LUNGS DISEASES OF THE LUNGS. 391 



month or two afterwards symptoms of threatening consumption appeared. As the 

 nuns had not taken the usual vows, some of them were advised to leave the house, 

 and all who did so recovered. But during the ten years that followed the opening 

 of this establishment, the numbers were renewed twice or thrice; with the exception 

 of the superior, the gatekeeper, the sisters who had the care of the garden, of the 

 kitchen, and of the infirmary, and of such as had more frequent intercourse with 

 the city, and consequently greater distraction. The rest died of consumption. 



It is a point worth noting that the subjects of consumption have in a large 

 number of cases had peculiarities of likes and dislikes for different articles of food, 

 even from very early life, and whilst seemingly in perfect health. Among these 

 peculiarities, the dislike for fat is at once the most prominent and the most im- 

 portant. Thus, it may be predicted of a family in which one child distinguish*-:, 

 itself from its brothers and sisters by constant refusal to eat fat, that such a child 

 is more likely to fall into a decline in after life than any of the others. In people 

 who are actually consumptive, this dislike for fat is in many cases very marked. 

 The fat of fresh meat is generally the first to disagree, then salted meats, such as 

 bacon, and lastly butter. In exceptional cases, this distaste extends to sugar, and 

 even to alcohol. 



There is a prevalent opinion among all classes of society that in young women 

 marriage tends to ward off or even cure consumption, but there is in reality nothing 

 to favour this view. On the contrary, the existence of any symptom of consump- 

 tion should be regarded as a distinct bar to marriage. To those exhibiting any such 

 tendency, suckling must be considered prejudicial to a degree. It may be laid down 

 as a rule that mothers already in consumption, or threatened with that affection, 

 should on no account nurse. The infant must be provided with a wet nurse, should 

 the mother be delicate, and care should be taken to select for this office a woman 

 free from all suspicion of lung mischief, either hereditary or acquired. Suckling is 

 to the weak and delicate a certain source of ill-health, and is a ready mode of 

 developing chest disease, while the child is sure to be imperfectly nourished. 

 Moreover, it draws with the supply from its mother's breast an additional 

 element of danger to that which results from its parentage. Children of 

 consumptive parents should be brought up on milk, diluted, if necessaiy, with 

 water, alone, the admixture of other matters before the teeth are cut being 

 fraught with danger. A plentiful supply of fresh air is highly necessary, or 

 the infant will be peculiarly liable to attacks of bronchitis. The risk is in 

 staying in the house, and not in going out of it. Daily bathing is a valuable habit. 

 At first the bath is to be tepid, but very soon it may be taken almost cold. The 

 best method is simple and. rapid immersion, which is to be preferred to the slower 

 process of sponging, the object being to obtain a quick reaction. As the child gets 

 older, open air exercise is to be sedulously cultivated. It must be remembered that 

 there is no possibility of safety without it. No plea for education, no false theories 

 about catching cold, are to be allowed to stand in the way of it. Sedentary occupa- 

 tions and close rooms sow the seeds of death where there is a predisposition to lung 

 affections. 



The subject of the proper ventilation of the sleeping-room is one of primary 



