709 
daughters of the third generation of alcoholics are usually unable to 
suckle their young. 
The second condition referred to, i. e., the engagement of the 
mother in some industrial pursuit, depends in a great measure upon 
the willingness of husbands to accept the earnings of their wives at 
the expense of their children, or upon their failure to provide for 
them. This forces the mother to work for her bread while her child 
is turned over to the tender mercies of some stranger and the milk 
bottle. 
Much can be done by general popular enlightenment to eliminate 
the third cause, namely, the disinclination of mothers to nurse their 
children. It is hardly to be supposed that any woman will refuse to 
nurse her baby from purely selfish considerations, once she is fully 
informed of the enormous advantages it confers upon her child. It 
is obviously the duty of the medical profession to further this end 
by every means at their command. 
In view of the foregoing, every mother should nurse her child un- 
less there are cogent reasons to the contrary. The following causes 
may be mentioned as contraindicating maternal nursing: 
(1) Tuberculosis, latent or active, affecting the mother. By nurs- 
ing the child she can but accelerate the progress of the disease, besides 
exposing the child to the danger of contracting it. 
(2) When the mother is affected by grave, chronic, or systemic 
disease. 
(3) When the mother is choreic or epileptic. 
(4) If she has suffered from any severe complication of the partu- 
rient state, such as hemorrhage, eclampsia, nephritis, puerperal septi- 
caemia, and the like. 
(5) Local disease of the mammary gland. 
(6) When as the result of two previous experiences under favor- 
able conditions she has shown her inability to nurse her child (Holt). 
(7) When no milk is secreted. 
Care of the breasts during lactation . — In order to prevent local af- 
fections, both of the mammary gland and the infant’s mouth, it is 
highly important that particular attention should be paid to cleanli- 
ness. The nipples and breasts should, therefore, be carefully washed 
prior and subsequent to nursing, either with plain water or boric-acid 
solution. 
Nursing during childbed . — A newborn child should be nursed once 
in six hours the day following delivery and once in four hours the 
succeeding day. This is necessary (1) to accustom the child to take 
and the mother to give the breast, (2) to empty the breasts of colos- 
trum, (3) to promote the involution of the uterus. 
The colostrum furnishes the child with all the calories necessary 
to its needs until the lacteal flow is established, nor does it need any 
