NFANTS; 



lake cffi'Cl, though the devifor dies by fix at night of tliat 

 day. 



Ar. infant eight years of age, or upwards, may commit 

 bomicide, and be hanged for it, if it appear, by any 

 other a&, that lie had k.no\vlcdj;e of good and evil ; for 

 here malitia fuppltbit ataiem : yet Coke on Littleton, feft. 

 40J, fays, " All infant fliall not be puniOied till the age 

 of fourteen ;'' which, according to him, is the age of dif- 

 eretion. 



But this depends on the degree of judgment which he 

 pon'eifes. If an infant be infra annos iufanlix, viz. fevcn 

 years old, he cannot be guilty of felony, whatever ciicum- 

 ftances proving difcretion may appear. See Ace, in Luzl-, 

 Executor, Gt ardian, &c. See alfo Rapi:. 



An infant en venire J'a mere, or in the mother's womb, is 

 capable of having a legai y, or a fnnender of a copy-hold 

 ellate made to it. It may liave a guardian afligned to it (Hat. 

 12 Car. II. c. 24.) ; and is enabled to h.ave an eftate limited 

 to his ufe, and to take afterwards by fuch limitation, as if 

 it were then adually born (ilat. lo & 11 W. III. c. 16.) ; 

 and in this point the civil law agrees with cur's. Though 

 infants cannot alien their el\ates, yet infant trullecs or mort- 

 gagees are enabled to convey, under the direftion of the 

 court of chancery or exchequer, or other courts of equity, 

 the eftates they hold in trutl or mortgage, to fuch perfon as the 

 court (hall appoint. By thecuftom of gavel-kind, an infant, 

 at the age of fifteen, is reckoned at full age to fell his lands ; 

 and by cuftoni, in fome places, an infant feifed of land in 

 focage, may, at the fame age, make a leafe of years, that 

 fliall bind him after he comes of age. 



An infant, who has an advowfon, may prcfent to the be- 

 nefice when it becomes void. (Co. Litt. 172.) An infant is 

 capable of inheriting, and may alfo purchafe lands, but his 

 purchafe is incomplete ; for, when he comes to age, he may 

 either agree or dil'agree to it, without alleging any reafon ; 

 and fo may his heirs after him, if he dies without having 

 completed his agreement. (Co. Litt. 2.) And in cafe any 

 infant bargain and fell his laud by deed, indented and inrolled, 

 yet he may plead non-age. 



If an infant grants leafes for a term of years, he may, 

 at his full age, either confirm the leafe, or bring trcfpafs 

 againll the Ic.Tee for the occupation. Alfo a leafe granted 

 to an infant, may be avoided by waiving the land before the 

 rent-day exprefled therein. However, infants are bound in 

 all aiits of neceffity ; as prefentations to benefices, admit- 

 tances and giants of copy-hold eftates, alTenting to legacies, 

 and conditions annexed to lands, whether the eltate comes by 

 grant or defcent. If an infant be the defendant in an aflion, 

 the plaintiff {hall have fix years for commencing his adlion, 

 after the defendant comes of age ; and an infant, who is a 

 plaintiff, has alfo fix years after he comes of age, to fue by 

 the Itatute of hmitation. 



Infants, Di/eefes of, in Medicine. When the extreme 

 delicacy and tendernefs of every part of the flrufture of the 

 infant frame is confidered, as well as the extraordinary revo- 

 lution, which it fuddenly undergoes, in pafTmg from its vege- 

 tating ftate, as it- were, in the uterus, to that of a breathing 

 animal, it muft: be obvious that a thoufand circumflances, 

 which make no impreflion on the adult frame, will powerfully 

 influence that of the infant ; and that the utmoll care will be 

 required to fnicld it from numerous caufcs of difeafe, from the 

 pioment of its birth. To the negleft of thefe circumflances, 

 or to their inability of attending to them, the great morta- 

 lity that occurs among the children of the poor, in large cities, 

 is perhaps chiefly to be afcribed. But this was firmti'.y 

 much augiiicnttd, among all ranks, by the abfurd and unna- 



tural interference of art, which was apparently didlated by 

 a notion that the inflinfts and intimations of nature were to 

 be oppofed, as of the mofl baneful tendency. Fortunately 

 the more rational fyllem of following thcfc intimations, as 

 thebefl guides to health, has generally fuperieded that abufe ; 

 and it will only be r,'i|uifite for us here to fpenk of fome of 

 the accidents attendant on birth, of the more frequent con- 

 nate imperfeftions of ftrufturc, and of the difeafes pecu- 

 liarly belonging to the period of infancy and childhood. 



Recovery oi Jlill-born or lueaUy wfmts. — 'Dr. Hamilton 

 obferves, that the occafional recovery of ftill-born children, 

 under circumflances where experience alone could have en- 

 couraged any hopes, ought to teach praiftitioiiers the im- 

 portance of employing, with patience and attention, tlie 

 means conducive to that purpofe. If there is no pulfa- 

 tion in the umbilical cord, the infant fhould be inflantly fe- 

 pavated from the mother, the cord being tied by a flip knot, 

 and the body iinmerfed in warm water. The lungs fhould 

 be then difteuded with air, by means of a bag of elaltic gum; 

 or a common fyringe, (the pipe of which is to be infertcd 

 into one noftril, while tlie other and the mouth are carefully 

 doled,) and ag-ain emptied by gentle prefi'ure on the breall. 

 In this way an alternate diftention and comprefTio*! of the 

 lungs fhould be continued for fome time. Should the action 

 of the heart be now perceived, the fame means are to be 

 continued, until the infant exhibit the ufual marks of begin- 

 ning refpiration, when the artificial dillention of the; lungs 

 is to be only occafionally repeated, and all preffure on the 

 breafl is to be avoided. But if, notwithflanding thefe means, 

 the pulfation of the heart be not reflored, the infant fhould 

 be taken out of the warm water, ph'.ced before the fire, 

 carefully rubbed, and then wrapped in warm flannel. • A 

 glyfter, confilting of a table-fpoonful of fpirits, and'twu 

 or three table-fpoonfulsof warm water fliould then be admi- 

 niftered, and the temples, noftrils, and teguments of the 

 face round the mouth, fhould be gently touched with a fea- 

 ther, dipped in vitriolic .ether, or fpirits of hartfhorn. But, 

 fecondly, if the pulfation in the cord of a fl ill-born child is 

 dirtinft and foft, and the infant has the natural appearance, 

 fo long as the placenta remains attached to the uterus, the 

 child ought not to be feparated from tlie mother. The 

 body fliould be carefully wrapped in warm flannel, the 

 noftrils and fauces fliould be touched with a feather dipped 

 in vitriohc xtlier, and a little fpirits rubbed on tlie breaft. 

 If the after-birth become detached, (which is known by . 

 the lengthening of the cord,) the child mnil be imm.-j 

 diately feparated, and the above means employed. Should 

 the procefs of breathing commence after thefe means have 

 been ufed for a few minutes, nothing elfe is to be done than 

 keeping the infant warm, with its face freely expofed to the 

 air. But fliould this not take place, tiie lungs arc to 

 be diftended and again compreffed, as in the firfl cafe. See 

 Prof. Hamilton's Hints on the Difeafesof Infants, &c. 



Although alive when born, the infant, in fome inftances, 

 lives only a fhort time. If the lips be pale, and the pulfation 

 in the heart very feeble or flow, it may be fufpcdled that this 

 originates from fome caufc which is not cognizable to the 

 fenfes. On the fuppolition that it arifes from a deficiency 

 of vitality, ftinudants have been applied to the lurface, as a 

 little brandy, or fpirits of hartlliorn, rubbed on the ribs 

 and fpiiie, &c.; and fuch means have occafionally proved efli- 

 cacious, though in the majority of cafes they fail. When 

 the extremities are of a purple 01* blueifli colour, and the 

 breathing is impeded or uinatural, it is generally found that 

 there is a defecl in the he.irt or lungs, which is beyond the 

 power of any remedy. 



