62 DISEASES OF CHILDREN. 



fevers, benefit almost always accrues to the patient, and the manner in which 

 children grow, make flesh, and improve in appearance generally, is one of the most 

 remarkable facts which the physician is ever called upon to observe. If the patient 

 be pale and bloodless, steel wine or some other preparation of iron may be given in 

 conjunction with the oil or separately. If oil cannot be taken, cream is sometimes 

 given, and is indeed a very pleasant substitute, but its medicinal properties are 

 inferior to those of the oil. Pancreatic emulsion we firmly believe to be of 110 use. 

 A difficulty is often experienced in getting children to eat fat, and as a rule 

 they carefully cut off and put at the side of their plates every particle of fat that is 

 given them. It is no good correcting children for this, and the ability to appreciate 

 and digest big pieces of fat will not be engendered by talking. Fatty things 

 are undoubtedly good for children, but fat is better given them in a state of fine 

 division. New milk contains an abundance of fat, and for this reason, as well as for 

 its other high dietetic values, milk should form a large part of the nursery dietary. 

 Bread and milk for breakfast, and milk puddings of all kinds, are appreciated 

 by all children. Bread and butter is, of course, the staple food of children from two 

 years old and upwards, and in this form they get a large amount of fat. Eggs, too, 

 contain fat, and there is seldom any difficulty in getting them to eat eggs. Never 

 let a child be wasteful with its food, nor allow it to be foolishly capricious ; but, on 

 the other hand, children should not be bullied to eat that which they do not like. 

 If they do not like fat in its grosser forms, give the more delicate varieties. 



So long as wholesome flour and cow's milk are obtainable, do not give any of the 

 innumerable patent foods which are so freely advertised, and which are sold in the 

 form of powder in hermetically-sealed tins. The labels of these tins are often 

 covered with the analyses of eminent chemists and the testimonials of equally 

 eminent doctors, and possibly some of these patent articles may be good substitutes 

 for the unwholesome trash which is often given to the children of the poor ; but it 

 must stand to reason that their dietetic value cannot excel, and probably falls 

 far short of, a mixture of wheaten bread and new milk. If the appetite fails, much 

 good may often be done by giving a very small quantity (half a grain or a grain) of 

 quinine dissolved in one drop of dilute sulphuric acid, and mixed with a little 

 infusion of orange peel, about half an hour or twenty minutes before dinner. 



When the more acute symptoms appear, the treatment of the case necessarily 

 passes out of the hands of the friends into those of the doctor, so that we shall not 

 say much on that point. For diarrhoea, it is best to give a little chalk mixture, or 

 chalk combined with some astringent medicine, such as catechu, or tannic acid. 

 Laudanum or opium in any form is never to be given to children without medical 

 advice. The treatment of the lung condition does not call for any very particular 

 remarks, and we must refer the reader to the article 011 consumption for information 

 on this point. The treatment of the head symptoms also can hardly be discussed 

 here. Very few cases of recovery after well-established tubercular meningitis are on 

 record, and these have been effected by the employment of measures which would 

 necessitate the supervision of a medical man. 



Ulcer ation of the Gums. This, among the lower orders, is a not uncommon and 



