342 DIET FOR SCROFULA. 



soon on meat and vegetables. It is never so common as in babes 

 that are weaned before the teeth are sufficiently forward and fed on 

 pap, potatoes, bacon and beef. It occurs far too commonly in the 

 great centers of population, where mothers are induced to neglect 

 tneir children in order to go to work, and especially in large manu- 

 facturing towns where they go to mills far too soon after babies are 

 born. For rickety children nothing can take the place of milk- 

 first the mother's milk, if it be good ; next comes milk diluted witl: 

 water, and sweetened with sugar-of-milk; even skim-milk is better 

 than none at all. And the milk may form a large proportion of the 

 diet after the age of infancy is passed. Cod-liver oil, animal broths 

 and fresh meat may then be given. The administration of a moder- 

 ate quantity of finely scraped raw beef, made into a palatable sand- 

 wich, salted and peppered, is much to be recommended. Malt or 

 barley-food is specially suitable for rickety children. It may be 

 prepared in the following manner: Four tablespoonfuls of ground 

 malt should be boiled for ten minutes in a pint of water, the liquid 

 poured off, and a pint of new milk added; the sediment from the 

 husk, if finely ground, need not be removed, as it is very nutritious 

 and rich in bone-forming materials. Cod-liver oil has a specific 

 action in this disease, but should only be given in small doses, ten to 

 twenty drops at first, and the quantity gradually increased to a tea- 

 spoonful. During its administration the evacuations should be 

 examined, for the appearance and odor of the oil in them are signs 

 that the quantity should be reduced. 



DIET FOR SCROFULA. 



The most important predisposing cause of scrofula is undoubt- 

 edly hereditary and like most hereditary diseases it is most frequently 

 inherited from the mother. The mother ought not nurse her child 

 if she come of a scrofulous family. If, on the other hand, she be 

 healthy, and the child inherit the scrofulous tendency from the 

 father, she should set herself to provide the most nourishing diet 

 she can from her own breast and as long as possible. Everything 

 which will nourish her, and through her the child, until the molar 

 teeth appear should be perseveringly taken, and everything that will 

 disagree with her, and through her the child, must be studiously 

 avoided. 



When the teeth appear and more solid food than milk becomes 

 appropriate, the diet should be of a light and digestible character. 

 A larger proportion of animal food than is usually given to little 

 children should be allowed. Cod -liver oil, as a supplemental article 

 of diet, is an agent possessing such remarkable and well-known 

 properties of arresting general or local emaciation as not to require 

 further recommendation. It may be given in childhood to arrest 

 the development of scrofulous symptoms and throughout future 



