THE ALUMNI JOURNAL, 



71 



draw up their legs and bend their heads 

 over in their arms. They simply resume 

 the position they occupied in embr3^onic 

 life. 



"Of course, the trouble is in too many 

 cases that our children are not allowed to 

 sleep according to their natural inclina- 

 tions, and mothers and nurses interfere 

 with the position most convenient for 

 them. So, too, Indian babies are seldom 

 allowed to sleep in the position they like 

 best. The squaw bundles the little one 

 into a motionless thing, and often straps 

 the child tightly to a board." 



"But you will observe how babies 

 sleep in warm climates, where they are 

 not bothered with much clothing, you 

 will find them sleeping in the natural 

 position I have described. Whether 

 they sleep on mats of grass, on the warm 

 earth, or in hammocks, the children lie 

 in the curled-up position. My attention 

 was first called to this position by the 

 negro babies down South. There I often 

 saw the negro mammy lay the black baby 

 down to sleep on its stomach and won- 

 dered whether or not the child was com- 

 fortable. 



" Since then I have found this practice 

 common among mothers and nurses in 

 sSouthern countries. They know that 

 their young ones like to sleep in the same 

 position as do many animals — that is, 

 with the stomach downward and the legs 

 and the arms, usually, bent under them. 



" After a while boys and girls of 4 or 

 5 years of age slightly change their at- 

 titude during sleep. They now lie on the 

 side, face also on the side, and with the 

 legs drawn up, using one of the arms as 

 a pillow. This is the position assumed 

 by the higher order of monkeys in their 

 sleep. 



"It is not until boys and girls grow 

 up that they stretch out their limbs full 

 length in sleep. 



^" The lower order of monkeys sleep 

 in the crouching position with the head 

 bent down upon the knee. 



"There is one position during .sleep 

 that is peculiar to humen beings. It is 

 lying flat upon the back. No animal of 

 its own choice takes such a position in 

 sleep. One of the keepers at Central 

 Park, who has excellent opportunities 

 for watching the animals there, says that 

 he has never found the apes sleeping up- 

 on their backs. 



" We all know the usual disagreeable 

 results of sleeping on the back. A per- 

 son in sleep will often roll over flat, 

 whereupon he or she sees strange sights 

 and hears odd noises. Many a time I 

 have seen mothers and nurses go to the 

 child on its back, muttering or crying in 

 sleep and then gently turn the dreamer 

 over on the side. The right side is pre- 

 ferred by many people, while some find 

 the left side comfortable, I do not know 

 that it makes much difference. Some 

 think that we should not lie on the left 

 side, because it oppresses the heart and 

 lungs and interferes with freedom of cir 

 culation of blood and breathing." 



A mixture which is often prescribed 

 and generally causes much trouble is one 

 composed of : 



Zinc sulphate, gr. viii. 



Lead acetate, gr. xv. 



Fid. ext. Krameria, 3tss. 



Water, ad 5iv. 

 The way in which a pharmacist gener- 

 ally puts this up is by dissolving the 

 salts in the water and adding the fluid 

 extract. This causes an unsightly mix- 

 ture in which the precipitate settles, and 

 the light flocular matter which forms on 

 the addition of the fluid extract rises to 

 the top. 



The proper way to make this is to dis- 

 solve the zinc sulphate in the water, then 

 rub the lead acetate to a fine powder in a 

 mortar, to which add the fluid extract' 

 stirring rapidly and constantly; this will 

 at first fsrm a smooth gelatinous mass, 

 and on the addition of the zinc sulphate 

 solution, a smooth mixture will be 

 obtained, and not flocular and lumpy as 

 in the first case; with the latter method 

 the precipitate would slowly settle on 

 standing. 



