318 DIET FOR CORPULENCE, OR OBESITY. 



which it inherited from birth. The infant should be restricted to 

 healthy breast-milk until the eye-teeth are cut, after which slight 

 additions of farinaceous or flour-food may be allowed once or twice 

 daily, and the child weaned at about nine months. If a wet- 

 nurse cannot be obtained, the nourishment should bear the closest 

 possible resemblance to the mother's milk, and the best substitute 

 for this is cow's milk modified by the addition of water and sugar - 

 of-milk, for the milk of the cow contains more oil (cream), but less 

 sugar than that of woman. It is prepared for use as follows: Dis- 

 solve one ounce of the sugar-of milk in three-quarters of a pint of 

 boiling water ; warm to the temperature of breast-milk, when wanted, 

 and mix with an equal quantity of fresh cow's milk, and let the 

 infant be fed with this preparation from the feeding-bottle in the 

 usual way. After feeding, always wash the bottle with a weak solu- 

 tion of soda, and put the teat into cold water, letting it remain there 

 until wanted again. 



It is of course necessary to use cow's milk of good quality, 

 always to administer the food freshly mixed, at a uniform tempera- 

 ture, namely, that of breast-milk, and, for the first month not 

 oftener than every two hours and ar half during the day and every 

 four hours during the night. On no account should the babe be 

 allowed to sleep with the tube of the bottle in its mouth or to suck 

 as of ten and as long as it likes. (See also " Diet in Infancy.") 



About the eighth or ninth month, when the teeth usually begin 

 to appear, a gradual change of diet is necessary. This should con- 

 sist chiefly of farinaceous preparations; afterwards sop made with 

 bread which contains no alum, bread-and-milk, light puddings, oat- 

 meal-porridge, and a little mutton-broth, beef -tea or bread soaked in 

 a little gravy as it escapes when cutting up a joint of meat. Feed- 

 ing with a spoon, by favoring admixture of saliva with the starchy 

 particles, will probably insure a more perfect digestion of food. 

 Till the molar teeth appear, however, all preparations of animal 

 food should be avoided. After weaning, great care should be taken 

 and every kind of food avoided that causes irritation, or diarrhea. 

 Children should be fed regularly, be taught to masticate thoroughly 

 and not allowed to take too active exercise immediately after meals. 

 Even thus early, should there be any symptoms of innutrition, a. 

 small dose (ten to fifteen drops) of. cod-liver oil may be advantage- 

 ously given. 



H0' v TO REDUCE EXCESSIVE CORPULENCE OR FAT. 



Some years ago considerable interest was excited by the publi- 

 cation of a method of treatment by which Mr. Banting had suc- 

 ceeded in reducing his cumbersome corpulence to a condition 1 of 

 health, and his weight from 202 Ibs. to 156 Ibs. There was nothing 

 n this result that mijrht not have been physiologically anticipated 



