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SCHEDULE FOR THREE-YEAR-OLD CHILD.

7:30 a. m.—Cereal well cooked (over night) or at least for three hours, A larger variety of food can now be given and given as before with thin cream, salt, but little sugar. One glass of warm milk, a soft boiled, coddled or poached egg; bread very stale or dry, one slice with butter.

10:00 a. m.—One cup of warm milk, with a cracker or a piece of stale bread and butter.

2:00 p. m.—Soup, four ounces, or two ounces of beef juice. Meat: chop, steak, roast beef, lamb or chicken; white potato, baked or boiled rice. Green vegetables: Tips of asparagus, string beans, peas, spinach, all cooked until they are very soft, mashed or preferably put through a sieve, and only one to two teaspoonfuls at first. Desserts: Cooked fruit, baked or stewed apple, stewed prunes, water, but no milk.

6:00 p. m.—Cereal: Farina, cream of wheat, or arrow-root, cooked for at least one-half hour with plenty of salt, but no sugar; or milk toast; or old bread and milk or stale or dry bread and butter and a glass of milk.



BABY'S SECOND SUMMER.

Nearly all mothers dread baby's second summer. If the baby is born at such a time that he cuts his double teeth during the hot weather, and if it is attended by indigestion and fever, there is really some cause for worry, because the digestive organs during the hot weather are more difficult to manage than during the colder months; otherwise, if you feed your baby carefully and properly, and with the regularity that you did in the early months, there is no reason to dread the second summer, Mistakes are made by mothers and grandparents especially. They permit the child to come to the table and eat of the food prepared for adults. Sometimes it is only a little, but that little will gradually grow larger; and even that little may be enough to upset baby for weeks and then the illness that follows is in reality due to the parents' own foolishness when it is laid to the credit of the second summer, or regarded as "a mysterious dispensation of Providence." Do not give anything to baby between its regular meals but water; crackers, zwieback, and bread are prohibited between.



DIET OF OLDER CHILDREN-FOURTH TO TENTH YEAR.

Give the largest meal at midday and a light supper at night, very much like that recommended for the third year. For a few years you can give milk once between breakfast and dinner, or dinner and supper, and permit no other food between meals, but give water freely.

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MILK AND CREAM.

What part of the diet should milk form now? Nothing can take its place, and it should be an important part of the diet. Most children can take and digest milk.

Why is this of so much advantage? Because it possesses a higher nutritive value than any other food, for the amount of work required of the digestive organs, and it is very especially adapted to a child's diet. It must be clean and fresh and not too rich.

What essential point should I consider in its use? The Jersey cow gives too rich milk, and it must be greatly diluted. Children who digest milk with difficulty should take it diluted about four parts milk, one part water, a little salt or bicarbonate of soda should be added. Do not give milk at meals when fruits, especially if they are sour, are allowed.

How much milk can I allow to advantage? For an average child with good digestion, you can allow one and one-half pints to one quart daily, including what is also used upon cereals and in other ways. Two quarts are too much, for a mixed diet will do better.

How much cream can I allow? Older children do not need so much fat as do infants, and cream, especially when very rich, often produces indigestion. It is a common cause of the coated tongue, foul breath, and pale greasy stools, or biliousness so-called. Will not cream overcome constipation? It does so in some degree in infants, but not so much so in older children; and if it produces the above given symptoms it should not be given.



EGGS.

What is the value of eggs in the diet of this period? They form a very valuable food. They must be fresh and only slightly cooked, being either soft-boiled, poached or coddled. Fried eggs and omelets are prohibited.

Is the white or yolk more digestible? Generally the white in most children. This is a very digestible proteid and can be used to great advantage even in the latter part of the first year.

Do eggs often cause biliousness? Very seldom if they are carefully prepared and fed.

How often may I give eggs to the child? Most children at this period will be able to take one egg for breakfast and one for supper, with relish and advantage; however, some few children cannot eat them at all.



MEAT AND FISH.

What kinds of meat can I give to my child? Beefsteak, mutton-chop, roast beef, lamb, boiled chicken and fish, such as shad or bass.

What points should I consider in feeding meat? Most meats should be rare, scraped or finely divided, as a child will not chew it properly. Boiled or roast beef is best; fried meats should not be given to a child.

How often can I give meats? Only at the midday meal, at this period.

Do you think it causes nervousness in children? Not unless too much is given and too often.

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What meats should be forbidden? Ham, bacon, sausage, pork, liver, kidney, and all dried and salt meats; also mackerel, cod and shell fish. A child should not eat any of these until after the tenth year.

Are gravies healthy and nutritious? Beef juice or so-called "platter gravy" from a roast is very nourishing and desirable, but many of the gravies that are thickened are harder to digest and too much is given. Only a small quantity should be allowed.

What about vegetables? Baked, boiled or mashed potatoes may be given first, but never fried. After the sixth or seventh year baked sweet potato, turnips, boiled onions and cauliflower, all well cooked, may be given moderately. They must be thoroughly cooked and mashed. This is the great trouble.

Can I give canned vegetables? Peas, and asparagus of the best brands can be used. They are often better than stale green vegetables.

What vegetables should be prohibited? Any that are eaten raw such as celery, radishes, onions, cucumbers, tomatoes or lettuce; corn, lima beans, cabbage, egg plant, even when well cooked; none of these should be given to a child under ten years old.

Can I give vegetable salads? As a rule none should be allowed at this period. They are difficult to digest and create great disturbances in children of all ages.



CEREALS.

What points should I consider in selecting and preparing these? They must be properly cooked and not used in excess. He should not make a meal of them because he is fond of them, and eat two or three saucerfuls at once. Proper cooking is essential. Oatmeal, hominy, rice, wheaten grits need two hours' cooking at least, in a double boiler; cornstarch, arrow-root, and barley should be cooked twenty minutes or more. All the market preparations need cooking.

How should they be eaten? Usually with milk or milk and cream; plenty of salt, no sugar or very little—one-half teaspoonful to a saucer—syrups or butter and sugar are prohibited.

What broths and soup do you recommend? Meat broths are generally to be preferred to vegetable broths, mutton and chicken usually being the best liked. Almost all plain broths can be given. Those thickened with rice, barley or cornstarch make a good variety, especially with milk added. Tomato soup should not be given to young children.



BREAD, CRACKERS, AND CHEESE.

What forms of bread can I give? Stale bread cut thin and freshly dried in the oven until it is crisp is very useful, also the unsweetened zwieback. Fresh bread should not be eaten. Gluten, oatmeal, or graham crackers, or the Huntley and Palmer breakfast biscuits, stale rolls or corn bread which has been cut in two or toasted or dried to a crisp form a sufficient variety.

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What kinds of breadstuffs should be prohibited? All hot breads, all fresh rolls, buckwheat and other griddle cakes, all fresh sweet cakes, especially when covered with icing and those containing any dried fruits. Lady finger (stale) or a piece of sponge cake is all that can be allowed to children up to seven or eight years old.



DESSERTS.

Can I give any desserts to young children? Mistakes are very often made here. Junket, plain rice pudding without raisins, plain custard, and not more than once a week, a small amount of ice cream are all that can be allowed up to six or seven years.

What are prohibited? Pies, tarts, and pastry of every kind and jams, syrups, and preserved fruits; nut candy and dried fruits.

Can I give a little? No, for it develops a taste for this sort of food, and then the plainer food is taken with less relish. The little is soon likely to become a great deal.

A child has an instinctive desire for sweets, why not satisfy it? A child's fondness for sweets is not a normal instinct. A free indulgence in desserts and sweets by young children produces more digestive disorders than any other causes. It is a growing tendency and hard to control as the child grows older. The only safe rule is to give none in early childhood.



FRUITS.

Are fruits an important or essential part of children's diet? Very important, and they should be begun young. They have a splendid effect upon the bowels. They should be carefully selected, especially in large cities. A greater latitude can be all owed in the country where fruit is fresh.

What fruit can I safely give to children up to five years? Generally only cooked fruits and fresh fruit juices.

What kind of fruit juices can I use? That from fresh, sweet oranges is best. The fresh juice of grape fruit, peaches, strawberries, and raspberries may also be used.

What stewed fruits may I use? Stewed and baked apples, prunes, pears, peaches and apricots.

What raw fruits should be avoided? The pulp of oranges or grape fruit, also cherries, berries, bananas and pineapple.

What care should be exercised in regard to the use of fruits? In hot weather they should be used with greater care, and in children who are easily attacked with intestinal indigestion.

What symptoms suggest that I should avoid fruits? Looseness of the bowels or a tendency thereto, with discharge of mucus, or frequent attacks of colic (abdominal pain) or stomach-ache.

At what meals should fruits be used? If the fruit juice is given upon an empty stomach early in the morning, it works more actively upon the bowels, than when given later.

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Is it wise to give cream or milk with sour fruits? No, it is not wise, it is best to give it at midday when no milk is taken as a dessert. The quantity should always be moderate.

Can I give anything besides water and milk to drink? Cocoa, if made very weak, almost all milk is often useful as a hot drink. Tea, coffee, wine, beer and cider are all prohibited under puberty. Lemonade and soda water should not be given until the tenth year at least.



INDIGESTION IN OLDER CHILDREN.

Different ways in which indigestion shows itself in children? First as an acute attack which lasts for a few days only; second, as chronic disturbances which may last for weeks and months.

Which is the most serious? Chronic indigestion, for it often goes on for months and even years unchecked, because it is not recognized.

The symptoms of acute indigestion? Vomiting, pain, diarrhea of undigested food, often fever and prostration.

What are the common causes? Over eating or indulging in improper food or too hearty eating when very tired.

Is it sometimes the forerunner of some acute general sickness? Yes.

How shall I treat acute indigestion? Give castor oil to clean out all undigested food from the bowels. Vomiting usually frees the stomach of food; stop food for from twelve to thirty-six hours, only boiled water being allowed. Let the stomach rest.

Can I then begin with the former diet? No, give at first only broth gruel, very much diluted milk or whey. Increase the diet slowly as the appetite and digestion improve, but this should consume a week or ten days in most cases before the full diet is resumed.

Give the symptoms of chronic indigestion (dyspepsia) in children? Disturbed sleep, tired, grinding teeth, fretfulness, loss of weight and flesh, gas in the stomach and bowels, pain in the bowels, bloated bowels, constipation or loose bowels with mucus in the stools, foul breath, coated tongue, poor appetite, capricious appetite. Some may think worms are present.

Common causes of chronic constipation? Bad system of feeding, prolonged use of improper food or improper methods of feeding, such as coaxing the child to eat, rapid eating, eating between meals, child selects his own food and lives largely upon one article of diet; indulgence in sweets, desserts, pies, etc. Improperly cooked foods especially oatmeal, and vegetables and eating sour or stale fruits. Exclude articles of diet which are known to be hard for children to digest.

How shall chronic indigestion be treated? Remove all causes such as bad foods, habits, etc.

Is it curable? In most cases, but the rules for feeding must be carefully followed for a long period. Medicine will not cure such cases unless the proper food is given in a proper way. That is better than medicine.

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How long must this proper feeding continue? For months, and with many children for two or three years.

Is medicine of any use? It will relieve the symptoms, but the main thing is proper feeding.



SLEEP.

Should a baby sleep with anyone? No, young infants have been smothered by their mothers. It is also a frequent temptation to nursing at night, and this is injurious to both mother and child.

How long does baby usually sleep at first? About nine-tenths of the time.

How should his bed be prepared? The mattress should be firm and soft, the pillow, of hair and very thin; you should change his position so as not to sleep always in the same position.

How many hours should baby sleep at six months? About two-thirds of the time.

How long should the daily nap be continued? Until about four years old.

How shall I put baby to sleep? Darken the room and have quiet. The child's hunger should be satisfied and make him generally comfortable and lay him in the crib while still awake.

Can I rock him to sleep? No. It is a bad habit and, he will readily acquire it. It will be hard to break, and besides it is useless and some times an injurious one. The same may be said of sucking a rubber nipple or pacifier, and all other devices to put baby to sleep.

What principal things disturb baby's sleep? Quiet, peaceful sleep is a sign of perfect health, and disorders of sleep may be produced by almost anything that is wrong with the child. Food and feeding cause disturbed sleep. It may come from chronic indigestion due to improper food. In bottle-fed babies it is often due to over-feeding. In those who nurse it may be due to poor food and hunger. Feeding three or four times during the night makes a restless baby. It may also be due to nervous causes such as bad habits due to faulty training, as when the nursery is light and the baby is taken from its crib whenever it cries or wakes, or when contrivances for producing sleep have been used. Any excitement in a nursing mother or child before sleeping time will cause wakefulness. Romping play just before bedtime and fears aroused by stories and pictures are causes, and children who inherit a nervous constitution are special sufferers from this cause. Cold feet, insufficient or too much clothing, want of pure fresh air in the sleeping room. Tonsils or adenoids may interfere with breathing in older children. Rousing a sleeping child from a good sound sleep, is a frequent cause of poor sleep. If a pregnant woman keeps herself in as good condition as possible, not only physically, but also mentally, she will not be likely to have a nervous baby; and if a baby is not born nervous there is no reason, at all, why it should not sleep well, for sleep is then its most normal condition, nine-tenths of the time. It will then depend upon the food and training it is given. The training many babies receive is enough to make them poor sleepers.

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Unnecessary handling.—Babies are wakened from sleep to show to friends who wish to see them at almost any and all hours. They are handled, petted, and made restless. Sleep is their normal condition and they ought to be given the opportunity nature demands. They are only to be aroused from sleep for nurse, bathing and clothing, and immediately placed in their crib, covered comfortably and warmly with all light shut away from their eyes and quiet about them. They will soon wake of their own accord for meals.

Rocking baby.—Rocking and shaking cause an increased flow of blood to the brain, and this should be avoided, for it of itself will cause sleeplessness. The brain during sleep is comparatively empty of blood; warm feet and cool head tend to produce sleep. Rocking, etc., is unnatural, and baby is made to receive and enjoy the natural. If the baby is sick the mother may take it in her arms and sing to it and coddle it carefully, but it is then sick. If it is trained properly from the beginning, rocking to sleep will be unnecessary; walking with the baby is of the same nature. See that your baby has warm feet and legs and body and a cool head, with comfortable clothes and good careful feeding, and it will sleep. Singing lullabies are soothing, but they do no good at first as the baby is deaf. Such lullabies are good when baby is sick and nervous, and then the mother is allowed and expected to hold and quiet baby. Sleep perhaps as much or more than any other item of nursery regime, depends on habit and mild but decided purpose. A lack of firmness in the early months of the baby's life may not only render its early years a burden to itself, but an annoyance, if not a nuisance to the entire household. Baby's habits are quickly and easily formed, but hard to correct. Dr. Tooker says: "An infant is as plastic as moist clay, you can mold it to your will. But you must have a will and a purpose and a plan, and make your judgment and your duty law."

But suppose baby will not sleep, but continues cross and wakeful and peevish; can I not give medicines to produce sleep? Never. If baby is wakeful and refuses to sleep, there is something wrong with your training, his clothing, covering, or his food, or he may be sick, he may not get enough food, etc., or he may have worms. If everything is all right and you have trained your baby right from his birth, he will sleep. Find out the cause and remove it. All soothing syrups, cordials, and quieting medicines contain opium in some form, and all experienced physicians realize the danger of giving these mixtures to babies. Babies have been killed by medicines which were declared to contain neither opium nor anything else injurious. They are often used. Remember that opium, laudanum and paregoric are dangerous for babies and old people. Careful proper training, allowing plenty of sleeping time, no waking at wrong hours, warm feet, legs and body, cool head, proper modified food, and especially mother nursing, with mother careful with herself, will give a good baby in nine out of ten cases.

Will children ever sleep too much? Not if they are healthy; you must remember a newly-born baby sleeps nine-tenths of the time; excessive sleeping may indicate disease of the brain.

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EXERCISE.

Is exercise necessary for infants? Yes.

How can it be obtained? A young baby usually gets its exercise by screaming, waving its arms, kicking, etc. It is a good plan to let baby lie in the center of a large bed, and with his long skirts drawn up, allow him to kick his little legs about for twenty or twenty-five minutes twice each day or one-half hour once a day. His clothing ought to be loose for this exercise. If the room is all right you can remove all clothing except his shirt, stockings and napkin; change his position sometimes and let him lie on his stomach for awhile. Of course this exercise cannot be taken after a meal and before the fourth month. Take a large clothes basket, put a blanket and some large pillows in it and prop baby up in a half sitting position for a little while each day, beginning with fifteen minutes, then one-half hour, and you can also at this time (fourth month) play with baby for a short time every day, but never just before bedtime, and the best time is just after his morning nap. Do not toss him in the air to make him laugh or crow; he is too tender and delicate for that. When baby is older and in short clothes, place a thick quilt upon the floor and allow him to tumble as he will; a fence two feet high which surrounds a mattress, makes an excellent place, or a box for this young animal to exercise his arms and legs without danger of injury. Before you put baby to sleep at night give him a warm sponge bath with a fresh band and shirt and he will sleep.

When, if ever, is crying useful in a baby? The cry expands the lungs of a new-born baby, and he should use his lungs a few minutes daily in order to keep them well expanded.

How much crying daily is necessary? Twenty to thirty minutes is not too much.

What kind of a cry is it? Loud and strong and infants get red in the face with it. Some call it a scream. It is exercise for baby and necessary for its health.

When is the cry abnormal? When it is very long and too frequent. It is not strong, but rather of a moaning or worrying nature or only a whine.

What causes such crying? Habit, temper, pain, hunger, illness.

What is the indulgence or habit cry? This is the cry of infants who cry to be rocked, or carried about, for a bottle to suck, etc.

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Temper cry? This is loud and strong and is usually accompanied by kicking, stiffening of the body, bending backward and is usually quite violent.

Pain cry? This is generally strong, sharp and quick, but not usually continuous, the features contract, legs draw up and the baby plainly shows symptoms of distress,

Hunger cry? This is a continuous fretful, pitiful cry, not strong and lusty,—baby looks hungry.

The cry of illness? This is moaning, fretful, easily aroused to crying. This can be distinguished even from a little distance before seeing baby, if you have heard it once. A baby who cries to get things stops when he gets them.

If baby cries at night what shall I do? See that he is comfortable, clothing all smooth under and about him, with warm feet and hands, and clean unsoiled napkin. If he is all right, let him cry. If it is habitual, find out the cause.

If baby cries from temper or habit what shall I do? Let him cry it out, you must conquer him or he will make of your life a burden. Be sure first it is habit or temper and then conquer him. I have seen many babies who cried from cause and I have also seen those who needed conquering.

But will not crying cause rupture? Not in young infants if the band is properly applied and not under any conditions after one year.



HOW TO LIFT A CHILD.

Grasp the clothing below the feet with the right hand and slip the left hand and, arm beneath the infant's body to its head. It is then raised upon the left arm and its head is upon your arm or chest. This supports the entire spine and there is no undue pressure upon the chest or abdomen, as is often the case when baby is grasped around the body or under the arms.

How shall I lift a child who is old enough to run about? Place your hands under the child's arms, at the arm-pits and never by the wrists.

Can I injure the child lifting it by its hands or wrists? Yes, it often injures the elbows or shoulder joints.



TEMPERATURE.

Normal temperature of an infant? This varies more than it does in adults. In the rectum it varies from 98 degrees F. to 99.5 degrees F., and a temperature in the rectum of 98 degrees F. or of 100 degrees F. is not of much importance unless it continues.

Where should I take the temperature of infants and young children? First the rectum, next the groin, the first is from one-half a degree to a degree higher than that of the groin.

How long should the thermometer be left in place? Two minutes in the rectum and five minutes in the groin.

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What meaning has the different temperature in a young child? 100 degrees F. to 102 degrees F. means a mild illness.

One hundred four degrees F. or over means a serious illness. The duration of the fever is more important. Slight causes often produce a high temperature in all young children which lasts for a few hours. There is then not much cause for alarm unless the temperature continues high or is accompanied by important symptoms of illness.

Is high temperature a more serious symptom in a young child than in an adult? No, for young children are very sensitive to conditions which produce fever and the thermometer often gives an unduly high idea of the severity of the symptoms. The same cause which would produce a temperature in an adult of 102 degrees F. or 103 degrees F. would likely produce a temperature of 104 degrees or 105 degrees F. in a child.



NERVOUSNESS.

What are the principal causes of nervousness in young infants and in children? The brain is a delicate structure at this time, and it grows rapidly, and during the first year of life grows as much as during all the rest of life. This needs quiet and peaceful surroundings and infants who are naturally nervous should be left almost alone, and few people should see them. Such babies should not play much. The poor little baby is often so tried by the attentions given him by older people that he does not know what to do, and as one author, a lady, says: "If he could speak he would beg for a quiet hour, and be perfectly happy if left alone with his own little hands and toes for his sole amusement." Babies of the very poor are less nervous than those of the wealthy and this is generally due to the fact that their mothers are too busy to constantly entertain and bother them. Children are better companions for babies than adults. Such little attentions given by the parents and relatives make sleepless and nervous babies very often. Playing with them before time and out of season, makes them not only nervous and irritable, but causes indigestion and allied diseases.



TOYS.

It is instinct for baby to put everything in its mouth. However, toys should be chosen that are smooth, easily washed and which cannot be swallowed. Avoid toys with sharp points like corners, or loose parts, small objects that can be pushed into the nose or ear or swallowed, such as coins, marbles, buttons, safety pins, beads, painted toys and those covered with hair or wool. Infants frequently swallow such wool or hair.



KISSING.

What objections are there to kissing babies? They are many and serious. No one, at least, outside of the immediate family has any right to kiss baby. Tuberculosis, diphtheria, syphilis and many other diseases are given by kissing. If infants are kissed at all, they should be kissed upon the cheek or forehead.

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FOREIGN BODIES.

If in the throat, examine and remove with the finger. If it has gone into the stomach, give plenty of dry food, such as bread, potatoes, but do not give an emetic or cathartic. An infant should have its usual food. A cathartic would hurry the foreign body too rapidly through the intestines, and in this way do harm. In the usual way it becomes coated with fecal matter and usually passes the intestines without causing any injury.

What shall I do if it is in the ears? If you can easily remove it with your fingers or small hair pin or crochet hook, do it. If not, take the baby to a physician. If it is a corn, bean or pea, do not wet it, or it will swell and become larger.

What if it is in the nostril? Place baby upon the table with its face toward a good light and use a hair pin bent right and pass this slowly and carefully behind the object, and pull slowly forward; or compress the empty nostril and have the child blow the nose strongly. If not removed easily, see a physician.



COLIC.

This is a very common disturbance in children, and is always due to disturbed digestion. It occurs in both nursed and bottle-fed babies, and may appear in the healthiest baby from error in the last meal, or error of diet or habit in the mother. Some mothers cannot under any circumstances secrete good nourishing milk, suitable for their children, and continued stomach and bowel disturbances with colic and emaciation follow its use. Such mothers should not nurse their baby.

What are the causes of colic? As before stated, it is due to indigestion

What causes indigestion? In nursing babies this may be due to some irregularity in the health or habits of the mother, or change in her dieting, and if the colic is not persistent the cause is not hard to find. Worry, trouble, sorrow, anger, overwork, and errors of diet in the mother often cause this trouble or the child may nurse too fast, too long, too much, or too often, or the milk may be too rich. If so, give baby an ounce of hot water before nursing. Hand-fed children are too often over-fed, and this produces indigestion.

What are the symptoms of colic? The child screams sharply; the cry comes suddenly and returns every few minutes; he draws up his legs and feet; the muscles of his face contract and he has other signs of pain. The belly is usually hard and tense.

What can I do for colic? First warm his feet and hands by placing them against a hot-water bag, or holding them before the open fire, turn him on his stomach, letting him lie on a hot-water bag or hot piece of flannel; pat his back gently to help up the wind and give him a little hot water with a medicine dropper and a few drops of essence of peppermint may be added to the water. If the colic continues, put ten drops of turpentine into a half teacupful of warm water, and inject this slowly into the rectum, and at the same time gently rub the abdomen so as to start the wind. If the wind is in the stomach, give him one-half a soda mint tablet dissolved in a tablespoonful of very warm water, or a little soda. If the attacks are frequent, the foods are too strong; use less cream or milk and more water. Regulate the mother's diet carefully if the baby nurses, and she should take some exercise out of doors, if possible, and try not to be nervous. Cereals, cocoa, milk, eggs, gruels made of corn, oatmeal; most fruits, not tart, and vegetables, with some meat, make a good diet for a nursing mother. The bowels must move freely every day at least once.

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MOTHERS' REMEDIES.—1. Wind Colic, Yarrow Tea for.—"Steep the yarrow tea the same as for catnip tea or any ordinary herb, and give as often as necessary." This is a remedy that has been very much used, and will help in a great many cases. It is perfectly harmless, and no one need have any fear of trying it.

2. Colic, Camphor Cure for.—"One drop of camphor in a teaspoonful of water. This remedy worked like a charm with my little girl." This acts quickly, and is sure to give relief as it warms up the stomach.

3. Wind Colic, Castor Oil for.—"Give large doses of castor oil." Colic, as we all know, is frequently caused by fermentation of the food in the stomach and bowels, and castor oil is one of the best known cathartics in a case of this kind. This can be given to small babies, in small quantities of course.

4. Wind Colic.—A New York mother sends in the following relief for:—"Give enough essence of wintergreen in water to make it taste for a small babe, and more according to age. For mine I give 1/4 to 1/2, cup of warm sweetened water. I have always used this remedy, as it was recommended to me by my mother. It is better than peppermint as it is not so binding."

5. Wind Colic, a Good Herb Remedy for.—Add enough water to one ounce of snake root to make one-half pint." Give in doses according to the age of the child. This is a good remedy, and has been used by many mothers with good success.

6. Wind Colic.—A doctor in New York sends in the following remedy for.—"One-half teaspoonful sweet spirits of nitre in one-third glass of water, for baby. Increase the dose for older children or adults. This warms the stomach, and is highly recommended."

7. Wind Colic, Cloves for.—"Make an infusion of 1 or 2 ounces of cloves. Cloves are warming, cordial and strengthening; they expel wind, and are good for the colic." This treatment has been known to give many a fretful baby a good night's sleep, and will be found very useful in homes where babies have this disease.

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PHYSICIANS' TREATMENT.—Temporary relief is obtained in attacks of colic by emptying the bowels of irritating materials, either by an enema or medicine. Peppermint, anise seed, catnip are effective, but may be harmful if continued long. Gin and whisky, warm, are good when the gas is in the stomach and upper bowel. It is always best to mix them with a solution like the following:

Bicarbonate of soda 40 grains Aromatic spirits of ammonia 30 drops Enough peppermint water to make 2 ounces

Put one teaspoonful in a cup of hot water for a child one year old.

The following is good to move the bowels:

Bicarbonate of soda 40 grains Aromatic syrup of rhubarb 4 drams Syrup of senna 5 drams Syrup of orange 1 ounce

One teaspoonful two or three times daily is needed in sour gassy stomach, with constipation or foul smelling stools. Fortunately such medicine is not often needed if the mother is careful, or baby is carefully bottle-fed. When there is vomiting with the colic and the stools contain curds the food is too strong. The nursing baby should be given one ounce of warm water before nursing, and the food for the bottle-fed baby should be made weaker by going back one formula. Sometimes peptonizing the food for a short time will do. This is very good when the proteids (curds) are hard for the baby to digest.



EARACHE.

Many young babies suffer from this trouble without the cause being even suspected. It may come after a cold, an attack of bronchitis or pneumonia, and sometimes during teething. It often accompanies scarlet fever and measles. The child screams, presses his head against his mother or nurse, pulls at his ear as if it hurt him. If you press in front of the ear the baby jumps as if in great pain and cries aloud. The pain is likely to be continuous and prolonged.

What can I do for it? Heat is the best remedy. Wash out the ear with a hot solution of boric acid fifteen to twenty grains to the ounce of water, and then apply heat in various ways. Have the child lie with the painful ear against a covered hot water bag or heat a flannel over a lamp and place it against the ear, changing it often to keep it hot. A bag of hot salt or bran is also very good. Laudanum and oil should not be used unless ordered by a physician. As soon as possible after the first attack of pain the baby should be examined by a doctor and unnecessary deafness is often avoided by such action. For a more extended account, see General Department. Fomentations applied are often beneficial, especially of hot water.

(See Earache, Mothers' Remedies, etc. under General Department).

[ALL ABOUT BABY 611]

CROUP.

This disease is treated fully in the general department; only a general outline is given here. This is a disease dreaded by most mothers. It is more distressing than dangerous. Its appearance is sudden and generally at night. The baby may have had a slight cold or have been exposed to a bad wind or it may have come on without any known cause.

Symptoms.—They are known to almost everyone. There is a hard, dry, barking, hoarse cough, generally with difficulty in breathing to a greater or less degree with a distressed look.

(For Mothers' Remedies, see General Department.)

Treatment.—If the child has eaten a big supper, it is well to give a simple emetic, such as warm mustard water, alum and molasses, or goose grease, or melted lard. Wring out pieces of flannel in hot water and put them on the child's throat as hot as he can bear them and change them often to keep them hot. Make a tent by spreading a sheet over an opened umbrella over the crib then place a croup kettle or teakettle close to the crib, directing the steam under the sheet into the tent so that baby may inhale the vapor, taking care not to burn him. This affords much relief. If necessary give ten drops of syrup of ipecac until vomiting occurs; a teaspoonful of castor oil should also be given and if the baby is constipated, give an enema of soapsuds and water. Keep the child indoors the next day.



CONSTIPATION IN BABIES.

MOTHERS' REMEDIES.—1. Constipation, Olive Oil Treatment for.—"Rub the abdomen with a firm yet gentle motion from left to right with pure olive oil. This is what the doctor told me to do for my babe of three years." This treatment will be found very beneficial as the olive oil is very strengthening and the rubbing will always give relief.

2. Constipation, A Pleasant Treatment for.—"One-half teaspoonful olive oil, one-half teaspoonful orange juice, three times a day after feeding."

3. Constipation, Prunes a Medicine for.—"Abate heat and gently open the bowels by the use of prunes. These should be fed to children more often. This would often prevent sickness. A very useful way of administering prunes as a medicine is to simmer for one-half hour, a few in water enough to cover, with 1/2 oz. senna leaves; remove the prunes, allow to dry and let the child eat them when needed. This is very good."

4. Constipation, Soothing Syrup Made by a Mother in New York for.—"One- half ounce spearmint, one-quarter ounce lady's slipper, one-half ounce rhubarb, one-quarter ounce cinnamon powder; pour one-half pint boiling water on the whole, mix and let stand to boil fifteen minutes, strain and sweeten well with syrup or honey. Give a teaspoonful every half hour, diminishing as the pain subsides." This will be found very beneficial in children, and may be used without any fear whatever, as it is perfectly harmless.

5. Constipation, Figs as a Medicine for.—"Grind up equal amounts of figs and senna leaves, put in closed jar and eat dry when needed." This will be found especially good for children, and most of them like it.

[612 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]

CONSTIPATION may be caused by many things, inheritance, malformation of the rectum and other parts, errors of food in the mother and in bottle-fed babies.

What is the treatment? If the baby is nursed and the mother is constipated, she should at once change her habits and diet. She should exercise in the open air at least two hours every day, and have a movement daily, even if she must take some mild laxative.

What should she drink and eat? She should drink plenty of water, and pure rich milk, cocoa, eat oatmeal and cornmeal gruels. She should not drink tea or coffee. She can eat fruit, most green vegetables and some meat, but not much starchy food. Baby may not get enough residue in his bowels. Give him one or two meals daily of modified milk made up of oatmeal gruel instead of barley, and give him plenty of water between his meals. One teaspoonful of cream in a little hot water given before nursing is often beneficial, or one or two teaspoonfuls of beef juice may be given night and morning, After six months a little orange or prune juice may be added.



BOTTLE-FED BABIES.

Add a little more top-milk or cream to each bottle than the formula gives; do not pasteurize the food unless it is necessary; do not use lime-water, but bicarbonate of soda in proper strength in its place, as lime-water is often very constipating. Malted food may be added to each bottle for some time. If necessary, stimulate the rectum mildly; this can be done by holding the baby over a small chamber at exactly the same time after a meal each day and insert into the bowel a small cone of oiled paper, or use a small castile soap suppository. This may form a habit in a few days. Suppositories of gluten are very beneficial if used in the morning. The child should not be allowed to go longer than twenty-four hours without a passage. A enema made up of one or two tablespoonfuls of sweet oil may be given with a bulb syringe, or an ounce of warm water to which has been added one-half teaspoonful of glycerin, or one-half pint of warm soap-suds. Do not give it every day; massage the baby's abdomen. Your hand should be warm. Begin at the right side groin and make a series of circular movements with your fingers, lightly at first, and then press down harder as the baby becomes accustomed to it; work your way up gradually to the ribs, then across to the ribs on the left side, and down to the left groin. This can be done twice daily for eight or ten minutes at a time, and always at the same time of day, but never soon after a meal. Olive oil may safely be given for constipation to a baby,—from twenty drops to one teaspoonful one or two times daily, but castor oil should not be given for constipation, as after a time it leaves the baby more constipated than ever. Sometimes inserting your finger, well oiled, into the rectum, will produce a passage. For older children, decrease the amount of white bread, toast, potatoes, and give green vegetables, oatmeal, and graham bread instead, with plenty of proper fruit twice daily; raw, scraped apples are sometimes the best fruit to use.

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DIARRHEA. (For Older Children).

What shall I do for this trouble? Rid the system of the irritating matter by giving the baby one teaspoonful of castor oil. Then stop all solid food and give boiled water if there is only a moderate looseness. Keep the child perfectly quiet. If the attack is more severe and attended by fever and vomiting all food and milk should be stopped at once in children of all ages, and only broth, barley water or some thin gruel given. Castor oil is required for a severe attack. If the patient is an infant the milk should be diluted or stopped. In severe attacks with vomiting or frequent foul stools, stop all food for at least twelve hours and all milk for a longer time, and the bowels should be freely moved by a cathartic. Give plenty of water to drink.

Food.—Albumin water is often better than plain water or anything else. To make it stir the white of an egg into a pint of cold water. See that they are well mixed, add a pinch of salt and strain. Give baby one teaspoonful every one-half hour, and if he vomits all other food, give two ounces every two hours; barley gruel, wheat flour gruel, mutton broth may be given also.

MOTHERS' REMEDIES.—1. Inflammation of the Bowels, Poultice of Hot Mush for.—"Wrap the child in a poultice of hot mush. Place the poultice over the abdomen." A poultice of this kind retains the heat, and is very good for inflammation of the abdominal cavity, and would help to take away the soreness and bloating in the bowels that is always present in this disease.

2. Bowel Trouble, a Good Tonic for.—

Powdered rhubarb 1 heaping teaspoonful Soda 1/4 teaspoonful Sugar 1 teaspoonful Peppermint essence 1/2 teaspoonful Hot water 1/2 cup (scant)

Dose:—One-half teaspoonful every hour until bowels show signs of right color.

The soda and the peppermint will tone up the stomach and relieve any trouble present there, while the rhubarb will act on the bowels and carry off all impurities.

3. Bowel Trouble, Rhubarb and Licorice for.—"Compound tincture of rhubarb one ounce bicarbonate of soda 1 dram, fluid extract of licorice 1 dram, pure water 6 ounces. Give from one to two teaspoonfuls according to the age of the child." This will be found a very good treatment for this trouble, and one that has been thoroughly tried.

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RICKETS.

You should always be suspicious if your baby has no teeth at the end of the first year. A hearty baby should have six or eight, and if the soft spot in the head just above the forehead is as much open as it was for months previously you should be doubly suspicious. This soft spot should be closed in a well-nourished infant between the fifteenth and twentieth months. If in addition to this the child sweats about the head whenever it sleeps, cries whenever it is handled (unless it has scurvy or rheumatism) and does not like to play, the indications of rickets are very nearly conclusive. Rickets is a constitutional disease showing itself in different ways.

At what age does it usually occur? Between six months and two and one-half years.

What are the causes of rickets? Improper food, or inability to absorb the food, unhygienic conditions. Nursing babies who have a healthy mother are not troubled with this disease unless she nurses too long into the second year. Starchy foods, too little milk or other animal food, taking the infant to the family table and allowing it to eat whatever it wants, these are the most common errors in baby feeding which very often result in rickets. Babies who are brought up on condensed milk, or other foods that contain little fat are likely to have rickets. Insufficient clothing, damp and badly ventilated buildings, a lack of out-door air and sunshine, and inherited constitutional weakness, are other causes.

When do the most marked symptoms usually occur? Between the sixth or fifteenth months.

What are the symptoms? Such children are likely to be nervous and irritable; child's head sweats profusely at night, so much so that the pillows are very wet. The chest is poorly shaped and frequently has depressions at the sides, and little nodules or "beads" in the ribs where the ribs and breast-bone join. The child's head is also peculiar. It is often very flat on the top and measures more around than a normal child at the same age. The forehead stands out and the sides and top are flattened. The soft spot in the skull is large and late in closing. He is late in cutting his teeth. His abdomen is generally large and prominent, pot belly; his muscles are soft and flabby, and his wrists and ankles are enlarged a little later. He takes cold easily. He is pale and anemic, although he may be plump and fat, and when he begins to walk his legs bend easily, and he will have bow-legs. When he sits, his back will look as if curved and this alarms his parents, who may think his spine is diseased.

Is such a disease curable? Yes, if taken in time; you can arrest its progress.

Do they ever die of rickets? Very seldom, but they do not stand other diseases very well.

[ALL ABOUT BABY 615]

When and what shall I do for it? If you recognize the condition, have the baby attended to immediately by a physician. The food should be changed—such children require fats; very little starchy or sweet foods allowed. A baby ten to twelve months old can suck a piece of boiled bacon for a few minutes every day. Fruit juices can be given early, raw meat juice once a day. Give him his tub bath daily, and if he is apt to take cold easily he should have a little cold water dashed over his chest and spine, followed by a gentle brisk rubbing to start up the circulation. Sun baths are beneficial. Place the baby directly in the sun with his back to it, for an hour every day. Give him plenty of air and sunshine, both indoors and outdoors.

Medicine.—Cod liver oil is an excellent remedy with the hypophosphites. Cod liver oil alone with calcarea phosphoricum 3X (homeopathic) is splendid treatment also. The whole treatment must be continued for months—calcarea phos. four times daily.



SCURVY.—This disease is sometimes seen in infants. It attacks infants who have been fed for a long time on a proprietary food or else on milk that has been over sterilized. Nursing children seldom have it, or those who have been properly fed on modified cows' milk. Babies who are delicate and poorly nourished are more subject to it. The first symptoms a mother notices is that it seems to hurt very much when his legs are touched; sometimes both hurt, and then again only one is painful; at other times the arms will be most painful and again both arms and legs seem to pain alike. So it goes on; the joints enlarge somewhat and sometimes little red spots appear just under the skin and very often the gums will become red and spongy; this is especially noticeable around the incisor teeth of the upper gums, if they have already appeared. Rheumatism is very rarely seen so early and with that, there is generally fever.

Treatment.—A cure is soon affected. Stop the patent food at once, or if the milk has been sterilized, it must be discontinued and the baby put on unsterilized milk diluted to the proper strength for his special age. Strained juice of an orange should be given him every day; if under six months he can have the juice of one-half an orange; over that the juice of one orange. This is given in intervals during the day. Beef juice is good, about two ounces in twenty-four hours. Smaller amount if necessary. Improvement is noticed twenty-four to forty-eight hours after treatment.



MALNUTRITION. (Marasmus).—Marasmus is a term applied to infants who grow thinner and thinner. No matter how much or little they eat there is a constant wasting or fading away of the body.

What are the causes? Syphilis, tuberculosis, chronic vomiting, persistent loose bowels, poor assimilation of the food. Marasmus is really a later and more severe form of malnutrition.

Symptoms.—He looks shriveled, the skin is dry, eyes are sunken, anemia is marked, the belly is much distended, while the other parts of the body seem to be all bones and no flesh; he is constantly whining and fretful, has a tired and anxious expression most of the time; under six months it is hard to cure.

Treatment.—A physician is needed to watch over and prescribe, no set rule can be given. Sometimes cod-liver oil or iron is needed. It needs constant care and watching to cure this trouble.

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CONVULSIONS.—Young children are more subject to convulsions than older people. Convulsions may be due to brain trouble, but an overloaded stomach is the first thing a doctor thinks of, and so the mother should remember what was eaten that might be unusual.

First Thing for the Mother to do? Undress the baby and put him to bed in a quiet room, and place an ice bag on his head, or wring cloths out of ice water or very cold water and place them on baby's head, and change often to keep them cold. Warm the feet with a hot water bag. If the doctor can not be present soon, give baby a mustard foot bath in bed; use two tablespoonfuls to a gallon of water, some advise stronger. If the convulsions are severe wring towels out of mustard water and place a rubber sheet on the bed and wrap the child's body and feet in the hot wet towels until the parts are quite red, and afterward cover the body with warm flannels. Have plenty of hot water ready, so the doctor can give a full tub bath when he comes, if he thinks it necessary. If the child can swallow, give him a teaspoonful of castor oil; or if the convulsions continue, wash out the bowels or give an injection as soon as possible.

When is a hot bath needed and useful? If the convulsions have continued until the pulse is weak, the face is very pale, the nails and lips blue, the feet and hands cold: it will do good by bringing the blood to the surface and relieve the brain, heart and lungs.

How shall I give it? Use a thermometer to see that the temperature of the water is not over 106 degrees F.; if no thermometer is handy put your arm into the water to your elbow. It should feel warm, but not so hot as to be uncomfortable. Put one-half teacupful of powdered mustard in the tub. Place the baby in the tub, body all covered, and hold the head out of the water; keep him in the bath for five to ten minutes; wrap him in a blanket and put into bed without drying.

The following is given to prevent convulsions:—

Bromide of Potash 1/2 dram Chloral Hydrate 15 grains Simple Syrup 2 ounces Mix thoroughly.

Give one teaspoonful every hour, while the baby is nervous or feverish. For one-year-old child.

MOTHERS' REMEDIES.—1. Convulsions, a Grandmother's Remedy for.—"Dip the feet and limbs in warm water; give dry salt in mouth." Care should be taken not to give too much salt as you may choke the child. Also apply cold cloths to the head, to draw the blood from the brain.

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2. Convulsions, Hot Mustard Water for.—"Put patient in tub of hot mustard water, with cold cloths to the head," The hot mustard water draws the blood from the head to the feet and the cold cloths assist in doing good by keeping the blood away from the head. This is, an old, tried and effective remedy,

3. Convulsions, Old Tried Remedy for.—"Put patient in hot bath; give castor oil and rub vigorously." The castor oil does good in cases where the bowels are too loose or constipated, as the case may be, by carrying off the impurities, and the hot bath equalizes the circulation, relieving the convulsion.

4. Convulsions, A New York Mother's Remedy for.—"Chloroform one-half dram, tincture of cardamom, one-half ounce, spearmint water, two and one-half ounces. Shake well and give one-half teaspoonful in water to child one year old, smaller children a proportionate dose." The chloroform is very quieting, and the tincture of cardamom and spearmint act on the bowels. This combination will quiet the child, and in that way relieve the trouble.

(See "Convulsions" in General Department for Mothers' Remedies).



INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN.

What are the early symptoms of brain diseases? Temperature is usually very high, 104 degrees F. and over. There is stupor or delirium, and vomiting is common; light hurts the eyes; the child jumps and starts at the slightest noise, unless the hearing is affected. There is often a squint, the eyes may be turned upward, and the lids may be only half closed during sleep. The pupils are dilated or contracted, Sometimes one pupil is larger than natural, while the other is smaller.

What can I do for these symptoms? Cold to the head, either by ice bags or cold water cloths. The room should be dark and quiet. No food given unless ordered, and then bland and very little at a time. A doctor should always be called for such symptoms; castor oil to move the bowels should be given or an enema of soap-suds and water. This helps to draw the blood from the brain, also keep the feet warm and head cool.



SCALD HEAD (in Babies) Milk Crust.—This is often due to neglect in regularly removing the free secretion, or due sometimes to an inflammation of the little sebaceous follicles of the skin. It occurs on the scalp most. The hair should be cut short, and soften the crusts with warm olive oil, or vaselin may be left on the scalp over night, then wash off the crusts with warm water and castile soap. An ointment can be made of vaselin or cold cream, and two per cent resorcin, and applied after the crust is resumed. Spread on linen and hold it in place by a thin cap, wash this off every day with olive oil and apply the salve fresh. Water should not be used oftener than once a week—oxide of zinc ointment is also good.

[618 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]

MOTHERS' REMEDIES.—l. Cleaning Baby's Head, Common Lard for.—"Nothing is better than common lard. Grease the head good at night, using plenty of lard, especially if very heavily coated. Let stand over night, the lard softens the coating so you can take a fine comb and remove it. Comb from the forehead back. You need never have any scale on the baby's head." Care should be taken in using a fine comb, as it will very often make a child's head very sore.

2. Scald Head, An Experienced Mother's Remedy for.—

"Boracic acid 2 drams Salol 2 drams Balsam Peru 1 dram Carbolic acid 20 drops Vaselin 1 ounce Lanoline 1 ounce Mix."

Then wash the head thoroughly with castile soap, and apply the above morning and night, and use internally the following:—

Iodide Potash 192 grains Fluid Extract Stillingia 1 ounce Fluid Ext. Prickly Ash Bark 1/2 ounce Fluid Ext. Yellow Dock 1 ounce Compound Syrup Sarsaparilla, q. s 8 ounces Mix."

Take about one-half teaspoonful from two to four times a day, according to the age of the child. If this treatment is kept up faithfully, you will be sure to obtain a cure.



TEETHING.—There are twenty teeth in the first set. There is sometimes slight fever, restlessness, sleepless nights, maybe loss of appetite and some indigestion. If signs of indigestion are seen, give less food, and replace same with boiled water. If he is a nursing baby give him an ounce of boiled water before nursing and nurse him only ten to fifteen minutes. If he is restless at night give him a warm sponge bath, and if there is any fever, add one teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda to a basin of tepid water. If the gums are very much congested and swollen and the child suffers, they may need to be lanced. Sometimes the teeth come earlier, but generally between the fifth and ninth months. They appear usually as follows:—

2 lower central incisors 6 to 9 months (often earlier) 4 upper incisors 7 to 10 months 2 lower lateral incisors 12 to 14 months 2 anterior upper molars 12 to 16 months 2 anterior lower molars 12 to 16 months 2 upper canines (eye teeth) 18 to 24 months 2 lower canines (stomach teeth) 18 to 24 months 2 lower and 2 upper posterior molars 24 to 30 months

During the first year the child should cut six teeth; next six months, six or more; at two years he should have sixteen; at two and one-half years twenty. About the sixth year the permanent teeth are cut and follow closely after the shedding of the milk teeth.

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TEETHING.—PERMANENT TEETH, USUAL ORDER.

4 first molars 6 years 4 central incisors 7 years 4 lateral incisors 8 years 4 first bicuspids 8-1/2 to 9 years 4 second bicuspids 10 years 4 canines 11 or 12 to 14 years 4 second molars 12 to 13 years, (12 to 15) 4 wisdom teeth 18 to 25 years (17 to 25)



HICCOUGH.—Some infants are very liable to hiccoughs. It is generally a matter of little importance. It is a spasmodic contraction of the diaphragm, often caused by gas or wind or too much food in the baby's stomach. It is very annoying, and should not be allowed to go on indefinitely. Pat the baby gently, but suddenly, on the back, or give him a little hot water in which there are a few grains of sugar or a drop of essence of peppermint. See that he does not feed too fast or suck an empty bottle.



ENLARGED GLANDS.—Cutting teeth or sometimes a bad cold or other things cause the glands at the sides of the neck to swell and enlarge. This does not always give any discomfort to the baby, but it annoys and worries the mother. Frequently the enlargement will soon disappear of itself, but sometimes the gland grows larger, gets quite hard and often much inflamed—matter or pus will then form, and a discharge soon follows.

Treatment.—If the gland keeps on enlarging, a doctor should be seen, and if it needs lancing he can do so at the proper time, and save the neck from a bad scar. Medicine can also be given that will sometimes stop it. Syrup of iodide of iron three to ten drops, three times a day for a one-year-old child is good; cod-liver oil should be given to pale, thin children for a long time.



BED-WETTING.—If a child continues to wet the bed after he is three years old, something should be done for this annoying habit. The child should be examined by a doctor; circumcision will often effect a cure in boys; or pin worms may be the cause of the trouble; a stone in the bladder, or any trouble that makes him nervous, or it may be due to habit.

Treatment.—Scolding will not do any good. The child should not drink any fluids after four in the afternoon. He should not have any bread and milk or water for supper, but instead have bread and a dry cereal, with a little stewed fruit; sometimes a child needs a tonic. It is a tedious trouble to treat and it takes a long time to gain control of it. The mother must have a large stock of patience and co-operate with the doctor. The child should pass urine before retiring, have the foot of the bedstead elevated, not too warmly covered so as to become restless. His suppers should not be hearty, bowels should be regular. The following is a good remedy:—Tincture of belladonna; give five drops at bed-time and increase the dose, drop by drop, each night until it produces a fine scarlet rash upon the skin. This should be marked "poison" and only given under the care of a doctor. It is a good remedy, but it must be watched.

[620 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]

HIVES.—Hives, or urticaria, is often seen in young children, It is generally caused by indigestion. It is not a serious disease, but it is uncomfortable and makes a baby cross. The eruption is bright red in color, and appears in blotches or wheels.

Treatment.—Give the child a laxative like magnesia or citrate of magnesia, or epsom salts and cream of tartar, of each two ounces. Dose, one-half teaspoonful in water every three hours until the bowels move freely. (One-year-old).

To relieve the itching.—Sop the spots with warm water, and a little soda, or an entire bath can be given of this if the eruption is extensive.



RUPTURE in a Baby. (Navel).—Take a strip of oxide of zinc adhesive plaster about one and one-half inches wide and long enough to reach three-fourths around the baby's body. Fasten one end of this to one side of the abdomen and with the other hand gently push the rupture back; bring the skin on either side of the navel together so that it will meet and hold the rupture. Bring the plaster tightly across the abdomen, across the navel and attach it firmly to the other side; change this dressing every few days and continue treatment until healed.



COLDS in Babies.—Many babies seem to take cold without any cause. It is often due to the fact that the room is too warm, or they are clothed too warmly; they get easily overheated and feel the slightest draught of air. If it is in his nose and it is stopped up, twist a piece of cotton on a small wooden piece like a tooth-pick and dip it into olive oil and put it into the nostrils a short distance. If necessary, buy a nose syringe with a soft rubber tip, and use it twice daily. The following solution is good: one-half teaspoonful of boric acid powder, one ounce of glycerin, and eight ounces of warm water. Mix. Place the child on your lap, head against your chest, bend his head well forward and syringe one nostril and then the other. Camphor cream is a good remedy. For a cough and much wheezing use a mustard plaster. Take one part mustard, six parts flour and mix it into a smooth paste with a little cold water, spread it between two layers of muslin, warm it and moisten with a little water if necessary, and put it on the upper part of the breastbone. Leave it on only long enough to redden the skin (five to six minutes). Put it on just before baby goes to bed. A drop of camphor every three hours is often good for a cold at the beginning. Aconite in small doses is also very good.

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MOTHERS' REMEDIES. Colds, Catnip Tea for.—"Give a little sweetened catnip tea, then grease well with camphor and lard." This is a very simple and effective remedy, especially for small babies.

(See "Colds" under General Department for more Mothers' Remedies,)

Early signs of sickness.—When a baby who persistently refuses his food is drowsy at unusual times, fretful, feverish, and is uncomfortable, the mother should look in baby's mouth, for sore throat or tonsils, or on his body for rashes. Undress the baby and put him to bed in a quiet room away from the rest of the family, and if he is hot and restless give him a sponge bath with one teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda to a basin of luke-warm water. Give him also an enema to move his bowels, especially if they are not regular. Dilute his usual food with water or barley water to one-half the usual strength. If he is old enough to eat solid food, stop it. A dose of a teaspoonful of castor oil is safe to give until the doctor comes. Give him water to drink for he is thirsty. Take his temperature.



CARING FOR BURNS, BRUISES, CUTS, WOUNDS, ETC., IN BABY.

For Burns.—Keep away the air from the burn. Dust soda on the burn if the skin is not too much broken, and wrap it up in clean linen. Olive oil, linseed oil, is better, or cream should be put on if it is more severe. Then a layer of clean linen and then a thin layer of cotton wool. It must not be too warmly dressed. An ointment called pineoline is excellent for burns.

For a bruise or bump.—Apply cloths hot or cold,—you can do this with flannel wrung out of very cold or hot water. Ice may be wrapped up in cotton and put on the part.

Cuts.—Wash it with clean cold water, and bind it up with clean linen. If it bleeds much, let it bleed for a few seconds, and then stop it with a pad of clean linen pressed firmly on the part and held there until it stops.



SPLINTERS.—Remove them and dress as for any other wound.



POISONING.—Children will get hold of poison, and mother had better have antidotes, etc., to use in case of necessity. Rat poison, fly poison, matches, etc.

Treatment.—First use emetics; mustard and luke-warm water or one teaspoonful of alum in a glass of luke-warm water; a little salt and warm water; ten to fifteen drops syrup of ipecac, and then warm water. For fly poison, give one-half ounce of olive oil in same amount of lime-water, and repeat it every five or six minutes, for five or six doses, and then white of an egg, and keep child warm. Antidote for arsenic is freshly precipitated, sesquioxide of iron. Go to druggist and tell him to prepare it; tell him what it is wanted for, and give this in doses of an ounce at a time as the oil was given.

For poisoning from sucking matches.—Vomit the child freely, but do not give anything oily, as milk or egg, as this dissolves the phosphorus.

[622 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]

Oxalic acid is sometimes used for cleaning purposes, and mistaken for epsom salts. Give an emetic and lime-water.

For carbolic acid.—Give an emetic, and then white of an egg and epsom salts.

Overdose of soothing syrup.—Keep baby awake, slap with wet towel, etc.; or walk him about if he is old enough, inject strong black coffee in the rectum. Keep up the strength with stimulants.



PROPRIETARY FOODS.

These foods are sometimes of temporary use. As many of them contain very little fat, they may be used in cases of illness where fat cannot be borne. Some of these contain malt sugar, and when the baby is constipated this kind is useful when added to milk. Others can be made up of water only, and are useful and handy where it is impossible to obtain fresh milk. In cases of diarrhea the flour foods made up with water are very useful. Milk at that time acts as a poison. Some of the best foods on the market are the following—Condensed milk, Mellin's food, Horlick's Malted milk, Nestle's food, Imperial granum, Just's food, Carnrick's soluble food, Ridge's food, peptogenic milk powder, Lactated food, Eskay's, Albumenized food, cereal milk, Borden's food.

For constipation in a child.—One to two teaspoonfuls of Mellin's food, added to each bottle of his usual modified milk formula will often help a great deal. As soon as the bowels move naturally it should be gradually diminished until after four or six weeks, the child can do without it.

Condensed milk and Malted milk.—These can be prepared with water only, and so are best to use on a long journey. Give the baby one or two meals daily a week or two before the journey. Discontinue when at the end of the journey.

Imperial Granum.—This is often useful in acute diarrhea, when milk cannot be given. Mix the proportion as given on the box with water into a smooth paste, then add a pint of boiling water and boil for fifteen or twenty minutes.

Peptogenic Milk Powder.—This may be used for a short time during or after acute illness; you can add it to the formula used as directed on the package.

[NURSING DEPARTMENT 625]

NURSING DEPARTMENT Including Care of the Sick and the Sick Room

FOODS, FORMULAE, DELICACIES FOR SICK ROOM, HOW TO PREPARE THEM; DIET IN FEVERS AND OTHER DISEASES, SECURED FROM TRAINED NURSES, PHYSICIANS AND HOSPITALS.

Every Phase of Nursing Given in Detail and in Plain Mothers' Language, including Latest Sanitary Care and Science.

VENTILATION.—The sick room should be ventilated without any draught hitting the patient. The patient's bed should be placed out of the line of air currents. If this is not possible he must be protected by means of screens, the head of the bed being especially guarded. That draughts are dangerous is founded on fact no less than is the modern idea that an abundance of fresh air is necessary and helpful. A nurse has been guilty of gross neglect of duty when the patient contracts pneumonia through exposure to too severe currents of air. A simple way to ventilate a private room is to raise the lower sash of window six inches and place a board across the opening below; the air will then enter between the two sashes and be directed upward, where it becomes diffused and no one in the room is subjected to a draught. In a room where there is only one window a pane of glass may be taken out and a piece of tin or pasteboard may be so placed that the current will be directed upwards; or a window can be opened in an adjoining room which fills with fresh air and the door of the sick room opened afterwards to admit the air; or, the patient may be covered up, head and all, for a few minutes two or three times a day, while all the windows are thrown open, The room should be thoroughly warmed before it is so thoroughly ventilated.

[624 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]

TEMPERATURE OF THE ROOM.—This should be regulated by a thermometer suspended at a central point in the room. The temperature should be regulated according to the nature of the disease and the comfort of the patient. In fevers it should be lower, varying from 55 to 60 degrees F., but in bronchial troubles it should be kept about 70 degrees F. The mean temperature should be kept about 60 degrees to 70 degrees. It should be raised or lowered gradually, so that the patient will not be overheated or chilled.

LIGHT.—The patient should have plenty of light and sunshine, but do not let the sun or light shine directly upon the face.

CARE OF THE DISCHARGES (Excreta).—This is very important. Sputa, dirty vessels, soiled dressings and linen are prolific sources of impure air.

Sputum Cups.—These should be of glazed earthenware, without any corners or cracks and provided with a simple moveable cover when in use. They should be sterilized for one hour in every twenty-four hours.

Bed Pans and Urinals.—These should be washed out thoroughly. Allow boiling hot water to run on them for some time before they are put away after being cleansed.

Soiled Dressing and Linen.—These should be received in covered basins or in paper bags and at once carried away and destroyed or disinfected, or put in a metal dressing can and closely covered until the contents can be cared for at the earliest possible time. Vomited matter or the discharges from the bowels and the urine should always be covered in the vessel either with a lid, towel or rubber cloth. The rubber is better than the cloth as it keeps in the odor and can be scrubbed and disinfected.

If the patient is too sick to use a sputum cup, the expectoration can be received in a paper handkerchief or a piece of cheese cloth and placed in a small paper bag and burned at once.

SOILED AND STAINED LINEN.—These should be put away in a covered receptacle that contains enough disinfectant solution to keep them moist. They are removed as soon as possible to the wash room to be cleaned and sterilized.

Sterilization.—This term is usually employed when heat is used to sterilize.

Disinfection.—This is the term used when chemicals are relied upon to purify (sterilize).

Heat and Chemicals are much aided by sunshine, light and fresh air, especially that of high dry climates.

[NURSING DEPARTMENT 625]

The germs (bacteria) are destroyed by dry or moist heat, the latter used in the form of steam. Dry heat is not so penetrating and requires a longer time and some goods are destroyed when exposed in it long enough to destroy the germs.

In order to destroy these organisms it is thought to be necessary to expose whatever is to be sterilized to the steam at 200 degrees F. for three successive days for thirty minutes or more each day, and during the interval to keep them in a room with a temperature of 60 degrees F.

A SIMPLE METHOD OF STERILIZING.—Put the articles (small articles) in an ordinary kitchen steamer; closely cover it and place it over a pot of boiling water. If you wish you can add two parts of carbonate of sodium to each ninety-eight parts of water.

Germicides are chemicals used to destroy germs.

Disinfectants are chemicals used to arrest and prevent their development. These disinfectants should always be fresh.

Carbolic acid is one of the most efficient and most frequently employed of the known chemical disinfectants. It comes to us in the form of white crystals and dissolves in water, glycerin, or alcohol.

Watery solutions cannot be made stronger than five per cent. Solutions weaker than this will not destroy all germs, but on account of its irritating qualities the weaker solutions are employed when used for the skin and mucous membranes. How to make a five per cent or one to twenty solution:

A bottle containing the crystals is placed in hot water until they are melted (or you can buy this dissolved product). Then take one part of the acid and add it to nineteen parts of boiling water and shake this vigorously until all has been thoroughly dissolved and mixed. To make a 1, 2, 3 or 4 per cent solution, you take 1/100 or 1/50 or 1/33 or 1/25 of acid.

Corrosive Sublimate or Bichloride of Mercury.—Tablets can be bought at any drug store containing the desired strength, and are better to use. This is a powerful irritant poison and must be used carefully. Tablets of the strength of 1-1000 and 1-2000 are most often employed for germicide action. The weaker solutions 1-5,000 or 1-10,000 were used to wash out the cavities. It is not now used much for that purpose; it stains clothing and corrodes instruments.

Milk of Lime is considered very valuable and safe to use in vessels to receive evacuations from the bowels. It should be freshly made or it is useless. Equal parts should be stirred up with the contents of the bed pan and this must be let stand at least one hour. This is the best way to disinfect stools.

To Prepare Milk of Lime.—The milk of lime is made by adding one part of slaked lime to four parts water.

Chloride of Lime (Chlorinated lime) is also a very good disinfectant. It has a bad odor and unless it is very fresh, is not reliable.

[626 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]

Boric acid disinfectant. This property is not very marked, but it is not irritating. The standard solution is five per cent. The weaker solutions are used to clean cavities, for superficial wounds, and to wash out the bladder.

The standard or saturated solution is made by using one part of the acid in crystal form to nineteen parts of water; or, this saturated solution can be easily made by putting a large quantity of the crystals in a filter and pouring the quantity of boiling water over them slowly until all are dissolved. Strain the solution to get rid of the excess of crystals or it can be allowed to cool when the liquid can be poured off.

Normal salt solution is made by using one teaspoonful of salt to a pint of water.

CARE AND DISINFECTION OF AN INFECTED ROOM.—Carpets, upholstered furniture, hangings, bric-a-brac, or any personal clothing, the color of which may be destroyed by disinfection, should have been removed from the room at the beginning of the disease.

DAILY CARE OF THE ROOM BY THE NURSE.—The furniture should be wiped off with a damp cloth and the floor swept with a broom covered with a damp cloth wrung out of a 1-20 (five per cent) carbolic acid solution; besides this the floor must be rubbed thoroughly with a damp cloth every second or third day. If the disease is contagious a damp sheet kept moist should be hung in the line of the air currents. Cloths that are used daily should be washed in hot soap suds and when not in use left to soak in carbolic acid solution 1-20 (five per cent).

After the patient has recovered from an infectious disease he should receive a hot soap and water tub or sponge bath, thorough washing of the hair and irrigation of the ears included, followed by a thorough sponging with a one per cent carbolic acid or corrosive sublimate (1-10,000) solution. The finger-nails and toe-nails should be cut close and cleaned underneath.

A nasal douche is given, and the mouth should be washed with listerine or a saturated (five per cent) solution of boric acid. The patient is then wrapped in clean sheets or clothes and taken in another room. Then the bedding and clothing are made ready for sterilization.

DISINFECTION OF THE ROOM.—Brush off the mattress, wrap it in a damp sheet wrung out of a twenty per cent solution of carbolic acid, and send to the sterilizer. The clothes are steamed and sent to the wash room. When there is no sterilizer the bed must be soaked in a 1-20 (five per cent) carbolic solution, afterwards boiled and the mattress ripped apart and boiled or burned.

[NURSING DEPARTMENT 627]

DISINFECTING THE ROOM.—Arrange all articles that are left in the room so as to expose them the best to the fumigating substance. To disinfect with formalin, close the room tightly, seal all cracks and openings with paste and paper. Place an alcohol lamp in a metal dish in the center of the room. Put in a receptacle over the lamp three fluid ounces of a forty per cent solution of formaldehyde; have a dish of water in the room for some time; moisten the air of the room, light the lamp and then close the room up tight for twenty-four hours, until the dust has settled; then enter gently so as not to disturb the dust and wipe off everything in the room with a cloth wrung out of a corrosive sublimate (1-1000) solution. Floors, woodwork, furniture, bedstead must be so washed or wiped, and use for crevices pure carbolic acid, applying it with a brush. The walls should be washed down with the 1-1000 corrosive sublimate solution. Then leave the windows wide open. Sulphur fumigation is not considered so certain in its results.

HOW TO TREAT SPUTUM FROM TUBERCULOUS PATIENTS.—Sputum is dangerous when it is dry. The sputum cups should be of china or paper, so that they may be either boiled or burned. There should be no crevices. The cup should be kept covered and the sputum moist so that none of the germs on the sputum becoming dry may escape into the air of the room. The china vessel should be frequently cleaned and, before the contents are thrown away, the germs must be destroyed by putting the sputum in a two per cent solution of carbonate of soda for one hour. The paper cups and contents must be burned before the contents have time enough to become dry. In infectious diseases, all discharges from the nose, mouth, bowels and bladder should be received in a china vessel containing carbolic acid or milk of lime.

In Diphtheria the expectoration, discharge from the nose and vomited matter should be received in paper napkins and burned at once in the room, or if this is impossible, boiled before being taken from the room.

Use the same treatment for the discharges in Scarlet fever. Two sets of cups should be kept and boiled in the soda solution before being used. All vessels, tubes or cups that are used for the mouth in diphtheria, syphilis, or cancer should be kept in a 1-40 solution of carbolic acid and boiled before being used by another patient.

Bed-pans used in cases of cancer, dysentery, typhoid fever and, in short, in all infectious diseases, are to be soaked in a 1-20 (five per cent) carbolic acid solution and boiled before again coming into general use.

Sheets and clothing stained with typhoid fever discharges must be washed out at once, or soaked in a disinfectant solution and steamed before being sent to the laundry. Also the bedding and clothing in any infectious or malignant disease should always be put to soak, at once, in a 1-20 (five per cent) carbolic acid solution, or else steamed or boiled before being brought again into general use.

The urine needs the same attention as the bowel discharges in typhoid fever.

Coughing in diphtheria, lung tuberculosis, scarlet fever, etc., sets free infectious germs. These may be received in the person of the attendant, or on the bedding and furniture. Care should be taken when attending such cases.

[628 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]

CARE OF THE MOUTH AND TEETH.—A weak solution of borax or listerine is very good. One-half ounce of listerine to a glass of water to be used by the patient as often as he desires to rinse his mouth. Lemon juice in solution is very good. For cracks in the mouth, vaselin or cold cream is good. A few drops of oil of peppermint can be added, or oil of wintergreen.

For spongy and sore gums.—A few drops of tincture of myrrh added to pure water may be used. Colorless golden seal in the same way is pleasant and successful.

Cloths for washing the teeth and mouth are made in small squares of gauze or old linen. They are best to use since they can be burned immediately after being used. Wrap one of the squares around the first finger, dip it into the mouth-wash and insert in the mouth. Go over the whole cavity, the cloth being passed along the gums and behind the wisdom teeth, thence over the roof of the mouth, inside the teeth and under the tongue. Use more than one piece for all this. This is very necessary in typhoid fever. If the tongue is badly coated, it can be soaked and gently scraped. A good mouth-wash for general use is the following:

Glycerin 1 dram Soda 10 grains 5% solution of Boric Acid 1 ounce

BED SORES. Prevention and care of.—Very fat flabby people or thin emaciated patients are liable to suffer from bed sores. They result from constant friction or pressure on a certain spot or spots and when the body is poorly nourished. Moisture, creases in the under sheets, night gown, crumbs in the bed and want of proper care and cleanliness also are causes.

Bed-sores due to pressure occur most frequently upon the hips and lower back, the shoulders and heels; those from friction, in the ankles, inner parts of the knees, or the elbows and back of the head. In patients suffering from dropsy, paralysis or spinal injuries, or when there is a continuous discharge from any part of the body, the utmost care must be taken to prevent bed sores.

Treatment. Preventive.—Cleanliness and relief from pressure. Bathe the back and shoulders with warm water and soap night and morning and afterwards rub with alcohol and water equal parts. Dust the parts with oxide of zinc or stearate of zinc powder, or bismuth mixed with borax; all are good. If there is much moisture due to sweating or involuntary stools or urine, castor oil should be well rubbed in addition. The sheets must be kept smooth and dry under the patient.

[ NURSING DEPARTMENT 629]

Redness of the skin may be the first symptom of this trouble. This may be followed by a dark color under the skin, and when the cuticle finally comes off the underlying tissues are found broken down and sloughing. Any skin scraped or worn off—abrasion—should be carefully washed and a small pad of cotton smeared with olive oil and stearate of zinc placed over it and kept there with collodion painted over it; or white of egg painted over the sore is sometimes very beneficial; also equal parts of castor oil and bismuth make an excellent dressing. Rubber rings or cotton rings over the part relieve the pressure. Changing the position is often beneficial.

Treatment of the Sore Proper.—Sponge with clean soft cloths, with a solution of boric acid or one per cent solution of carbolic acid and the cavity packed with iodoform gauze, or iodoform, or aristol ointment, over which apply a layer of borated cotton. Dress the sore daily. If it sloughs apply hot boric acid dressings every four hours and follow with an application of castor oil and balsam of Peru. When it is better treat as any other sore.

BATHS.

A hot bath temperature is from 100 to 112 degrees F. or higher. A warm bath temperature is from 90 to 100 degrees F. A tepid bath temperature is from 70 to 90 degrees F. A cool bath temperature is from 65 to 70 degrees F. A cold bath temperature is from 33 to 65 degrees F.

The entire bath should not last longer, when given in bed, than fifteen or twenty minutes. A few drops of water of ammonia or a little borax will help much in getting the patient clean and disguise the bad odor of the perspiration. A little alcohol or Eau de Cologne will be found refreshing. Cold damp towels should never be employed here. The water should be pleasantly warm and changed a few times during the bath. A glass of hot milk can be taken after the bath is given, if the patient feels exhausted, and if the feet are cool a hot fruit can is applied.

Foot Baths in Bed.—The patient should lie on her back, with the knees bent and place her feet in the tub, which is placed lengthwise in the bed on a rubber sheet spread across the lower part of the bed for protection. A mustard foot bath can be given the same way except that the knees and foot bath are enclosed in a blanket. These are often given for severe colds, with head symptoms (headaches), when it is desired to draw the blood from the head. Hot water alone will do this, but the mustard hastens the action. The mustard should be mixed with a small amount of water before being added to the bath. The amount will depend upon the sensitiveness of the patient. The feet may remain in the bath for fifteen to twenty minutes, the water kept at the same temperature or made warmer by adding more hot water from time to time. They are wiped gently afterward and tucked snugly in blankets.

[630 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]

Hot Bath, Hot Air, Vapor, and Steam Bath.—Given for sweating purposes. Fill the tub half full of water at 100 degrees F. and draw it to the bedside if necessary. Lift the patient into the tub and gradually increase the temperature by the thermometer to 110 degrees and 112 degrees F. Maintain it at this point for twelve or fifteen minutes. After this the patient is lifted out into a prepared bed on which a long rubber is spread with three or four hot blankets over it; these are wrapped all around the patient, tucked in closely about the neck and watched continually to see that no air enters. Give plenty of water to drink, as it promotes perspiration and helps in that way to cast off the impurities. Keep this up for an hour if possible, and then the patient is gradually uncovered, sponged under a blanket with alcohol and water and the wet blankets removed. Cloths wrung out of cold water are applied to the head during this bath. The pulse should be closely watched for any indication of faintness, when the patient should be put to bed, immediately. This bath should not be given during menstruation or pregnancy.

Warm Baths (90 degrees to 100 degrees F.) are frequently given to children for convulsions. They should be placed in the tub and cold applied to the head, while the body is washed and rubbed.

Local baths and packs.—For sprains, a foot bath. For menstrual pain, a sitz bath. The patient sits in the bath with only the thighs and part of the body immersed, while the upper part of the body and the feet are protected with blankets. Sitting on a cane-seated chair over a steaming pail with a blanket around the neck and body gives a good bath for pain during menstruation.

Salt-water bath. Tonic action.—Nine to fourteen pounds of sea salt to fifty gallons of water will redden the skin and give an exhilarating effect.

Dry Salt Bath sent us with Mothers' Remedies.—"To a basin of water put a big handful of salt, take a Turkish towel and soak it in the salt water, wring out and let dry. The salt will adhere to the towel. Use to rub the body. A tepid bath should be taken next day to remove the salt."

Starch bath.—Add eight ounces of laundry starch to each gallon of water. This allays skin irritation.

Bran bath.—Put the bran in a bag and allow this to soak in warm water for an hour before being used; or it may be boiled for an hour and then the fluid drained and added to the bath water.

Sponge bath.—Water and soap should be ready. Clothes to be put on, well aired and at hand. Then remove the patient's clothes and wrap him in an old blanket, expose only the part being washed at a time, wash and dry this part. Begin with the face and neck, then the chest, abdomen, arms and back, and lastly the lower extremities. Warm the water at least twice. Then put on his clean, well aired clothes and into a clean bed, and the patient will bless you.

[NURSING DEPARTMENT 631]

Alcohol sponge bath.—This is given the same way, only sixty per cent alcohol is used and the parts are allowed to dry themselves.

Tub bath (common).—Prepare everything as to heat, etc. Then carry the patient or assist him to the tub. Soap him all over and pour water over him from a large pitcher. The temperature of the water depends upon the disease. One person should continually rub the patient in typhoid fever to keep up the circulation while the water is being poured over him. A hot drink is given before and after these baths and the patient is wrapped immediately in warm flannel.

Patients are frequently put into a tub with a water temperature of 85 to 90 degrees, and then the water temperature decreased by adding cold water. This bath must be carefully given.

The cold pack.—It is used to reduce fever, delirium and extreme nervousness and to induce sleep. Cover the bed with a rubber sheet or oilcloth, and over this a blanket. Wring a sheet out of cold water and place this over the blanket. Lay the patient on this sheet and wrap it around him so that every surface has the wet sheet next to it. Tuck the sheet in well at the neck and feet. Fold the outer blanket over the patient and tuck it in. Lay a wet towel over the head, or he can be enveloped loosely in blankets and allowed to remain twenty minutes to an hour, only ten to fifteen minutes by the tucked-in method and then dried and put to bed.

The hot pack.—This is given in the same manner except that the patient is wrapped first in a blanket wrung out of boiling water. More covering is put over the patient than in a cold pack, and something cold is applied to the head.



EXTERNAL APPLICATIONS.

General and Local.—For dry heat, for warmth alone, hot bags, bottles and cans are used. Hot flannels are sometimes used for inflamed joints. Make the flannel very hot, wrap in heated paper or cloth and apply quickly; cover all with a layer of cotton, wool and oiled muslin.

For neuralgia and earache, salt bags are used.

Fill flannel bags with salt, heat as hot as can be borne, and cover it so as to retain the heat after it is applied to the ear.

For moist heat.—This is more penetrating and has a more pronounced effect than dry heat. It also hastens suppuration when it cannot be prevented in acute inflammation like quinsy, etc.

For local pains, fomentations, stupes and poultices are used. Poultices are best for deep-seated pain or continuous inflammation.

[632 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]

Linseed meal poultice.—Stir the meal slowly and evenly in boiling water; boil this mixture for several minutes and stir briskly all the time, and when thick enough it is well beaten with a spoon to remove lumps. If this is properly done it will be a light smooth paste, just stiff enough to drop away from the spoon. Use a muslin or coarse cloth and spread the poultice on this to the depth of one-half inch, leaving one inch space to turn in. Put vaselin over the surface, thin, and cover with a thin layer of gauze or thin cloth. Turn the edges over and roll in a towel to keep it warm and carry to patient. Keep them warm,—one should never be removed until another is ready to be put on. The skin should always be wiped dry before another is applied. Oiling the poultice prevents irritation of the skin and pimples. Cover the poultice loosely if possible with a layer of cotton-wool and oiled muslin to retain the heat and moisture longer. It should be changed every three hours at least. Apply hot and never keep on when it is cold. It should never be used a second time.

Starch Poultice.—This is used in skin diseases for its soothing properties. Mix the starch first with a little cold water and then add enough boiling water to make a thick paste, which is then spread on muslin covered with a layer of gauze.

The Jacket Poultice. For lung affections.—Two layers of thin muslin are shaped so as to fit closely around the neck and under the arms and come over the chest and back, low enough to cover the lungs. Three sides are now closed, and the prepared linseed is poured into the bag and regularly distributed. Close the open end and then apply. Cover it with wool and oiled silk and keep in place with safety pins or tapes which are tied under the arms and over the shoulders. When changing the poultice be careful not to expose the patient. A cotton-wool jacket should be worn a few days after the poultice has been discontinued.

Cold is applied either by means of the cold bath or by compresses, pack, sponging, coils or ice.

Cold Compresses are made by using two or three thicknesses of lint or linen wrung out of cold water or ice water and applied over the inflamed part, and changed frequently. A little vaselin may be rubbed on to prevent the skin from becoming irritated. They are very useful where little weight can be borne. If iced compresses are used a small block of ice partially wrapped in flannel is placed in a basin; there should be two compresses, one of which is kept on ice while the other is on the patient.

Compresses are very good in the early stage of tonsilitis, quinsy, sore throat, laryngitis and croup.

Ice-bags (India Rubber).—With these, cold can be best applied and with less trouble. These are made in different shapes. For instance helmet-shaped to fit the head and long and narrow for the spine.

Crush the ice in small pieces and mix in it a little common salt,—never fill the rubber bags more than half full; expel the air as much as possible by pressing before screwing on the top. Always place a layer of lint, cotton or thin cloth between the skin and the bag. The extreme cold is not only painful but liable to irritate the skin, and may cause frost-bites. Its effect should be watched carefully. Sometimes the weight causes discomfort. In such cases suspend the bag. For the head, fasten a bandage to the neck of the bag and pin the two ends to the pillow just high enough to allow the cap (bag) to barely touch the head. Care should be taken to refill the ice-bags before the ice has melted. At times a piece of ice is wrapped in moist lint or old linen and passed gently over the head in order to cool the head.

[NURSING DEPARTMENT 633]

For Appendicitis.—There should be quite a thickness of cloth between the ice bag and the skin. The latter must not become too cool. In this disease this bag is a great reliever of the pain and generally used.

Ice Poultices.—In some cases these are better than the ice bag for the reason that they fit the body better. They are usually made of two parts of crushed ice to one of linseed meal or bran, together with a small amount of salt. Make two bags of oiled silk,—one should be smaller than the other. Close all sides but one, with adhesive plaster. Fill the smaller bag two-thirds full of ice, close and slip it into the larger bag.

Ice Water Coils.—These can be bought. They can also be made from rubber tubing. Sew this upon a piece of rubber cloth in circles about one inch apart for five or six rounds; leave a yard or two of tubing at each end to be used as a siphon, A large pan of ice water is raised above the patient into which one weighted end of the tubing is placed, with a funnel inserted into it, covered with gauze to prevent clogging, while the other end is laid in a second basin on the floor which receives the water. The upper pan must be kept filled. This is very good for delirium in brain fever, etc., when applied to the head and also good for bleeding from the bowels in typhoid fever. The stream of water can be regulated if necessary by a stop-cock.

Lotions.—Lotions are medicated moist applications, and may be either hot or cold.

Counter—Irritants are agents applied externally to produce irritation or inflammation in order to relieve a diseased condition in an adjacent or deep-seated part of the body. Mustard foot-bath relieves pain in the head by drawing the surplus blood away from the head. The mildest mustard counter-irritant is the mustard poultice. It can be made with one part mustard to six of linseed meal. Never use boiling water with mustard.

Mustard Poultice.—Use of ground mustard, one-fourth to one-eighth of the amount of meal used. Make into a paste and stir this into the linseed, after it has been prepared for the poultices. The white of an egg is used in this poultice as it may keep the poultice from blistering.