793 



WEALTH. 



WEANING. 



791 



Slavonian countries. In Poland each palatinate or province had its 

 woyevoda^ whose duty was to command in time of war the pospolite, 

 or arrifere ban of his province. The woyevodes had in time of 

 peace a certain administrative authority, and composed the first 

 class of the senators. By a rather improper comparison with the 

 Comites Palatii of the empire, they were translated in Latin by 

 " palatine." 



In the earliest times of Russian history the appellation of woyevoda 

 is given to high military officers. In Muscovy there were military 

 and civil woyevodes : the first were simply generals, and Peter the 

 Great abolished this ancient Slavonian appellation and introduced that 

 of general. The civil woyevodes were divided into provincial and 

 town woyevodes, and they were governors of provinces and towns : 

 and this appellation was changed only under the reign of Catherine II. 

 into that of governors, commanders, &c. 



The appellation of waywode was assumed for some time by the 

 rulers of Moldavia and Wallachia, who substituted for it afterwards 

 the Greek title of despota, and finally its Slavonian translation, hos- 

 podar. The princes of Transylvania had likewise sometimes the title 

 of waiwode, which was also given to some minor Turkish officers. 



W is here pronounced as the English V. 



WEALTH is the means of obtaining the products of labour. An 

 individual is rich or poor according to the quantity of the necessaries 

 and luxuries of life which he can purchase ; and a nation is rich or 

 poor, in the aggregate, according to its means of enjoying such advan- 

 tages. Labour is the source of wealth, and every addition to its 

 productiveness tends to increase wealth, by lowering the cost of com- 

 modities, and rendering them more easy to be obtained. Political 

 economy treats mainly of the means of promoting the increase of 

 national wealth, and of removing obstructions to its development ; and 

 it is the purpose of this article very briefly to enumerate and explain 

 some of the chief principles of that science which bear directly upon 

 the production of wealth. The first object is to encourage industry. 

 This is best done by leaving it free to obtain an adequate reward, by 

 protecting all persons in the enjoyment of such reward, and in reducing 

 the amount or value of it as little as possible. These encouragements 

 can only be effectually given in a free state, and under a civilised 

 government, where property is secure, and labour free from restraint. 

 Insecurity of person or property, arbitrary and oppressive taxes, mono- 

 polies, restrictions upon the free exercise of skill and enterprise, are all 

 impediments to the increase of wealth : they discourage industry by 

 diminishing the inducement to exert it, and they restrain its pro- 

 ductive powers when exerted by thwarting the natural intelligence and 

 activity of man in the pursuit of his own interests. 



Whatever gives the best direction to industry, and facilitates its 

 operations, is favourable to the increase of wealth. Thus the separa- 

 tion of men into different employments is highly useful, as it perfects 

 their skill and ingenuity in their respective arts, and causes a general 

 economy of time. Still more useful is capital, without which division 

 of labour cannot be extensively practised. It puts labour in motion ; 

 combines the work of many hands ; gives means and power to inven- 

 tion ; creates mechanical aids to human labour, and finally distributes 

 by degrees what it has assisted in producing. It is capital that incites 

 and utilises improvements in machinery. Without capital, the in- 

 ventor could not afford to give his time nor produce the improvement 

 he had made. These improvements always occasion the employment 

 of a more skilled, and, therefore, a better paid labour. And if they 

 materially reduce the cost of the article produced, and it is one in 

 large demand, they necessarily tend to the increase of the number of 

 labourers, however much their first introduction may threaten the 

 contrary. Facilities to the ready and effective application of capital 

 obviously add to its utility; as credit, for example, which lends to one 

 man the capital of another when he can employ it more profitably 

 and the various descriptions of money (the representatives of capital) 

 which facilitate and cheapen the exchange of labour and its products 

 between man and man. The higher the general rate of profits in a 

 country may be, the more rapidly is capital likely to be accumulated ; 

 because the majority of men are usually desirous of accumulating, and 

 the means of doing so are evidently increased by high profits. If a 

 profit of five per cent, upon a man's capital engaged in business enabled 

 him to live in comfort, and to continue his business without any 

 diminution of his capital ; a profit of ten per cent, would enable him, 

 at the same time, to add to it five percent, annually, to be employed in 

 further production and accumulation. It is clear that there can be no 

 increase of capital in any country in which the rate of profits does not 

 leave a surplus beyond the necessary expenses of living. In such a case 

 capital would be stationary, while the population to be supported by it 

 would be on the increase. 



The advantages of division of labour have been already noticed. 

 Tlie enriching properties of commerce are of a similar character. By 

 distinct employments labour is made more productive ; by commerce, 

 the natural product* and the peculiar arts of different countries are 

 exchanged with mutual benefit and economy of labour to all. In 

 France and Spain the grape, grown in the open air, provides delicious 

 wine : in England, to make such wine (if it could be made at all), the 

 grape must be grown in hothouses. In England cotton goods can be 

 manufactured more cheaply than in any country in the world. If France 

 and Spain would buy them, they would save annually whatever excess 



of price they pay for similar goods made by themselves ; while the 

 capital and labour now applied to such manufactures could be added 

 to their means of production. To understand the effects of free com- 

 mercial intercourse, it is only necessary to keep in view its analogy to 

 the common dealings of life. No man thinks of making anything 

 himself if he can buy if, for less than it would cost him to make it. He 

 continues working at his own employment, and buys the article he 

 wants. If he did otherwise, he would lose his own profitable time and 

 labour, and the article made by himself would take still more out of 

 his pocket than if he had bought it; while its quality would most 

 probably be inferior, by reason of his own want of skill and practice in 

 that particular work. The same principle applies to . nations. Com- 

 merce extends to all countries the happy results of division of labour, 

 instead of confining them to particular communities. 



The last circumstance directly favourable to the increase of wealth, 

 which need be noticed, is a cheap and expeditious communication, both 

 in the interior of a country and with all parts of the world, for the 

 transit of merchandise and for the carriage of passengers. Every 

 deduction from the cost of an article is an addition to the national 

 wealth, and the expense of transit forms no inconsiderable part of the 

 ultimate charge upon the consumer. A saving of time also is an addi- 

 tion to the labour and productive energies of a country. The extra- 

 ordinary resources added to labour by facilities of travelling by the 

 railways in Great Britain is felt by every one. The importance of 

 cheap and rapid modes of commercial intercourse, in other points of 

 view, need not be pointed out. 



In conclusion, the advancement of general knowledge and intelli- 

 gence must be noticed as an agent in the production of wealth. It is 

 the mind and the disciplined will of man which render all the circum- 

 stances of the world available for his benefit; and in viewing education 

 chiefly as a social blessing, we should never forget to urge its merits as 

 a producer of wealth, upon those who would regard its other recom- 

 mendations with less favour. 



WEANING, the act of separating a child from the partaking of its 

 mother's milk as food. A few hours after the birth of a child, the 

 breast of the mother secretes milk for its nourishment. The milk 

 that is secreted at first differs in some of its properties from the milk 

 subsequently secreted, and has been called coloitmm. Healthy milk 

 under the microscope is found to contain globules of various sizes, 

 which are perfectly spherical in form, swimming in a fluid in which 

 are suspended no other particles ; whilst the globules of colostrum are 

 irregular and disproportioned, some of them being very large and 

 others very small. There are also in colostrum particles of a yellowish 

 colour, which are very minute, and which consist of fatty matter and 

 a peculiar mucus. The milk retains these characters for several days, 

 and it has been supposed at this period to possess a purgative pro- 

 perty, which excites the intestines of the young infant to throw off 

 the accumulated meconium. When the mother is healthy, the secre- 

 tion of milk goes on abundantly till the ninth or tenth month, at 

 which time the infant is generally able to take some other kind of food, 

 and the process of weaning may commence at this period. It how- 

 ever often happens, from ill health or other causes, that the mother is 

 not able from the first to suckle her child. In this case the child must 

 be either transferred to another nurse or fed artificially. The former, 

 where possible, should always be preferred. In the choice of a nurse 

 care should be taken that the infant is transferred to one whose age, 

 size, and temperament resemble its own mother. There should also 

 be an absence of actual disease or a tendency to hereditary disease, and 

 of all habits likely to interfere with a due secretion of healthy milk. 

 Where children are artificially fed or reared from birth by the hand, 

 the greatest care and attention are required. The first requisite is 

 that the child should have a food as nearly resembling its natural food 

 as possible. For this purpose the milk of various animals has been 

 employed. That of the cow, as being most easily obtained, is most 

 frequently used ; but it would appear that the milk of the ass most 

 nearly resembles human milk, and on that account, where it can be 

 obtained, is to be preferred. The following is the latest analysis by 

 Dr. Playfair, of the milk of woman, the cow, and the ass, and may 

 serve as a guide in the preparation of the food of children : 



Woman. Cow. Asa. 



Casein 1-4 4-0 1-9 



Butter 4-4 4-0 1-3 



Sugar 5-7 3-8 6-3 



Ashes 0-9 0-6 



Water 88-0 80-0 90-4 



The milk of the cow contains a much larger quantity of the casein, 

 or nitrogenised principle, than that of woman or the ass, and requires 

 dilution previous to its being administered to new-born children. At 

 first two-thirds pure fresh water and one of cows' milk, with a small 

 quantity of sugar, may be employed. As the child grows older, the 

 quantity of water should be gradually decreased till it takes milk alone. 

 This food should be administered to the child at a temperature of 

 about 98, the heat at which the milk is supplied from the mother. 

 When children are thus fed, a spoon should not be used, but some 

 means should be had recourse to for administering the milk slowly, as 

 the sucking-bottle, artificial nipple, &c. In feeding a child artificially, 

 as in suckling, the first sign of indifference may be regarded as a sign 



