OBSTETRICS, OR MIDWIFERY 771 



diminishing the secretion. It is also a good plan to 

 apply to the breasts two or three times a day a mix- 

 ture of equal parts of sweet oil and spirits of cam- 

 phor, and to keep the breasts constantly covered with 

 a cloth saturated with spirits of camphor. 



To Promote the Secretion of Milk.— This must 

 be accomplished chiefly by regulation of the diet and 

 attention to the general health, especially to the im- 

 provement of the digestion. The patient should make 

 free use of liquid food, particularly fresh milk, sweet 

 cream, oatmeal porridge, graham gruel, and other 

 whole-grain preparations. Teas of various kinds are 

 of little consequence and do not increase the quantity 

 of milk, except by the addition of water. The use of 

 wine, beer, ale, and other alcoholic stimulants is a prac- 

 tice to be in the highest degree condemned, as it not 

 onl}^ deteriorates the quality of the milk, but makes the 

 child liable to various diseases. An eminent physician 

 declares that in many instances in which beer and ale 

 are used, the infant is not sober a moment from the 

 time it begins nursing until it is weaned. 



Gentle manipulation of the nipple in imitation of 

 the act of milking is in many cases very efficacious in 

 promoting the secretion of milk. By this means, the 

 secretion has been produced in women who had never 

 borne children, and even in young girls and men in 

 such a quantity as to enable them to perform the part 

 of wet-nurse with entire success. 



A more complete treatise on these and various other 

 phases of this subject, including the use of anesthetics, 

 and "Antiseptic Midwifery," may be found in the 

 ''Home Book of Modern Medicine," by J. H. Kel- 

 logg, M. D. 



