MIDWIFERY. 
food. But if of a weakly constitution, she 
may have animal food the first day ; in the 
former case no wine should be allowed, in 
the latter both wine and whatever else will 
nourish her should be administered. In ge- 
neral no meat should be allowed for the 
first three days ; bread-pudding may be per- 
mitted, but if there be the least tendency 
to inflammation or fever, nothing further. 
With regard to medicine, much will de- 
pend upon the circumstances of the pa- 
tient ; the great object is to keep her 
quiet ; and if this cannot be done without 
medicine, medicine must be given. A sa- 
line draught, either with or without sperma- 
ceti, will generally be sufficient ; and at 
night a small dose of the sp. sether. vitr. co. 
which may be encreased if the patient's 
nights be restless. It is of high importance, 
however, to give a purge on the third day. 
It is of little consequence what purgative is 
used as long as an evacuation is produced. 
For many weeks before delivery the bowels 
of a woman are never emptied of their solid 
contents j and the quantity that thus accu- 
mulates is sometimes very astonishing. 
Should the purge not operate, an enema 
should be exhibited the same evening ; 
after whieh not a day should be allowed to 
pass without a stool being procured, and 
this strict attention should continue for the 
first fortnight. 
Milk Fever rarely or never happens where 
proper care has been taken to preserve a re- 
gularity of action in the intestines. Where 
the bowels are neglected, and there is a dis- 
position to inflammatory fever, the milk 
being formed in considerable quantity, will 
greatly increase that tendency to fever. 
Sore Nipples, This is a complaint often 
met with, and very troublesome, and most 
probably arises from an artificial mode of 
living. Many women use considerable 
pressure upon their breasts, and under 
such circumstances it is natural to expect 
that the nipples being pressed in, may be ab- 
sorbed altogether ; or if this do not take 
place, they will- give way upon the child 
sucking, and become sore and painful. If 
this have occurred in a previous lying-in, 
the parts may be strengthened by applying 
to them astringent remedies two or three 
months before labour. When however 
soreness of the nipple has taken place, the 
best way to protect it is to use an artificial 
teat, by which the child can suck equally 
well, and the nipple itself being undisturb- 
ed, will soon heal. The way in which one 
of these instruments is prepared, is to pro- 
cure a fresh teat from a heifer, and scooping 
out the inside, to steep the skin in spirits for 
an adequate length of time, and then fasten it 
on the glass instrument ; glass is preferable, 
because by seeing the milk we may be as- 
sured that the child is properly nourished. 
A woman is capable of giving milk with a 
flat or even a concave surface, by drawing 
it out with a glass tube that has a small ball 
to it, by which a vacuum is produced ; when 
immediately as the glass is removed, the 
child being put to the breast will keep it 
out by sucking till satisfied. 
Where the nipple is sore, it will either be 
from superficial ulcers, or cracks in the 
skin, either of which gives excessive pain 
and distress ; and it often happens that after 
all manner of things have been ineffectually 
applied, the nipple will heal of itself. Wine, 
alum solution, and all similar applications, 
give very great pain, though they seem to 
be the most beneficial remedies of any that 
are in use. Indeed it is extremely difficult 
to know what will answer best ; if emollients 
be applied, less pain will be the immediate 
effect ; but they make the parts more 
tender, which, when the child suck, will fre- 
quently bleed; and this is unpleasantfor se- 
veral reasons. The child probably swallows 
the blood, and perhaps on being sick, vomits 
it up again, to the great terror of the nurse, 
the mother, and all around them. If the 
sore be superficial, it will be much aggra- 
vated by sticking to the woman’s clothes : 
in this case a little cup made of wax is a 
good protection. The limpet shell will 
answer the same purpose, the edge being co- 
vered with sealing wax ; or a walnut shell 
may do equally well. A fresh ivy leaf laid 
on after every suckling is very useful, the 
fine glaze will prevent its sticking, and as it 
preserves the parts from the clothes it is 
very pleasant. A careless woman who does 
not attend to these apparent trifles, will 
frequently have the newly formed skin torn 
off from her nipple, by its lasteuing to the 
coverings of the brea.-t. No plan how- 
ever answers so well in all sore breasts as 
the false teat, as any application will then 
heal the nipple, or as it will heal without 
any. 
Swelled Legs of Lying-in Women. This is 
the last disease we shall notice. It never 
arises before the third day, and rarely after 
three weeks from delivery. This disease 
occurs in women that have had hard labours, 
or easy labours ; in strong constitutions, 
and in weak constitutions ; where there is 
milk in abundance, and where there is none 
