MARCH 249 



tried to make a boy of five clean his teeth, but he was 

 rebellious that night, and, in an unguarded moment, I 

 said he must. So after standing some time beside him, 

 I said : ' I do not know how long you mean to keep me 

 here, but I can't give in now I have said you must.' 

 The child answered quite calmly : 'Well, it is odd, 

 mother, you should say that, as it is exactly what I 

 feel.' And then we came in some way to an amiable 

 compromise which hurt no one's dignity. It is so 

 idiotic, in the management of children, to give direct 

 orders which they do not understand, and which ap- 

 pear to them as unreasonable tyranny. A mother had 

 better command by example, not by authority. Sub- 

 jection and blind obedience are all wrong, and result 

 from quite a mistaken idea of the evolution of the 

 universe. 'Every human being has a claim to a judi- 

 cious development of his faculties by those to whom 

 the care of his infancy is confided.' 



Teeth cleaning of children used to be thought rather 

 an unnecessary tyranny. It has assumed different pro- 

 portions now, and it ought to be seen to in all schools. 

 A great many people will be surprised to learn that often 

 would-be recruits are rejected on the ground of bad 

 teeth. It is no better with officers, and cases are 

 common in which candidates, after an expensive prep- 

 aration, have failed to pass their 'medical' on account 

 of deficient dentures. In an examination of 10,000 of 

 British children, of an average age of twelve years, 

 eighty -five per cent required operative treatment. One 

 more example that the ordinary food of the present day 

 is not conducive to the health of the human race. 

 Improvement in teeth and gums is one of the most 

 marked and satisfactory symptoms experienced by peo- 

 ple who take to the health -giving food recommended by 

 Dr. Haig. 



