If schoolmasters must flog, let them flog their own sons. If they must ruin the tempers, the dispositions, and the constitution of boys, they have more right to practise upon their own than on other people's children! Oh! that parents would raise—and that without any uncertain sound—their voices against such abominations, and the detestable cane would soon be banished the school-room! "I am confident that no boy," says Addison, "who will not be allured by letters without blows, will never be brought to anything with them. A great or good mind must necessarily be the worse for such indignities; and it is a sad change to lose of its virtue for the improvement of its knowledge. No one has gone through what they call a great school, but must have remembered to have seen children of excellent and ingenuous natures (as have afterwards appeared in their manhood). I say, no man has passed through this way of education but must have seen an ingenuous creature expiring with shame, with pale looks, beseeching sorrow, and silent tears, throw up its honest sighs, and kneel on its tender knees to an inexorable blockhead, to be forgiven the false quantity of a word in making a Latin verse. The child is punished, and the next day he commits a like crime, and so a third, with the same consequence. I would fain ask any reasonable man whether this lad, in the simplicity of his native innocence, full of shame, and capable of any impression from that grace of soul, was not fitter for any purpose in this life than after that spark of virtue is extinguished in him, though he is able to write twenty verses in an evening?"

How often is corporal punishment resorted to at school because the master is in a passion, and he vents his rage upon the poor school-boy's unfortunate back!

Oh! the mistaken notion that flogging will make a bad-behaved boy a good boy; it has the contrary effect. "'I dunno how 'tis, sir,' said an old farm labourer, in reply to a question from his clergyman respecting the bad behaviour of his children, 'I dunno how 'tis; I beats 'em till they're black and blue, and when they won't kneel down to pray I knocks 'em down, and yet they ain't good.'"—The Birmingham Journal.

In an excellent article in Temple Bar(November 1864) on flogging in the army, the following sensible remarks occur:—"In nearly a quarter of a century's experience with soldiers, the writer has always, and without a single exception, found flogging makes a good man bad, and a bad man worse." With equal truth it may be said that, without a single exception, flogging makes a good boy bad, and a bad boy worse. How many men owe their ferocity to the canings they received when school-boys! The early floggings hardened and soured them, and blunted their sensibility.

Dr Arnold of Rugby, one of the best schoolmasters that England ever produced, seldom caned a boy—not more than once or twice during the half year; but when he did cane him, he charged for the use of the cane each time in the bill, in order that the parents might know how many times their son had been punished. At some of our public schools now-a-days, a boy is caned as many times in a morning as the worthy doctor would have caned him during the whole half year; but then, the doctor treated the boys as gentlemen, and trusted much to their honour; but now many schoolmasters trust much to fear, little to honour, and treat them as brute beasts.

It might be said that the discipline of a school cannot be maintained unless the boys be frequently caned, that it must be either caning or expulsion. I deny these assertions. Dr Arnold was able to conduct his school with honour to himself, and with immense benefit to the rising generation, without either frequent canings or expulsions. The humane plan, however, requires at first both trouble and patience; and trouble some schoolmasters do not like, and patience they do not possess; the use of the cane is quick, sharp, decisive, and at the time effective.

If caning be ever necessary, which it might occasionally be, for the telling of lies for instance, or for gross immorality, let the head master himself be the only one to perform the operation, but let him not be allowed to delegate it to others. A law ought in all public schools to be in force to that effect. High time that something were done to abate such disgraceful practices.

Never should a schoolmaster, or any one else, be allowed, on any pretence whatever, to strike a boy upon his head. Boxing of the ears has sometimes caused laceration of the drum of the ear, and consequent partial deafness for life. Boxing of the ears injures the brain, and therefore the intellect.

It might be said, that I am travelling out of my province in making remarks on corporal chastisement in schools? But, with deference, I reply that I am strictly in the path of duty. My office is to inform you of everything that is detrimental to your children's health and happiness; and corporal punishment is assuredly most injurious both to their health and happiness. It is the bounden duty of every man, and especially of every medical man, to lift up his voice against the abominable, disgusting, and degrading system of flogging, and to warn parents of the danger and the mischief of sending boys to those schools where flogging is, except in rare and flagrant cases, permitted.

351. Have you any observations to make on the selection, of a female boarding-school?

Home education, where it be practicable, is far preferable to sending a girl to school; as at home, her health, her morals, and her household duties, can be attended to much more effectually than from home. Moreover, it is a serious injury to a girl, in more ways than one, to separate her from her own brothers: they very much lose their affection for each other, and mutual companionship (so delightful and beneficial between brothers and sisters) is severed.

If home education be not practicable, great care must be taken in making choice of a school. Boarding school education requires great reformation. Accomplishments, superficial acquirements, and brain-work, are the order of the day; health is very little studied. You ought, in the education of your daughters, to remember that they, in a few years, will be the wives and the mothers of England; and, if they have not health and strength, and a proper knowledge of household duties to sustain their characters, what useless, listless wives and mothers they will make!

Remember, then, the body, and not the mind, ought, in early life, to be principally cultivated and strengthened, and that the growing brain will not bear, with impunity, much book learning. The brain of a school-girl is frequently injured by getting up voluminous questions by rote, that are not of the slightest use or benefit to her, or to any one else. Instead of this ridiculous system, educate a girl to be useful and self-reliant. "From babyhood they are given to understand that helplessness is feminine and beautiful; helpfulness, except in certain received forms of manifestation, unwomanly and ugly. The boys may do a thousand things which are 'not proper for little girls.'"—A Woman's Thoughts about Women.

From her twelfth to her seventeenth year, is the most important epoch of a girl's existence, as regards her future health, and consequently, in a great measure, her future happiness; and one, in which, more than at any other period of her life, she requires a plentiful supply of fresh air, exercise, recreation, a variety of innocent amusements, and an abundance of good nourishment—more especially of fresh meat; if therefore you have determined on sending your girl to school, you must ascertain that the pupils have as much plain wholesome nourishing food as they can eat, [Footnote: If a girl have an abundance of good nourishment, the schoolmistress must, of coarse, be remunerated for the necessary and costly expense; and how can this be done on the paltry sum charged at cheap boarding schools? It is utterly impossible! And what are we to expect from poor and insufficient nourishment to a fast-growing girl, and at the time of life, remember, when she requires an extra quantity of good sustaining, supporting food? A poor girl, from such treatment, becomes either consumptive or broken down in constitution, and from which she never recovers, but drags on a miserable existence.] that the school be situated in a healthy spot, that it be well-drained, that there be a large play-ground attached to it, that the young people are allowed plenty of exercise in the open air—indeed, that at least one-third of the day is spent there in croquet, skipping, archery, battle-dore and shuttlecock, gardening, walking, running, &c.

Take care that the school-rooms are well-ventilated, that they are not over-crowded, and that the pupils are allowed chairs to sit upon, and not those abominations—forms and stools. If you wish to try the effect of them upon yourselves, sit for a couple of hours without stirring upon a form or upon a stool, and, take my word for it, you will insist that forms and stools be banished for ever from the schoolroom.

Assure yourself that the pupils are compelled to rise early in the morning, and that they retire early to rest; that each young lady has a separate bed [Footnote: A horse-hair mattress should always be preferred to a feather-bed. It is not only better for the health, but it improves the figure] and that many are not allowed to sleep in the same room, and that the apartments are large and well-ventilated. In fine, their health and their morals ought to be preferred far above all their accomplishments.

352. They use, in some schools, straight-backed chairs to make a girl sit upright, and to give strength to her back: do you approve of them?

Certainly not: the natural and the graceful curve of the back is not the curve of a straight-backed chair. Straight-backed chairs are instruments of torture, and are more likely to make a girl crooked than to make her straight. Sir Astley Cooper ridiculed straight-backed chairs, and well he might. It is always well for 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, etc. This is the plan to make her back straight and her muscles strong. Why should we bring up a girl differently from a boy? Muscular exercises, gymnastic performances, and health-giving exertion, are unladylike, forsooth!

HOUSEHOLD WORK FOR GIRLS.

353. Do you recommend household work as a means of health for my daughter?

Decidedly: whatever you do, do not make a fine lady of her, or she will become puny and delicate, listless, and miserable. A girl, let her station be what it might, ought, as soon as she be old enough, to make her own bed. There is no better exercise to expand the figure and to beautify the shape than is bed-making. Let her make tidy her own room. Let her use her hands and her arms. Let her, to a great extent, be self-reliant, and let her wait upon herself. There is nothing vulgar in her being useful. Let me ask, of what use are many girls of the present day? They are utterly useless. Are they happy? No, for the want of employment, they are miserable—I mean bodily employment, household work. Many girls, now-a-days, unfortunately, are made to look upon a pretty face, dress, and accomplishments, as the only things needed! And, when they do become women and wives—if ever they do become women and wives—what miserable lackadaisical wives, and what senseless, useless mothers they will make!

CHOICE OF PROFESSION OR TRADE.

354. What profession or trade would you recommend a boy of a delicate or of a consumptive habit to follow?

If a youth be delicate, it is a common practice among parents either to put him to some light in-door trade, or, if they can afford it, to one of the learned professions. Such a practice is absurd, and fraught with danger. The close confinement of an in-door trade is highly prejudicial to health. The hard reading requisite to fit a man to fill, for instance, the sacred office, only increases delicacy of constitution. The stooping at a desk, in an attorney's office, is most trying to the chest. The harass, the anxiety, the disturbed nights, the interrupted meals, and the intense study necessary to fit a man for the medical profession, is still more dangerous to health than either law, divinity, or any in-door trade. "Sir Walter Scott says of the country surgeon, that he is worse fed and harder wrought than any one else in the parish, except it be his fiorse."—Brown's Horoe Subsecivoe.

A modern writer, speaking of the life of a medical man, observes, "There is no career which so rapidly wears away the powers of life, because there is no other which requires a greater activity of mind and body. He has to bear the changes of weather, continued fatigue, irregularity in his meals, and broken rest; to live in the midst of miasma and contagion. If in the country, he has to traverse considerable distances on horseback, exposed to wind and storm; to brave all dangers to go to the relief of suffering humanity. A fearful truth for medical men has been established by the table of mortality of Dr. Caspar, published in the British Review. Of 1000 members of the medical profession, 600 died before their sixty-second year; whilst of persons leading a quiet life—such as agriculturists or theologians—the mortality is only 347. If we take 100 individuals of each of these classes, 43 theologians, 40 agriculturists, 35 clerks, 32 soldiers, will reach their seventieth year; of 100 professors of the healing art, 24 only will reach that age. They are the sign-posts to health; they can show the road to old age, but rarely tread it themselves."

If a boy, therefore, be of a delicate or of a consumptive habit, an out-door calling should be advised, such as that of a farmer, of a tanner, or a land-surveyor; but, if he be of an inferior station of society, the trade of a butcher may be recommended. Tanners and butchers are seldom known to die of consumption.

I cannot refrain from reprobating the too common practice among parents of bringing up their boys to the professions. The anxieties and the heartaches which they undergo if they do not succeed (and how can many of them succeed when there is such a superabundance of candidates?) materially injure their health. "I very much wonder," says Addison, "at the humour of parents, who will not rather choose to place their sons in a way of life where an honest industry cannot but thrive, than in stations where the greatest probity, learning, and good sense, may miscarry. How many men are country curates, that might have made themselves aldermen of London by a right improvement of a smaller sum of money than what is usually laid out upon a learned education? A sober, frugal person, of slender parts and a slow apprehension, might have thrived in trade, though he starves upon physic; as a man would be well enough pleased to buy silks of one whom he could not venture to feel his pulse. Vagellius is careful, studious, and obliging, but withal a little thick-skulled; he has not a single client, but might have had abundance of customers. The misfortune is that parents take a liking to a particular profession, and therefore desire their sons may be of it; whereas, in so great an affair of life, they should consider the genius and abilities of their children more than their own inclinations. It is the great advantage of a trading nation, that there are very few in it so dull and heavy who may not be placed in stations of life which may give them an opportunity of making their fortunes. A well-regulated commerce is not, like law, physic, or divinity, to be overstocked with hands; but, on the contrary, flourishes by multitudes, and gives employment to all its professors. Fleets of merchantmen are so many squadrons of floating shops, that vend our wares and manufactures in all the markets of the world, and find out chapmen under both the tropics."

355. Then, do you recommend a delicate youth to be brought up either to a profession or to a trade?

Decidedly; there is nothing so injurious for a delicate boy, or for anyone else, as idleness. Work, in moderation, enlivens the spirits, braces the nerves, and gives tone to the muscles, and thus strengthens the constitution. Of all miserable people, the idle boy, or the idle man, is the most miserable! If you be poor, of course you will bring him up to some calling; but if you be rich, and your boy be delicate (if he be not actually in a consumption), you will, if you are wise, still bring him up to some trade or profession. You will, otherwise, be making a rod for your own as well as for your son's back. Oh, what a blessed thing is work!

356. Have you any remarks to make on the sleep of boys and girls?

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 in the upper part of the chamber 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 during deep 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 ventilation of air. A bed-curtain may be allowed on the side of the bed where there are windy currents of air; otherwise bed-curtains 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 yon wish to be healthy?— Then keep the home 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 rush 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 weary—no wonder, 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 paved away" [Footnote: Household Verses on Health and Happiness London. Jarrold and Sons. Every mother should read these Verses.]

Plants and 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 atmosphere 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? Why close the eyes Of blossoms infinite long ere the moon Her oriental veil puts off? Think why, Nor let the sweetest blossom Nature boasts Be 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 Gire 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 family retire to rest. He ought, winter and summer, to seek 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 not allowing the chimney of any bedroom, or of any room in the house, to be stopped, as many are in the habit of doing to prevent, as they call it, a draught, but to prevent, as I should call it, health.

357. How many hours of deep ought a boy to have?

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 does better 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."—Shakspeare.

ON THE TEETH AND THE GUMS.

358. What are the beet means of keeping the teeth and the gums in a healthy state?

I would recommend the teeth and the gums to be well brushed with warm salt and water, in the proportion 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—Todd. The salt and water should be used every night.

The 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 wide mouthed stoppered bottle.

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 every 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 every 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 get of teeth I ever saw m 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!

Camphor ought never to be 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 sealing instruments, but to adopt the plan recommended by Dr 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 intellect, 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 advantages are not unmixed with danger; this same arterial blood may exite and feed inflammation, and either convulsions, 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 warded off?

It behoves a parent, if her son be precocious, to restrain 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 his 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 intellectual of children becomes one of the most commonplace of men.

Let me urge you, if you have a precocious child, to give, and that before it be too late, the subject in question 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 he 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. What 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, protuberant 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 roles of health is the means to prevent scrofula. Books, unless as an amusement, ought to be discarded. The patient must almost live in the open air, and his residence should be 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 requisite; 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 education 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 already formed, what must 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 recommended), by cod-liver oil, by a dry bracing atmosphere, such as, either Brighton, or Ramsgate, or Llandudno; or if the lungs be delicate, by a more sheltered coast, such as, either St Leonards or Torquay.

Let no active purging, no-mercurials, no violent, desperate remedies be 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 by jar be left to Nature: "Let me fall now into the hand of the Lord; for very great are his mercies; but let me not fall into the hand of man."—Chronicles.

365. Have you any remarks to make on a girl stooping?

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 requisition, 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 reclining 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!" [Footnote: A. K, H. B., Fraser's Magazine, October 1861.]

367. My daughter has grown out of shape, she has grown on one ride, 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 deformity?

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 learning, 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 her almost live in the open air, and by throwing books to the 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 the 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 exercising 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 the purpose.

I think it well to strongly impress upon a mother's 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 be looked upon as a dangerous symptom?

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 most 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 confirmed? 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 instances, 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 may an Englishman's dwelling be called home!—and good nursing more than another, it is consumption.

369. What it the death-rate of consumption in England? At what age does 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 indicated 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 consumption 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 dreadful 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 the 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 consumptive person usually falls off, and what little remains is weak and poor; the joints of the fingers become enlarged, 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 the 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 expectoration be stirred in water, it has a milk-like appearance. The patient is commonly harassed by frequent bowel complaints, which rob him of what little strength he has left. The feet and ankles swell. The perspiration, as before remarked, comes 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 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 of approaching 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 breathe—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 entirely 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 amusements, tight lacing; indeed, anything and everything, that either will debilitate the constitution, or will interfere 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: "Whatsoever 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 employments—such as needle-grinding, pearl button making etc.

371. Supposing a youth to have spitting of blood, what precautions would you take to prevent it from ending in consumption?

Let his health be the first consideration; throw books to the winds; if he be at school, take him away; if he 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 Leonards-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 favourable, or summer or autumn, change of air, more especially to the south-coast—to the 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—consumption—as change of air. The beginning of the autumn is, of course, the beat 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 Mentone [Footnote: See Winter and Spring on the Shores of the Mediterranean, By J. Henry Bennet, M.D., London: Churchill.]—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 attacks?

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 luke-warm salt and water, the temperature 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, [Footnote: A wine-glassful of barm, a wine-glassful of vinegar, and the remainder sage tea, to make a half-pint bottle of gargle.] or with salt and water—two tea-spoonfuls of table salt dissolved in a tumbler of water. He ought to harden himself by taking plenty of exercise in the open air. He must, as much as possible, avoid either 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 remarks to make on the almost universal 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 desirability 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 predisposing 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 tune since seized with epileptic fits, which became worse and worse in spite of all the 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 intelligent 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. What are the best methods to restrain a violent bleeding 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 restrained. If it be necessary to restrain the bleeding, press firmly, for a few minutes, the nose between the finger and the thumb; this 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 suck.

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 held up, the arms and the hands high above the head: this plan has frequently succeeded when others have failed. Let the room he 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 spray—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 0.723.

If the above treatment does not soon succeed, send for a medical man, as more active means, such as plugging of the nostrils—which, is not done unless in extreme cases—might be necessary.

But before plugging of the nose is resorted to, it will be well to try 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, [Footnote: 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."] unloosen her dress as quickly as possible; ascertain if she have 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 circulation 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.

To prevent 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 amusements.

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 bowels (another frequent cause of fainting), I beg to refer you to a subsequent Conversation, 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 Calumba, 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:—

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 had a great objection to a mother administering calomel either to an infant or to a child, have you the same objection to a boy or a girl taking it when he or she requires an aperient?

Equally as great. It is my firm belief that the frequent use, or rather the abuse, of calomel and of other preparations of mercury, is often a source of liver 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 drag 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 prevention 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—Beat 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 or at bedtime.

Or, one or two tea-spoonfuls of Compound Confection. 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 Socotrine Aloes, eight grains, Compound Extract of Colocynth, forty-eight grains, Hard Soap, twenty four grains, Treacle, a sufficient quantity

To make twenty four Pills. One or two to be taken at bedtime 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, figs, fruit both cooked and raw—if it be ripe and sound, oatmeal porridge, lentil powder, in the form of Du Barry's Arabica Revalenta, 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 herself, by means of a proper enema apparatus.

Hydropathy is oftentimes very serviceable in preventing 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 be 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 is 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 hold 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 convictions compel me to avow it.

378. What is the reason girls are so subject to costiveness?

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 consequence? 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 she becomes a woman, if she ever does become one, is spiritless, heavy, doll, 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? 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 m the open air—"So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead 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 the face, what is the 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 shoulders, the back, and the chest; and as they more frequently affect the young, from the age of 15 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 unfrequently added considerable pain, and always much unsightliness. 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 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, [Footnote: Four poppy heads and four ounces of camomile blows to be boiled in four pints of water for half an hoar, and then to be strained to make the fomentation.] and apply to the gum-boil, between the cheek and the gum, a small white bread and milk poultice, [Footnote: 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.] which renew frequently.

As soon as the gum-boil has become quiet, by all means have the affected tooth extracted, or it might 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 cause the breath to be offensive.

382. What is the best remedy 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 corn. 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 called 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 on the other) neither too coarse nor too fine in the cutting. The corn ought, once every day, to be filed, and should daily be 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 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. [Footnote: 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). I am quite sure that of such a plan were adopted, every town of any size in the kingdom would employee 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 both in civil and in military life.]

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 recommended in a previous Conversation, [Footnote: Youth—Ablution, page 250.] taking especial care to wash with the thumb, and afterwards to wipe with the towel between each toe.

383. What are the best remedies to destroy a Wart?

Pure nitric acid, [Footnote: 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.] carefully applied to the wart by means of a small stick of cedar wood—a camel's hair pencil-holder—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. What is the best remedy for tender feet, for sweaty feet, 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?

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 fresh air and exercise, by want of occupation, and by want of self-reliance. Weak, nervous, and unhappy! Well they might be! What have they to make them strong and happy? Have they work to do to brace the muscles? 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. What 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 he opened, to this important subject?—the most important that can engage her attention!

388. What is the 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 single.

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 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 choken 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 discharge 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 Chlorosis 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 heartily! Such language is perfectly 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, the 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 refining away of the physical system among young women. Some philosophers choose to glorify this habit 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 rales of health—"The women of America are growing more and more handsome every 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 healthful, 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.

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 indigestion, or confirmed ill-health.

391. At what period of life is a lady most prone in 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 quantities 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 commencement 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; after a time she bursts into a violent flood of tears, and then gradually comes 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 exhausted 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 hysterica passio—

"Oh how this, mother, swells up toward my Heart! Hysterica passio!"

Sir Walter Scott graphically describes 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 causes 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, etc., to employ her mind with botany, croquet, archery, or with any out-door amusement, to confine herself to plain, wholesome, nourishing food, to avoid tight 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 fit 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 recovering 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.

The meanest flow'ret of the vale, The amplest note that swells the gale, The common air, the earth, the skies, To him are opening Paradise."—Grey

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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 completely mastered and understood.

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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!"



INDEX.

ABLUTION of a child

of an infant

of a youth

thorough, of boy and girl

Accidents of children

how to prevent

Acne, symptoms and treatment of

Advice to a mother if her infant be poorly

to Mr Pater familias

Ailments, the distinction between between serious and slight

of infants

Air and exercise for youth

the importance of good