INFANCY. 



er a piece of old spongy cloth ; for this is 

 to destroy the very foundation of the au- 

 thor's new system, which consists in its 

 not being cleaned by any means, not even 

 by " soap and water, or plain water, or 

 any other substance whatever." Now 

 certainly, if the body of an infant may be 

 rubbed with the receiver, which is usual- 

 ly flannel, or even with a piece of old 

 cloth, there is no reason why he may not 

 be rubbed with a little warm water,which 

 has a far nearer approach to the nature 

 of his prenascent element, than either of 

 these substances, and is far less rough and 

 uncomfortable to its tender and delicate 

 skin. 



We shall only offer another remark. 

 Though the author be not able to-tell us 

 what good purpose nature designs by dif- 

 fusing over the body a coating of mealy 

 or viscid mucus, we can easily point out 

 to him what bad purpose nature herself 

 would accomplish by our suffering it to 

 remain there after birth : and we will do 

 it in his own words. " If left to itself, 

 says he, at a certain period after birth it 

 dries, and forms a crust, and gradually 

 scales off." And it is for this very reason 

 it ought to be removed : a dry crust and 

 scurf, covering the hard and thickened 

 skin even of an adult, must necessarily be 

 productive of the double mischief of Ex- 

 coriating the cuticle, and obstructing the 

 matter of perspiration : how much more 

 then must this double mischief be aug- 

 mented, when applied to the soft and 

 tender cuticle of an infant : how exten- 

 sively must its delicate skin become, in- 

 flamed by such harsh and perpetual pres- 

 sure ; how continually exposed to cuta- 

 neous eruptions, from the acrimonious 

 humour into which its obstructed matter 

 of perspiration will be converted by this 

 very obstruction itself. 



Let us close by observing, that wher- 

 ever this kind of tenacious covering is 

 found, as it sometimes is, spread in an un- 

 usual quantity over the bodies of other 

 animals, the mother of the young com- 

 monly removes it by washing and wiping 

 It away with her own tongue and saliva, 

 OP by encouraging the new born animal 

 to roll itself on the grass or straw, or 

 whatever other substance may be the bed 

 that first receives it : thus teaching to 

 mankind a lesson of cleanliness, which, in- 

 stead of despising, they will do well to 

 follow. Cleanliness, indeed, from the 

 commencement of life to its termination, 

 may truly be said to be next to godliness ; 

 its influence upon the mind is equal to 

 that upon the body. The pleasurable 

 sensation it excites is of no ordinary cha- 



racter ; it is a powerful prophylactic* 

 against disease ; it exhilarates the animal 

 spirits, and gives a feeling of moral dig- 

 nity to the meanest and most indigent. 

 A habit of cleanliness cannot be com- 

 menced too soon, lior persevered in too 

 punctiliously. 



The next point to be attended to in the 

 treatment of infants, is that of lactation or 

 suckling. 



There is generally too much eagerness 

 in putting the child to the breast, who 

 is often worried to suck, before he Ire- 

 comes actuated by the instinctive princi- 

 ple of nature, or before the mother finds 

 her breasts sufficiently filled with milk to 

 satisfy his desire. In consequence of 

 which the mother is as much and as vain- 

 ly fatigued as the infant, passes a restless 

 night, and is harass-eel with a renewal of 

 after pains, from which she would other- 

 wise have escaped. 



It is generally about the third day, af- 

 ter child-bed, that both are fully pre- 

 pared ; though it sometimes happens that 

 the infant has a desire to suck, and the 

 mother to suckle, within twenty -four hours 

 from the time of delivery. While again 

 the same mutual propensity will not in 

 other cases occur till a week or a fort- 

 night, or even longer, from the same pe- 

 riod. In the latter case the infant should 

 be supported by dilute gruel, a dilute so- 

 lution of tops and bottoms, with or without 

 a little cow's milk, according as he seems 

 best to relish it ; and if he appear in good 

 health, no idea should be entertained of 

 providing a wet nurse, till time has fully 

 demonstrated that the mother will be in- 

 capable of supporting him herself. 



This maternal support is a duty so im- 

 perative, that it should only be relinquish- 

 ed under the following circumstances : 

 1. Suppression of milk. 2. Extreme deli- 

 cacy, or disease of constitution, by which 

 it may not be supplied in proper quantity 

 or quality. 3. The indulgence in such a 

 routine of fashionable amusements, as 

 may render the mother incapable of ful- 

 filling her task with punctuality and sa- 

 tisfaction to her child. 



This last conduct is unpardonable, but 

 it is nevertheless common, and we are 

 afraid will be so in the present day, not- 

 withstanding all that can be urged to the 

 contrary, whether by divines or physi- 

 cians ; and all that we attempt to do is 

 to guard against the mischievous effects 

 of such a conduct: for if, in this respect, 

 the mother remains deaf to the voice of 

 nature, and the languishing desire of her 

 own offspring, we are fully convinced 

 that all we, or any ether body of phy- 



