INFANCY. 



siologists, could urge, would be in vain ; 

 neither would she be persuaded though 

 one rose from the dead. We will just 

 observe, however, that the practice of 

 repelling milk from a full breast is at 

 times dangerous, and often accompanied 

 with abscesses, that are more inconve- 

 nient, last longer in the cure, and are 

 succeeded by far more injury to the po- 

 lish and harmony of the form, than the 

 suckling a large family 



Let us add another reason ; the human 

 body is so constituted, that one part as- 

 sists' another in the operations of nature : 

 consequently there is a necessity for re- 

 ciprocal action and rest. Whilst the 

 womb, lately in a state of distention for 

 many months, is thus allowed rest suffi- 

 cient, it recovers its former tone. Where- 

 as, where there is an annual repetition of 

 pregnancy, the parts so distended sooner 

 lose their elasticity, and become at length, 

 perhaps, diseased, which especially hap- 

 pens in cases where the original habit 

 has been weakly. 



The following is a reason that concerns 

 the public, whatever influence it may 

 have on the gay and the careless. The 

 hired nurse, anxious to save as much as 

 possible from her own wages, not only 

 weans her own child, but puts him at 

 board on the cheapest terms she can find ; 

 in consequence of which, innutrition, or 

 poverty of food, too generally terminates 

 his life, or leaves him habitually diseased, 

 a permanent burdeivoti his parents, and 

 on the public. 



Hireling nurses, however, under all the 

 cases we have mentioned, must be resort- 

 ed to, when the person is in a situation to 

 endure the expense. The young and the 

 healthy should be selected, with a full 

 breast of milk, and that milk as nearly as 

 may be of the age of the foster child. 

 Where the circumstances of the parents, 

 or the infant's own antipathy, which some- 

 times occurs, or any other equally insur- 

 mountable objection intervenes, the next 

 consideration is to provide a substitute 

 for the child's natural diet. 



From the experiments of physicians on 

 milks we have the following results. 



Of cream, the milk of sheep affords 

 most ; then the human, the goat's, the 

 cow's, the ass's, and the mare's, progres- 

 sively. 



Of butter, the sheep's affords most; 

 then the goat's, the cow's, and human, 

 progressively. 



Of cheese, the sheep's gives most; then 

 the goat's, the cow's, the ass, and human 

 milk, the mare's gives the least. 



Of sugar, most is extracted from the 

 mare's milk ; then from the human, the 

 ass's, the goat'? the sheep's and last of 

 all, the cow's. 



It should hence seem that human milk 

 has more saccharine matter than an> other 

 milk, excepting mare's ; more cream than 

 any other excepting sheep's, and at the 

 same time that it yields less butter or 

 cheese than any, excepting mare's It ap- 

 pears, moreover, from the experiments of 

 other animal chemists, that the butter of 

 human milk, instead of being solid like 

 that of the goat and cow, is a fluid of the 

 subsistence of cream, and cream which 

 is nearly the consistency of that obtained 

 from ass's and mare's milk. 



It follows, that upon the whole, mare's 

 and ass's milks have a nearer resemblance 

 to human, than the milk of any other ani* 

 mal that has undergone a proper course 

 of experiments : and that in case of ex- 

 treme debility of the organs of digestion, 

 mare's or ass's milk is the best substitute 

 for that of human milk. 



Let these therefore in cases of debility 

 be resorted to : but in cases of health, 

 and especially of good substantive organs, 

 we may be less particular. Diluted cow's 

 milk, intermixed with a small quantity of 

 farinaceous food, will generally prove the 

 most convenient nutriment. Cow's milk, 

 however, is far less sweet, or has far less 

 saccharine matter than human, and hence 

 the mixture now recommended should be 

 enriched with some addition of sugar. 

 The chief point of attention is, that the 

 farinaceous matter, whether in the form 

 of pap,or gruel, be sufficiently dilute, and 

 free from lumps. It is a difficult thing 

 to make nurses believe that fluid food 

 alone can produce solid nutriment, not- 

 withstanding the example daily before 

 them of the beneficial result of maternal 

 milk ; and hence it is almost impossible 

 to prevent them from making the infant 

 food too thick and pulpy. Where rusks, 

 or tops and bottoms, are used, they should 

 be first boiled in water till perfectly soft- 

 ened, and then pressed with a spoon 

 through a fine strainer; nor should pap 

 or gruel be ever made use of withou a 

 similar process. Cordials, aperients, and 

 opiates, should be equally avoided in a 

 state of health. They are all medicines, 

 and should never be employed but when 

 called for by disease ; nature, in her or- 

 dinary functions, demands nothing of the 

 kind : the food prepared by herself is 

 equally bland and simple. 



In the clothing of children, warmth and 

 simplicity are the two points to be studied. 



