PHYSICAL EDUCATION. 63 



or hear, and the servants seem to know that instinctively. Do not 

 leave them alone with elder children not even with their own neigh- 

 bors' and relatives' till you have satisfied yourself about the character 

 of their new friends. No need of a phrenologist to settle that point : 

 the indications of a child's propensities are not confined to the cra- 

 nium. Vary the child's diet with the season ; put the flesh-pots aside 

 when the approach of the summer solstice threatens the land with 

 the temperatures and temptations of southern Italy. Let them avoid 

 all greasy-made dishes when it is too warm to take much out-door 

 exercise. And, if possible, cultivate their literary taste to the degree 

 that enables them to appreciate the wit or the common-sense of an 

 author, as well as his imagination, and consequently to loathe unmiti- 

 gated absurdities. That alone will be an effectual safeguard against 

 ninety-nine dime-novels out of a hundred. 



In conclusion, I will add a short miscellany of hygienic rules and 

 aphorisms. 



The first thing a child should learn is to ask for a drink of water. 

 I have seen hand-fed children scream and fidget for hours together, as 

 if troubled by some unsatisfied want, but at the same time rejecting 

 the milk-bottle and pap-dish with growing impatience. In nine such 

 cases out of ten the nurse will either resort to paregoric or try the ef- 

 fect of a lullaby. I need not say that the poison-expedient would be 

 wrong under all circumstances, but, before you try anything else, offer 

 the child a cup of cold water. To a young nursling the mother's breast 

 supplies both food and drink, but farinaceous paps require a better dil- 

 uent than milk. 



If I should name the greatest danger of childhood, I would unhesi- 

 tatingly say, Medicine. A drastic drug as a remedial agent is Beel- 

 zebub in the role of an exorcist. 



Our nursery system, after all reforms, is still far from being the 

 right one how far, we may infer from the fact that we have not yet 

 learned to make our babies behave as well as young animals. 



Tight-swaddling, strait-jacket gowns, and trailing petticoats re- 

 straint, in short, makes our infants so peevish. If we would give 

 them a chance to use their limbs they would have no time to scream. 



It would prevent innumerable diseases if people would learn to dis- 

 tinguish a morbid appetency from a healthy appetite. One diagnostic 

 rule is this, that the gratification of the latter is not followed by 

 repentance ; another, that the former has to be artificially and pain- 

 fully acquired : our better nature resists the incipience of a morbid 

 " second nature." After acquitting Nature from all responsibility for 

 such factitious appetites, it may be justly said that a man can find a 

 road to health and happiness by simply following his instincts. 



The supposed danger of cold drinks on a hot day is a very expen- 

 sive superstition. It deprives thousands of people of the most pleasur- 

 able sensation the human palate is capable of. It is worth a two hours' 



