are not strong enough to bear the full glare of light. The first eight days of its existence should be spent in a half-darkened room. Gradually the apartment may be brightened, until finally, after about two weeks, the young eyes become entirely accustomed to the light, and may be exposed to it without injury. A neglect of this precaution is one of the most common causes of the bad inflammation of the eyes so frequently met with among young infants. After the sight has become quite strong, a bright room will strengthen the eyes, not weaken them; for light is the natural stimulant of the eye, as exercise is of the muscles, or food of the stomach.

Scrofulous diseases are the heritage of those children who are deprived of a plentiful supply of pure air and light. A distinguished writer upon the laws of health ascribes to the careful avoidance of the salutary influence of air and light by so many young girls, who are fearful of walking out while the sun is powerful, much of their sickly appearance, the loss of consistency of their bones, and their being able to afford but a deformed temple to the immortal soul.

Humboldt states that, during a five years' residence in South America, he never saw any national deformity amongst the men or women belonging to the Carif, Muyscas, Indian, Mexican, or Peruvian races. If parents in our own country were to accustom their daughters from an early age to daily exercise in the open air and sunlight, there would be fewer weak backs requiring the support of apparatus from the surgical-instrument maker, and less pallor in lips and cheeks to be remedied by iron from the shop of the apothecary.

EXERCISE IN CHILDHOOD.

The first exercise which a child obtains, is had of course in its nurse's arms. Are there any directions, then, to be noticed in regard to the manner of carrying an infant?—Dr. Eberle gives the following useful advice upon this subject:—'The spine and its muscles seldom acquire sufficient strength and firmness before the end of the third month to enable the child to support its body in an upright position without inconvenience or risk of injury. Until this power is manifestly acquired, the infant should not be carried or suffered to sit with its body erect, without supporting it in such a manner as to lighten the pressure made on the spine, and aid it in maintaining the upright posture of its head and trunk; therefore, at first (a few days after birth), the infant should be taken from its cradle or bed two or three times daily and laid on its back upon a pillow, and carried gently about the chamber. After the third or fourth week, the child may be carried in a reclining posture on the arms of a careful nurse, in such a manner as to afford entire support both to body and head. This may be done by reclining the infant upon the forearm, the hand embracing the upper and posterior part of the thighs, whilst its body and head are supported by resting against the breast and arm of the nurse. When held in this way, it may be gently moved from side to side, or up and down, while it is carefully carried through a well-ventilated room.'

After the child is three months old, it will probably have become strong enough to maintain itself in a sitting position. It may then be carried about in this upright posture, with the spine and head carefully supported by the nurse, which aid ought not to be withdrawn until the age of six or seven months.

'In lifting young children,' as has been well observed by Dr. Barlow, 'the nurse should be very careful never to lay hold of them by the arms, as is sometimes thoughtlessly done; but always to place the hands, one on each side of the chest, immediately below the armpits. In infancy the sockets of the joints are so shallow, and the bones so feebly bound down and connected with each other, that dislocation and even fracture of the collar-bone may easily be produced by neglecting this rule. For the same reason, it is a bad custom to support a child by one or even by both arms, when he makes his first attempt to walk. The grand aim which the child has in view, is to preserve his equilibrium. If he is partially supported by one arm, the body inclines to one side, and the attitude is rendered most unfavorable to the preservation of his natural balance; and consequently, the moment the support is in the least relaxed, the child falls over and is caught up with a jerk. Even when held by both arms, the attitude is unnatural and unfavorable to the speedy attainment of the object. To assist the child, we ought to place one hand on each side of the chest in such a way as to give the slightest possible support, and to be ready instantly to give more if he lose his balance. When this plan is followed, all the attitudes and efforts of the child are in a natural direction; and success is attained not only sooner, but more gracefully, than by any ill-judged support given to one side.

'There is one very common mode of exercising infants, which we think deserves particular notice: we mean the practice of hoisting or raising them aloft in the air. This practice is of such venerable antiquity, and so universal, that it would be vain to impugn it. The pleasure, too, which most children evince under it, seems to show that it cannot be so objectionable as a cursory observer would be disposed to consider it. Still there are hazards which ought not to be overlooked. The risk of accident is one of some amount: children have slipped from the hands, and sustained serious injury. Some people are so energetic as to throw up children and catch them in descending. This rashness there can be no hesitation in reprobating; for, however confident the person may be of not missing his hold, there must ever be risks of injury from the concussion suffered in the descent, and even from the firmness of the grasp necessary for recovering and maintaining the hold. The motion of the body, too, has a direct tendency to induce vertigo; and when the liability of the infant brain to congestion and its consequences is considered, when the frequency of hydrocephalus in infants is borne in mind, an exercise which impels blood to the brain will not be regarded as wholly insignificant. There is one more objection which seems not to have attracted attention. The hold taken of the child in the act of hoisting him is by the hand grasping the chest. The fingers and thumb, placed on each side of the breast-bone, compress the ribs; and any one with the hand so placed will at once perceive that if the pressure were strong, and the resistance from the elasticity of the ribs weak, the impression on the chest resulting would correspond exactly with the deformity named chicken-breast. That any force is ever used capable of inducing speedily such a change, is in the highest degree improbable; but that reiterated pressure of this kind, however slight, would in a weakly child have power to impress and distort the chest, few, we imagine, will doubt.'

LEARNING TO WALK.

When two or three months old, the infant may be placed on a soft mattress upon the floor or on the carpet. He can then toss his limbs about without danger, and develope the powers of his muscular system.

'The best mode of teaching a child how to walk,' says Dr. Bull, 'is to let it teach itself; and this it will do readily enough. It will first learn to crawl: this exercises every muscle in the body, does not fatigue the child, throws no weight upon the bones, but imparts vigor and strength, and is thus highly useful. After a while, having the power, it will wish to do more. It will endeavor to lift itself upon its feet by the aid of a chair; and though it fail again and again in its attempts, it will still persevere until it accomplish it. By this, it learns first to raise itself from the floor; and secondly, to stand, but not without keeping hold of the object on which it has seized. Next it will balance itself without holding, and will proudly and laughingly show that it can stand alone. Fearful, however, as yet of moving its limbs without support, it will seize a chair or anything else near it, when it will dare to advance as far as the limits of its support will permit. This little adventure will be repeated day after day with increased exultation; when, after numerous trials, he will feel confident of his power to balance himself, and he will run alone. Now time is required for this gradual self-teaching, during which the muscles and bones become strengthened; and when at last called upon to sustain the weight of the body, are fully capable of doing so.'

It is not merely want of strength which prevents an infant from walking at first. The natural shape of the legs renders it impossible. The feet are turned in so that the inner sides look upwards. When placed upon its feet, therefore, the soles will not rest upon the ground. In a short time the position of the feet changes, and they become fitted for the purposes of support and locomotion. When he begins to walk, the child should have shoes with tolerably broad soles, which ought to be at least half an inch longer than the foot.

The first efforts of the little one to support and propel itself are to be carefully watched, but not unnecessarily interfered with; neither frightened by expressions of fear, nor rendered timid by too frequent warnings.

ADVANTAGES OF GAMES AND PLAYS.

The first seven years of life should be one grand holiday for all sports and amusements which will bring into play the muscles, and divert at the same time the mind. Time cannot be more usefully employed than in thus laying the foundation of health, upon which alone can rest the physical, mental, and moral well-being of after-life.

No greater mistake can be made by parents than to deprive the young of the innocent pleasures of childhood. Yet there are persons occasionally met with who think it their duty to check the natural lightness and gaiety of heart of their children for fear that they shall become too fond of pleasure. In this way great harm is done to both mind and body, and the very fault created which it is desired to avoid.

The wise parent sees in the games and plays of childhood not only necessary recreation and exercise, but a valuable means of education—of moral, mental, and physical training. He also seeks to impress early upon the young mind that play is most enjoyed when it has been earned by work, and that pleasure flies from those who continually pursue it.

The faculties of memory and attention can be called upon and developed by proper games in a most satisfactory manner. These exercises are all the more effective because the pleasure conceals, as it were, the mental labor, and the intellectual efforts are made, in a sense, unconsciously, though none the less efficiently.

Certain plays form a valuable means of educating the eyes and other senses. Such, for instance, are the toys which represent objects of natural history or of different trades and arts; the pictures which teach through the quick eye of the child what no dry descriptions could ever convey; and the games which develope closeness of observation and habits of order. A genial French physician has happily said, 'Every time I see a toy based on the reproduction of a scientific fact or of an industrial process, and which pleases while it enlightens, I feel a sentiment of real gratitude to him who has designed it.'

We are glad to see that each year more and more attention is being paid to the utilization, as it were, of the games of infancy. Although all education can never be made a play, all play can be made an effective education. Do not therefore, reader, restrict the games of your children, but direct them; do not render them less amusing, but seek to make them more instructive.

The schooling afforded by instructive plays should be the only schooling of the first seven years of life. Late springs produce the most abundant harvests in the mind as in the field. Precocious and delicate children especially should be kept from a too early and close application to books. By means of healthful and instructive games and sports; by visits to workshops and factories where familiar objects are made; and by a cultivation of the sense of the beautiful in nature and art, more can be done towards securing a sound mind in a sound body than by the easier and more common method of sending the child to school almost as soon as it can walk.

IMPORTANCE OF TEACHING CHILDREN HYGIENIC HABITS.

The force of habits should never be lost sight of by those having the charge of children. They constitute a power of which parents should early avail themselves. J. J. Rousseau has said, 'The only habit which one ought to permit the child, is of not contracting any.' But this is impossible and undesirable. When it is remembered that a good habit is just as hard to break as a bad one, the importance of seeking from the very cradle to frame good habits is evident. It is easy to create, but difficult to reform. What then are some of the principal hygienic habits which it is desirable to teach children?

First we will mention, a liking for proper food at regular times. The indigestion, or weakness of digestion, from which many children suffer, is in some cases hereditary or the result of feeble health. But most frequently it is the effect of bad management. The giving to the child of pastry and cakes at meals instead of simple and nutritious food, the encouragement of capriciousness of appetite instead of teaching it to like everything that is healthful, and the neglect to inculcate the habit of eating at regular hours, these are the principal causes of many cases of diarrhœa, vomitings, weak appetite, colicky pains, and indigestion among children.

The daily use of at least a sponge-bath of the entire person is an excellent habit. Cold water should be employed after the fifth or sixth year. This simple practice of a cold sponge-bath every morning, if more generally taught children, would avert many a cold and rheumatic attack in after life.

The habit of quenching the thirst with only simple drinks, milk and water, should be early and thoroughly formed. No American mother would think of giving spirits to her child, excepting under medical advice; but many permit almost from infancy the use of tea and coffee. These drinks are not only unnecessary in childhood, but to a certain extent injurious. They excite the nervous system and disorder the digestion. Before the age of puberty, neither tea nor coffee should be allowed.

ON THE TRAINING OF THE SPECIAL SENSES.

The special senses, sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, have been called the windows of the soul, by which it observes what passes without. The most noble and intellectual of these are the sight and hearing. Neither of them receives the attention at the hands of parents and educators which it should. Indeed, the Indians who yet inhabit our western plains, have better eyes and ears than we. The reason of this is evident. The savage is obliged to make other use of his eyes than to dreamily admire the beautiful landscape, and other use of his ears than to listen to the singing of birds and the murmuring of wind and stream. These senses are the defenders of his life. He depends upon them for food, clothing, and protection against his enemies. Hence, urged by necessity, he trains them from infancy, and brings them to a perfection which astonishes us. It will be said, however, that we in our civilized life, have no need of any such acuteness of sense. True, but we cannot avoid the consciousness that our organs of sight and hearing do not afford us the service they ought, and that they commence to fail us too early. The remedy is to be sought in the training of the special senses in early life. These senses, which are the first of our faculties to form and develope, should be the first to be educated; yet, as has been well said, they are nearly the only ones which are forgotten, or at least they are the most neglected.

The education of a sense has been compared to the education of a child,—it has its physical, its intellectual, and its moral side. It is necessary to maintain the organ in a condition of health in order that it may perform its work well; this is the physical education of the sense. The mind must learn to properly elaborate the impressions thus conveyed to it, this is the intellectual education of the sense. Finally, in the service of morality and justice, these impressions ought to be turned to the advantage of the good and the beautiful, this is the moral education of the sense. The subject of the training of the special senses is therefore, when properly viewed, a serious and most important one. It might well demand more attention at our hands than we have space to give it here. We will make our remarks as concise and practical as possible commencing first with

THE TRAINING OF THE SENSE OF SIGHT.

A recent French writer on the hygiene of the sight has brought forward striking evidence in support of his statement, that in our time the sense of sight is growing markedly weaker. The number of the near-sighted is augmenting, as is also the number of those who become 'far-sighted' before old age. Cases of debility and disease of the eyes seem to be multiplying at a rate which should awaken general attention to this matter. The causes are to be found in the neglect, often the hurtful management, of the eyesight of children; in the influence of improperly regulating artificial light; and in the injury done by bad printer's ink and paper.

In the education of the child's eyesight, acuteness of vision is one of the first objects to be sought for. That this is largely a matter of training is apparent from the fact that persons in certain professions can readily distinguish objects too small or too distant for ordinary eyes. Children brought up in the country or at the sea-side, have a power of vision unknown to city children, with their limited range of observation. But it is not only necessary that the eyes should be able to make out the forms of distant or small objects, but that they should be quick to detect shades of color and delicacies of outline. The child should be stimulated and encouraged to make efforts in this direction. Here, also, there is room for the skill of the intelligent toy-maker, for toys can be made very useful educators.

One of the forms of sensorial memory which it is most desirable to develope is that of objects seen, that is to say, the fixing in the thoughts, to be brought up before the mind's eye when wanted, the recollection of visual impressions. This embraces the memory of forms, of dimensions, of the relations between various objects and between different parts of the same object, and of colors. When applied to places it is what is known as local memory, applied to the human face, it is the memory of physiognomy; applied to objects, it is graphic or descriptive memory; applied to colors, it is chromatic memory.

Local memory is sometimes developed to an extraordinary degree. It is only necessary for some persons to have once traversed a locality, a street, a city, in order to preserve of it a most minute and vivid recollection. This topographical memory is enjoyed by a number of the inferior animals; the elephant, the dog, and the horse, for instance, are well-known as being capable of noticing a road taken and of returning by it, of recognising readily a place once seen, and of showing a tendency to stop of their own accord at places where they have been arrested or kept. This local memory, useful as it is to every one, is necessary to the painter who draws upon it for the elements of his artistic creations.

The faculty of recollecting faces is a peculiar one, and possessed by different persons in vastly different degrees. There are those who recognise invariably every face they have once seen, and who by a simple effort can at any time recall with the utmost distinctness the features of the absent. On the other hand, there are those so wanting in this special form of memory that they are constantly exposed to serious social inconveniences, and, for fear of failing in politeness, often salute perfect strangers. The ancient Greeks possessed to an extraordinary degree the power of seizing and retaining types of face and form; it is to this, doubtless, that they owe, to a great extent, their unapproached excellence in sculpture and painting.

Graphic or descriptive memory is that which photographs, as it were, upon the brain the visual impressions that objects have made upon the retina, in such a manner that the thought can reconstruct them ideally. This, in particular, is the form of memory required by designers of all kinds, and, like the other forms of visual memory, is susceptible of education. The child is first taught to copy with his pencil and produce exact imitations of the objects about him. Then, little by little, he is to be taught in closing his eyes to reconstruct mentally the contours of objects, at first simple, then more complicated, and finally to penetrate into their details and give to the fictitious mental image all the relief of reality. This exercise not merely trains the child in correct observation, but quickly leads to the conquest of descriptive memory.

Chromatic memory, or the memory of colors, is a form of visual memory different from those we have enumerated. It is more difficult, perhaps, and technical than the others. The attention of the child should early be directed to the colors of natural and artificial objects, and he should be encouraged to imitate them.

But it is not our intention to go further into this important subject, the education of the sense of sight. Our space will not permit it. By these few elementary remarks, we have merely wished to remind parents that they can do much towards the development of this important faculty in their children.

TO PREVENT NEAR-SIGHTEDNESS.

Near-sightedness is, as we have said, greatly increasing. In Germany, this is particularly the case, and has led there to a careful study of the subject within the last few years.

Near-sightedness, like most of the disorders of the eyesight, is to be traced to causes which act during childhood, and which causes are all entirely preventable. Imperfect lighting of rooms in which children study or play is one of the chief among these preventable causes. When the windows are improperly constructed or placed, or when the artificial light is faulty in school-rooms, the book is naturally brought close to the eyes in order that it may be more easily read. The consequence of this is either that near-sightedness is quickly produced, or that the eyes soon become fatigued and permanently weakened. No less injurious is the effort to read 'between the lights' or before the fire. School-books with too small type, and school-desks which are too low or too far from the seats, are the direct cause of much mischief to many young eyes. Let parents, therefore, see to it that the school-rooms to which they send their children are clearly and properly lighted, that the books which they study are printed in a bold, clear type, and that no reading or study is permitted by a flickering or a dim light, nor before a desk or table which forbids a tolerably erect position of the head and shoulders.