236 MORE POT-POURRI 



bishop at the beginning of this century who wrote to his 

 young married daughter : 'Go on, my dear Eliza, and 

 never fear hurting your constitution by honest child- 

 bearing, since, for one mother that grows thin with thia 

 work, there are five hundred old maids that grow thin 

 for want of it.' As a matter of fact, I have seen very 

 little of nurseries of late years, but I never travel in 

 railway carriages with babies, or look into the village per- 

 ambulators, without being shocked by the universal use 

 of those terrible modern inventions, sold by every chemist 

 throughout the land, called 'baby comforters or soothers.' 

 I cannot imagine any child's digestion not being weak- 

 ened and injured by them. The suction is exactly the 

 same as with the real bottle, and the waste of saliva 

 must be excessive ; so great that the flow must be much 

 reduced when food is actually taken, and this of itself 

 must begin the non- assimilation of food which modern 

 children, especially those brought up by hand, suffer 

 from so much. My objection applies to babies after 

 they are three or four months old ; before that these 

 'comforters' do not do much harm. But, the habit once 

 acquired, few nurses or mothers have the courage to 

 break it. 



Every doctor I have asked has corroborated my view 

 on this subject. A thoroughly conscientious doctor 

 ought, I think, to refuse to attend the children of the 

 rich where such things are used. The mothers and 

 nurses say : ' It is such a comfort to the child, and pre- 

 vents its crying, which is so dangerous.' This is the 

 modern receipt for everything ! Momentary relief and 

 palliatives, at the cost of eventual good ! What makes 

 babies cry is not only dyspepsia and discomfort, but also 

 spoiling ; that is to say, responding to that natural 

 appeal of crying for what they want. Many a child 

 that has been too much held in nurses' arms from its 



