MENTAL AND PHYSICAL TRAINING OF CHILDREN 217 



the adult, but that it has also a much larger surface in proportion 

 to the mass of its body, and will consequently be far more suscep- 

 tible to cold. Cold feet cause a great amount of indigestion, and 

 exposure of the large blood-vessels of the thigh during childhood 

 frequently sows the seeds of kidney diseases, to develop in after- 

 life. 



Insufficient clothing and much exposure to cold have the effect 

 of making a child appear torpid, benumbed bodily and mentally, 

 and it stands to reason that if its small powers are entirely con- 

 sumed in merely keeping alive and fairly warm, no vital energy 

 will be left for anything else, and a child has more to do than the 

 adult : it has not only to repair waste, but it has to grow and 

 make new tissue. But it must not be thought that I am a friend 

 to coddling on the contrary, I believe that, once let a child be 

 clothed from head to foot in wool, it may go out in almost any 

 weather ; and I am sure that most nurseries would be healthier 

 by being kept cooler. I know that I shall have the cottage chil- 

 dren held up to me as examples of the hardening system ; I shall 

 be told to observe their rosy cheeks, their sturdy limbs. As a 

 matter of fact, I don't much believe in them. Our hospitals are 

 full of cottage children poor little creatures, mostly suffering 

 from exposure and bad feeding ! The reason that the strongest 

 live is that they live in the open air, and it is a common thing to 

 hear a poor woman say in response to your inquiry as to her chil- 

 dren : " I've got five, ma'am ; I've buried four." The largest mor- 

 tality occurs in children under one year old ; and in Russia, I be- 

 lieve, chiefly owing to the intense cold in winter, the death-rate 

 among children is something appalling. In England infant mor- 

 tality is greatest in hot summer and autumn from diarrhoea 

 largely owing to badness of milk kept in dirty vessels. 



In concluding this part of my paper, I may remark that a 

 mother should remember the old proverb that prevention is bet- 

 ter than cure, and that, by daily careful supervision of her child, 

 she may save him from much that the unfortunate child of a care- 

 less mother has to endure, and may also console herself, when 

 unavoidable illness comes, that she has done all that lies in her 

 power to provide her child with health and strength to resist 



disease. 



II. 



As soon as a child is old enough to develop a will of its own, 

 the first thing it does is to try and get its own way, and one of the 

 earliest lessons it has to learn is that it can only have its own way 

 when it is compatible with the comfort and rights of others ; and 

 even a mere baby will soon find out how far it may encroach on 

 the kindness or weakness of those around it. 



As we are none of us born models of virtuous behavior, some 



