whole body daily with these agents, followed by a brisk rub with a Turkish toweL 

 A large quantity of water is not necessary. At first the process can be performed 

 as the baby lies on a blanket on its mother's lap before the fire; later on, the child 

 can stand in a shallow pan of warm water, also near a fire in cold weather, and 

 itself assist in the refreshing performance. 



Very careful habits of washing the hands before eating or touching food must 

 be early established, and a pride in clean nails must be cultivated. Apart from 

 the unpleasant appearance of dirty hands, modern science demonstrates the lively 

 existence of countless undesirable and infectious germs in the folds of the skin, the 

 creases of the hands, and the crevices of the nails. 



On the importance of dental cleanliness enough has been said; and attention to 

 care of the scalp and hair must now surely be universal, though the wise mother 

 of a large family will keep her girls' hair short as a precaution until they are twelve 

 or thirteen years of age. 



WHAT IS THE PLACE OF A COLD BATH? 



will be the next question. Is it bracing or does it only depress a child? Its effects 

 depend chiefly upon the early training given to the heat-regulating capacity of a 

 baby's brain. A child can be most advantageously trained to accommodate itself to 

 sudden changes of temperature, as well as to intense changes of temperature, and 

 where this training has been given chills and colds become unknown miseries, unless, 

 of course, the child be infected by some one else who is suffering from a cold. 



THE TEMPERATURE OF THE FIRST BATH 



should be 99 Fahr., and for some days after birth no change should be made; 

 then slightly cooler water may be used at intervals of two days until the baby will 

 enjoy a morning tub in water 25 or 30 degrees below that of his first experience. 

 Such baths must be short, given before a fire, and followed by rapid drying and 

 dressing. Or a douche of gradually cooled water may be given to the baby's spine, 

 day by day, until at three months old he can stand a douche of cold water with 

 the utmost indifference. Where this training has been neglected, few children benefit 

 from a cold bath. 



A WORD OF WARNING 



is here in place as to the serious strain on children of what are miscalled " hardening 

 methods," such as sending them about in cold weather with bare arms and legs, or 

 exposing unprotected heads to a burning sun, especially when their feet are immersed 

 in cold water at the seaside or on the lake-shore. 



The temperature-regulation machinery in the brain is quite overtaxed by its 

 efforts to keep the bare legs warm and the heated head cool ; the delicate nervous 

 system is upset, and the results show themselves in what are described as bilious 

 attacks, chills, etc., the true cause of the ailment being utterly unsuspected by those 

 in charge. 



CHILDHOOD IS NOT THE PERIOD FOR HARDENING, 



in the popular sense of the term, but essentially it is the age for careful and 

 continuous cultivation of good habits, whether these are habits of prompt obedience 

 to parents, of self-control in moments of pain or excitement, or in physical habits 

 of mastication, cleanliness, and ready, though unconscious, response to changes of 

 temperature. 



Given fair chances of developing well-grown bodies to our boys and girls, and 

 they will be " hardy " enough in later life. 



ONE SECRET OF HEALTH IN CHILDHOOD 



is warmth, furnished by food, clothing, and exercise, not by overheated rooms or 

 coddling. Clothing throughout childhood should be light in weight, easy, elastic, 

 suited to the temperature, washable, and distributed evenly over the surface of the- 

 body. 



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