When in pain, it is harmful to eat, for the secretions are then perverted and digestion is interfered with. All violent emotions, such as hatred, jealousy, and anger, mean that no food should be taken until the body has had the opportunity to relax and regain some of its tone. Such emotions do not thrive so well in healthy individuals as among the sick, but then perfect health is a rarity.

When going without food people are subject to various symptoms, which depend as much on the temperament as on the physical conditions. A hysterical woman can scare inexperienced attendants into doing her will by her antics. She may make them believe that she is dying. On the other hand, well balanced, fearless people can fast for weeks with very little annoyance. Fasting is not always pleasant and there are a number of symptoms that are often present.

The faster loses weight, at first often as much as two pounds a day. This is mostly water. After the first ten days the loss may be but one-half of a pound, or less, per day. The loss of weight is greatest in heavy people and in those who have high fevers.

The tongue becomes badly coated, and the breath foul, showing that the mucous membrane is busy throwing out waste. The tongue remains coated until the system is clean, and then it clears off. Most people feel weak when they attempt to walk or work, but they feel strong when resting. Others, who are badly food-poisoned, gain strength as the system eliminates the harmful substances from the body. For a day or two the craving for food may be quite insistent and persistent. Then hunger generally leaves and does not return until the tongue is clean. The mind becomes clearer as the body becomes cleaner. This benefit to the spirit, or the soul, has been recognized by religious organizations for centuries.

A little discharge of blood from the bowels at first should cause no alarm. In some cases a great deal of yellow mucus is thrown into the lower bowel. The liver at times throws off so much bile that it makes the patient alarmed. This should cause no uneasiness. When the bile is forced upward into the stomach it is very disagreeable. The discharges from the bowels are often very dark.

There is a tendency toward chilliness, especially to have cold hands and feet. Skin eruptions and heart palpitations are occasional symptoms. Nervous, irritable and fearful people have symptoms too numerous to mention. The more they are sympathized with the worse they become.

Many medical men have misinterpreted the symptoms of the fast, and hence they have condemned the procedure. They see the foul coating on the tongue, the loss of weight and at times peculiar mental manifestations. They can smell the foul breath and the disagreeable odor from the skin and from the bowel discharges. These they interpret as signs of physical deterioration and degeneration. These manifestations indicate that the entire body is cleansing itself, throwing out impurities that have accumulated, because the system has had so much work to do that it has lacked the power to be self-cleansing. Nothing is needed to prove this fact except to continue the fast until the odors disappear and the tongue becomes clean.

The bad odors given off by the body resemble the odors in severe fevers with much wasting, and hence they alarm those who have had little or no experience with protracted fasts. These odors are often bad at the end of about one week of fasting, though there is no fixed period for their appearance. They should cause no alarm for they simply indicate that the body is cleansing itself, and that is exactly what is desired. Under proper conditions I have neither seen nor heard of a fatality coming from a short fast. Those who are in such physical shape that they will die if fasted from five to ten days would die if they were fed.

Another symptom that may alarm the attendant is the lowered blood pressure. This is natural and should cause no anxiety. Eating and drinking keep the blood pressure up. When the food intake is decreased, the blood pressure is reduced. When the food intake is stopped, the blood pressure is still further reduced. This fact should give the intelligent healer the hint to reduce the food intake in such abnormal conditions as arteriosclerosis and apoplexy. During prolonged fasts the blood pressure generally becomes quite low.

Some fasting people can continue with light work, and when they are able to do this, it is best, for it keeps them from thinking about themselves all the time. If there is a lack of energy, dispense with work and vigorous exercise. In acute diseases there is no choice. One is compelled to cease laboring. In chronic diseases it depends on the patient and the adviser.

Dismiss fear from the mind and do not discuss the fast or any of the symptoms with anyone except the adviser. It is best not to tell any outsiders about the fast, for the public has some queer ideas on the subject. If you are afraid, or if you have to fight with neighbors, friends, relatives, or perhaps with the health authorities, as sometimes happens, it is better not to take the fast.

Drink all the water desired. At first the more one drinks the more quickly the system cleanses itself. A glass of water every hour during the day, or even every half hour is all right. The water may be warm or cold, but it should not be ice-cold nor should it be hot. Both extremes produce irritation.

In acute inflammation of the stomach, nothing should be given by mouth. Small quantities of water may be given by rectum every two or three hours. In appendicitis only very small quantities of water are to be given by mouth at first, until the acute symptoms have subsided. Large quantities of fluid may excite violent peristalsis with resulting pain. In all eases of nausea, give nothing by mouth, not even water, until the nausea is gone. Symptoms are nature's sign language, and when properly interpreted they tell us what to do and what not to do.

Even though there be no thirst or desire for water, some should be taken. If it can be taken by mouth give at least a glassful every two hours, not necessarily all at once. Some are so sensitive that one-half of a glass of water is all they can tolerate. If the stomach objects to water, give it by rectum. Always do this in cases of much nausea. After a few days the water intake may be reduced.

Take a quick sponge bath every day and if there is any inclination toward chilliness, the water should be tepid or warm. Follow with a few minutes of dry towel friction. People who are overweight, with good heart and kidney action, can take prolonged hot baths, if they wish. An olive oil rub immediately after the bath, about twice a week, is grateful. However, this is not necessary.

The colon is to be washed out every day. No definite amount of water can be prescribed. Occasionally enemas are taken under difficulties, for some cramp when water is introduced into the bowel. Those who are not accustomed to enemas should use water about 100 degrees Fahrenheit. One quart is a small enema. Two quarts make a fairly large one. Introduce the water, lie still for a few minutes and then allow it to pass out. If the bowels are very foul, use two or three washings. If there is much fermentation, use some soda in the water. Salt, about a tablespoonful to two quarts of water, stimulates the bowels, but its disadvantage is that it draws water from the intestinal walls, thus robbing the blood of a part of its fluid. The same is true of glycerin. Perhaps the least harmful ingredient that can be put into the water to stimulate action is enough pure castile soap to render the water opaque. The soap, however, has a tendency to wash away too much of the mucus which lubricates the bowel. On the whole, nothing is better than plain water. If it gives good results use nothing else.

Those who are very sensitive and weak often find that the expulsion of water from the bowel not only further weakens them, but causes pain. In such cases Dr. Hazzard recommends a rectal tube (not a colon tube), which is very good, for it allows the emptying of the bowel without any cramping. The tube is to be inserted about six inches.

To take the enema, assume either the knee-chest position (kneeling with the shoulders close to the floor) or lie on the right side with the hips elevated. These positions allow water to flow into colon by aid of gravity.

When it is necessary to supply liquid to the body by rectum, simply introduce a pint or less of plain water, moderately warm. Repeat as often as necessary to keep away thirst, which will rarely be more than every three hours.

Keep the body warm at all times. If it is difficult to keep warm, go to bed and use enough covers, having the windows open enough to supply fresh air. At night use artificial heat in the foot of the bed. If hot-water bottles, warm bricks or stones are used, they should be quite large; otherwise they become cold by two or three o'clock in the morning, when heat is most needed. If a large receptacle, such as a jug, is used to keep the water in, the bed clothes are lifted off the patient's feet, and this is often a great relief.

No special food is suited to break all fasts on. It is necessary to begin with plain food in moderation. Overeating or eating of indigestible food at this time may result in sickness and even in death. If the faster lacks self-control, the food should be brought to him in proper quantities by the attendant.

If the fast has lasted but two or three days, no special precautions are necessary, except that the first few meals should be smaller than usual.

As indiscretions in eating compel nearly all fasts it is necessary to do a little better than previously, or the fast must be repeated. It is best to live so that fasts are not necessary.

If the fast has been prolonged it is best to begin feeding liquid foods. What shall we feed? That depends on the patient and circumstances. The juice of the concord grape is not good for it ferments too easily. Many of those who are compelled to fast or else die have been so food-poisoned, and their digestive organs have been in such horrible condition for years that they have been unable to eat acid fruits. This is especially true of those who consume large quantities of starch. Sometimes they are unable to eat fruit for a while after the fast. At other times the irritability of the digestive organs disappears while food is withheld. For such people broths and milk may be employed.

The juice of oranges, pineapples, California grapes, cherries, blackberries or tomatoes may be given. The tomatoes may be made into broth and strained, but nothing is to be added to this broth except salt. Stout people should do well on fruit juices. They are not to be so highly recommended for very thin, nervous people, for fruit juices are both thinning and cooling. Milk is very useful, and may be given either sweet or clabbered or in the form of buttermilk.

Thin, nervous people can safely be given broths, preferably of lamb, mutton or chicken. Trim away all the fat, grind up the lean meat, and allow it to simmer (not boil) until all the juices are extracted from the meat. Strain and put away to cool. When cold, skim off the fat. Then warm the broth and serve. This broth is not to be seasoned while it is being cooked, but a little salt may be added when it is ready to serve. To one pound of lean meat there should be about one quart of broth. A teacupful to begin with is enough for a meal, and it is often necessary to give less than this. The gravest mistake is to be in a hurry about returning to full meals. The remarks about moderate feeding also apply to milk and fruit juices.

Ordinarily, fasts are not broken on starchy foods, but this may be done at times to advantage, especially in cases that have been accustomed to large quantities of starch and but little of the fresh raw foods. The starch must, however, be in an easily digestible state and should be in the form of a very thin gruel made of oatmeal or whole wheatmeal. It should be cooked four to six hours and dressed with nothing but a little salt. A few can break the fast on a full meal without any bad results, but most people can not do it without suffering and the results may be fatal. So it is a safe rule to break the fast on simple liquid food, taken in moderation.

Four or five days after breaking the fast, one should be able to eat the ordinary foods. The following is a suggestion of the manner in which to feed immediately after a fast of about two weeks:

First day: Tomato broth once; mutton broth twice.

Second day: Breakfast, orange juice. Lunch, buttermilk. Dinner, sliced tomatoes.

Third day: Breakfast, buttermilk. Lunch, salad of lettuce and tomatoes, dressed with salt. Dinner, poached egg, celery.

Fourth day: Breakfast, baked apple and milk. Lunch, toasted bread and butter. Dinner, lamb chops, stewed green peas, celery.

If a meal causes distress, omit the next one and continue omitting meals until comfort and ease have returned. If the digestion is very weak, or if the illness has been protracted, do not feed solids as soon as recommended above. In all cases it is necessary to exercise self-control, moderation and common sense.

The meals must be moderate. Gradually increase until the amount of food taken is sufficient to do the necessary bodily rebuilding. The longer the fast, the more care should be exercised in the beginning. It is no time to experiment.

If the fast is to be of permanent benefit it is necessary to learn how to eat properly afterwards, and to put this knowledge into practice. This is the most important part to emphasize, yet all the books I have read on the subject have failed to pay any attention to it. In nearly every case the fast is necessary because of repeated mistakes in eating and drinking. Those mistakes built bodily ills in the first place and if the faster goes back to them they will do it again. The disease does not always take on the same type as it did in the first place, but it is the same old disease. During a fast there is recuperation because the body has a chance to become clean, and a clean body can not long remain unbalanced, provided there are no organic faults. By making mistakes in eating after the fast is over, the body again becomes foul and full of debris and that means more disease. Perhaps it may not require more than one-third as much abuse to cause a second break-down as it did to bring about the first one.

Some people fast repeatedly, and are somewhat proud of it. They should be ashamed of the fact that they must fast time after time, for it shows either ignorance or a weak, undeveloped will power. The fast should teach every intelligent being that it is an emergency measure, and emergencies are but seldom encountered in a well regulated life.

Food debauches following fasts should be avoided. A little will power properly applied will prevent them. Gross eating may compel another fast. We must eat and it is better to eat so that we can take sustenance regularly than to be compelled to go without food at various intervals. He who is moderate in his eating, uses a fair degree of intelligence in the selection of his food, is temperate in other ways and considerate and kind in his dealings with others will not be ill.

A fast is efficacious in clearing up a brain that is unable to work well because it is bathed in unclean blood. It is remarkable how well the brain works when the stomach is not overworked. Overfeeding the body causes underfeeding of the brain. On a correct diet the brain is efficient and clear and able to bear sustained burdens.

There is no question but that a fast, followed by a light diet, containing less of the heavily starchy and proteid foods and more of the succulent vegetables and fresh fruits, with their cleansing juices and health-imparting salts, would result in the recovery of over one-half of the insane. Most of them are suffering functionally and here the outlook is very hopeful. Christ cured a lunatic "by prayer and fasting." Proper feeding would work wonders in prisons. It would also be very beneficial for wayward girls and young men who are passion's slaves. St. Peter recommended fasting as an aid to morality, which is another evidence of the profundity of his wisdom.

How long should a fast last? Until its object has been accomplished. It is rarely necessary to fast a month, but sometimes it is advisable to continue the fast for forty days, or even longer. If the fast is taken on account of pain, continue until the pain is gone. If for fever, until there is no more fever. In chronic cases it is not always necessary to continue the fast until the tongue is clean. When the patient is free from pain and fever and comfortable in every way, start feeding lightly. People who are thin and have sluggish nutrition, one symptom of which is dirty-gray mucous membrane in mouth and throat, should not be fasted any longer than it is absolutely necessary, for they generally react slowly and poorly.

If people would miss a meal or two or three as soon as they begin to feel bad, no long fasts would be necessary, because when the system first begins to be deranged it very quickly rights itself when food is withheld. It is impossible for a serious disease to develop in a fasting person, unless he is in an exceptionally bad physical condition at the beginning of the fast, for when food is withheld there is nothing for disease to feed upon. No new disease can originate during a fast.

Fasts often bring people back to health, who can not recover through any other means known to man, unless it be eating almost nothing—a semi-fast. Occasionally a patient dies while on a long fast or immediately thereafter, but please remember that millions die prematurely on this earth every year who never missed their meals for one day. Also remember that those who go on prolonged fasts are generally "hopeless cases," who have been given up to die by medical men. People who fast generally become comfortable, so why envy a few men and women an easy departure when they are no longer able to live, and why heap undeserved censure on those who are doing their best to ease the sufferers by means of our most valuable therapeutic measure, fasting?

There is much prejudice against fasting, but a calm study of the facts will remove this. Typhoid fever, conventionally treated, often proves fatal in 15 per cent. or more of the cases and those who survive have to undergo a long, uncomfortable illness which often leaves them so weakened and with such degenerated bodies that the end is frequently a matter of a few months or years. Pneumonia and tuberculosis find a favorable place to develop and in these cases prove very fatal. On the other hand, cases of typhoid treated by the fast, and the other hygienic measures necessary, recover in a short time, there are no evil sequels and the body is in better condition than it was before the onset of the disease. I have never seen a fatality in a properly treated case, and the mortality is conspicuous by its absence. It is the same in curable chronic diseases. Where feeding and medicating add to the ills, fasting with proper living afterwards brings health.

It is also well to remember that where one individual dies while fasting (not from the effects of fasting, but from the disease for which the fast was begun), perhaps one hundred thousand starve because they have too much to eat. Silly as this may sound, it is the truth, and this is s the explanation: Overfeeding causes digestive troubles and a breakdown of the assimilative and excretory processes. The more food that is taken while this condition exists the less nourishment is extracted from it. The food ferments pathologically, instead of physiologically, and poisons the body. The more that is eaten under the circumstances, the worse is the poisoning and at last the tired body wearily gives up the fight for existence, perhaps after a long chronic ailment has been suffered, or perhaps during the attack of an acute disease. The chief cause of death is too much food.

Avicena, the great Arabian physician, treated by means of prolonged fasts.

For the benefit of those who fear the effects of fasts of a few days' duration a few quotations are given from various sources:

"My next marked case is a wonderful illustration of the self-feeding power of the brain to meet an emergency, and a revelation, also, of the possible limitations of the starvation period. This was the case of a frail, spare boy of four years, whose stomach was so disorganized by a drink of solution of caustic potash that not even a swallow of water could be retained. He died on the seventy-fifth day of his fast, with the mind clear to the last hour, and with apparently nothing of the body left but bones, ligaments, and a thin skin; and yet the brain had lost neither weight nor functional clearness.

"In another city a similar accident happened to a child of about the same age, in whom it took three months for the brain to exhaust entirely the available body-food."—Dr. E. H. Dewey.

This shows the groundlessness of the fear parents have of allowing their children to fast when necessary. It is beneficial for even the babies who need it. In the cases quoted above the conditions were very unfavorable, for the children were suffering from the effects of lye burns, yet they lived without food seventy-five and ninety days, respectively. If necessary, deprive the children of food, and keep them warm. Then comfort yourself with the fact that they are being treated humanely and efficiently.

Dr. Linda Burfield Hazzard, in the latest edition of her book, Fasting for the Cure of Disease, states that she has treated almost two thousand five hundred people by this method, the fasts varying in duration from eight to seventy five days, many of them being over a month. Sixteen of her patients have died while fasting and two on a light diet. This is far from being a mortality of 1 per cent. When the fact is taken into consideration that the people she treated were of the class for whom the average medical man can do nothing the mortality is surprisingly small. However, she has lost a few, and as she is a fighter for her beliefs the prejudice against her and her method of treating disease have proved strong enough to cause her to be imprisoned. Dr. Hazzard has perhaps the widest experience with fasting of any mortal, living or dead. Her book is well worth reading.

Upton Sinclair has also written a book on this subject, entitled the Fasting Cure. He writes from the viewpoint of an intelligent layman whose observations are not very extensive. The book contains many good ideas. This is from page fifty-seven:

"The longest fast of which I had heard when my article was written was seventy eight days; but that record has since been broken, by a man named Richard Fausel. Mr. Fausel, who keeps a hotel somewhere in North Dakota, had presumably partaken too generously of the good cheer intended for his guests, for he found himself at the inconvenient weight of three hundred and eighty-five pounds. He went to a sanatorium in Battle Creek and there fasted for forty days (if my recollection serves me), and by dint of vigorous exercise meanwhile, he got rid of one hundred and thirty pounds. I think I never saw a funnier sight than Mr. Fausel at the conclusion of this fast, wearing the same pair of trousers that he had worn at the beginning of it. But the temptations of hotel-keepers are severe, and when he went back home, he found himself going up in weight again. This time he concluded to do the job thoroughly, and went to Macfadden's place in Chicago, and set out upon a fast of ninety days. That is a new record—though I sometimes wonder if it is quite fair to call it 'fasting' when a man is simply living upon an internal larder of fat."

Bernarr Macfadden has also written considerable about fasting. C. C. Haskell is an advocate and director of such treatment. Many physicians employ this healing method. Some day the entire medical profession will realize the worth of fasting as a curative agent.

As a reminder, please allow me to repeat: When reading and studying about the subject of fasting, do not think of it as a complete cure, for those who return to their improper mode of living will again build disease. After the fast, live right.

The efficient body is clean internally. An unclean skin is bad. A foul alimentary tract is worse. But the worst of all is a foul condition of all the tissues, including the blood-stream, a condition in which much of the body's waste is stored up, instead of being excreted.

If such a condition can not be remedied through moderation and simplicity in eating, the only thing that will prove of value is temporary abstinence.

It would be an easy matter to enumerate many long fasts, such as that of Dr. Tanner, who proved to an astonished country that fasting for a month or more is not fatal, but on the contrary may be beneficial. Or we could cite cases like the fasts carried on by classes under the direction of Bernarr Macfadden. Or we could refer to the experiments of Professors Fisher and Chittenden of Yale.

However, we will only look into one more case, that of Dr. I. J. Eales, whose fast created considerable interest several years ago. The doctor was too heavy, so he decided to take a fast to reduce his weight, also for scientific purposes. For thirty days he lived on nothing but water with an occasional glass of lemonade and one cup of coffee. At the end of thirty days he broke his fast on a glass of malted milk.

The doctor worked hard during all this period, losing weight all the time, being thirty pounds lighter at the end of his fast than at the beginning. However, he did not lose strength, being able to do as much work and lift as heavy weights at the end of the fast as at the beginning. Anyone who is much over weight can with benefit do as the doctor did, for the body will use the stored up fat to produce heat and energy. This fast is fully detailed in Dr. Eales' book called Healthology.

Fasting is the quickest way to produce internal cleanliness, which is health. When the system is clean the cravings, longings and appetites are not so strong as when the body is full of poisons. For this reason a fast is the best way to destroy the cravings for tobacco, coffee, tea, alcohol and other habit-forming drugs. If, after the fast is over, the individual lives moderately and simply, and is fully determined not to return to the use of these drugs, a permanent cure will be the reward. However, it is very easy to drift back into the old habits. A permanent cure requires that there be no compromise, no saying, "I shall do it this time, but never again." Once the old habit is resumed, it is almost certain to be continued.



CHAPTER XXVI.

ATTITUDE OF PARENT TOWARD CHILD.

Healthy, happy children are the greatest of all rewards. All parents can have such children, and it is a duty they owe themselves, the children and the race. It is a most pleasant duty, for the returns are far greater than the cost.

In order to have first-class children parents must be in good physical condition and be controlled mentally. Chaotic parents can not have orderly children. The young people learn quickly from their elders and they usually take after one of the parents. They intuitively learn what they can do and what they can not do and how to get their way while we consider them too young to have any understanding.

Therefore it is important that their first impressions are correct. Begin to train the child in the way it should go from the day of birth. The first training will have to do with feeding and sleeping. These points are covered more fully in the next chapter. They are touched upon here to give them emphasis.

Feed the child three times a day, but never wake it to be fed. If you give the three feeds, the child will soon become accustomed to them and wake when it is time. If the child squirms and frets, it may be uncomfortable from being overfed or it may be thirsty. Offer it water but not food.

Let the child alone. Do not bounce it or carry it about. During the first few months the baby needs heat, nourishment and rest, and should have no excitement. It should not be treated as a plaything. After a few months it begins to take notice of things and then you can have much fun with it.

The right kind of love consists in doing what is necessary for the infant and no more.

Obedience to the reasonable requests of the parents is of the greatest importance in the successful raising of children. Parents should realize this even before the children are born. From the first, be firm, though gentle, with the little ones. Children should be so trained that when they are requested to do a thing, they do it immediately without any repetition. This will save both them and the parents many an unhappy hour.

The lives of many parents and many children are made miserable from lack of a little parental firmness at the start.

There are many little graces that are not vital, yet they are important, and these should be taught children early, for then they become second nature. Among these are good table manners. Ungainly table manners have no bearing on the health, but they give an unfavorable impression to others. We are partly judged by the presence or absence of such little graces.

Training children is like training trees. A sapling can be made to grow in the desired way, but after a few years it will not respond to training. The period of infancy is plastic, and then is the time to plant the seeds in the child's mind and teach good habits.

It is not difficult to train the children. If the parents are orderly and firm, instead of wavering, the children almost intuitively fall into line. Teach them to obey and they will later be able to command intelligently and considerately.

The babies are helpless at first. This softens the hearts of the parents toward them until they become very indulgent. Indulging and pampering children are bad for them. Kindness consists in doing for them what is for their good, which is not always what they desire.

If the children are properly trained at first, they need very little training later on.



CHAPTER XXVII.

CHILDREN.

Statistics are generally very dry and uninteresting, but at times they take on a tragic interest, and the importance of the few submitted here is so great that they should command careful attention.

The definite figures used are taken from the Mortality Statistics, United States Census, and they cover the year 1912, which is the last year for which we have definite information. Reliable mortality statistics are given only in a part of the country, which is not to our credit. The population is reported in the volume as 92,309,348. The registration area, which is the area giving mortality statistics, contains 53,843,896 people. In this area the total deaths are as follows:

Under one year.............. 154,373 Under ten years............. 235,262

Taking it for granted that the infant and child mortality among the unregistered people is the same, we get the following number of deaths annually among children in the United States, in round numbers:

Under one year.............. 280,000 Under ten years............. 425,000

This is a very conservative estimate and 300,000 is usually given as the number of deaths annually among babies under the age of one year.

Even under ideal conditions a baby would occasionally die, but the deaths would be so rare that they would be the cause of surprised comment. Some become parents who have no right to be, and they bring children into the world who are not physically fit to survive, and these generally die within a few days or weeks of birth. However, these babies are but a small minority and at least ninety-nine out of a hundred should survive. Not one baby born physically fit would die if intelligently cared for, and the fact that each year we lose over one-fourth million infants under one year of age in the United States is an indictment of our lives and intelligence, and a challenge to better our ways.

Every child that is brought into the world should be given an opportunity to live. This is far from the case today. Children are so handicapped that they are stunted in body and blunted in mind, if they survive.

Suppose that every ten years an army of 4,250,000 men and women between the ages of twenty and thirty were destroyed at one time in this country! The indignation, sorrow and horror would be so great that a means would soon be found to end the periodic slaughter.

But we allow this many children under ten to be destroyed every ten years. The slaughter of the innocents does not bring forth much protest, because we are so used to it, and the babies go one by one, all over the country. The procession to the grave gives rise to this thought: "The little one is better off. Now he will suffer no more. It is the will of Providence." This is a libel on Providence, for this enormous mortality is due to parental mistakes, mistakes made mostly through ignorance, but blamable all the same. It behooves parents to obtain knowledge that will prevent such costly and fatal errors. Nature's law is the same as man's rule in this that ignorance of the law excuses no one. The results are the same whether we err knowingly or ignorantly.

It is difficult to teach people to treat their babies properly, because nearly all the information on the subject is so erroneous. When a teacher brings forth the truth but few accept it, for the vast majority are on the other side. Those parents who accept the truth find it difficult, to put it into practice, for every hand is against them. It takes more strength of character and moral courage than the average individual possesses to withstand the criticism of neighbors, friends, relatives and medical advisers.

The few who have the courage of their convictions and the right knowledge reap a rich harvest. They have babies who are well. They see their children grow up with sound bodies and clear minds. They are saved much of the worry which is the lot of parents of children raised according to conventional standards. Last, but by no means least, they have the satisfaction of giving to the race individuals who are better than their parents or the grandparents. There is much opportunity for human improvement, and the improvement will take place automatically, if we do not prevent it by going contrary to nature.

Healthy babies spring from normal, healthy parents. If they can have normal grandparents, so much the better, but inasmuch as we can not alter the past, let us give our attention to the present. If we take care of the present, the future will bring forth a population of healthy parents and grandparents, and then the babies will have full opportunity. The past has great influence, for the child of today is heir of the past, modified by the present. He who influences the present leaves his mark on the future. As individuals we do not usually accomplish much during a lifetime, but if we influence our time for the better it is hard to tell where the improvement will cease or what will be the aggregate result. A truth imparted to others acts much like a pebble cast into the water. Its influence is felt in ever widening circles.

Infancy and youth are plastic. Both body and mind are susceptible to surrounding influences. If the heredity is unfavorable it can be largely modified by favorable environments. If a child is born of unhealthy parents, but without any serious defect, and is intelligently cared for after birth, it will grow up to be healthy. On the other hand, a child born of healthy parents that is improperly cared for will become ill and perhaps die young.

In early years the habits are formed that will largely influence and control the years of maturity. Most children learn bad habits from birth. It is as easy to acquire good habits as bad ones, and as people are largely creatures of habits, every parent should aim to give his children a good start. Parents seldom do wrong intentionally, but they are careless and many of the parental habits of the race are bad, and for this the future generations must suffer.

It is easier and more economical to have healthy babies than to have sickly ones. The healthy way is the simple way. It merely means self-control, common sense and constructive knowledge on the part of the parents.

PRENATAL CARE.

It is commonly believed that a pregnant woman must eat for two. The wise woman will not increase her food intake. If she is not up to par physically at the time of conception she will generally find it advantageous to decrease the food allowance.

A healthy baby should not weigh to exceed six, or at most seven, pounds at birth. Five pounds would be better. It does not take much food to nourish an infant of that weight, and the baby does not weigh that much until shortly before birth. Most of the food is used for fuel but the amount of fuel required to heat a baby that is kept warm within the mother's body is almost negligible.

One of the first and most important requisites for having healthy children is to avoid the eating-for-two fallacy. Most people overeat, anyway, and there should be no encouragement in this line.

The results of overeating are many and serious. The mother grows too heavy or else she becomes dyspeptic. Overeating and partaking of food of poor quality are the chief causes of the ills of pregnancy. Prospective mothers can be comfortable. Pregnancy and childbirth are physiological. Normal women suffer very little inconvenience or pain. The suffering during pregnancy, the pain and accidents at childbirth are measures of the mother's abnormality. The greater the inconvenience the farther has the individual strayed from a natural life. The women who live normally from the time of conception, or before, until the birth of the baby will be surprised how little inconvenience there is.

For ideal results the father must be kind, considerate and self-controlled. It is a disagreeable fact that many men are brutal and inconsiderate of wives and unborn children. The extent of this brutality can hardly be realized by those who have had no medical experience. Perhaps the women are partly to blame, for they do not teach their boys to be considerate and kind and they leave them in ignorance of subjects that are important and that can best be taught by parents.

A pregnant woman should be mistress of her body. During this period the husband has morally no marital rights. If boys were educated by their parents on this subject they would be reasonable later on, and the average boy of fourteen or fifteen is old enough to receive such education.

Gestation should be a period of calm. All excitement and passion are harmful. The mother should be as free from annoyance as possible. Cheerfulness should be the rule. Those who are not naturally cheerful should cultivate this desirable state of mind. Gruesome and horrible topics should not be discussed. The reading should not be along tragic lines. The study of nature and the philosophy of men who have found life sweet are among the helpful mental occupations. The mental attitude has its effect, not only on the mother, but on the unborn babe. That the seed for good or evil is often planted in the child's brain before birth, according to the mental and physical condition of the mother, can hardly be doubted. Mothers who live naturally can dismiss all worry on the subject of harm coming to themselves through maternity, for there will be none. The absence of worry has a good effect on both mother and child.

The various ills from which mothers suffer are largely caused by eating for two. The overeating causes overweight in those whose nutrition is above par and indigestion in those who have but ordinary digestive capacity. Those who are overweight have too high blood pressure and those who have indigestion absorb some of the poisonous products of decomposition from the bowels. Headache is a common result. Palpitation of the heart comes from gas pressure. The abnormal blood pressure may result in albuminurea, swelling of the lower extremities and overweight of both mother and child. The morning sickness is nearly always due to excessive food intake. If this proves troublesome, reduce the amount of food and simplify the combinations. Instead of taking heavy, rich dishes, increase the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables.

The birth of a large baby is fraught with danger to mother and child. Sometimes one or both are injured and sometimes one or both die. Many women are afraid to become mothers for this reason. It would be difficult to estimate how often this fear causes law breaking, for all large cities have their medical men who grow rich through illegal practices among these women. Sometimes these doctors are among the respected members of the profession, eminent enough to have a national reputation. The financial reward is great enough to tempt men to break the law and they will continue to do so, so long as present conditions exist.

It is important for the prospective mother to be moderate in her eating. Three meals a day are sufficient. Between meals nothing but water should be swallowed. Lunching always leads to overeating.

One meal each day can consist of starchy food, but not more than one meal. Any one of the starches may be selected, the cereal products, rice, potatoes, chestnuts. If the digestion is good, take matured beans, peas or lentils occasionally, but these are so heavy that they should not be eaten very frequently and always in moderation. With the starchy food selected, take either butter or milk, or a moderate quantity of both. Sometimes it is all right to take some fruit with the starchy food, but this should be the exception, not the rule. Fruit should generally be eaten by itself or taken with non-starchy foods. Starch eating should be limited to one meal a day because an excessive amount of this food causes hardening of the tissues. The baby's bones, which should be very soft, flexible and yielding at birth, will become too hard if much starch is eaten.

Once a day some kind of proteid food may be taken, but this should also be eaten in moderation, for if it is not, degenerative changes will take place, which will manifest in some one of the disorders common to pregnancy. Eggs and the lighter kinds of meats, or nuts or fresh fish may be selected. Whatever kind of protein is taken, it should be as fresh as possible. Pork should not be used. With the protein, have either fruit or vegetables, and it does not make much difference which. No one could ask for a better meal than good apples and pecans.

Be sure to eat enough of the raw salad vegetables and of raw fruits to supply the salts needed by the body.

For the third meal have fruit. Cottage cheese, sweet or clabbered milk or buttermilk may be taken with the fruit. Do not take milk twice a day, for if it is taken twice and other proteid food once a day, too much protein is ingested.

A glass or two of buttermilk will make a good meal at any time. Dr. Waugh, who has had over forty years of experience and is well and favorably known on both sides of the Atlantic, recommends buttermilk very highly during pregnancy. Buttermilk and clabbered milk are better than the sweet milk. The lactic acid seems to have a sweetening effect on the alimentary tract. Sweet milk is constipating for many people. The buttermilk and the clabbered milk are not constipating to the same degree.

The use of fruit and vegetables has a tendency to prevent constipation. The only internal remedies for which there is any excuse are cathartics, and normal people do not need them. However, it is better to take a mild cathartic or an enema than to allow the colon to become loaded with waste. Constipation among eaters of much meat is rather a serious condition, for the waste in the colon of heavy meat eaters is very poisonous. The colonic waste in vegetarians is not so toxic.

Desserts should be used sparingly and seldom. They are not a necessity, but a habit, and if they are consumed daily they are a bad habit.

For the sake of the unborn child, avoid all stimulants and narcotics. Alcoholics and coffee should not be used. And it is best to avoid strong spices and rich gravies. A little self-denial and self-control in this line will pay great dividends in healthy, happy, contented babies, and there are no greater blessings.

The mother should be active, but should not take any violent exercise. Light work is good, but no mother should Be asked to do house-cleaning or to stand over the wash-tub. She should have the opportunity of being in the open every day, and of this opportunity she should avail herself. Why some women are ashamed of pregnancy is hard for normal-minded people to understand, for the praise of motherhood has been sung by the greatest poets and its glory depicted by the greatest painters of the world.

This sense of false modesty is responsible for much of the tight lacing during pregnancy. This is injurious to both the mother and the child, and is one of the reasons for various uncomfortable sensations. It helps to bring on the morning sickness. It is nature's intention that the young should be free and comfortable previous to birth, and for this reason a double bag is supplied between the walls of which there is fluid. The baby lies within the inner bag.

The tight lacing prevents the intended freedom, besides weakening the mother's muscles. It also aggravates any tendency there may be toward constipation and swelling of the legs. It prolongs childbirth and makes it more painful. This is too high a price to pay for false modesty and vanity.

If it is necessary to support the abdomen and the breasts for the sake of comfort, this can be done without compressing them and the support should come from the shoulders.

The skin should be given good attention, for an active skin helps to keep the blood pure and the circulation normal. Take a vigorous dry rubbing at least once a day, and twice a day would be better. A quick sponging off with cool water followed with vigorous dry rubbing is good, but the rubbing is of greater importance than the sponging. An olive oil rub is often soothing and may be taken as frequently as desired.

If there is a tendency to be ill and nervous, take a good hot bath, staying in the water until there is a feeling of ease, even if it should take more than thirty minutes, provided the heart and the kidneys are working well. Defective heart and kidney action contraindicate prolonged hot baths, but such ills will not appear if the mother lives properly. Under such conditions missing a few meals can only have good results. When eating is resumed, partake of only enough food to nourish the body, for anything beyond that builds discomfort and disease.

These hints, simple as they are, contain enough information to rob gestation and childbirth of their horrors, if they are intelligently observed. If civilized woman desires to be as painfree as the savage, she must lead the simple life.

INFANCY.

If the baby lives to be one year old, its chances of surviving are fairly good, but during the first year the mortality is appalling. Complete statistics are not available, but in places one-fifth or even one-fourth of the babies born perish during this time. The mortality is chiefly due to overfeeding and giving food of poor quality.

The average parent loves his baby. He loves the helpless little thing to death. In Oscar Wilde's words, "We kill the thing we love." The babies are killed by too much love, which takes the form of overindulgence. About thirty years ago the well known physician, Charles B. Page, wrote:

"How many healthy-born infants die before their first year is reached—babies that for months are mistakenly regarded as pictures of health—'never knew a sick day until they were attacked' with cholera infantum, scarletina, or something else. They are crammed with food, made gross with fat, and for a time are active and cunning, the delight of parents and friends—and then, after a season of constipation, a season of chronic vomiting, and a season of cholera infantum, the little emaciated skeletons are buried in the ground away from the sight of those who have literally loved them to death. This is the fate of one-third of all the children born. As a rule, babies are fed as an ignorant servant feeds the cook-stove—filling the fire-box so full, often, that the covers are raised, the stove smokes and gases at every hole, and the fire is either put out altogether, or, if there is combustion of the whole body of coals, the stove is rapidly burned out and destroyed. With baby, overheating means the fever that consumes him, and, in putting out the fire, too often the fire of life goes out also."

Fat babies are thought to be healthy babies. This is a mistake, for the fatter the baby, the more liable it is to fill an early grave. Thoughtful, knowing people realize that a child that weighs eight pounds or more at birth is an indication of maternal law breaking. Both the mother and the child will have to pay for this sooner or later. Overweight is a handicap. It prevents complete internal cleansing and combustion, without which health is impossible.

Because of the false ideas prevalent regarding weight of infants, it is well to put a little emphasis on the subject. If the mother has lived right during pregnancy, the child is often light at birth, sometimes five pounds or less. The average doctor will shake his head and say that the baby's chance to live is very small. The friends, neighbors and relatives will say the same. They are wrong. Let the parents remember that light children are not encumbered with fat, and rarely with disease. A light baby is generally all healthy baby, and if properly cared for and not overfed will thrive. Parents of such babies should be thankful, instead of being alarmed.

It is not natural for babies to weigh nine or ten pounds at birth, and when they do it is a sign of maternal wrong doing, whether she has been cognizant of it or not. Babies should not be fat, nor should they be fat when they grow older, if the best results are desired.

In babies it is better to strive for quality than for quantity.

Every mother who is capable of doing so should nurse her baby. There is no food to take the place of the mother's milk. The babies build greater strength and resistance when they are fed naturally than when they are brought up on the bottle. Babies thrive wonderfully in an atmosphere of love, and they draw love from the mother's breast with every swallow.

From the information available, which is not as complete and definite as could be desired, it appears that from six to thirteen bottle-babies die during the first year where only one breast-fed child perishes. The bottle-baby does not get a fair start. If a mother is ill and worn out she should not be asked to nurse the baby. If the mother has fever she should not risk the baby's health through nursing. Some mothers do not have enough milk to feed the baby. Nearly all who live properly give enough milk to nourish their infants at first. If there is not enough milk, the child should be allowed to take what there is in the breasts and this should be supplemented with cow's milk.

Dr. Thomas F. Harrington said recently:

"From 80 to 90 per cent. of all deaths from gastrointestinal disease among infants takes place in the artificially fed; or ten bottle-babies die to one which is breast-fed. In institutions it has been found that the death rate is frequently from 90 to 100 per cent. when babies are separated from their mothers. During the siege of Paris (1870-71) the women were compelled to nurse their own babies on account of the absence of cow's milk. Infant mortality under one year fell from 33 to 7 per cent. During the cotton famine of 1860 women were not at work in the mills. They nursed their babies and one-half of the infant mortality disappeared."

These are remarkable facts and bring home at least two truths. First, they confirm the superiority of natural feeding over that of artificial feeding. Second, they show that when the mother is not overfed the infants are healthier. During the siege of Paris food was scarce in that city. People of all classes had to live quite frugally. They could not overeat as in the untroubled time of peace and prosperity, and the result was that both the mothers and the babies were healthier. The infant mortality was only a little over one-fifth of what it was previously. If the French people had heeded the lesson the statesmen and philosophers of that nation would not today have to worry about its almost stationary population.

It would be much better if fewer children were born and those few were healthier. What good does the birth of the army of 425,000 children which perishes annually accomplish? It leaves the nation poorer in every way. A mother tired and worn with wakeful vigils, and at last left with an aching heart through the loss of her child, is not worth as much as she who has a crooning infant to love, and through her mother-love radiates kindness and good cheer to others. The conditions that weed out so many of our infants tend to weaken the survivors.

It costs too much to bring children into the world to waste them so lavishly. This may sound peculiar, but it is enlightened selfishness, which is the highest good, for it brings blessings upon all.

Artificial feeding lays the foundation for many troubles which may not manifest for several years. The bottle-fed babies are often plump, even fat, but they are not as strong as those who are fed naturally. They take all kinds of children's diseases very quickly. The glandular system, which is so readily disturbed in children, is more easily affected in bottle-fed babies. And so it comes about that they often have swollen salivary glands, or swelling of the glands of the neck or of the tonsils.

Do not be in a hurry to feed the baby after birth. Nature has so arranged that the infant does not require immediate feeding. It is a good plan to wait at least twenty-four hours after birth before placing the baby at the breast, for then all the tumult and excitement have had a chance to subside.

Many give the baby a cathartic within a few hours after birth. This is a mistake. Cathartics are irritants and it is a very poor beginning to abuse the mucous membrane of the intestinal tract immediately. This mucous membrane is delicate and in children the digestive apparatus is easily upset. Before birth there was no stomach or bowel digestion, all the nutritive processes taking place in the tissues of the little body. Gentle treatment is necessary to bring the best results. Cathartics with their harsh action on the delicate membranes are contraindicated. The mother's first milk is cathartic enough to stimulate the bowels to act, but it is nature's cathartic and does no harm.

As a rule the baby is fed too often and too much from the time of birth. If the child appears healthy the physician's recommendation will probably be to feed every two hours day and night, or every two hours during the day and every three hours at night. If the little one appears weakly these feedings are increased in number. From ten to twenty-four feedings in twenty-four hours are not uncommon and sometimes infants are nursed or given the bottle two and even three times an hour. The excuse for this is that the baby's stomach is small and cannot hold much food at a time and must for this reason be filled often, for the baby has to grow, and the more food it gets the faster it grows. The baby's stomach is small, because the little one needs very little food. The human being grows and develops for twenty to twenty-five years. This growth is slow and during babyhood the amount of nourishment needed is not great. The child, if properly taken care of, is kept warm. Hence it needs but little fuel. The ideas on food needs are so exaggerated that it is hard for parents to realize what moderate amount of food will keep a baby well nourished.

An adult in the best of health would be unable to stand such frequent food intake. He would be ill in a short time. Babies stand it no better, and the only proof of this fact needed is that in the United States at least 280,000 babies under one year of age perish annually. During babyhood nearly all troubles are nutritive ones. With the stomach and bowels in excellent condition baby defies all kinds of diseases, provided it is given the simple, commonsense attentions needed otherwise, such as being kept warm and clean in a well ventilated room. With a healthy alimentary canal, which comes with proper feeding, the little one can withstand the attack of the vast horde of germs which so trouble adult minds, also adult bodies, when people fail to give themselves proper care.

The results of too frequent feeding and overfeeding are appalling. The first ill effect is digestive disturbance. Then one or more of the ills of childhood make their appearance. These are called diseases, but they are only symptoms of perverted nutrition, though we insist on giving them names.

A healthy baby is one that is absolutely normal and well in every way. However, babies today pass for healthy when they are fat and suffering from all kinds of troubles, provided these ills can be tolerated. We need a new standard of health. Perfect health is a gift that every normal parent can bestow upon his children, and we should be satisfied with nothing short of this. Babies can and should be raised without illness, but, sad to relate, babies, who are always healthy are so rare that they are curiosities.

Many babies show signs of maternal overfeeding within a few hours or days of birth. One of the common signs is the discharge from the nose. This is aggravated by overfeeding the infant. And thus is laid the foundation, perhaps, for a lifelong catarrh. In due time various diseases such as rickets, swollen glands, formerly called scrofulous, mumps, measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria, pimples, eczema and cholera infantum, make their appearance. Parents have been taught to look for these diseases. They have been told that they belong to childhood. This is a libel on nature, for she tends in the direction of health.

The prevalent idea at present is that various germs, which are found in water, food, air and earth, are responsible for these diseases, but they are not. The fact that infants properly cared for do not develop one of them is proof enough that germs per se are unable to cause these ills. The germs play their part in most of these diseases, but it is a kindly part. They are scavengers, and attempt to rid the body of its debris and poisons. Through false reasoning they are blamed for causing disease, when in fact their multiplication is an effect. They are a by-product of disease. The so-called pathogenic bacteria never thrive in the baby's body until the infant has been overfed or fed on improper food long enough to break down its resistance.

The improper feeding not only kills an army of babies each year, but it handicaps the survivors very seriously. The degenerated condition of the system leaves every child with some kind of weakness. The foundation may be laid for indigestion, catarrhal troubles, which may or may not be accompanied with adenoids and impeded breathing, glandular troubles, often precursors of tuberculosis, in fact children may be acquiring any disease during infancy from chronic catarrh to rheumatism.

Mental ills are also results of senseless feeding. A healthy baby is happy. A sick baby is cross. Crossness and anger are mental perversions. Anger is temporary insanity. Enough overfeeding often results in mental perversity, epilepsy and even in real insanity. A healthy body gives a healthy mind. If people would care for their bodies properly, especially in the line of eating, the asylums for the insane would not be needed for their present purposes.

Another serious trouble that takes root from infant overfeeding is an abnormal craving for stimulants. This craving may later on be satisfied in many ways. Some use coffee, alcohol, habit-forming drugs. Others try to satisfy it by overeating. No matter how the sufferer proceeds to satisfy this craving, he does not cure it, for it grows upon what it is fed. Morphine calls for more morphine. Tobacco calls for more tobacco. An oversupply of food calls for more food or alcohol. The victim at last dies a martyr to his abnormal appetites.

Comparatively few of those who see the error of their ways have the will power to thrust off the shackles of habit. Very few think clearly enough and go far enough back to realize that disease and early death are so largely due to the habits formed for the infant or unborn babe by the parents. And the parents received the same kind of undesirable legacy from their parents, and so it goes, the children suffering for the sins of the parents. The cheerful part of such a retrospect is that there is much room for improvement, that we need not continue this seemingly unending chain of physical bondage to the next generation, and that if the children are not born right or treated right during infancy, there is still time to make a change for the better. Nature is kind and with will and determination a change can be made at any time that will result in betterment, provided such grave diseases have not taken hold of the body that recuperation is impossible. This is no excuse for making delays, for the longer errors are permitted the harder they are to overcome.

Three or four feedings a day are sufficient for any baby. The feedings should be arranged so that they are evenly distributed during the day, and nothing is to be given at night except water. Get a nursing bottle or two. Keep the bottles and the nipples scrupulously clean. These are to be used as water bottles. The water must also be clean. Heat it to 103 or 104 degrees Fahrenheit, so that it will be from 98 to 100 degrees warm when it enters the baby's mouth Let the baby have some water three or four times during the day, and perhaps it will want some once or twice during the night, but give it no milk at night.

Overfed babies are irritable and cry often. The mothers interpret this as a sign of hunger. Most babies do not know what hunger is. Like adults they become thirsty, but instead of getting water to quench their thirst they are given milk. This satisfies for a little while, then the irritability due to milk spoiled, in the alimentary tract causes more restlessness and crying, and they are fed again. The comedy of errors continues until it is turned into a tragedy.

How much should the baby be fed at a time? When the parents are healthy and the baby is born right and then fed but three times a day, the food intake will regulate itself. The child will not usually want more than it should have of milk, supplemented with water. The best way to begin is to let the infant take what it desires. That is, let the nursing continue while the infant manifests great pleasure and zest. When the child begins to fool with the breast or bottle, the source of nourishment should be removed immediately. The child will increase its intake gradually.

Some of the babies will take too much. The evil results will soon be evident, and then the mother must not compromise, but reduce the intake at once. The signs of over-consumption of food by the infants are the same as those shown by adults. They are discomfort and disease. The former manifests in crossness and irritability. The disease may be of any kind, ranging from a rash to a high fever.

The baby's stomach is sensitive and resents the excessive amount of food supplied. So the infant often vomits curdled milk, and some times vomits before the milk has time to curdle. This is a form of self-protection. If the mother would heed this sign by withdrawing all food until the stomach is settled, substituting water in the meanwhile, and then reduce the baby's food to within digestive capacity, there would be no more trouble. Vomiting is the infant's way of saying, "Please do not feed me until my stomach becomes normal again, and then don't give me more than I need, and that is less than I have been getting." Remember that it is nature's sign language, which never misleads, and it is so plain that any one with ordinary understanding should get its meaning, in spite of the erroneous popular teachings. After the child has vomited, feed moderately and increase its food supply as its digestive ability increases.

If the vomiting is wrongly interpreted and overfeeding is continued, either the baby dies or the stomach establishes a toleration, passing the trouble on to other parts of the body. One organ never suffers long alone. The circulation passes the disease on to other parts, assisted by the sympathetic nerves, which are present in all parts of the body.

When the stomach has established its toleration, several things may happen, only a few of which will be discussed, for the process is essentially the same, though the results appear so different. In infants whose digestive power is not very strong the excessive amount of milk curdles, as does the part that is digested. The water of the milk is absorbed, but the curds pass into the colon without being digested and they are discharged in the stool as curds. They are partly decomposed on the journey through the alimentary canal, producing poisons, a part of which is absorbed. A part remains in the colon, making the bowel discharges very offensive.

The passage of curds in the stool is a danger signal indicating overfeeding and should be heeded immediately. If it is not, the chances for a ease of cholera infantum, especially in warm weather, are great. Cholera infantum is due to overfeeding, or the use of inferior milk, or both. It is a form of milk poisoning, in which the bowels are very irritable. As a matter of self-protection they throw out a large quantity of serum, which soon depletes the system of the poor little sufferer, and death too often claims another young life. If cholera infantum makes its appearance the baby is given its best chance to live if feeding is stopped immediately, warm water given whenever desired, but not too large quantities at a time. Give no cathartics, for they irritate an already seriously disturbed mucous membrane, but give a small enema of blood-warm water once or twice a day. Keep the baby comfortable, seeing that the feet and abdomen are kept warm, but give plenty of fresh air. Medicines only aggravate a malady that is already serious enough. This disease is produced by abuse so grave that in spite of the best nursing, the baby often dies. It is easily prevented.

Strong babies with great digestive power are often able to digest and assimilate enormous quantities of milk, several quarts a day. They can not use all this food. If they could their size would be enormous within a short time. They do not find it so easy to excrete the excess as to assimilate it. The skin, kidneys, lungs and the bowels find themselves overtaxed. Often the mucous membrane of the nose and throat are called upon to assist in the elimination. These are the babies who are said to catch cold easily. Their colds are not caught. They are fed to them. This constant abuse of the mucous membrane results in inflammation, subacute in nature, or it may be so mild that it is but an irritation. The result in time may be chronic catarrh or thickening of the mucous membrane of nose and throat. While the catarrh is being firmly established adenoids are quite common.

In other cases too much of the work of excretion is thrown upon the skin. The same thing happens to this structure as happens to the mucous membrane. It is made for a limited amount of excretion and when more foreign matter, much of it of a very irritating nature, is deposited for elimination through the skin, it becomes inflamed. It itches. In a little while there is an attack of eczema. The baby scratches, digging its little nails in with a will. The infant soon has its face covered with sores and the scalp is scaly. The proper thing to do is to reduce the feeding greatly. Then the acid-producing fermentation in stomach and bowels will cease, but enough food to nourish the body will be absorbed, the skin will have but its normal work to perform, the cause of the irritation is gone and the effects will disappear in a short time. Two weeks are often sufficient to bring back the smooth, soft skin that every baby should have. The sufferers from these troubles are almost invariably overweight, and the parents wonder why their babies, who are so healthy, should be troubled thus!

Mothers owe it to their nursing babies to lead wholesome, simple lives. It is not always possible to live ideally, but every mother can eat simply and control her temper. Wholesome food and equanimity will go far toward producing healthful nourishment for the child. Stimulants and narcotics should be avoided. Meat should not be eaten more than once a day, and it would be better to use less meat and more eggs or nuts. Fresh fruits and vegetables should be partaken of daily. They are the rejuvenators and purifiers. The cereal foods should be as near natural as possible. The bread should be made of whole wheat flour mostly. If rice is eaten it should be unpolished. Refined sugar should be taken in moderation, if at all. The potatoes are best baked. Pure milk is as good for the mother as it is for the child. Highly seasoned foods or rich made dishes should be avoided. In short, the mother should live as near naturally as possible.

The importance of cheerfulness can hardly be overestimated. A nervous mother who frets or worries, or becomes mastered by any of the negative, depressing passions, poisons her babe a little with each drop of milk the child takes.

Some mothers are unable to nurse their babies. This is so because of lack of knowledge principally, for women who give themselves proper care are nearly always able to furnish nourishment for their infants. It may be that this function will be largely lost if the present preponderance of artificial feeding continues, and if various inoculations are not stopped. Some mothers find it a great pleasure to nurse their babies. Others refuse to do so for fear of ruining their figures.

No matter what the reason is for depriving the infant of its natural food, the parents should realize that its chances for health and life are diminished by this act. If intelligence and care are used in raising the bottle-fed babies only a few will die, in fact none will die under the circumstances, provided they were born with a normal amount of resistance. So it behooves parents of such babies to be extremely careful. That there are difficulties in the way, or rather inconveniences, can not be denied, but there are no insurmountable obstacles.

The best common substitute for mother's milk is cow's milk. If clean and given in moderation it will agree with the child and produce no untoward results.

Instead of using the same bottle all the time, there should be a number, so that there will be plenty of time to clean them. If three feeds are given each day, there should be six bottles. If four feeds are given, eight bottles. Use a set every other day. The bottles should be rinsed out after being used. Then boil them in water containing soda or a little lye, rinse in several waters and set them aside. If it is sunny, let them stand in the sun. Before using, rinse again in sterile water. The nipples should have equally good care. In feeding babies cleanliness comes before godliness.

Each bottle is to be used for but one feeding, and as many bottles are to be prepared as there are to be feedings for the day.

If the people live in the country it is easy to get pure milk. If in the city one should make arrangements with a reliable milk man possessed of a conscience. It is well to get the milk from a certain cow, instead of taking a mixture coming from many cows. Select a healthy animal that does not give very rich milk, such as the Holstein. She should have what green food she wants every day, grass in summer, and hay of the best quality and silage in winter. The grain ration should be moderate, for cows that are forced undergo quick degeneration. They are burned out. The cow should not be worried or whipped. She should be allowed to be happy, and animals are happy if they are treated properly. The water supply should be clean, not from one of the filthy tubs or troughs which disgrace some farms. The barn should be light and well ventilated. It should be kept clean and free from the ammonia fumes which are found in filthy stables. The cow should be brushed and the udder washed before each milking. The milker should wash his hands and have on clothes from which no impurities will fall. The first part of the milk drawn should not be put in with that which is to supply the baby. The milk should be drawn into a clean receptacle and immediately strained through sterile surgeon's cotton into glass bottles. These are to be put aside to cool, the contents not exposed to the dust falling from the air. Or the milk may be put directly into the nursing bottles and put aside in a cold place until needed. Then warm milk to 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Pardon a little repetition: If possible let the child nurse. If there is not enough milk, let the baby take what there is and give cow's milk in addition. If it is impossible to feed the baby at the breast, get the milk from a healthy cow that is kept clean, well fed and well treated. The cow's milk should be prepared as follows: Take equal parts of milk and water. Or take two parts of milk and one part of water. Mix, and to this may be added sugar of milk in the proportion of one level teaspoonful to the quart. Before feeding raise the temperature of the milk to about 104 degrees Fahrenheit, so that it will be about 100 degrees when fed. It is best to do the warming in a water bath.

Milk should not be kept long before being used. Limit the age to thirty-six hours after being drawn from the cow. Twenty-four hours would be better. The evening milk can safely be given to the infant the next day, if proper precautions have been taken. Ordinary milk is quite filthy and upon this babies do not thrive. Make an effort to get clean milk for the baby.

The composition of human milk and cow's milk is about as follows:

==================================================================== Water Albumin Fat Sugar Salts —————————————————————————————————— Human .......... 87.58 2.01 3.74 6.37 .30 Cow's .......... 87.27 3.39 3.68 4.97 .72 ——————————————————————————————————

The albumin in human milk is largely of a kind which is not coagulated by souring, while nearly all the albumin in cow's milk coagulates. The uncoagulated albumin is digested and taken up more easily by the baby's nutritive system than that which is coagulated. This is one of the reasons that babies do not thrive so well on cow's milk as on their natural food.

The sugar of milk is not like refined sugar. Although it is not so easily dissolved in water, and therefore does not taste as sweet as refined sugar, it is better for the child. If sugar is added to the milk, milk sugar should be used. The druggists have it in powder form.

The addition of barley water and lime to the baby's milk is folly. The various forms of modified milk do not give as good results as the addition of water and a little milk sugar, as previously described. If you believe in such modifications as the top milk method and the addition of starchy substances and lime water, I refer you to your family physician or text-books on infant feeding.

It is difficult to improve on good cow's milk. It is well to remember that the human organism is very adaptable, even in infancy. The principal factors in infant feeding are cleanliness and moderation.

Bottle-fed babies should be given fruit or vegetable juices, or both, very early and it would be well to give a little of these juices to breast-fed babies too. The latter do not require as much as the former. Begin during the first month with a teaspoonful of orange juice put into the drinking bottle once a day. Increase gradually until at four or five months the amount may be from one to two tablespoonfuls. Do not be afraid to give the orange juice because it is acid, for it splits up quickly in the stomach and is rearranged, forming alkaline salts. It is the fruit that can be obtained at nearly all seasons. It is best to get mild oranges and strain the juice. The fruit is to be in prime condition. Instead of orange juice, the juice of raw celery, spinach, cabbage, apples, blackberries and other juicy fruits and vegetables may be employed, but these juices must all come from fruits or vegetables that are in prime condition. No sugar is to be added to either the fruit or the vegetable juices.

The mother's milk coagulates in small flakes, easily acted upon by the digestive juices, after which they are readily absorbed. Cow's milk coagulates into rather large pieces of albumin which are tough and therefore rather difficult to digest. This happens when the milk is taken rapidly and undiluted. However, when diluted and taken slowly this tendency is overcome to a great degree. For this reason it is best to get nipples with small perforations.

Either pasteurization or sterilization of milk is almost universally recommended by medical men. Even those who do not believe in such procedures generally fail to condemn them without qualifying statements. For a discussion of this fallacy I refer you to the chapter on milk.

Do not give the little ones any kinds of medicines. They always do harm and never any good. If any exception is made to this, it is in the line of laxatives or mild cathartics, such as small doses of castor oil, cascara segrada or mineral waters, but there is no excuse for giving metallic remedies, such as calomel. If the babies are fed in moderation on good foods they will not become constipated. If they are imprudently handled and become constipated it is necessary to resort to either the enema or some mild cathartic. Bear in mind that such remedies do not cure. They only relieve. The cure will come when the errors of life are corrected so that the body is able to perform its work without being obstructed.

Inoculations and vaccinations are serious blunders, often fatal. The animal products that are rubbed or injected into the little body are poisonous. They are the result of degenerative changes—diseases—in the bodies of rabbits, horses, cows and other animals. Nature's law is that health must be deserved or earned. Health means cleanliness, so it really is absurd to force into the body these products of animal decay. Statistics can be given, showing how beneficial these agents are, but they are misleading. In the days of public and official belief in witchcraft it was not difficult to prove the undoubted existence of witches. Whatever the public accepts as true can with the utmost ease be bolstered up with figures.

The use of serums, bacterins, vaccines and other products of the biologic laboratory is almost an obsession today. Their curative and preventive values are taken for granted. Most of the time the children are strong enough to throw off the poisons without showing prolonged or pronounced effects, but every once in a while a child is so poisoned that it takes months for it to regain health and too often death is the end. Sometimes the death takes place a few minutes after the injection, but we are informed that the medication had nothing to do with it. To poison the baby's blood deliberately is criminal. Give the little one a fair chance to live in health. A properly cared for baby will not be ill for one single day. Knowledge and good care will prevent sickness.

A baby that is able to remain well a month or a week or a day can remain well every day.

At first a normal baby sleeps nearly all the time, from twenty to twenty-two hours a day. The infant should not be disturbed. All that should be done for it is to feed it three times a day, give it some water from the bottle three or four times a day, and keep it clean, dry and warm, but not hot.

Most babies are bathed daily. This is all right, but the baths are to be given quickly. The water should be about 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The soap should be of the mildest, such as a good grade of castile, and it should be well rinsed off, for soap permitted to remain in the pores acts as an irritant. Dry the skin so well with a soft cloth that there will be no chapping or roughness. Sores, eruptions and inflammations are signs of mismanagement. Use no powders that are metallic in character, such as zinc oxide. A dusting powder of finely ground talcum is good. If the child is kept dry and dean and moderately fed the skin will remain in good condition.

Babies do not thrive without good air. Keep the room well ventilated at all times by admitting fresh air from a source that will produce no draughts. It is not necessary to have the baby's room warm. In fact a cool room is better. When the child is to be exposed to the air, take it into a warm room. Soft coverings will keep the infant warm. The limbs should be free so that exercise can be had through unrestricted movements.

The baby should not be bothered unnecessarily. Young parents make the mistake of using the baby for show purposes. For the sake of politeness, others praise the "only baby in the world" unduly, though there are millions of others just as good. Let the child alone, thus giving it an opportunity to become as superior as the parents think it is. The showing off process creates excitement and lays the foundation for fretfulness, irritability and nervousness. The child thrives in a peaceful atmosphere. When it is awake it is well to talk to it quietly and soothingly, for thus the infant begins to learn its mother's tongue. Good language should be employed. Those who teach their children baby-talk are handicapping them, for they will soon have to unlearn this and learn real language. Baby-talk may be "cute" at eighteen months, but when children retain that mode of expression beyond the age of four or five it sounds silly.

At about the age of nine or ten months the breast-fed babe should be weaned. Gradual weaning is perhaps the best. First give one feeding of cow's milk a day and two breast feeds; then two feedings of cow's milk and one at the breast, and at last cow's milk entirely. Between the ages of nine and twelve months begin giving starchy foods. At first the child will take very little, and gradually increase. Give bread so stale that the child has to soak it with its saliva before it can swallow the bread. Working away this way, sucking the stale bread, the child learns to go through the motions of chewing, and this is valuable training. Never give bread soaked in milk and never feed milk while bread is being eaten. If the meal is to be bread and milk, give the bread either before any milk is taken, or afterwards. Starches are not to be washed down with liquids. Instead of giving stale bread, zwieback may be used. Occasionally feed a few spoons of very thin and well cooked oatmeal or whole wheat gruel, but the less sloppy food given the better, for it does not get the proper mouth treatment. The wheat products fed the child should be made from whole wheat flour, or at least three-fourths whole wheat and only one-fourth of the white flour. The refined flour is lacking in the salts that the child needs for health and growth.

Many mothers begin feeding starches when the baby is four or five months old. The child is given potatoes, bread or any other starchy food that may be on the table. This is a mistake, for the child is not prepared to digest starches at that early age. Some of the digestive ferments are practically absent during the first few months of life. Such feeding will invariably cause trouble. The baby should not be taken to the table.

It is quite generally believed that a baby should cry to exercise its lungs. A healthy, comfortable baby will do little or no crying, and it is not necessary. It is not difficult to give the little ones some exercise to fill their lungs. Babies can hang on to a finger or a thin rod tenaciously. Elevate the infant that does not cry thus a few times above the bed and let it hang for a few seconds each time. This throws the chest forward and exercises the lungs. What is more, this small amount of gymnastic work is thoroughly enjoyed. It helps to build strength and good temper. The crying helps to make the baby ill-tempered and fretful. A little crying now and then is all right, but much indicates discomfort, disease or a spoiled child. It would surprise most mothers how good babies are when they have a chance to be good.

After reading this, some are sure to ask how many ounces to feed the baby. I don't know. No one else knows. Different babies have different requirements. The key is given above. If the babies become ill it is nearly always due to overfeeding and poor food, so the proper thing to do is to reduce the food intake.

A healthy baby is a source of unending joy, while a sick one saps the mother's vitality. It is too bad that the art of efficient child culture is so little known.

CHILDHOOD.

Children may roughly be divided into two types, the robust and the more delicate or nervous ones. The robust children can stand almost all kinds of abuse with no apparent harm resulting, but the immunity is only apparent. The growing child naturally throws off disease influences easily and quickly, but if the handicap is too great the child loses out in the race.

The nervous type can not be abused with impunity, for the bodies of these delicately balanced children are easily disturbed. They must have more intelligent care than is usually bestowed upon the robust type. If the care is not forthcoming they become weak in body, with an unstable nervous system, or perish early.

Some parents complain because other people's children can do what their own can not and they wonder why. No time should be wasted in making such comparisons, for no two children are exactly alike, as no two leaves and not even two such apparently similar objects as grains of wheat are exactly alike. Therefore the care necessary varies somewhat, though it is basically the same.

If the nervous type is given proper care, good health will be the result. These children do not tolerate as much exposure or as much food as do the robust children. The important thing is to learn what they require and then see that there is no excess, and in this way allow the child to grow physically strong and mentally efficient.

The delicate children are perhaps more fortunate than the stronger ones, for they learn early in life that they have limitations. If they commit excesses the results are so disagreeable that they soon learn to be prudent. This prudence serves as protection so long as life lasts.

The robust children on the other hand soon learn that they are strong. They hear their parents boast about it. They get the idea that because they are strong they will always remain so, that nothing will do them any serious harm. By living up to this fallacy they undermine their constitutions. Parents should teach their children about the law of compensation as applied to health, that is, he has permanent health who deserves it, and no one else. The children will not always heed true teachings after they have left the parental influence, but the parents have at least done the best they could.

The robust children have their troubles, such as chicken-pox, mumps, fevers and measles, but these are thrown off so quickly and with so little inconvenience that they are soon forgotten. As a rule the parents do not realize that these diseases are due to faulty nutrition, and that faulty nutrition is caused by improper feeding. It is generally believed that children must have all the so-called children's diseases. Some mothers expose their infants to all of these that may happen to be in the neighborhood, hoping that the children will take them and be through with them.

Every time a child is sick it is a reflection on either the intelligence or the performance of the parents. It is natural for children to be perfectly well, and they will remain in that happy state if they are given the opportunity. If they are properly fed they will not take any of the children's diseases in spite of repeated exposure. There is not a disease germ known to medical science strong enough to establish itself in the system of an uninjured, healthy child and do damage. The child's health must first be impaired, through poor care, and then the so-called disease germs will find a hospitable dwelling place. If children are given natural food in normal quantities they are disease-proof. Feeding them on refined sugar and white flour products, pasteurized or sterilized milk, potatoes fried in grease pickled meats, and various other ruined foods breaks down their resistance and then they fall an easy prey to disease.

Some parents make the mistake of believing that they can feed their children improperly and ward off disease by vaccinations or inoculations of the products of disease taken from various animals. This is contrary to reason, common sense and nature and it is impossible. Any individual who is continually abused in any way, be he infant or adult, will deteriorate. If the disease is not the one that has been feared, it will be some other one.

The robust children generally develop into careless adults. That is why so many of them, in fact the vast majority, die before they are fifty years old, although they are equipped with constitutions that were intended to last over a century. They are shining marks for typhoid fever, Bright's disease, various forms of heart and liver troubles, rheumatism and pneumonia, all of which are largely caused by too hearty eating. These diseases often come without apparent warning. That is, the victims have thought themselves healthy. However, they have not known what real health is. They have been in a state of tolerable health, not suffering any very annoying aches or pains, but they have lacked the normal state of body which results in a clear, keen mind. As a rule there is enough indigestion present to cause gas in the bowels and a coated tongue. Enough food is generally eaten to produce excessive blood pressure.

The foundation for such a state of affairs is laid in childhood, yes, often before the child is born. It can readily be seen how important it is for parents to impart a little sound health information to the children. At least, they should teach them what health really is, which many people do not know.

When these strong people become sick it is often difficult, or even impossible, to do anything for them, for their habits are so gross and have gained such a mastery that the patients will not or can not change their ways.

The weaklings have a better chance to survive to old age, because many of them learn to be careful early in life. In reading the lives of eminent men who have lived long it is common to find that they were never strong.

At the age of one year the baby is generally weaned. The ordinary child needs the mother's milk no longer, for by this time the digestive power is great enough to cope with cow's milk and various starches. The most important problem now is how to feed the child. If no errors of importance are made it will enjoy uninterrupted growth and health. If the errors are many and serious there will surely be disease and too often the abuse is so great that death comes and ends the suffering.

Until the child reaches the age of two years the best foods are milk, whole wheat products and fruits. No other foods are necessary. The simpler the baby's food, and the more naturally and plainly prepared, the better. Adults who overeat until they suffer from jaded appetites, may think that they need great variety of food, but it is never necessary for infants or normal adults. Milk, whole wheat and fruits contain all the elements needed for growth and strength and health. By all means feed simply. Children are perfectly satisfied with bread and milk or simply one kind of fruit at a meal, if they are properly trained. The craving for a great variety of foods at each meal is due to parental mismanagement.