RICKETS. 35 



dinner-tables of the poor. A child that shows symptoms of rickets wants a 

 nourishing food that will make blood ; milk and strong beef tea should be the 

 staples of its diet, and if it have any teeth it may be allowed to chew meat for 

 itself. It is better to give a child a good-sized piece of meat and let it chew it, 

 than to feed it on meat minced to such a size that it is able to " bolt " the pieces 

 without masticating them. The child should be fed at regular intervals, and 

 should not be allowed to eat trash between its meals, and so destroy its appetite 

 for really nourishing and valuable food. Farinaceous food should be given sparingly 

 until the child has got sufficient teeth to be able to champ it in its mouth; for 

 farinaceous articles are very difficult of digestion unless they are properly and 

 thoroughly mixed with the saliva in the mouth. Oatmeal porridge is a form of 

 farinaceous diet which is too little given to children south of the Tweed. Tea 

 should never be given to infants, and alcoholic drinks (except in the case of acute 

 illness) should be entirely withheld. Next to good and wholesome food, fresh air 

 is of the greatest importance, and a rickety child should be taken for its daily 

 airing without fail. It should be well wrapped up, and its face and chest should 

 be thoroughly protected, for a cold which would be a trifling ailment for other 

 children might prove fatal to one who has a weak, rickety chest. 



With regard to drugs, there are several which may be given with advantage. 

 The state of the child's bowels should be very carefully attended to. If the 

 motions are offensive, a powder consisting of two grains of rhubarb, mixed with 

 an equal quantity of carbonate of soda, may be given once or twice a week at 

 bedtime to a child a year old, or five grains of Gregory's powder may be given 

 with advantage. If there is much tendency to acidity, or if the child vomits or 

 passes from its bowels white lumps of curdled milk, it is advisable to mix lime water 

 with the milk. Even when the child is suckling, it may be given milk and lime 

 water (in the proportion of half a pint of the former to two table-spoonfuls of the 

 latter) as well. 



The above-mentioned drugs may be given to improve the digestion, but, in addition 

 to these, remedies for the general health are of great service. Happily we have in 

 cod liver oil a drug which may be given with the greatest benefit to rickety children, 

 and which in most cases they take very readily. There may be a little difficulty at 

 first, but very soon they learn to like it, and we have even known children for whom 

 this invaluable medicine has been prescribed go to the cupboard where it is kept, and 

 help themselves from the spout of the bottle. The mistake is often made of giving 

 cod liver oil in too large doses, and then it often makes the child sick, and creates a 

 disgust which is above all things to be avoided. A tea-spoonful is quite enough for 

 a dose, and this, repeated twice a day, will often work wonders. The cod liver oil 

 may be given with a small quantity of milk or orange wine, or, still better, it may be 

 mixed with an equal part of steel wine, and then we have the advantage of giving two 

 valuable drugs at the same time. The steel wine, if it be not mixed with the oil, 

 may be given separately, and a tea-spoonful twice a day, given after meals, is of the 

 greatest service, and is scarcely looked upon by the child in the light of a dose of 

 medicine. 



the deformities of rickets make their appearance, the question arises, What 



