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CALIFORNfA AaRICULTURIST AND LiVE StOCK JoURNAL. 



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jiaicttic. 



Two Ways of Dressing Our Babies. 



BY " JEWKLL." 



pWmifc hers let me describe the clothes 

 given me to put on a new born baby 

 not long ago. 



In the first place, the flannel band 

 was hemmed each side and at each end; it 

 had been used before, and having shrunken 

 was thick and stiff. Then a linty thin, tine 

 linen shirt, no sleeves but lace, the same style 

 our grandmothers used ages ago —long enough 

 to go twice about the body — but intended to 

 be folded before and behind. Then a flannel 

 pinning blanket with broad band double, of 

 new cotton cloth, long enough to reach once 

 and a half about the child. Then a flannel 

 skirt with same sort of band, a white skirt, 

 band ditto, and to slip over that a calico 

 double gown, and then a blanket to wrap 

 about the childs head ! Now friends, this is 

 no fancy picture as you know. I have dressed 

 scores of infants in the same way, with more 

 or less to put on. Once all they gave me was 

 a blanket, very short, a fine linen shirt, a 

 pinning blanket that did not reach around the 

 body of the child, he being larger than the 

 previous one, and a white nightgown ; 

 nothing over the arms or neck but one thick- 

 ness of cotton cloth, while the body had six 

 thicknesses, and one of them flannel. 



In the first case, there were 13 thicknesses 

 of clothing about the abdomen and three over 

 the arms and neck ! No wonder our babies 

 cry and worry, making them the laughing 

 stock of the world — and their parents ner- 

 vous and weary with unnecessary care. By 

 dressing the extremities too thin and the 

 bowels too warm you induce the blood to flow 

 and remain where it is the warmest, acting' 

 as a prevalent cause of inflamation of the 

 bowels, a disease quite frequent among in- 

 fants in consequence of bad clothing to a 

 great degree — what else more likely to give a 

 nursing infant cholera infantum? unless indeed 

 it be the mother taking very improper food 

 and drink while nursing the baby. 



And now I will tell you how to make 

 clothes that will dress baby comfortably, 

 and be convenient to piit on or off : 



First the band (only to be worn the 

 first two months and put on loosely) should 

 not be hemmed, and should be made of new 

 flannel. Then a long sleeved, high necked knit 

 shirt, of fine sason wool — any mother could 

 knit one in less time than she could make 

 one of those gossamer linen shirts — and baby 

 is warm and soft as in down ; then a high 

 necked, long sleeved flannel waist buttoned 

 behind or before, and on that a pinning 

 blanket is buttoned or a white petticoat or 

 flannel one if you wish ; over all is a flannel 

 slip or night gown. 



If it is winter and you have to take baby 

 through draughts, an excellent plan is to have 

 a long sacque of plaid flannel with hood at- 

 tached, with elastic about face of hood which 

 can be slipped on or off as you need it. The 

 sacque buttoning down the front keeps baby 

 perfectly wrapped, and is very convenient if 



an older child or husband were to tend baby 

 while you are busy, as they are sure to get 

 all the blankets and fixings on a baby about 

 its head in an honest endeavor to keep it 

 warm. 



This latter style of dressing baby gives 

 four thicknesses over the body and three 

 about the arms and neck, which is in right 

 proportion. The arguments in favor of its 

 general use are many and good. First, it is 

 easier made ; second, less expensive; third, 

 more easily put on the child; and fourth, is 

 more comfortable and healthful — net one of 

 which will apply to the old style. 



Dr. Warren, of Boston, once said that 

 •' that city sacrificed 900 babies everj' year by 

 not clothing their arms. Most of the babies 

 brought to me at the dispensary were im- 

 properly clothed. The arms are usually ex- 

 posed — the legs often, and a thick bandage is 

 frequently tightly drawn around the abdo- 

 men. These errors in clothing are almo.st as 

 bad in their effects as errors in diet— espe- 

 cially in a climate so changeable as the Amer- 

 ican. The dress should never form a ligature 

 about any portion of the body, since it inter- 

 rupts circulation and promotes congestion," 

 etc. Dr. Garrish siys he always recommends 

 mothers to put soft flannel shirts on their 

 children, summer and winter as a protection 

 against changes of temperature. 



Flannel is the best article to put on infants, 

 for if it gets wet it is still warm and comfort- 

 able. Don't be afraid of keeping your ba- 

 bies too warm. They thrive best when warm 

 and quiet; but give them plenty of fresh air. 

 They sleep twice as long out of doors under 

 a tree as in a close room in the cradle. Try 



it. 



< • ■ 



Mothers, Save Your Children I 



BY NELL VAN. 



Let any person, who is at all familiar with 

 the laws of health, look around on the girls 

 of America and observe how many of them 

 reach the age of twenty in the lull enjoyment 

 of earths richest blessing. 



We find among them be»uty of complexion, 

 fine eyes and hair ; white teeth and slender 

 forms, but robust health is a rarity. Why is 

 it ? Can any one account for the fact that 

 the young California Indian girls (Greasers as 

 they are called) who are taken from their 

 semi-barbaric life and transplanted into the 

 household of civilization, in a few years droop 

 and die ? Mark the difference between the 

 children of one family in health and activity. 

 The boys live out doors after they step into 

 the pantaloon age. They climb trees, they 

 chase poultry, they shout and expand their 

 lungs. They roll hoop, play ball, and when 

 older they hunt, fish, swim, and altogether 

 enjoy a life of freedom from restraint. Their 

 clothes fit loosely and give full play to all 

 their muscles, besides covering the body and 

 limbs equally. Who ever hears of such boys 

 having cold feet ? The girls of the family 

 are found within doors most of the time at- 

 tending to domestic concerns, sweeping car- 

 pets and breathing dust, cooking or breathing 

 the fumes of cooking. Sometimes sewing or 

 playing the piano between the intervals of 

 study. 



When they go out they are dressed in the 

 priivailing mode, and the last word from 

 " Mamma " is a reminder to be careful and 

 not tumble the clean dress. In fact, from 

 earliest childhood girls are made sensible of 

 the weight of responsibility imposed by their 

 dress. Then how imperfectly does custom 

 clothe our girls. 



I saw a mother making flannel under suits 

 for her little daughter. They were cut low- 

 necked and short-sleeved, with edges scalloped 

 with embroidery silk, and in length they 

 barely covered the trunk, leaving the limbs 

 with only the muslin covering and embroidery 

 ruffles which came to the knee and their met 

 the fln« cotton stocking. 



Said I, "Mrs. S., do you make her broth- 

 er's under-flannels like that?" 



She replied indignantly, "of course not." 



" And why not, pray?" I asked; " are not 

 the boj'S full as healthy and strong as she? 

 cannot they better endure having the chest, 

 arms and legs unprotected than this delicate 

 child?" 



In a ruffled tone my friend argued that if 

 her girl should wear high-necked flannels with 

 long sleeves she would be sure to catch cold 

 when she laid them off to wear low-necked 

 and ahort-sleeved dresses, as young ladies are 

 apt to do upon occasion. It was to enable 

 her daughter to present a fine appearance, 

 then, at the full-dress party, which prevented 

 the child from being warmly clad. Is this an 

 isolated case? Alas! no. We find such moth- 

 ers everywhere in America; but we also find 

 good, sensible ones whose girls, aa well as 

 boys, wear flannel suits fitting the form com- 

 fortably and covering the body from the neck 

 to the wrists and heels, with stockings out- 

 side of either wool or cotton, according to 

 the season. These are the children who are 

 not hindered from indulging in out-door 

 sports, nor are they charged with the care of 

 their clothes while at play. Dress them 

 strongly and loosely and let them run and 

 climb, whether girls or boys, and I'll run the 

 risk of their "unsexing themselves," as the 

 saying is — what it may mean I'll leave for 

 those who use the term in regard to the lead- 

 ers of woman's rights to enlighten us. 



How THE Eye is Swept and Washed. — For 

 us to be able to see objects clearly and dis- 

 tinctly, it is necessary that the eye should be 

 kept clean. For this purpose it is furnished 

 with a little gland, from which flows a watery 

 fluid (tears) which is spread over the eye by 

 the lid and is afterwards swept off by it, and 

 runs through a hole in the bone to the under 

 surface of the nose, while the warm air, pass- 

 ing over it while breathing, evaporates it. It 

 is remarkable that no such gland can be found 

 in the eyes of fish, as the element ia which 

 they live answers the same purpose. If the 

 eye had not been furnished with a liquid to 

 wash it and a Hd to sweep it off, things would 

 appear as they do when you look through a 

 dusty glass. Along the edj;es of the eyelids 

 there are a great number of little tubes or 

 glands, from which flows an oily substance 

 which spreads over the surface of the skin, 

 and thus prevents the edges from being sore 

 or irritated, and it also helps to keep tears 

 within the lid. There are also six little mus- 

 cles attached to the eye which enable us to 

 move it in every direction; and when we con- 

 sider the different motions they are capable 

 of giving to the eye, we cannot but admire 

 the goodness of Him who formed them, and 

 thus saved us the trouble of turning our 

 heads every time we wished to view an object. 



Removal op Tape-Woem. — A writer says 

 that in treating some cases of tape-worm he 

 has employed no preliminary provisions be- 

 vond forbidding the patient to take any break- 

 fast the day on which it is intended to remove 

 the worm, and giving him a large dose of Ko- 

 chtlle salts the preceding night. At 10 o'clock 

 in the morning a dose is given, made of one 



