Fewer children would perish, if so fed, than are destroyed by rushing into the opposite extreme of feeding them with more viscid food; the use of farina or farinaceous foods for all infants under the age of nine months, and even in many beyond that, lays the foundation of future disease-the powers of assimilation in an infant not being suited for such food. Milk alone is the natural food, and this should be pure, not skimmed, nor previously reduced by water--unless in the country, where the milk is particularly rich, and then it may be reduced with one-third of water; in warm weather the milk should be placed in the coolest place that can be found; and should there be the slightest tendency to acidity observed, it should be at once rejected; sweetening with sugar in such a case would but increase the evil." As to the temperature of the food: "Our great aim ought to be to follow as much as possible in the footsteps of nature; and as we may observe that 96° or 98° Fahr. is the temperature of the mother's milk, so should we give it to the infant; and for the purpose of regulating this, as well as the state of the atmosphere, a thermometer should be kept in every nursery. The milk should not be boiled, but a bowl or pitcher containing it may be placed in boiling water, and so the required heat retained."

In warm weather an infant might be taken out of doors when about a fortnight old; in winter it would not be prudent to expose it before it is at least a month or six weeks old, and then only if the day is fine, and for not more than twenty minutes; if an east wind prevails, the child should be kept in-doors. Sleep should never be encouraged in the open air, nor should the glare of the sun be allowed to fall on its face; of course, the morning chill and evening damp should be avoided. When the infant does go out, let it be in the nurse's arms, not in a perambulator, that modern invention for the benefit of gossiping nurses, and for the destruction of infant life.

With regard to the Diseases of Infants, we may observe that the most frequent of these are-1, disorders of the stomach; 2, disorders of the bowels; 3, exhaustion; 4, febrile affections; 5, exanthematous diseases, or those which are attended with eruptions of the skin; 6, affections of the head; 7, diseases of the thorax, or chest; 8, affections of the abdomen, or belly.

Disorders of the stomach generally depend on improper diet; or they may be secondary, and the effects of a disordered or confined state of the bowels. They are often detected by acid or foetid eructations and breath, or by the unusually frequent regurgitation or vomiting of food.

Disorders of the bowels can never be mistaken or overlooked by an attentive nurse, the evacuations, in their number and appearance, being the perfect index to these disorders.

It must never be forgotten, that whenever the system has been exposed to sources of exhaustion, this condition may become, in its turn, the source of varied morbid affections which are apt to be ascribed to other causes, and treated by improper, and therefore dangerous, measures. If the infant has had diarrhoea, or if it has been bled by leeches; or if, without these, its cheeks are pale and cool; and if, under these circumstances, it be taken with symptoms of affection of the head, do not fail to remember that this affection may be the result of exhaustion. This important subject seems to have been generally misunderstood.

Fever is sooner detected. In every such case it is advisable not to tamper nor delay, but to send for the physician, and watch the patient with redoubled care and attention.

Especially examine the skin, hour after hour, for eruptions. It may be measles or scarlatina, etc. It will be especially desirable to detect these eruptions early, and to point them out to the physician. Above all things, let not a contracted brow, an unusual

state of the temper or manner, unusual drowsiness or wakefulness, or starting, and especially unusual vomiting, escape you.

Be alive to any acceleration or la bor, or shortness of the breathing, or cough, or sneezing, or appearance of inflammation about the eyes or nos trils. These symptoms may portend inflammation within the chest, whooping-cough, measles. Pain of the body, with or without vomiting; or diarrhoea, with or without a morbid state of the bowels, or of the discharges, ought also to excite immediate attention. One caution should be given on this subject: some of the most alarming and fatal affections of the bowels, like some affections of the head, are unattended by acute pain or tenderness; their accession, on the contrary, is insidious, and it will require great attention to detect them early.

Another view, and another mode of the classification of the diseases of infants, full of interest, full of admonition, is-1, as they are sudden; or 2, as they are insidious; or 8, as they are, in the modes of accession, intermediate between these two ex

tremes.

Of the sudden affections, are fits of every kind, croup, and some kinds of pain, as that of colic; of the second class are hydrocephalus, or water on the brain, and tubercles in the lungs or abdomen, constituting the two kinds of consumption. Fits, again, are cerebral, and arise from diseases within the head, or from irritation in the stomach and bowels, or from exhaustion; or they are evidence of, and depend on, some malformation or disease of

the heart.

Domestic treatment should never be trusted in such terrific affections as these; not a moment should be lost in sending for the medical man,

If anything may be done in the meantime, it is-1, in either of the two former cases to lance the gums; 2, to evacuate the bowels by the warm water injection, made more active by the additon of brown sugar; 3,

and then to administer the warm bath. An important point, never to be forgotten in the hurry of these cases, is to reserve the evacuation for inspection, otherwise the physician will be deprived of a very important source of judgment.

In cases of fits arising plainly from exhaustion, there need be no hesitation in giving 5 drops of Sal Volatile in water; light nourishment may be added; the feet must be fomented, and the recumbent posture preserved.

In fits arising from an affection of the heart, the symptom is urgent difficulty of breathing; the child seems as if it would lose its breath and expire. In such a case, to do nothing is the best course; all self-possession must be summoned, and the infant kept perfectly quiet. Every change of posture, every effort, is attended with danger.

Sometimes the attacks assume the character of croup; there is a crowing cough, and breathing; or there is dif ficulty of breathing, and then a crowing inspiration. The former case is generally croup; the latter is, in reality, a fit dependent on a morbid condition of the brain or spinal marrow, although it takes the appearance of an affection of the organs of respiration.

In either case it is well to clear the bowels by means of the slow injection of from a quarter to half a pint of warm water, with or without brown sugar; indeed this is the most generally and promptly useful of all our remedies in infantile diseases. this the warm bath may always be added, if administered with due caution. For instance, it should not be continued so as to induce much flushing or paleness of the countenance.

To

TEETHING. In all the affections of infancy, whether sudden or otherwise, the suspicion should fall upon the condition of the gum and of the teething, and therefore it is desirable that the mother should make herself acquainted with the use of the gum-lancet. In many cases of convulsions, and

other infantile affections, the use of this instrument affords the simplest, quickest, and readiest means of affording relief. In any case of this kind, should there appear to be danger from delay, let the mother carefully pass her finger along the child's gum, and if it appears to be unnaturally tumid at any particular part, let her apply the instrument there. If the affection be a fit, it may be used whether any part of the gum is hard and swollen or not, simply as the easiest mode of relieving the system by blood-letting. A gum-lancet should always be kept, but should this not be at hand, a common lancet or a sharp pen-knife will do. Make a free incision along the course of the gums, down to the teeth, or socket, if there be none; have the child's head held perfectly still, and be careful to guard against pushing the instrument too far back, so as to wound the throat. The operator should remember that perhaps the child's life depends upon the due performance of this duty, and nerve herself for the task.

There are many diseases to which infants are liable, which are very insidious in their advance, and present at first no very marked symptoms; but the watchful eye of the mother, or of a careful nurse, can generally detect the approach and progress of such-the countenance, manner, gestures, and motions of the child; the peculiarities of its cry; the state of its secretions and excretions; all afford indications of this, or anything new or strange in either of these, is sufficient to give the alarm and excite inquiry. If there is a falling off in the looks, color, and flesh of the child, there is reason to apprehend the formation of tubercles in the lungs harbingers of consumption.

the

The medicines and remedial means which must be kept for nursing, are few and simple. Rhubarb, Magnesia, and Manna for aperients, with Castor Oil; a few Senna leaves also, for infusion, may be useful. Ipecacuanha Powder and Wine, as an emetic; and

for cordials, Brandy and Sal Volatile, the former, for exhaustion generally; the latter, when this is connected with pain and irritation of the bowels. What shall we say about anodynes, but simply to warn against their use? Except under the direction of the medical man, they should scarcely ever be given; nevertheless, it may be prudent to have at hand a small bottle of Laudanum, of which, in violent and excruciating pain, a single drop may be given. If a carminative, Dill Water is the best, to be combined, where there is much flatulency, with Fœtid Spirit of Ammonia, this, with a little Carbonate of Soda, for acidity of stomach; Aromatic Confection for loose bowels; and Poppies and Camomile for fomentations, may complete the stock of medicines, which should be kept under lock and key, and only administered by the mother, or a nurse who can safely be trusted. But the warm bath, the injection, and the tooth-lancing, are the safest remedies; therefore, let the apparatus necessary for these be always at hand and ready for use. We have thus, as we hope, indicated with sufficient clearness how to preserve the health of our infant, or detect the signs of disease, and to meet it when it comes.

THRUSH.-This disease is common with infants who are fed improperly, or upon artificial food; it consists of an eruption of small white or ash colored ulcers, on the inside of the mouth and edges of the lips, not unfrequently extending to the throat and fauces; it is caused by irritation of the bowels, and generally gives rise to excoriations about the anus and nates. When these symptoms appear, nurses say it is "going through" the child, and indicate a speedy termination of the disease. Under ordinary circumstances, and if sufficient attention be paid to it, Thrush is not a dangerous affection; but if neglected, and sometimes if not, it assumes a gangrenous character, the ulcers increase in size and become liv it is then much to be feared.

Treatment.-As this disease is

always attended with diarrhea, some anti-acid and astringent mixture should be given, after, perhaps, one dose of Rhubarb and Magnesia; the Compound Chalk Mixture of the Pharmacopoeia, with a few drops of Laudanum should the irritation be very great. To the eruptions of the mouth should be applied, with a camel hair brush, a little Honey and Borax, in the proportion of 6 drams of the former to 2 of the latter; or, in aggravated cases, lotion composed of Nitrate of Silver, 1 scruple dissolved in 1 ounce of water. Dust over the excoriated nates and anus with Hair Powder, or dap them with Goulard Water, two of three times a day. If the child is at the breast, great attention should be paid to the diet of the nurse; if not, the food must be at once simple and nutritious, milk forming the chief part of it: if the disease assumes a gangrenous character, there will be great exhaustion, and Beef Tea and Tonics will be required; for young children something like this:- Dilute Nitric Acid, 14 minims; Syrup of Orange Peel, an ounce; Infusion of Calumba, í dram; Water, & ounces; take a dessert spoonful twice or three times a day.

CROUP.-This is an inflammation of the larynx and trachea, causing a difficulty of breathing, and a rough hoarse cough, with a sonorous inspi- | ration of a very peculiar character, sounding as if the air was passing through a metallic tube: it most usually attacks children of from one to five years. The first signs are merely those of a common cold or catarrh'; then comes on a dry cough with hoarseness and wheezing; at night there is restlessness and rattling in the throat, after which the croupy crow and sound ahove spoken of give unmistakable warning of the disease, which goes on increasing in intensity for a day or two, or perhaps several days, before there is a really alarming paroxysm, which mostly occurs about midnight. The child, after tossing restlessly about, endeavoring in vain to sleep, will start

up with a flushed face, protruding eyeballs, and a distressing look of terror and anxiety; there is a quick vibrating pulse, and agitation of the whole frame, which presently becomes covered with a profuse perspiration: as the struggle for breath proceeds, there is clutching of the throat as though to force a passage, the arms are thrown wildly about, the respiration becomes more labored, the rough cough more frequent, and the characteristic Croup rings out like an alarm note. There is expectoration of viscid matter, but so difficult is it to be got rid of, that the effort appears to threaten strangulation; gradually the symptoms become weaker, and eventaally the child falls into the sleep of exhaustion. It will probably wake up refreshed, and during the day may ap pear pretty well; but at night again, probably there will be a recurrence of the attack with aggravated symptoms, convulsions, spasms of the glottis, causing the head to be violently thrown back, in the effort to obtain a passage for the air through the windpipe; there is a fluttering motion in the nostrils, the face is puffed and of a pale leader hue; a film comes over the sunken eyes, the pulse becomes feeble and irregular; there are more gasping comvulsive efforts to continue the struggle, but in vain, the powers of life at length succumb, and the patient sinks into a drowsy stupor, which ends in death. Such is the frequent course of this painful disease, and the changes from bad to worse are so rapid that there is little time for the operation of remedies, that is, when the paroxysms have begun.

Treatment-Confinement to the hotise in case of threatened Cromp is always advisable, unless the weather should be very warm and open, and then exposure after sundown should be avoided; a dose of Calomel, about 8 grains, should be administered, and followed by nauseating doses of Tartarized Antimony, of which 1 grain may be dissolved in an ounce of warm water, and a teaspoonful of the solution given every quarter of an hour, until the

measures.

In the paroxysms, the most prompt and vigorous measures must be adopted to give any chance of success: bleeding in such quantity as to diminish the vascular action on the surface of the wind-pipe, and to relax the muscles; strong emetics to cause full vomiting, which often has a most beneficial effect; warm baths, and blisters applied from one ear to the other. Calomel combined with Ipecacuanha Powder, or Tartar Emetic, should be given every four hours or so, and if the danger is extreme, counter irritation by means of Mustard Poultices applied to the calves of the legs, etc. In leeching for Croup, one leech for each year of the child's age is the general rule to be observed, and the best part is over the breast-bone, where pressure can be applied to stop the bleeding if required; over the leech bites, apply a blister should one appear necessary. If the above powders should cause too violent an action on the bowels, add to them a little Chalk with Opium. Should the child appear likely to sink from exhaustion, after vomiting has been produced, stay the emetics, and give Liquor of Acetate of Ammonia 20 drops, with 5 or 10 drops of Sal Volatile, or the same of Brandy in a little water, or Camphor Mixture; a little White Wine Whey may also be administered. Of course, the first endeavor in an attack of Croup should be to obtain medical assistance; but if this cannot be procured, there must be no temporizing-resort at once to the remedies most ready to the hand, using them according to the best knowledge and discretion available.

Let the contagious nature of Croup be ever borne in mind, and especial care taken to keep apart those affected with it from any other children in the

Croup is most likely to be fatal when inflammation commences in the fauces, and this, if discovered in time, may be stopped by the application of a solution of Nitrate of Silver to the whole surface within sight, and to the Larynx, Spasmodic Croup, or Child Crowing, as it is often called, exhibits much the same symptoms as the Croup; it is not, however, of an inflammatory character, but is symptomatic of some other disease commonly coming on as a result of irritation caused by hydrocephalus, teething, worms, etc.; the medical man only can judge of the probable cause, and he will use such remedies as are most applicable to the peculiarity of each case. The following mode of treatment has been found efficacious in many cases of Croup; it is simple and easy of application:

"A sponge, about the size of a large fist, dipped in water as hot as the hand can bear, must be gently squeezed half dry, and instantly applied under the little sufferer's chin over the larynx and wind-pipe: when the sponge has been thus held for a few minutes in contact with the skin, its temperature begins to sink; a second sponge, heated in the same way, should be used alternately with the first. A perseverance in this plan during ten or twenty minutes produces a vivid redness over the whole front of the throat, just as if a strong mustard-plaster had been applied; this redness must not be continued long enough to cause a blister. In the meantime, the whole system feels the influence of the topical treatment; a warm perspiration breaks out, which should be well encouraged by warm drinks, as Whey, weak Tea, etc., and a notable diminu tion takes place in the frequency and time of the cough, while the hoarseness almost disappears, and the rough