INFANCY. 
cheapest terms she can find ; in conse- 
quence of which, innutrition, or poverty of 
food, too generally terminates his life, or 
leaves him habitually diseased, a permanent 
burden on his parents, and on the public. 
Hireling nurses, however, under all the 
cases we have mentioned must be resorted 
to, when the person is in a situation to 
endure the expence. The young and the 
healthy should be selected with a full 
breast of milk, and that milk as nearly as 
may be of the age of the foster child. 
Where the circumstances of the parents, 
or the infant’s own antipathy, which some- 
times occurs, or any other equally insur- 
mountable objection intervenes, the next 
consideration is to provide a subsitute foi 
the child’s natural diet. 
From the experiments of physicians on 
milks we have the following results. 
Of cream, the milk of sheep affords most ; 
then the human, the goat's, the cow’s, the 
ass’s and the mare’s progressively. 
Of butter, the sheep’s affords most, then 
the goat’s, the cow’s, and human progres- 
sively. 
Of cheese, the sheep’s gives most ; then 
the goat’s, the cow’s, the ass, and human 
milk, the mare’s gives the least. 
Of sugar, most is extracted from the 
mare’s milk; then from the human, the 
ass’s, the goat’s, the sheep’s, and last of all, 
the cow’s. 
It should hence seem that human milk 
has more saccharine matter than any other 
milk excepting mare’s; more cream than 
any other excepting sheep’s, and at the 
same time that it yields less butter or 
cheese than any excepting mare’s. It ap- 
pears, moreover, from the experiments of 
other animal chemists, that the butter of 
human milk, instead of being solid like that 
of the goat and cow, is a fluid of the sub- 
sistence of cream, and cream which is nearly 
the consistency of that obtained fiyom ass’s 
and mare’s milk. 
It follows, that, upon the whole, mare’s 
and ass’s milks have a nearer resemblance 
to human, than the milk of any other ani- 
mal that has undergone a proper course of 
experiments : and that in case of extreme 
debility of the organs of digestion mare’s 
or ass’s milk is the best substitute for that 
of human milk. 
Let these therefore in cases of debility 
be resorted to : but in cases of health, and 
especially of good substantive organs we 
may be less particular. Diluted cow’s 
milk, intermixed with a small quantity of 
farinaceous food will generally prove the 
most convenient nutriment. Cow’s milk, 
however, is far less sweet, or has far less 
saccharine matter than human, and hence 
the mixture now recommended should be 
enriched with some addition of sugar. The 
chief point of attention is that the farina- 
ceous matter, whether in the form of pap 
or gruel, be sufficiently dilute, and free 
from lumps. It is a difficult thing to make 
nurses believe that fluid food alone can 
produce solid nutriment notwithstanding the 
example daily before them of the beneficial 
result of maternal milk; and hence -it is 
almost impossible to prevent them from 
making the infant food too thick and pulpy. 
Where tusks, or tops and bottoms, are used 
they should be first boiled in water till per- 
fectly softened, and then pressed with a 
spoon through a fine strainer.; nor should 
pap or gruel be ever made use of with- 
out a similar process. Cordials, aperients, 
and opiates should be equally avoided in 
a state of health. They are all medicines, 
and should never be employed but when 
called for by disease ; nature, in her ordi- 
nary functions, demands nothing of the 
kind: the food prepared by herself is equal- 
ly bland and simple. 
In the clothing of children, warmth and 
simplicity are the two points to be studied. 
The great and natural use of clothes is for 
the purpose of warmth, and the looser and 
softer the substance is by which this warmth 
is communicated, the better. But, amongst 
other refinements, that of giving neatness to 
the attire of children has been one produc- 
tive of very great evils. To brace and 
dress an infant forms a particular business, 
and thus the real intention of clothing has 
been lost sight of. Besides their tightness, 
children are also often hurt by their quantity. 
After birth, a child is in a sort of feverish 
state during the first five or six days; it 
should, therefore, be kept cool, instead of 
being laid close to the mother, who is com- 
monly in the same state, and fed, as both 
too frequently are, with heating cordials, 
which add to their uneasiness. 
Most of the deformities of children are 
occasioned by improprieties in their dress. 
An attempt to give neatness to the form 
renders pressure necessary ; and where a 
part is weak, and the pressure greater than 
on the neighbouring parts, such part will 
naturally yield to the impulse, and defor- 
mity will ensue. Without entering there- 
fore into any criticism on the particular 
kinds of dress, all that is required is, that 
