22 DISEASES OF CHILDREN. 



bottle has been used it should be put into hot water (tube as well as bottle), where it 

 should be allowed to soak for some time, and should be then rinsed and put to drain 

 in a clean, airy place until it is wanted again. The smallest particle of sour milk 

 sticking to the cork or to the tube of the bottle is sufficient to cause the whole of 

 the milk put into the bottle to turn sour. Always smell both the bottle and the 

 stopper before filling it, and on no account put fresh milk into a bottle which has 

 the least odour of sourness about it. 



After a child has been fed, its mouth should be immediately washed, and on no 

 account is the child to be allowed to go to sleep with the drops of milk unwiped from 

 its mouth or soaking into its bib or dress. Care must be taken, too, that the nipple 

 of the breast of the nurse (in cases of suckling children) is not only free from disease 

 but scrupulously clean. 



If these simple dietetic measures are insufficient to arrest the diarrhoea, it may 

 be advisable to give a tea-spoonful of ordinary chalk mixture (the mistura wetce of 

 the Pharmacopoeia) every three or four hours. This is almost the only remedy 

 which may be safely administered to a young child without medical advice. No 

 form of opium and no patent soothing medicine can be administered without danger. 



Sometimes the cause of the diarrhoea is to be found in the state of health of the 

 mother or the nurse, and a change of nurse is often sufficient to arrest the troubles of 

 the child. The condition of the teeth must be looked to, and, if necessary, the gums 

 may be lanced. If the child have thrush, the suitable remedies must be used. (See 

 Thrush.} The mother must always bear in mind that an obstinate diarrhoea may 

 be caused by typhoid fever or by tubercles in the bowels. Diarrhoea is one of 

 those troubles which should never be allowed to go on unchecked or without giving 

 the child the benefit of skilled attention, if possible. 



There is one variety of diarrhoea to which young children are liable, and that is the 

 mild dysentery, with which they are often attacked in the autumn. The difference 

 between simple diarrhoea and dysentery is this, that in the latter disease there is 

 an inflammatory condition of the lining membrane of the large bowel which requires 

 special treatment. This form of dysentery (which, although bearing the same name, 

 is hardly to be compared with the terrible forms of dysentery met with in the tropics) 

 is accompanied usually by slight pain and some tenderness of the bowels. The belly 

 is sometimes distended and sometimes sunken in, and the child passes from its bowels 

 not only the ordinary motion, but slimy 'in unit, and even blood as well. It is the 

 passing of blood and mucus from the bowel which points out the real nature of the 

 affection. 



The cause of this dysentery is, in the first place, improper feeding of all kinds, and 

 the remarks which we have made iqjropos of diarrhoea are equally applicable to the 

 treatment of dysentery. It seems to be most common in low-lying districts, and it is 

 probable that a malarious condition of the atmosphere is occasionally to be regarded 

 as one of the causes. The administration of decomposing vegetable matter and 

 unwholesome fruit to children, which is particularly liable to happen in the autumnal 

 season, is undoubtedly a potent cause of this affection. 



The best treatment for this condition is the repeated administration of small doses 

 of castor oil. Five drops of castor oil with \\\\ equal quantity of gum water, given in 



