INFANCY. 



purpose of stimulant, and a corrector of 

 acidity. If the former be employed, they 

 should be combined with magnesia, chalk, 

 or other absorbent earths, or the aroma- 

 tic confection, which is an excellent pre- 

 paration for this purpose. 



The use of opiates, after the removal of 

 the peccant matter, may often prove high- 

 ly serviceable ; but it requires a skill so 

 delicate, and a judgment so practised, to 

 / determine the time, and apportion the 

 dose, that we dare not recommend opium 

 in any shape as a domestic medicine ; it 

 should be alone administered under the 

 advice of a judicious practitioner. 



Flatulence, or wind, is rather a symp- 

 tom of disease than a disease in itself. It is 

 an attendant upon all the complaints we 

 have just noticed, and as it commenced, 

 so it will terminate, with them. Yet, 

 though a mere symptom, it is often found 

 so troublesome, whatever be the disorder 

 or state of the bowels on which it is de- 

 pendent, as to require specific attention. 

 And here, in conjunction with the tribe 

 of cordial stimulants just enumerated, we 

 would strenuously advise the application 

 of warm, stimulating liniments to the 

 belly, which should be rubbed over it 

 with easy, but long repeated friction ; 

 for the friction of a warm hand alone is 

 serviceable, and usually affords palpable 

 relief even in a short time. If it do not 

 yield to this plan, injections of a decoc- 

 tion of camomile flowers with a little 

 ginger, or a few cardamum seeds, should 

 conjoin, and be repeated daily. Here 

 also, as in the case of simple acidity, the 

 food should be changed, if the child be 

 weaned : and even in extreme cases, if 

 he be not weaned, provided there be 

 sufficient suspicion that the milk of the 

 nurse or mother, how well soever it may 

 stand the test of examination, be the pro- 

 ductive cause. 



When diarrhoeas proceed from a moist 

 unwholesome atmosphere ; or from a 

 sudden suppression of any cutaneous 

 eruption ; it follows, without further in- 

 struction, that the only chance of remov- 

 ing the complaint is, in the first instance, 

 by removing the child into a healthier at- 

 mosphere ; and in the second, by excit- 

 ing the skin to a new efflorescence. 



Another disorder, and frequently a very 

 serious one, originating from a deranged 

 state of the first passages, is thrush. That 

 it arises hence there can be no doubt, as 

 it has been known to seize every infant in 

 a family, in which mismanagement or a 

 want of attention to them took place, 

 from accidental causes ; and to disappear 

 as soon as the proper attention was re- 



sumed. It is evidently a disease of debi-< 

 lity, connected with a predominant acidi- 

 ty, by the continuance of which the com- 

 plaint is aggravated. It generally takes 

 place in the first month, but may be en- 

 tirely avoided under proper treatment. 



This complaint first appears in the cor- 

 ners of the lips, spreading over the tongue 

 and cheeks, in the form of little white 

 specks. Increasing in number and size, 

 they run more or less together, according 

 to their malignancy, and compose a thin 

 white crust, which at last extends over 

 the whole inside of the mouth, from the 

 lips to the gullet, and even the stomach 

 itself, and reaches at times through the 

 whole length of the intestines, producing 

 a redness at the fundament, When this 

 crust falls off, it is succeeded by others, 

 often of a darker colour; and the same 

 appearance successively recurs till the 

 disease depart. 



It is sometimes preceded by sleepiness 

 for a week or two. It is commonly with- 

 out fever, which only supervenes in its 

 progress, in the same manner as hectic 

 fever is produced in other cases, from the 

 increasing debility of the system. Cure 

 should be taken that the child do not 

 catch cold. 



The chief source of this disease seems 

 to be indigestion, from whatever cause it 

 may be produced ; and therefore bad 

 milk, unwholesome food, or even weak- 

 ness of the stomach itself, are sufficient 

 to produce it. These causes evidently 

 give rise to acrimony, which particularly 

 affects the small glands of the membrane 

 lining the stomach and bowels. Hence, 

 on the principle of relaxation of these or- 

 gans, a tea-spoonful of cold water, taken 

 every morning, has been reckoned a use- 

 ful preventive ; and this joined with a 

 due attention to the excretions, will often 

 fully succeed. 



The principle of cure in this disease is 

 simple and plain. The state of the bow- 

 els is the cause ; and in this state is, at the 

 same time, attended with a certain degree 

 of acrimony. The first step, therefore, is 

 to open the bowels, where costiveness pre- 

 vails, by means of any of the laxatives 

 enumerated in the preceding diseases. 

 The antimonial wine has been particu- 

 larly preferred by some physicians ; and 

 then correcting the acrimony by means 

 of any of the testaceous or shell pow- 

 ders, or, which is better, common magne- 

 sia. Where the bowels are already in a 

 loose state, instead of the above practice, 

 as the child is generally weakly, two or 

 three grains of the compound powder 

 of contreyerva may be administered; 



