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ARMY MEDICAL  LIBRARY

         WASHINGTON
Founded 1836
LMM
Section__...................
             Fobm 113o, W. D.. S. G. O.
spo  3—10543    (Revised June 13. 1936) 
 
 
/
                  ON THE         -Jf9/6>t ^

MANAGEMENT OF CHILDREN
SICKNESS

       AND IN

    HEALTH.


BY DR. G. ACKERLEY.


   THIRD EDITION.
Jl^n
                NEW-YORK:
PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR BY BANCROFT & HOLLEY
      No. 8, ASTOR'S BUILDING, AND 395 BROADWAY
                MDCCCXXXVI. 
                      ws
                      ■   !    o
                      .U31
Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1836, by G. Ackerley, in the Clerk's
      Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New-York.        J
3, W. BELL, PRINTER,
     17 Ann-street. 
  The following  statement, showing  the ex-
traordinary mortality in childhood, will render
any further preface unnecessary.

  It appears from the report recently made by
the City Inspector, that during the last ten
years, 64,598 interments have taken place in
the City and County of New-York. Of these
28,996 were children under live years of age—
very nearly one half of the whole number of
deaths; and, in the last year, 7,082 deaths are
reported, of which 3,614 were under five years
of age—more than one half.
No, 1, Laight-street, New-York. 
  In presenting this third edition, on the Management
of Children, to the public,  the author has thought it
most advisable  to adhere to the  original plan of the
work, namely,  to give in as  plain and concise a manner
as possible the best mode of rearing this interesting part
of the community to  healthy and vigorous manhood.
Deeming it unwise to multiply its pages by long and, to
the general reader, tedious and unprofitable discussions
of the abstrusities of  meaical science, and calculated
only for the professional reader, he has still confined his
observations to those measures of securing health which
clearly fall within the province  of  the parent to carry
into effect.  Although the size of the work has been
considerably increased by several additional topics rela-
ting to sickness, he  believes there is not a fact stated,
nor a  single measure proposed, which it is not the interest
of every one to be acquainted with,  and which will  not
be found practicable, in being put into execution. 
NOTICES OP THE FIRST  EDITION.
-»*«®#«~
  " Dr. G. Ackerley, of this city, has just published a pamphlet on the
Management of Children.   His object has been to convey in a cheap
form to all classes, the best mode of rearing that interesting part of the
community  to  healthy  manhood.   In the devotion  of his time and
talents to such a useful  and benevolent purpose, the author deserves
the thanks of the public"—New-York Gazette.

  "The  Management  of Children is an interesting  and very useful
little work.  The author  displays much knowledge of the subject, and
lays down rules and instructions at once useful to the practitioner and
parent.—We trust it will find an extensive circulation."—Albion.
  " The Management of Children—is concise and well written, and
conveys information upon an exceedingly interesting subject, in a plain
and perspicuous manner.—Its  directions for the medical and dietetick
management of children, are evidently the result of professional erudi-
tion  and  experience, and are perfectly consonant to the dictates of
nature and common sense."—Sunday News.
  " Dr. G. Ackerley, of this city, has published a very interesting pam-
phlet on the Management of Children, which should be in the posses-
sion of every family.   It points out many prevailing errors, and corrects
them in a sensible and judicious manner."—Evening  Star.
  "We can, with confidence, recommend this unpretending little work
as a safe guide for parents in the treatment of their young children."—
New-York Mercantile Advertiser.
  " On the Management of Children by Dr. G. Ackerley.—We have a
general antipathy to all medical treatises, for we believe they have been
the means of sending  ten to a premature grave where they have bene-
fitted one.  The work in question is, however,  a rare exception to the
general rule.—We recommend it as being well worthy the attention of
all mothers."—New-York Evening Post.
   " It is in order to induce parents to  reflect how much depends upon
them for the health and life of their children, that this cheap and prac-
tical little treatise was prepared. It is affectionately and earnestly
written—in very plain and untechnical  language, and  cannot fail,  if
generally read, of arresting some of the bad practices,  and removing
some of the errors in the treatment of children ;  to  the prevalence of
which, in part, the fearful  mortality  referred to must be ascribed."—
New-York American.
1* 
6
  " We have received a pamphlet on the Management of Children, by
Dr. G. Ackerley.  The subject is most important, and the circulation of
such a manual may do much good."—Churchman.

  " We have looked through a pamphlet of 27  pages,  on  the  most
important subject that can possibly occupy the attention of  mankind,
* The Management of Children in Sickness and Health.' By Dr. G.
Ackerley.  During the last ten  years 64,598 burials have occurred in
this city and county, of which 28,996 were children under five years
old; and of the deaths, (7,082,) of the year last  past, more than one
half, (3,614,) were under  five years of age.  Any thing calculated to
obviate so alarming  a mortality is well worthy of the earnest attention
of the community,  and we accordingly recommend Dr. Ackerley's
brochure to all heads of families."—New-York Mirror.
  " On the Management of Children, by Dr. G. Ackerley, a pamphlet
of 27 pages, written in a plain and comprehensive manner, and contain-
ing much useful  and valuable advice.—This small  and unpretending
brochure should be in the  hands of every mother who is solicitous to
promote the health and comfort of her offspring.—Its language is plain,
untechnical, and  suited to  the comprehension of every  reader.—New-
York Courier and Enquirer. 
CONTENTS.
                                                            Pages
General Observations,.......................................
Cause of such great Mortality in Infancy,......................  7
The Infant Mismanaged,....................................  8
Necessity for Man  studying more extensively, the Philosophy  of
      his Existence,......................................... II

      MANAGEMENT OF CHILDREN IN  SICKNESS.
On the Choice of a Physician,................................ 13
Management of a Child in a state of Fever,..................... 15
Of the Sick Room,........................................."16
Further directions when in a state of Fever,.................... 18
Convalescence,............................................ 20
Teething,............................................... 21
Management during Fits or Convulsions,...................... 22
Drowning,................................................ 22
Suffocation by the fumes of Charcoal, or other Impure Air,........ 24
Summer Complaints—Bowel Complaints,...................... 25
Hooping Cough,........................................... 27
Delicate Children,.......................................... 28
Warm Baths,............................................. 32
Leeches,.................................................. 34
      Directions for arresting excessive bleeding from the bites of,.. 34
Administration of Medicine,................................. 35
Early attention to Sickness.................................. 36
      Case showing its importance,.......................... 37
Address to Fathers,..............•......................... 33
Prevention of Diseases,..................................... 41

       MANAGEMENT OF CHILDREN IN HEALTH.

Disease transmitted from Parents to Children,.................. 43
      Evil effects on the offspring of Intemperance in the Parents,.. 4a 
                               iv

The Infant,.........,..................................... 44
      Cause of the numerous errors in its  Early Management,
        pointed out,........................................ 45
      Nursing, Washing, Dressing and General Management,.... 46
Choice of a Wet Nurse,..................................... 50
Diet,..................................................... 51
      General observations on  Animal  and Vegetable Food, and
         the adaptation of each to Man,....................... 52
      Food most proper during Infancy and Childhood,.......... 53
Improper Food for Delicate Children,.......................... 57
      Errors at Breakfast,.................................. 58
Exercise,................................................. 61
      Advantages of Mirthful Games,........................ 61
      Propriety of combining Exercise with Study,..............63
      Necessity for and perfect propriety of the female child enjoy-
        ing active exercise,................................ 64
      Appeal to Young Men on  a subject which concerns  both
         Sexes,............................................ 65
Exercise necessary to the personal appearance of Young Ladies, .. 67
      Necessity for more extensive Public Gardens, Sheltered Prom-
        enades, &c.,............................,.......... 67
Dress,.................................................... 68
Sleep,............•.................■'..................... 70
Letter of the  Rev. Dr. Humphrey, on the Public Parks, Squares,
  &.c. of London,.......................................... 73 
        MANAGEMENT
                     OF

Children in Sickness and in Health.
  The  great  mortality among children, during the
infantile period, under three years of age, would induce
the superficial observer to imagine that it was a part of
the grand scheme of the Creator that a large portion of
the human species  should  fail  to reach the  years
of maturity :—consequently, that it was unavoidable.
Indeed, the philosopher, contemplating the subject, is
astonished at the great mortality he observes among
infants, compared with that which takes place among
the young of  the lower classes  of animals.   To the
intelligent physician, however,  the cause is  obvious;
and to him it  is made more manifest every day of his
life, that this mortality among infants  arises, not from 
                         8
any discrepance in the works of the Creator, which are
all equally perfect, but that it is to be attributed princi-
pally to man's ignorance and consequent neglect.

   The infant is mismanaged,—through ignorance  is
frequently improperly treated in health, and neglected
in disease, until its beautiful though tender organiza-
tion is so totally changed, that life cannot continue, and
death must be the inevitable consequence :  for, when
the vital organs have become altered in structure to a
certain  extent,  they  are irreparable ;  and no matter
what be done, no matter how talented the physician,
the child must die ; for its Maker has thought it fitter
it should die, rather than be restored to a state of imper-
fect existence, incompatible with its own happiness and
the welfare of its species.  To the suffering and sympa-
thizing  parent  this may appear hard,  but  it is  only
another evidence, among those that every where present
themselves,  of  the  wisdom  and benevolence of the
Almighty, in removing the  individual when its life
would be miserable to itself, and when its species would
suffer by the perpetuation of disease.

  It is a melancholy but indisputable truth, that a great
proportion of  those children who die, die from  neglect,
in not having the benefit of medical assistance in the 
                          9
 early stages  of disease—not  through  the  blameable
 ignorance of those whose duty it is to watch over and
 protect  them—but through the unavoidable  though
 general  ignorance  of man,  in  consequence  of  his
 having neglected to make himself acquainted with the
 laws established by the Creator for his own welfare and
 happiness.

   The young of the  lower animals have instincts by
 which they are governed,  and  these  are  ao  wisely
 ordained, so positive in their character, that, it is impos-
 sible for them to err.   They have rarely a propensity to
 do what inevitably leads to  their destruction:  their
 appetites are limited to the peculiar food provided  for
 each, and  although  each  species  may differ  in  its
 instinctive desires, none strays from the path  originally
 ordained  for  it.  They are clothed  and every way
 organized to accommodate  them  to the  climate, soil,
 etc., of their respective regions, and  are  consequently
 not liable to be affected by vicissitudes of temperature,
 and a variety of causes that tend to  the  production  of
 disease.   Their organization,  also, being complete  at
 birth, or in most, in a few days, they are at once adapt-
 ed to surrounding circumstances,  and acting as their
 instinct impels  them, in accordance with, and not  in
opposition to Nature's  laws,  disease is comparatively 
                        10
rare  among  them.   Whereas, in man, the  Creator
having wisely and benevolently ordained that he should
not be limited in his desires by instincts, but  that he
should have  a  much wider range of enjoyment, has
endowed him with  moral  sentiments and reflecting
faculties,  by which he  is  rendered a  rational and
accountable creature, and enabled to observe and reflect
on  the laws established for  his  government.   These
faculties,  however,  unlike  those of the  lower ani-
mals, require to be  cultivated and exercised,  in order
that he shall derive from them the greatest amount of
enjoyment.   If man, therefore, neglect to use and cul-
tivate  these  reasoning powers, and  goes headlong on
pursuing  the bent of his wishes, he will surely suffer
the penalty imposed by the Creator  for such  neglect:
whereas, should he cultivate them, and apply himself
to the observation of  the  different  phenomena  which
are continually going on around him, and reflect upon
their effects on him as an animal, and at the same time
study his own nature, and its capabilities of adaptation
to the  various modifications of  these phenomena, he
 would find that the  different  agents,  as heat, light,  air,
 electricity, exercise, clothing, food,  &c, that  now fre-
 quently affect him disagreeably and injuriously, would
 become sources of happiness infinitely beyond  what he
 at present enjoys or conceives himself capable of enjoy.. 
                         11
ing, and that his exemption from disease would be im-
measurably increased.

  Now, as the infant is not perfect in its organization at
birth, but requires time  for its gradual development, it
necessarily requires the superintending care of its parent
until it can act for itself;  and to secure this superintend-
ing care,  observe  what a  delightful  office the Creator
has made it for the female to perform ! What love and
tenderness can equal that existing in the mother for her
offspring'?  But as man  has  neglected  to  study his
own nature as an  animal,  and his  relation to external
circumstances, and is in a great measure ignorant of
the laws ordained for his  perfect government, the infant
must  frequently suffer, not only from the pernicious
effects of  surrounding  circumstances, but  from the
neglect consequent upon  ignorance in the parent in not
having  timely recourse to medical aid when labouring
under disease.

  Is it not matter of surprise that man should thus  have
omitted a  study so important to his  own  happiness 1__
that while he "has searched into  the mysteries of the
heavens,  penetrated  the  bowels of the earth, and ex-
plored the utmost  regions of its surface," he has still
neglected  the study of himself 1   That he has neglect- 
                         12
 ed to do so is abundantly proved by the fact of his own
 dissatisfied condition—by his own great liability to dis-
 ease, and his frequent neglect of himself when over-
 taken by it.

   Would it not be  desirable, then, that seeing  in the
 present state  of society man has omitted to turn his
 attention to matters so deeply concerning his own  hap-
 piness, that the current of his thoughts should be direct-
 ed to the study of the science of himself—the  science
 that teaches him how he lives and moves, and has his
 being—the  science that will assuredly enable  him  to
 avoid a large amount  of  suffering  himself, and add
 incalculably to the health and welfare of his offspring 1

   Deeming it sufficient in this place, to show the neces-
 sity for man's devoting himself  more extensively to the
 study of his own nature, and its relation to the external
 world, I leave the best mode of pursuing it to the  sug-
 gestions of the  philosophic philanthropist.   In the
 meantime I  would remark that, for the individual  who
 embarks in the inquiry, a rich feast is prepared—a feast
 with which he will never be satiated—a feast prepared
for him by his Maker, and which he will find continually
 hallowed by the presence of his God. 
13
           MANAGEMENT
                    OF
CHILDREN  IN  SICKNESS.
        On the Choice of a Physician.

   To the intelligent parent it may seem  unnecessary
that any thing should be said on the subject of the
choice of a physician.  Unfortunately, however, a large
proportion  of the community cannot be comprehended
under the class of the thinking; and as this little work is
particularly designed for those whose avocations do not
afford them leisure, had they inclination, to look into mat-
ters that do not appear immediately necessary to their well
being,  a few words on this subject may not be amiss.

   It is important above all things, in choosing a physi-
cian, that one should be selected, if time and opportu-
nity permit, in  whose skill and integrity we have entire
confidence.  It is certainly desirable to have gentleness
and mildness of manner combined with skill if it can be
obtained, particularly in the treatment of children;  but,
although we should  never countenance coarseness and
       2 
                        14
vulgarity, by allowing it to pass for  eccentricity, we
Bhould never reject a man because his personal appear-
ance, his manner or his dress, does not exactly accord with
any preconceived notions we may have as to perfection in
these matters, for they are small matters,—small indeed,
when compared with the important nature of the busi-
ness we have in  hand for him.  We  ought to reflect,
and  never lose sight of the object for which his services
are required; we ought never to forget that it is to have
the  sick made well, and for this alone; we ought to
recollect that our  child's life is at stake—the child so
long wished for,  and born in pain  and travail—the
child on whom we delight to gaze and doat—the child
in whom we, perhaps, already perceive our very selves—
is in danger of perishing.   And can we leave this little
suffering, helpless thing to the care of those in whom
we  have not the fullest confidence 1  No,  we  cannot.
 I know the reflecting parent needs no appeal to his feel-
 ings in  behalf of his suffering child ;  but alas ! how
 few that do reflect—how  few that think maturely for
 themselves  in these matters,  until alarmed and  made
 sensible of their own dereliction of duty, by the painful
 intelligence,—the  child must die !

   Having made choice of  one in whom we have entire
  confidence, it is  but justice  to act honestly with him.
  We ought, therefore,  neither to hide any thing from 
                        15
him, nor exaggerate any of our statements.  We ought
to tell him the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
If we deceive him, our poor child must be the sufferer.
Whatever remedial means are advised, whether in the
administration of medicine, or in the general manage-
ment of the child, however trivial or unimportant they
may appear, ought to be fulfilled with the most scru-
pulous care and exactness; for the most judicious mea-
sures, prompted by the wisdom of the best experience,
and approved  by the soundest judgment, are often ren-
dered entirely  nugatory by imperfect fulfilment, arising
through negligence in those who have the care of the
child, or the kind but injurious interference of friends.
Should doubts arise as to the propriety of the means
that are being pursued, these should be removed at once,
for  the half  measures generally resulting from  a want
of  confidence  in the  physician,  will inevitably operate
to the injury of the child, and if carried on unknown to
him are a piece of injustice to the physician himself.



Management of a Child in a State of Fever.

   When a child is hot, thirsty, and restless, and has a
 quickened pulse, it is in  a state of fever ; that is, it is 
in that state of general excitement which in a greater
or less degree almost invariably attends the diseases of
children, no matter what the cause,  where the seat, or
what the name of the disease may be.

   Seeing that this general feverish  state is almost con-
stantly present in the  diseases of children, it becomes
of paramount importance that  some  general   views
should be had  of the  management proper to be em-
ployed during its continuance, particularly that the er-
rors which prevail may be guarded against, and that
the disease may not be aggravated by mismanagement.

                      -*♦*•©•*—

               Of the  Sick  Room.

   It is of the first importance, when circumstances per-
mit, that a proper chamber should  be selected for the
sick.   The sick room, as it is generally called, ought to
be  in the upper  part of the dwelling, as  diseases are
most fatal to  children who reside  in the lowest  apart-
ments, as  kitchens, cellars, etc.   It ought to be kept
cool and well ventilated, and applied exclusively  to the
purposes of the sick.  All unnecessary furniture> bed-
ding*etc., should be excluded.   Silence should prevail 
                           17
 and in dangerous illness and violent fevers,  it will fre-
 quently be advantageous to have the room darkened.—
 Every thing offensive to the smell must be removed as
 soon as possible ; and, for the purpose  of purifying the
 chamber  after evacuations, etc., pure fresh  air is the
 best: therefore, the window and door may be  frequently
 and freely opened, if  the weather permit, taking care to
 screen the child from the draft.   All persons not. really
 necessary ought to be  excluded, as tending to disturb
 the child and render the air impure.  One quiet nurse
 in addition to the parents, or those who  have the  care
 of the  child, is amply  sufficient;  and  this  exclusion
 ought not to be considered as a piece of  unkindness by
 visiters : it  is a measure, in serious illness,  absolutely
 demanded,  in  order that the necessary remedial means
 may be carried on without interruption,  and also, that
 the feelings of the  parents,  already too  much  excited,
 may not be increased  by conflicting opinions ;  for it will
 be  recollected by the considerate visiter, that a mother
 with a sick child is herself an object of commiseration.
Who so unhappy—who so utterly wretched, as the fond
 mother  when  the dangerous illness of her darling off-
 spring fills her heart with agony, as it  hangs between
 hope and despair?
2* 
18
  Further Directions when in  a state  of
                     Fever.

  A child  in  a state of fever should be kept cool, but
not cold.  It should lie on a soft mattress, over which a
few folds of a blanket and a sheet may be laid.  Fea-
ther beds envelope  the child too much, and in  warm
weather prevent the extra heat generated from passing
off.  The coverings should  be light, as great injury is
done by too much covering.   The child should be fre-
quently examined, and the covering added or removed
according to its state at the time.  The head of the
child should be particularly attended to, and when hot
and the seat of disease, should be kept as cool as possi-
ble.   For this purpose the  cap should be removed ; and
if there  be  much hair, it  should be  cut off close,  in
order that the  cool air  may come in contact with the
skin.   The feet and hands should be kept sufficiently
warm.   If the child be very hot and thirsty, its drink
should be pure cold water, otherwise, water boiled and
suffered to  cool, toast water, or very  weak tea : its nou-
rishment gruel or arrow root—milk  should be avoided :
even its mother's milk is improper in the quantities ge-
nerally allowed to be taken.   The child  wants  liquids
 and but little food ; and in violent fevers scarcely a par- 
                         19
tide of food should be given.  I need hardly say that
all  heating liquors, hot stimulating teas,  soups, &c,
should  be carefully abstained from.   A great, and fre-
quently a fatal, error is committed in giving hot stimu-
lating teas, etc., to children in a state of fever, with a
view to drive out eruptions,  as  measles, scarlet fever,
small pox, etc.  These diseases are thus frequently ren-
dered deadly when they  would  otherwise, probably,
have proved  mild in their character.  Another great
error is every day committed, in giving the child some-
thing to restore its  strength.  The mother is anxious,
the friends are clamorous, all dreading  lest the child
should die of weakness.   As you value the life of your
child, beware of doing this contrary to the advice of the
physician.  He alone can tell when the last spark of
disease is extinguished, and until it is extinguished there
is no safety for the patient.  How often is the medical
attendant called upon  to witness the wreck of all his
hopes by the injudicious administration of a little wine
whey, or some such stimulant, that is thought incapa-
ble of doing any harm.   How often has a fond mother
in  her  anxiety agreed to the suggestion of some kind
and well intending, but  mistaken friend, and " put out
the light," the little light, that still  glimmered in  the
mortal socket, and  which, with  proper management,
might frequently have been made to resume its wonted
glare and brightness ! 
20
                 Convalescence.

  After the fever has entirely subsided, and the child
may be said to  be cured of the disease under which it
has been labouring, great care and forbearance must still
be exercised, in order to prevent a relapse : relapses are
most frequently produced by errors in diet.

  The infant at the breast of course needs no other food
than that derived from its mother.   Those who  are
weaned may now have Indian gruel with milk in it,
sago, arrow  root, rice, Irish moss, or tapioca.  As  the
strength returns, simple beef tea, plain soups, and finally
tender  meats may be given:  but  in all these matters
circumstances must govern us. All I wish to impress on
the mind of  the parent is, that the usual diet must be
resumed with great caution, and that whatever is deem-
ed proper must be given in small quantities at a time.
By oppressing  the digestive organs, now feeble, with a
load they cannot  dispose of, fever is reproduced, bowel
complaints ensue, and ultimately the child, like the ves-
sel wrecked in port after having weathered the storm at
sea, perishes from misdirected kindness, after it has sur-
vived the attack of disease. 
21
                     Teething.

   It  would not comport with  the object of this short
 treatise, to enter into a detailed account of the evils that
 frequently arise from difficult teething.  Parents are well
 aware of the dangers the child is subject to during this
 important epoch.  It may be well to observe, however,
 that when a child is suffering from the process of cutting
 teeth, it is generally in a state of fever, and requires the
 cooling regimen mentioned under that head.  All sooth-
 ing or sleeping drops  should be carefully avoided, lest
 inflammation  of the brain  be brought on.  All animal
 food  should be withheld.   Objection to lancing the
 gums ought never to be made : the supposition that they
 are hardened by the operation is erroneous.  The great-
 est advantage generally accrues from it, and frequently
 the life  of the child is saved by it.  A great error is also
committed in not attending to the bowel complaints that
frequently accompany the process; and a still greater
one in  attributing to this cause other diseases,  them-
selves dangerous, and thus neglecting them at a time
when they might be cured, until they become alarming
or are beyond the reach of medical.aid. 
22
 Management during Fits or Convulsions,

  Fits in children are always attended with danger, and
not a moment should be lost in sending for assistance.
In the meantime strip the child of its clothes, and place
its feet and legs in warm water, at the  same time ap-
plying cold to its head,  by means of thin cloths dipped
in cold water.  Should  its head be very hot, and the
fits continue, pour a stream of cold water on the back of
the child's head,  holding it over a  pail, while  its feet
are still in the warm bath.  Never plunge a child wholly
into the hot bath in case of fits or convulsions,  neither
give it any thing hot or stimulating to stop them; rather
let it  alone with what  is already done until medical
aid arrive,  than proceed one step in doubt, when that
step may lead to the utter destruction of the life of the
child.



                   Drowning.

   When the living body has  been under water a cer-
tain length of time, it dies, in consequence of the sus-
pension of  the necessary change which the blood ordi- 
                         23
narily undergoes by coming in  contact with the atmos-
pheric air in the lungs in the  act of breathing.  Few
well authenticated cases of recovery from drowning are
on record, where the breathing had ceased more than
five minutes.   As it is difficult, however, to come at the
facts  in these cases, our efforts  at resuscitation should
by no means be limited to cases of such short submer-
sion ; on  the contrary, in every case where there is the
least  hope of restoration, our attempts should commence
immediately; and the first thing to be done is to re-esta-
blish  respiration by inflating the  lungs.  This is  best
effected by introducing the nose of a pair of bellows into
the mouth of the child, an assistant closing the nostrils
with  the finger and thumb,  to prevent the air escaping
through the nose.   If the air thus forced into the child
reach the lungs, the breast will become slightly eleva-
ted.  Pressure must now be made on the breast of  the
child  with the palm of the  hand,  and the air will thus
be forced out again  : in this manner the natual breath-
ing will be imitated.   This process must be repeated,
alternately forcing the air into the lungs and pressing it
out again, until medical assistance arrive.  Should there
be no bellows at hand, do not wait, as every instant the
child  remains without  this process, renders  the future
effo. ts more unavailing.  Do not wait a moment, there-
fore,  but  immediately apply your own mouth to  the 
                        24
mouth of the child and blow forcibly into it, taking care
to close the nostrils.   The human breath,  being much
less  pure  than common air,  renders this  expedient of
more doubtful efficacy;  therefore, the bellows ought
always to be preferred if it  can be had in time.

   Always keep  the head  of  the child elevated, and
never  suspend the  body by the  heels to let the water
run out;  by so doing any hope of restoration that may
exist will  thus be annihilated.

   The next important measure is to apply heat to the
whole external surface of the body,  by wrapping it in
hot blankets, applying hot bricks, etc., and such means
as will readily occur to every one  who has the least
presence of mind, taking care to leave the head and
face exposed to  the  air.   These and other necessary
means, however, will be best directed by the physician,
who will probably by this time have arrived ;  but never
forget, the moment the body is taken out of the water,
to inflate  the  lungs ; wait for nothing; until  this is
done, nothing is done that is likely to be effectual.

  A child that is suffocated  by  bad air,  the fumes of
charcoal, or otherwise, is to be treated precisely in the
same manner as above directed for drowning. 
25
  Summer  Complaints—Bowel  Complaints.

   If we desire evidence of the great fatality of these dis-
 eases in the United States, we have only to examine the
 weekly report of deaths.   No statistical statements are
 necessary, however, the fact is too well known to every
 parent, and the effect of this knowledge is fully evinced
 in the solicitude felt for the child during the heat of
 summer.   It is really affecting  to the physician to see
 the fond mother, her eyes sparkling with delight—while
 he is contemplating her child, perhaps her only child,—
 suddenly change countenance, and with an expression of
 apprehension, inquire, does he think it will live through
 the second summer !   How gratifying must it be for
 him to  be able conscientiously to tell her that, if early
 attended to, and judiciously treated, it will survive the
 second summer ;  and this the author feels warranted in
 asserting in the great majority of cases.  But to secure
 this happy result, due care and proper management must
 be observed.

  The moment the child's  bowels become disordered,
that very moment  commences its peril, particularly in
summer ; and should the parent be desirous to have done
what science can do for it, relief should be sought for
       3 
26
immediately.  Every hour the disease is suffered to pro-
ceed, increases the danger.

   A very frequent and very fatal error is committed in
allowing such  derangements to proceed unattended to,
under the idea of their being  a necessary and rather
favourable attendant  on the child cutting teeth.   Now,
although teething and bowel complaints frequently affect
children, at the same time—the  former sometimes caus-
ing the latter—so far from its  being proper to  neglect
the latter, particularly if violent, the circumstance of
the two existing at once only increases the  danger, and
is an additional reason why it should not be neglected.
Never, therefore, suffer a bowel complaint to  run on,
under any circumstances, without proper attention being
paid to it.

   Another great mistake is oftentimes made in sending
the child into the country with a view of its being bene-
fitted by the change of air, &c.  There is a time when
change of air is frequently a very valuable  means ;  but
so much judgment is required to determine when it ought
to be had recourse to, that, if not directed by skill, it gen-
erally proves injurious, particularly during the early or
feverish stage ; for not only does it increase  this state,
 but it removes the child from the  only means  that are 
                         27
at this time at all calculated to be of service to it.   In
bowel complaints generally, and especially those of long
standing, and where the fever is not violent, the surface
of the body,  particularly the hands  and feet, should be
kept warm, not hot;  consequently, tepid baths, flannel
worn next the skin, and warm clothing, generally, if
the weather be cool, will be  found advantageous.




                Hooping Cough.

  This distressing malady usually commences like a com-
mon cold, and is not  to be distinguished from it until
the cough has put on its peculiar character, by occur-
ring in fits or paroxysms, and being attended with that
peculiar sound termed a  hoop.  This  once  heard can
never  be  mistaken.   It  is a great error to suppose that
art can do nothing for this disease.   Early attention to
it will seldom fail of alleviating its most  distressing
symptoms, and ultimately of conducting the  little suf-
ferer in safety to a speedy convalescence ; whereas, by
neglecting it at the beginning, such injury is often done
to the delicate structure of  its lungs  and brain, that
death not unfrequently closes the affecting scene. 
                        28
  It is of great consequence that the diet be of the most
simple and lightest kind—animal food of all sorts should
be withheld, as should  also all stimulating  drinks.—
In short, being almost  always at the  commencement
attended with more or less fever, the directions given
under  that head  will  apply here.  Much mischief is
done, and many lives are lost, by sending the child out
for  fresh air at unseasonable times.  The old practice
of seeking a change of air is undoubtedly a  very good
one, provided  the state of the weather be  such as to
admit of it; but in order that it should be attended with
advantage, strict regard must be paid to the state of the
child at the time.   It will always be unsafe if the child
be feverish, or the  weather be otherwise than warm
and pleasant.  When the cough has become chronic, or
of long standing,  and the child is well in other respects
between the fits of coughing, change  of air will fre-
quently be found of great benefit.



              Delicate  Children.

  It is a common  opinion that weakness is the general
cause  of  delicacy  in  childhood,  and that internal
strengthening remedies are the means  from  which we 
                          29
 are to look for benefit.   It is in consequence of the con-
 stant desire evinced by parents to have recourse to these
 means, and in order to obviate the evil effects of such
 views, that attention is called to this subject.   It is true
 that original weakness is frequently the first link in the
 chain of evil, but unfortunately this state is seldom
 remedied  before certain effects have taken place in the
 internal organs, which require an entirely different mode
 of proceeding.   It is true that in delicate children weak-
 ness prevails throughout the body generally, but with
 this there is almost constantly present disorder of  those
 organs whose office  it is to nourish and renovate the
 system; and unless this  be constantly kept  in view,
 vain will be our efforts  at  restoration.  Although the
 system be in a state of debility generally, and may stand
 in need of being invigorated, the internal organs, through
 which flows the fountain of health, and by means of
 which strength  is to be obtained, will seldom permit of
 tonic  remedies being internally used.

  This  delicacy in   childhood  being  so  frequent, it
 behooves us to inquire into  the cause ;  and, if possible,
prevent the suffering of the little individual, and  the
 certain pain and disappointment with which the parent is
 frequently visited by its premature decay and death.  All
 debilitating agents operating on the parents have a ten-
         3* 
                        30
dency to produce weakness in the offspring ;  and of the
numerous causes of original weakness there is no one,
perhaps, more prolific  than their  constant addiction to
intemperance.  It is a painful subject for reflection, that
the father should thus entail upon his children the almost
certain seeds of premature decay.   I say almost certain,
for although the child of such parents may promise to be
strong,  still, when subjected to  those  diseases with
which nearly all children are visited once in their lives,
instead of passing unscathed through the fiery ordeal of
fever, with which they are often accompanied, the child
of delicate organization fails under the excitement, and
death, or more confirmed weakness,  is  frequently the
consequence.   The  most fruitful sources of  delicate
health  in  children,  originally of  good stamina,  are
general bad management and unwholesome food.

   In regulating the  regimen of delicate children, it is
advisable that  they be kept from all kinds of distilled
and fermented liquors, and from all restoratives and me-
dicinal compounds, of which these form a part.   The
custom even of  allowing the child to sip wine, etc., out
of its parent's glass is improper and inadmissible. Its diet
should consist of such articles as are of most easy diges-
tion, particularly such  as rice,  arrow root, Irish moss,
 the different preparations of Indian meal and oatmeal, 
                         31
with or without milk, according to circumstances.  A ni-
mal food cannot be used with advantage so long as the
internal difficulty continues serious.  When this is re-
moved, the child may gradually be permitted to partake
of such articles as are mentioned under the head of diet,
carefully avoiding those pointed out as improper for deli-
cate children.   Active and particularly violent exercise
of all kinds should be avoided.  At all events, the child
should never be urged to such  as it does not seem dis-
posed to take.

  Passive exercise, as swinging, sailing, riding, etc.,
will be  found of great advantage ; therefore, frequent
excursions, when the weather permits, may be  had re-
course to, always avoiding exposure to extremes of heat
and cold.   Even passive exercise, however, is of doubt-
ful  efficacy if  the child be feverish.  Great benefit will
generally be derived from the warm bath—this may be
used twice or  three times a week, according to circum-
stances, at the temperature of 90 to 100°.   In order to
aid  and maintain the advantages gained by the use of
the warm bath, it is of consequence that the whole exter-
nal surface of  the body be kept comfortably warm, and
this will be best effected by fine flannel being worn next
the skin.  The cold  bath is seldom  proper, and can
never be used with safety until the internal disorder be 
                        32
removed, and the child be, in a great measure, restored
and  possessed of sufficient strength to bear the shock.
It is  then frequently a very valuable means, when pro-
perly applied, of establishing  health,  and, when estab-
lished, of maintaining it; but it is always a very doubt-
ful, and even dangerous, means in  the cure of chronic
or slow internal disease.



                  Warm Baths.

  The warm bath is a powerful, and, when properly ap-
plied, a very valuable agent in the cure of disease ; but
in consequence of this very power, it is liable to do much
injury if injudiciously  used.   So much  depends upon
the heat of the bath, and so very much on this being
adapted to the state of the child at the time, even when
deemed proper, that it is impossible to apply it with safe-
ty, without strict reference to  these circumstances, par-
ticularly when the head is affected,  and there  is a dispo-
sition to  convulsions.   The warm  foot  bath  may fre-
quently be used with advantage and without risk, when
the feet are inclined to be cold.   In the use of the gen-
eral warm bath, much depends on the manner in which
it is applied.  It is desirable to have an additional sup- 
                        33
ply of hot water to be added, in case  it be necessary,
while the child is immersed in it;  and to avoid its being
excited by fear, the child may be wrapped in a blanket
and held on the lap, so as to let its feet dabble in the
water previous to immersion, and by slow degrees, and
imperceptibly as it were, suffered to sink until  its shoul-
ders be covered,  amusing it at the same time, if possi-
ble,  in the manner best known to the fond  female
accustomed to the management of children.

  On its removal from  the bath  it should be quickly
wiped dry, enveloped in a blanket,  and put to bed,
taking care gradually to remove part of the covering, if
the child become hot and restless.

  The tepid or moderately warm bath is also  a remedy
of great value and extensive application.   It is exceed-
ingly useful in chronic diseases  of the belly and of the
skin ; and may be had recourse  to without fear of doing
injury, provided  care be taken to secure the child  from
cold on its being taken out of the bath. 
34
                     Leeches.

  Considerable alarm to parents, and sometimes actual
mischief to the child, is occasioned by the orifices pro-
duced  by leeches continuing to bleed, after sufficient
blood has been obtained.   In ordinary cases, a little fur
from a hat applied on each puncture, over which a piece
of muslin, folded several times, and secured with a band-
age, applied with sufficient tightness, to ensure firm pres-
sure, is all that is necessary.   The little patient should
be carefully watched, particularly if the bleeding occur
during the  night; and should it continue, as it some-
times does, when leeches are applied on soft parts, as
over the region of the neck or stomach, firm pressure of
the finger over the fur immediately prevents the further
loss of blood;  and, if continued, generally arrests it alto-
gether.  Should further means, however, still be neces-
sary, the end  of a small stick of Lunar Caustic should
be scraped to  a point, and firmly pressed into each punc-
ture, and repeated until the bleeding ceases.   This, in
the author's hands, has never failed to arrest the flow of
blood in any case he has met with, 
35
        Administration  of Medicine.

  All directions as to the administration of medicine
have been purposely avoided, not only from the impos-
sibility of  their being given  in a work particularly de-
signed to be concise, but, in the first place, from a belief
that such  works are seldom read, and, when read, from
the fullest conviction that they are rarely productive of
good, and not unfrequently the cause of much mischief.
As curative means they can scarcely ever be used with
advantage, without a correct knowledge of disease, and
unless applied with judgment, and adapted to the vary-
ing states of each individual case.

   The utter absurdity of such directions will be evident,
when  it is known that the physician, at the bed side of
sickness,  scarcely ever  meets with  two cases exactly
alike, and requiring exactly similar modes of treatment.
He finds disease so much modified by the season, by the
temperament of the individual, and by a variety of other
circumstances, that notwithstanding his mind may be
stored with the accumulated knowledge of ages, his own
judgment has still to be continually exercised upon the
individual case, before he can prescribe the appropriate
remedy.  In fact, it is in this  nice perception  of the 
                         36
 really different, although  apparently similar, states  of
 disease, and the adapting his remedies to the  peculiari-
 ties of each, that the physician evinces his superior skill,
 and it is in this  that  one distinguishes himself above
 another.  How then  can it be  expected that benefit
 should accrue from the publication of popular works on
 the administration of  medicine, without  the  mind has
 been previously informed on the nature of disease ?



         Early attention to  Sickness.

   After  the introductory remarks which have  been
 made, showing the great loss of life consequent upon a
 want of early attention to disease, any thing further on
 that head may be thought unnecessary.   If,  however,
 there be one consoling reflection for the parent who has
 lost his child, it must be in the consciousness of  having
 neglected nothing that might have been instrumental in
 its recovery.  If, instead of trying one experiment after
 another, the mother place the child early in the hands
of those who profess to understand its ailments,  and to
give it every aid which  science affords, and she select
one in whose skill she has entire confidence, she does
the best she can do; with him rests the responsibility ; 
                         37
and  should his efforts not be crowned with success, it
will  still be an unspeakable satisfaction to her to know
and feel that she has done her duty.  Even in a pecuniary
point of view, it is best not to  tamper with sickness ; for
if the disorder be  of  little importance, it will be set to
rights, possibly, by the adoption of simple, and the avoid-
ance of improper means, at the trifling cost  of a single
visit, and the anxiety of friends will be relieved ; or, if of
a serious nature, the physician will be on the  spot and
ready to meet it, while it is yet, perhaps, entirely under
the control of his art.   Since the publication of the first
edition of this work, the following case came under the
notice of the author;  and as  the physician will recog-
nise  in it  one of almost daily occurrence, no apology
will  be required for its introduction in this place.

   He was called to see a beautiful little girl, two years of
age, an only child.   It had been suffering from violent
disease ten days, and little skill was required to discover
that little could be  done for it.  At one of his visits the
mother requested one of his pamphlets ; at first, he hesi-
tated, fearing lest  the  importance  therein attached  to
early attention to sickness, might add reproach to her
sufferings : at a subsequent visit, however, he presented
her with one.  Some little time after he saw the lady—>
" Ah," said she, " how much  I regret not having sought
          4 
                        38
assistance earlier."  Her husband was far from her; she
had no relatives near to console her; she was childless ;
her babe was in the grave !

                      -»»©©•«««■

                   To Fathers.

  Fearing lest the  perusal of the details of the sick
chamber may be irksome to  the father, and that the
directions laid down  may be considered as altogether
appertaining to  the duties  of the mother, a few words
addressed to the former have been deemed necessary;
if possible, to  show that  not on the  mother alone de-
volves the  responsibility, but  that  all  our  efforts are
required, if  we  would seriously set about lessening the
mortality that prevails among our infant population.

  Although the care  of  the  sick is usually, and very
naturally committed to the female, who by her  tender-
ness was evidently ordained to  perform this important
duty, yet ought both parents to be so far  informed on
their general management as to be able to  avoid gross
error, and to see if occasion require that this be conduct-
ed on rational principles. 
                        39
  Did a father see his child enveloped in flames, would
it not be important for him to know the speediest method
of extinguishing  them to save the life of the child 1
Equally important is it then, that he should be conver-
sant with the ordinary means of obviating  the immedi-
ate danger of internal disease ; for although in the lat-
ter the work of devastation may be more slow  in  its
progress, and  give  less outward evidence  of mischief
than the former that would consume the child, it is  no
less sure in its work of destruction.  It may be replied,
we leave these things to our physician ; but it is  in the
absence of the physician that we call upon the father not
to stand by a silent witness of error.  It is during those
hours of doubt and difficulty, while the female is, per-
haps, almost overcome with anxiety and watching, that
the sustaining influence of  the  father  is frequently
required, not only to see  carried into effect those mea-
sures which, perhaps, alone can save his  child, but,  by
his own  knowledge, prevent fuel being  adMed  to the
flame, by glaring mismanagement.

   A perusal of the foregoing pages will show that it is
not intended he should take upon himself  the duties of
the physician, nor the office of the nurse, but that  his
happiness is deeply concerned in a knowledge of the
common errors that  prevail, and  which will probably 
                        40
secure to him the blessing of that offspring, it is a great
part of the business of his life to protect and provide for,
and, perhaps, his greatest happiness to possess.  Should it
be thought that these remarks are uncalled for and out
of place, and the requisitions inconsistent with the duties
of the man of business, such affairs clearly devolving on
the female, then does she need all our sympathy.   She
needs no appeal, for the strongest feeling implanted in
the human breast is the love of the mother for her off-
spring.   Observe how she watches her sick infant, night
after  night, day after day, without a complaint.  See
how untiring her efforts, how assiduous her cares, to re-
lieve  every source of uneasiness ;  and when dark clouds
encompass her, and danger  threatens her child, who
would say she needs no partner in her cares, no husband
to share her responsibilities 1   Should the father feel a
repugnance to examining into the things which apper-
tain to  the sick, as some do naturally, let him at all
events pay*attention to that  part  of the  management
of his child which tends to  the  prevention  of sickness,
namely, the maintaining it in sound health.  Although
much has been written on the beneficial  effects of early
education on the individual in after life, and few will be
found to deny its influence, still  it is of modern  date
 that  the attention of philosophers has been particularly
 directed to the great influence of body on mind, and to, 
                         41
 the advantages which accrue to the adult, in  a moral
 point of view, from the enjoyment of a healthy condi-
 tion of  all the organs, particularly of the brain, in the
 early part of his  existence.   The fact  that a healthy
 body  affords  the  best  security for the possession of a
 vigorous mind is now too well established, to be affected
 by the circumstance, that cases are to be  found where
 individuals have  arrived at  eminence, who have been
 delicate when young ; and the father, looking forward
 to the future prosperity of his child, here finds an addi-
 tional reason why every means should be adopted which
 are known to be advantageous in thus  securing its
 health.   If,  therefore, the father would  fondly dwell
 upon  the distinction his child may attain in manhood,
 let him not doom himself to disappointment by neglect-
 ing those duties it requires in childhood.

                      ■•>»»S»w

             Prevention of Disease.

  The best safeguard against  disease is sound health.
 The custom of giving  medicine  to  children in health,
for the  prevention of sickness, frequently  renders  the
body more liable to attacks of the very disease we wish
to avoid.
         4* 
                        42
  Perfect health consists in the regular and due per-
formance of every  function of the body.  When this
takes place,  the most wonderful  harmony  prevails
throughout the system, and the feeling enjoyed is be-
yond the power of man to describe.   It is this feeling
that gives to childhood its activity and joyous mirth ; it
is this that  gives to manhood all that power and confi-
dence which enables him in his onward march of ambi-
tion to project and accomplish his wonderful designs;
and in age it is this,  by its sustaining influence, that
gives cheerfulness and contentment;  and finally, added
to a well spent life, leads man to look forward with
hope and  confidence  to  a happy immortality.  The
impropriety, then,  of  giving  medicine to children in
health to prevent disease, becomes apparent, when  it is
understood that the beautifully  balanced harmony of
the functions constituting health, by medicine,  is  dis-
turbed ; that altered actions take place, and, if evacu-
ants, be employed, a shock, and subsequently a lower-
ing of  the tone of the  system is  produced, which ulti-
mately leave the body an easier prey to disease. 
43
               MANAGEMENT
                         OF
      CHILDREN  IN  HEALTH.


             General Observations.
  In order that man should have healthy offspring, it
is necessary  that  he himself should be healthy;  for
there is  no greater truth than that the errors of the
fathers are visited upon the children in this life.   It
behooves parents, therefore, in regulating their conduct,
to take into consideration not only the evil effects of bad
habits on their own  immediate health and happiness,
but likewise the effects on their children; for nothing is
more certain than that a disposition to certain diseases
is frequently transmitted from parents to children,  as
well as peculiarities of mind and body.   It has been
observed, that the  offspring of parents indulging in the
unnatural excitement  of  intoxication have frequently
been found idiotic or deficient in the developement of the
brain.  If such  be the fact, what stronger appeal can
be made  to the intemperate than that made in favour of
his  offspring ]  Where is the parent that can delibe-
rately doom his  progeny to idiocy 1  Imagine such, if
one  is to be found,  contemplating his  own  drivelling
idiotic child, with the consciousness that he himself is 
                        44
the cause—what  can be more horrible 1  If, therefore,
we wish to have the blessing  of a healthy child;  if
there be any delight to us in contemplating the child
of our own loins, in associating its resemblances to our-
selves, or to those fond relatives long laid in the dust—
if  there be any pleasure in  daily watching its lively
movements and growth, and secretly devoting ourselves
incessantly to toil for its future welfare—in short, do we
desire to see this child live, and live  a life of  happiness,
our lives  must be lives of temperance, and our habits
the habits of the good.



                   The Infant.

   The infant,  during the first months of existence, be-
ing so entirely dependent for its present and future wel-
fare on those who  have the management of it,  that
much of  course  will depend  upon  the  intelligence
and care bestowed  upon it by its parent or protector.
Not only will it be subject to the evil effects of change
of weather from heat to cold, and from cold to sudden
heat, which it is almost impossible to guard against
and counteract, but a variety of causes are continually
in operation, which tend to the derangement of its
tender organization,  not a few of which unfortunately 
                         45
are to be attributed to agents still involved in the deepest
obscurity;  into the  operation of whose laws the most
profound researches of man have hitherto entirely fail-
ed to  penetrate,  and, consequently which he is still
little able to control.  There are others,  however, with
which we  are acquainted, and these it becomes  our
duty to notice.

   It would be a  strange  anomaly, if its Maker, after
displaying  such  consummate skill in its creation, and
such wondrous wisdom  in every other thing connected
with it, from its birth to the termination of its existence
in old  age, should have been unmindful of its necessi-
ties  at this particular time,  and yet, if we may judge
from the prevailing customs handed down  to us by onr
forefathers, it would seem, if they had reflected on the
subject at all, they must have come to this conclusion;
for no  sooner is the child born, than medicine has been
thought the  first thing necessary for  its welfare, and
scarcely an hour  is suffered to elapse before some kind
or other is  given.  It can  scarcely be necessary to say,
that such  views are founded  in  error, and  that  the
custom is highly  reprehensible, for not only is medicine
unnecessary, but  the practice of administering it, at this
time, seldom fails to disturb its delicate digestive organs;
and thus, at the very threshold of  existence, is a foun- 
                        46
dation laid for future trouble, but which trouble is rarely
attributed to the  true  cause.   The mother may  be
assured, that by applying the child to the breast as soon
as she feels able to bear it, and giving it that sustenance
provided for it by nature,  she will best accomplish the
end intended; for the properties of its food, at this time,
are peculiarly fitted to perform all those requisites neces-
sary for its health and comfort.  We hope to be par-
doned this apparently uncharitable allusion to the want
of knowledge of our forefathers.—Far be it from us to
subscribe to that  part  of the  old adage, which says,
"sons think their  fathers  fools,  so wise they  grow,"
for none we trust feel a greater veneration for them than
we do ; but the fact is, in this age of enlightened philo-
sophy, much error is found to exist in all branches of
science,  and it. would be inexcusable to overlook errors
when we positively know them to be such, and particu-
larly when  we find them so numerous,  and exercising
such an extensive and baneful influence over the inter-
ests of all classes of society.   It  is  a positive fact, that
a very great part of the duty of a physician consists in
the correction of errors  handed down  from time imme-
morial ;  and the very circumstance  of their being  thus
conveyed from father to son, and the natural veneration
we  feel for the opinions of our fathers, can alone ex-
plain the reason  why the mass of people still cling to 
                        47
old and erroneous practices in relation to medicine,  and
why they form, perhaps,  one of the greatest difficulties
the physician has to overcome  in  the  practice of his
arduous profession.

  Should the mother not yet be provided with its natu-
ral food, cow's milk diluted with water, say two thirds
of the former to one of  the latter, sweetened  with a
little loaf sugar, is  all that is proper for it.  All com-
pounds of crackers, panada, &c, at this early age, are
injurious, giving rise to flatulence, cholic, &c.   Similar
results  often  follow too frequent and too  abundant
nursing.  It does not follow because the mother has an
extraordinary quantity of nourishment,  that the infant
must necessarily consume the whole of it.   If the child
vomit its food,  and the mother is  distressed with such
an abundance of  it, she must be  relieved  by other
means.  Should the infant's  bowels not  be moved in
due time, an injection of warm  water  may be  admini-
stered.

   Daily washing the child is of great consequence,—
this should be very effectually performed with warm
water and  mild  soap, its  comfort  and health will be
much promoted by this  constant attention to the skin.
As soon as it is washed  it should be quickly wiped 
                         48
dry, and  dressed immediately; much  mischief is done
in winter by the child  having its ablutions tardily per-
formed.   It is no doubt, generally, an agreeable office
for the mother of leisure to  perform, and she may love
to loiter over the pleasing task.  It is much to be fear-
ed, however, that this unseasonable contemplation of
its youthful beauties has not unfrequently given rise to
colds that have ultimately occasioned its death.  Let
the  child, then, be  quickly dressed,  and,  in order  to
avoid as  much as possible  the  pain of inflamed eyes,
and perhaps much worse evils, never suffer its head to
be washed with brandy, or  any other kind of spirit.—
It is generally done with  a  view to prevent colds, but
applied  as it usually is, it is decidedly one of  the most
certain means of producing them.   Custom seems  to
require that the child should have a cap, and as there
can be no objection to  this  article of clothing, if it be
composed of thin materials, such  a one may be used,
but should be laid aside as soon  as  the head is covered
with hair.  It is of the utmost importance at all times,
whether the child be sick or well, that its head be not
enveloped  in such a manner as to increase its natural
heat.  Its tender brain is now so susceptible of disease,
that this  cannot be done  without great  risk.__The
infant ought on all occasions to be kept as dry as possi-
ble ; and the nurse will do well to recollect,  that in no 
                         49
small degree will its comfort and growth be promoted
by constant attention to this circumstance.  Neglect of
this measure, not only leads to irritation and disease of
the skin itself,  (in infancy highly excitable and deli-
cate,) but frequently has a very pernicious  effect on
the internal organs, giving  rise  to  indigestion and its
usual train of inconveniences.   The feet should always
be kept comfortably warm.  After the first  few weeks
of existence, if the weather be warm and pleasant, the
infant, may be carried out every day ;  and if thus early
accustomed to inhale the pure fresh air, and to feel the
motion, although slight, of being carried about, it will
be found to grow healthy and vigorous, and to be much
less liable  to injury from unavoidable exposure, when
the weather becomes variable.

  Should  the  mother from any cause  be unable to
nurse her infant, it must of  necessity be brought up by
hand,  or be put to a wet nurse.  If the former plan be
adopted, the child must  be  confined to the  mixture of
milk  and water, &c,  above directed, for  the  first few
months, taking care, however, that the milk be of good
quality, otherwise, in that diluted state, it will not afford
sufficient nourishment.   Should circumstances  favour
its being wet nursed, the following remarks  may assist
the young mother in selecting a person to fill  the office,
              5 
50
           Choice of a Wet Nurse.

  The making choice of a wet nurse is so important,
and frequently so difficult, that the judicious physician
gives his opinion on the subject with extreme caution,
and  in reference to any individual,  with  great reluc-
tance.  As a general rule, in addition to  the love of
children, for which the sex is distinguished, she should
be possessed of so much benevolence,  that her pure good
feeling for the babe, will alone insure her attention to
it  on all occasions.  Without  this,  it appears to me
impossible that any woman can  do,  for  another per-
son's child, what is absolutely necessary for its safety.
A strict sense of  duty will do a great deal, but it will
rarely do sufficient.

  We find, that with all the watchful care  the mother
can bestow, the infant frequently fails to reach to years
of maturity.  Does the  rude wind whistle,  she adjusts
her infants covering; does it move in its slumbers, she
is in  an instant by its side ;  and does it cry, she is ready
in a moment to administer to its comfort.   Where can
we find another  that can act with the same feeling ?
No where ! !  And yet even she is an insufficient safe-
guard against the evils that sometimes encompass it.— 
                         51
Do we not want  abundance of  benevolence then to
insure  such continued attention to the helpless infant 1
Can the individual attending for mere pay, and without
this qualification, be expected, by her watchfulness, to
ward off the numerous causes of sickness that surround
it 1  Certainly not;  it is folly to expect it.

   It is important that the nurse should be healthy, and
have recently borne  a child ; that she should be  of a
placid, cheerful disposition—in short, that she should
possess as many of the  quiet, amiable qualities  of the
mind, as can possibly be obtained.   The milk of such a
mother is bland, rich and nutritious—is really the  milk
of human kindness.  We should avoid the diseased, for
reasons stated throughout the work ; the careless, for
reasons obvious to every one ; the selfish, lest quietude be
purchased at the expense  of sleeping drugs and the
child's health;  and the intemperate, for  all  the above
reasons and a thousand others combined.



                        Diet.

   It is singular that such difference  of opinion should
 have existed on the subject, whether animal  or vegeta- 
                         52
ble food is most proper  for man.  The fierce disputes
which have arisen, can only be accounted for, by the dis-
position there  appears to  be in human nature, at the
present day, to go into extremes, without taking that
comprehensive view  of the  subject which it evidently
requires.  If we look at man's organization, his teeth,
his jaw, his  digestive  organs,  we  find  that  he  was
intended by his Creator to be omnivorous, that is, to be
capable of subsisting on either, or on all kinds of food ;
and this was clearly designed to enable him to a'dapt
himself  to  the different regions over which  it  was
intended he should roam.

   It is evident, from the nature of the food principally
provided for man in  hot climates, that there vegetables
were intended chiefly for his support; whereas, in the
frozen regions of the north,  it is  also clear that animal
food should form his  principal sustenance, as it is found
in abundance, and  vegetables  scarcely  exist at  all;
besides, it is proved by experience, that animal  food is
absolutely necessary in the  cold  regions of the north,
while between the tropics, man flourishes  best on vege-
tables.  Thus, while the Laplander lives  on his oil and
his fish, the  native inhabitant of the torrid zone subsists
almost entirely on his rice, his bread fruit, and his Indian
corn.   Living as we do, in the temperate  regions of ttie 
                         53
 earth, we have very naturally adapted our diet to our
 position on the earth's surface,  and partaken of both
 vegetable and animal food; but here we have neglected
 to observe, that although we may be in what are termed
 temperate latitudes, we are in this  part of the United
 States, really subject to a much wider range of the ther-
 mometer than is usual in what are strictly termed  tem-
 perate climates.   Indeed, we are subject to the  heat of
 the torrid, and almost the cold of the frigid zone.   Does
 it not at  once then become evident, that animal food
 should form but a small part of our diet, during the heat
 of summer, and that in winter it ought to be used with
 more freedom.  And need it be said, children, during
 the warm months of summer, generally enjoy best health
 when animal food is sparingly used.

  For the infant, no food is so proper as the milk of its
 mother, to which it should principally be confined for
 the first ten or twelve months, or until its lower front
 teeth be  cut.  However inadequate  this apparently
simple fluid may seem to  the  nourishment and growth
of the child, and however it may be desired by the igno-
rant to increase the rapidity with which  this may be
going on, it is always at more or less risk to the child ;
for  simple  as milk may  appear, it  affords one  of  the
grandest proofs of the wisdom and design of the Crea-
       5* 
                        54
tor, in adapting His means so extraordinarily to suit His
purposes ; for it is found by modern chemistry to contain
all the grand elements of nutrition, that are so widely
diffused throughout the  whole  animal and vegetable
world.   It is found, that the nutritious principle existing
in such various states and forms, in the different kinds of
food we use, and that frequently require such varied
means to bring them into a fit state for our use, are all,
when resolved into the elements that actually go to form
flesh and blood, found to be centered in milk.   No mat-
ter  whether it is in the flesh, the fish, the fowl, the
potato, the rice, or  the fruit, the  nutritious principles
of all are  wonderfully combined in milk.

  After the lower front teeth  are cut, the child may be
weaned, or nourished  partly by hand  and partly from
the breast; in  either case, milk should still form the
principal part of its diet.   New cow's milk boiled and
skimmed two or three times, in which occasionally may
be boiled cracker powder, oat meal, or  Indian meal.—
Genuine Bermuda arrow root, sago, rice, &c. are also
proper.   Now and then a little beef, chicken, or mutton
tea, taking care to skim off the fat.  The child maybe
permitted also to hold a piece of meat in his hand, suffi-
ciently large to prevent its being choked with it, which
it may chew and suck.  It may also have bread spread 
                        55
with good butter, honey, or molasses.   Its drink may
be water, milk and water, or very weak tea, with sugar
and plenty of milk in it.  As the child advances in age,
and after its double teeth have made their appearance, it
may be permitted to have more solid food, tender meats, •
such as beef, mutton, lamb, game, poultry, soft boiled
eggs, &c. with a due proportion of vegetables ; in short,
gradually such good wholesome animal food at  dinner,
as in ordinary use, taking care that meats should not be
cooked immediately after being killed, and when cooked,
that they are thoroughly, though not overdone.  Its
breakfast should consist of  bread  and milk, mush and
milk, &c.   Its supper of the same, or of milk and water,
weak tea, with plenty of milk in it.   Three or four meals
a day are amply sufficient, nothing being given in the
intermediate period, or, at most, a single piece of bread
and butter.  In regulating the diet of children, the state
of the child at the time, and the  quantity, must  always
be attended  to, particularly  during the process of  teeth-
ing, for at this period, there is in most  children  a ten-
dency to the feverish state, and derangements of the
stomach and bowels are liable  to take place.  Should
such occur, the diet above directed would be decidedly
improper ; therefore, the animal part should be withheld
until such derangements have subsided.  It is also impor-
tant, that regard should be paid to the season of the year. 
                          56
 During the warm weather, as has been before observed,
 animal food should be  sparingly given.  As the child
 grows up, its own palate should, in some degree be con-
 sulted, in selecting its food ; and, if not positively impro-
per, it should be indulged in its little likings to a certain
 extent.  Children, if observed, will be found to show a
 fondness for particular things, and an aversion to others.
 It is an innate feeling, and is as various and as natural
 as in the adult; and, although it has not been viewed
 generally in this light, it ought not to be disregarded.
 If the likings of the  child be thus in some  measure
regarded, and it is in health, there will be little necessity
for our being over nice in the selection of every article
of its food ; for its digestion will be so active and vigor-
ous, particularly if it has been allowed free exercise in
the open air, that there  are few articles in ordinary use,
but what it may be suffered  to partake of,  provided
always that it is not allowed too great a variety, or suf-
fered  to  go to excess.   It is  decidedly an error to lay
down rules to  be observed in all cases, for what one will
find difficult to digest, another will frequently assimilate
with perfect ease.

  It will be  observed, that animal food has been allowed
to enter pretty early and freely into the diet of children.
It is, however, to be always understood, that the above 
                         57
has reference to a child in health ;  and, if we desire to
keep it so, and to have it grow  and remain healthy in
after life, too much care cannot be bestowed on it when
young.   If the child be delicate or sickly, then is the
above improper, and other means are necessary, in order
to bring it into the state when such can be taken with
advantage ; but until this be done, and  the  child be
able to take good, wholesome, nourishing diet, and in
which animal  food bears a due proportion, we  cannot
expect, in this climate, to see it arrive  to healthy and
vigorous manhood.



   Improper Food for Delicate  Children.

   The following may be enumerated, among other arti-
cles, as generally objectionable, particularly in  delicate
children.

   Fish, generally, particularly salted and dried, clams,
veal, pork, and fat meats, salted and dried meats, cheese,
hot cakes, new bread,  pastry and hard  dumplings, raw
apples, and uncooked and  unripe fruit, and vegetables
of all sorts.  All distilled and fermented liquors should
be scrupulously avoided, not only in the diet of the deli- 
                         58
cate, but likewise in the most healthy ; for, although no
injury may be apparent, occasionally in the latter, at first,
they are sure, sooner or later, to produce their usual ill
effects ;  and so far from their not immediately producing
their bad effects, being an evidence of their wholesome-
ness, it only shows an extraordinary degree of power in
the individual, to resist the evil effects of a poison,  in
the end the most deadly.

   It is impossible to close these remarks on the subject
of diet, without adverting to, and protesting against the
present breakfast of a large portion of the children of
this city. The  child is seated at the breakfast table with
its parents ; it is allowed hot  coffee, with  fish, perhaps
 salted and dried, or sausages, with  hot bread  or buck-
 wheat cakes, all stimulating and of difficult digestion.
 Now,  although the powers of digestion of a healthy
 child are exceedingly vigorous, and for a time withstand
 the ill effects of such irritating diet, yet, if they are not
 almost equal in power to those of the ostrich, the little
 creature,  by the  constant repetition of  such  meals,
 becomes enfeebled, is rendered peevish and fretful, and
 is, perhaps, corrected for its bad  temper—the  parents
 never imagining that indigestible food can produce such
 consequences  on its  natural disposition.   At  dinner, it
 would very properly partake of the animal food in ordi- 
                        59
nary use, but that its stomach, now exhausted by the
previous  excitement  produced by  such an  irritating
breakfast, is not in a condition to dispose of a substan-
tial dinner with ease and comfort;  the child, instead of
being nourished by this important meal, is still kept in
a state of fretfulness, a morbid  and unnatural craving
for more and more food (a sensation not understood by
parents) is  produced, and bread  and  butter,  &c. in
almost unlimited  quantities  are frequently given, per-
haps until the hour for supper arrives, when  it is still
further induced to add to its uneasiness, by having set
 before it a plentiful supply  of sweetmeats  and rich
 cake.   Thus, from  the  breakfast  being  composed of
 such a combination of irritating articles, the child is not
 only deprived of  a good wholesome meal, but is kept in
 a state bordering on fever, and rendered incapable of
 deriving due nourishment from each of the succeeding
 meals.

   Such being the diet in very general use, amongst the
 children of a large proportion of the community,  and
 this forming  the  bone and  sinew  of the country, how
 can it be wondered at, when the digestive  organs, the
 apparatus that converts the  food into flesh and blood,
 the very organs  that do the work  of renovating  and
 invigorating the body, are thus continually irritated and 
                        GO
overworked, should give way 1  And when  they have
given way, how can it  be matter of surprise that  the
whole system should suffer 1—that dyspepsia should be
so common  as life advances 1  And  when it is consi-
dered that the organs,  situated on the verge of  the cir-
culation, as the  teeth, the hair, &c. are  thus deprived
of their due supply of nourishment, how can it be other-
wise  than  that  these  should  also fail, and that they
should be rendered so frequently subject to decay 1

   This is no exaggerated view of the mode of living of
the children of a large mass of the community.  Would
that parents could be convinced of the truth of the other
part of the picture, the consequences, then would we have
few of the disagreeable diseases of the  skin ;  then also,
if more regard were  paid to  exercise in the open air,
would we see in our streets still more blooming counte-
nances, and teeth that would not be  set to ache  by
every slight exposure to the change of  temperature the
climate is so peculiarly subject to. 
61
                     Exercise.

   At no period of life is action  so necessary to health
 as in childhood.   This is clearly shown by the restless
 condition of children  in confined  situations ;  exercise
 ought theiefore to be encouraged in every possible man-
 ner.   As children necessarily pass a great part of their
 lives within doors, every facility should be afforded them
 for enjoyment; and such games should be selected as
 will allow them to romp, and in which they find con-
 tinual amusement. The noisy mirth of childhood ought
 never to be met with a frown; for it  ought always to
 be recollected, that it  is not only natural to them, but
 actually necessary for the full  and healthy  develop-
 ment of every organ of the body.   Every bound  and
 every shout adds vigor to their limbs and strength to
 their lungs ;  and  every effort.to restrain them in their
youthful gambols, is as unnatural as it would be to con-
fine the deer in the midst of the forest.  It ought never
to be forgotten, that they are now observing, but scarcely
reflecting creatures ; consequently, that although they
may occasionally annoy the aged, they are unconscious
of it themselves, and ought not to be reproved with
severity: and should we now and then meet with a re-
fractory spirit at a more advanced age, who might seem
              6 
                         62
to require more sharpness of reproof, let Us still rather
temper it with mildness, and appeal to the better feel-
ings of his nature, than run the risk of calling forth his
worst passions by harsh or severe correction.  The vio-
lent tempered and the viscious are not necessarily al-
lied ; on the contrary,  the former is frequently found
coexistent with the noblest feelings, and the appeal will
seldom be made in vain.

  The play room  or  nursery ought to  be situated up
stairs, and the less  time children  spend in basement
stories and cellar kitchens the better.  However ad-
vantageous exercise may be within doors, it is still more
conducive to  health when taken in the open air; not
a day, therefore, should be  suffered to pass, when the
weather  will permit, without  some  part  of  it being
spent in the open air.

  The plan adopted by some of the first schools in this
city, of requiring the children to study their lessons in
school, and thus leaving them at liberty after school
hours, is worthy of all praise. It is a grand point gained
by the little candidate for future fame and distinction ;
and it is sincerely to be hoped that the plan will become
general.  It is really grievous to see little children por-
ing over their books from nine inthe morning until  three 
                         63
in the afternoon, with scarcely an hour's intermission ;
and then, after arriving at home and eating their din-
ner, again compelled to sit  down to prepare their les-
sons for the following day, until  the hour is announced
for bed.  Thus is the whole day consumed, with mere-
ly one half hour for recreation and  exercise, and when
it is proved, beyond all manner of doubt, that continual
exercise of the brain, to the exclusion of that of the rest
of the body is productive of loss of appetite, indigestion,
debility, and general ill health, and frequently such dis-
ease of  the brain itself as ends in death—what parent
can do otherwise than rejoice that an opportunity is thus
afforded for the  young to combine  exercise with their
studies 1

  To those who are over anxious to see their  children
excel in learning, it may be observed, that the old say-
ing " the child is too  smart to live," is not founded in
error; precocity is  by no means to be desired.   If a
child evince  naturally any peculiar talent, or fondness
for any particular study, it ought by no means to be
discouraged; but tasking its  tender brain beyond its
power of attainment, from an over-desire to communi-
cate knowledge to the child, is highly injurious and can
never be done with impunity.   What mother would in-
sist upon a child carrying a load that she knew would 
                         64
inevitably crush it to the earth 1  She may be assured
that the desire, in the one case, is equally as unreason-
able and improper as in the other.

   It is much to be lamented, that in the present system
of management of children, the female is not encour-
aged to partake more fully of the active exercise of the
boy; that while the latter  finds abundant  sources of
gratification in his active sports, the little girl is suffered
to pass a great part of her time at her needle and in in-
activity, frequently from a feeling on the part of the pa-
rent, of such amusements being improper for  her.  It
ought to be recollected, that health and vigor are as
much to be desired in the female as in the male, and as
these are to be obtained only by means of active exer-
cise, it is as necessary for the one as the other. Although
some of the rougher sports of the boy are inappropriate
for the girl, and not adapted to  her nature, yet  there
are others in which she might join, with the same ad-
vantage  as the boy.  It is a mistake to suppose there
exists any reason why the female should not enjoy as
active exercise, when young, as the male ;  as regards
health,  her more  delicate organization requires that
she,  of the two, should more particularly be attended
to; for while the boy can run where  he pleases, and
take exercise and enjoyment in a variety of  ways,  the 
                           65
  girl cannot.   As therefore we find the best means we
  possess of warding off a long list of diseases in more ma-
  ture age,  particularly that most dire of all, consumption,
  consist in  giving  finnness and stamina to the body in
  early life, it will not be thought unnecessary that spe-
  cial regard should be paid to the female ; and although
  too much love and tenderness has been beneficently or-
  dained to exist between the sexes to  need any appeal
  to the male in favor of the female, yet it is requisite he
  should be made  aware of the necessity there exists  for
  certain measures being pursued in order to the avoid-
  ance of a train of  evils that may befall her, if these be
 neglected.  Allusion is made particularly to  what  is
  generally called delicate health, in other words, to that
 state, in which, although  there may be no actual dis-
 ease, still there is sufficient disorder to prevent  her tak-
 ing good nourishing food,  and enjoying those pure de-
 lightful feelings that always accompany  the vigorous
 and healthy performance  of all  the functions  of the
 body.

   In no particular does she stand more in  need of his
 attention than in regard  to daily exercise, and in noth-
ing is he more deeply concerned than in devising means
by which she can avail herself of this all important
measure in securing her health.
       6* 
                        6G
  That there should be such a great number of young
females in large cities compelled to pass their time in
comparative  inactivity,  sitting  at  their needle  with
scarcely an hour in a weak for out door recreation and
exercise, is a circumstance truly deplorable.   Could the
other sex, have the least idea of the debility and  other
injury to their constitution, occasioned by such constant
sedentary application, they would not be surprised that
relief should be sought for, in every new remedy which
is  offered with the promise of certain benefit to  their
painful  feelings,   Nor that the hopes  these promises
generally give rise to,  should  so  rarely be realized.
The unpleasant complicated sensations, among which
are particularly to be numbered, loss of appetite, weak-
ness, heartburn, headache, pains in the side, palpitation,
and the endless  train of nervous symptoms, usually
combined in that most horrible disease, Dyspepsia, are
mainly  attributable to too high living, and to the  want
of that kind of exercise which we are impelled to  take by
the natural, but due excitement of business and pleasure.

  It is a serious truth, that this  disease is daily .on the
increase among us, and  actually threatens  to sap the
foundation of all happiness and comfort, not among this
interesting portion of the community only, but among
all  those who confine themselves to sedentary occupa- 
                         67
tions.  Unhappily, the evil does not cease with the pain
this disease produces at the time, for if it be  not duly
regarded in season,  and the duties  of the  mother be
added, the delight of existence is still further lessened,
by the decay of those  personal charms, and the loss of
that cheerfulness, which make  life not only a con-
tinual blessing to herself, but a source of unceasing
pleasure to those who come within  her  happy  in-
fluence.

  There is also  another  point of  view in  which the
health of the  female  particularly demands  our atten-
tion.   As patriots, as beings desirous of the welfare and
happiness of our species, it  behooves us to pay especial
regard to the  female, for  how can  a people expect to
be great unless they possess physical health and vigor 1
and how can this be obtained unless mothers be healthy
and strong 1—How can we expect  healthy offspring, if
mothers be enervated by confined habits when young,
and as it is too much to be  feared generally, in the pre-
sent luxurious and highly civilized state, sedentary
habits at a later period 1

   While on the subject of exercise, it was our intention
 to have made a few remarks, in order to direct  public
 attention to the necessity their exists for greater facili- 
                         68
ties  for the  enjoyment  of  recreative  exercise out of
 doors, such as may be taken in public gardens, sheltered
promenades, &c.   The subject of public squares, parks,
etc.  has been ably discussed by the Rev.  Dr. Hum-
phrey, in a letter published in the New-York Observer,
of March last, and is better calculated  to promote the
object in view, than any  thing we could have said. We
have therefore availed ourselves of the opportunity, and
appended it to this work.   It is one of a series of letters
publishing in that paper, and the  production of a phi-
losophic, comprehensive,  and philanthropic mind,  and
contains suggestions which, if carried into effect, will
contribute largely to  the health and happiness of the
community,

                      •»»»©©«*•-

                      Dress.

  As the power of resisting cold, during the period of
infancy and childhood, is much less than in more ma-
ture  age, it becomes important in  regulating the dress
of children that particular regard should be paid to this
circumstance, and  that the  child should be well pro-
tected from the severe cold of winter.   Care should be
taken however, that the  extreme of encumbering the 
                         69
 child too much should not be run into.   It is wrong to
 imagine disease  and death  to be  conveyed in every
 blast;  and although it  is highly proper that  a due
 quantity of covering should be employed, still it is ad-
 vantageous to accustom  the child to some degree  of
 exposure, if it be expected it should escape the ill effects
 of every variation of temperature.

   If it be old enough and able to exercise itself, its own
 feelings should in some  measure be  consulted.  The
 child should never be pinched  and bound up, as  is too
 often the case when exposed to the cold.   It can never
 be warm if the circulation of the blood in its limbs  is
 thus  interrupted.   It is  impossible for it to enjoy the
 pleasure and  reap the benefit of  pure  air,  in cold
 weather, if its movements are thus restrained  by tight
 clothing.   It  should be  permitted to  exercise  itself
 freely, and in the manner most agreeable to itself; and
 its own comfort rather than fashion, ought at all times
 to govern us in arranging its dress.  The infant, how-
ever, when carried out in winter, should always be well
 protected against  the cold, particularly while asleep ;
 and in regulating  its clothing and adapting it to the
 changes of the weather, the external articles are those
 which ought to be added or removed.  The shirt should
 invariably be composed of the very finest and softest 
                         70
gauze flannel, or cotton.   It is found in the hottest cli-
mates, that  health is best  secured by the use of fine
flannel next the skin.



                       Sleep.

   It is to be feared, that too little regard has generally
been paid to this mysterious but highly important part
of  man's existence.  The great  proportion  of time
passed in sleep, and  the extraordinary organic  opera-
tions, connected with nutrition and growth which take
place during its continuance* render it a matter of the
highest importance that it be not interrupted, and that
every  circumstance  be  strictly attended  to which  is
known to have a favorable effect upon the child  whilst
under its influence,

   The infant passes the greatest part  of its time  in this
state, and it is rarely waked  except by calls for food,
and as soon as it  has satisfied its wants  it quickly falls
again  into sleep.   As the child advances in age, it still
requires more sleep than the adult, and in consequence
of its constant activity during the day, its sleep  is not
easily disturbed, 
                        71
  In order  to secure the advantages of undisturbed re-
pose,  it is  important that too many children be  not
crowded together, and that they breath a pure air while
asleep as well as when awake.  The infant should
never be entirely covered with bed clothes ;  sufficient
space should always be left for it to breath the pure air.
It is too much  the custom to place children's beds in any
situation where they may be warm, without regard to
the purity of the air  in such places, and  they are thus
frequently pent up in  closets and garrets where it is
often impossible a free supply of fresh air can be obtain-
ed.  Now,  although  the bad effects of such treatment
may not immediately show themselves, yet, if persever-
ed in, the consequences will inevitably be lasitude, de-
bility, and  bad health.   The sleeping room, if  small,
should  always be well  ventilated  by means of some
opening, be it ever so small, through which a current
of air can circulate, particularly where fires are kept in
stoves through the night. 
 
73
For the New-York Observer, March 12th.
          DR.  HUMPHREY'S  TOUR.—NO.  VI.

              London.—Parks, Squares, Gardens, fyc.

  I have already spoken of the Royal Parks connected with Windsor
Castle, and glanced at those of the nobility and gentry of England, some
of which are scarcely less magnificent.  My object in this letter is,  to
give some account of the great parks, and numerous public squares and
gardens of London.   But before  I describe these, let me say a few
words about  the private  court-yards and gardens, which arrested my
attention in several quarters of the Metropolis.  The English people,  in
good circumstances, seem to be much more anxious than we are, to se-
cure the luxury of deep front yards, and of large open spaces in the
rear of their dwellings.   They want room—they want fresh air—they
want, when within doors, to be as much retired as they can, from the
noise and  bustle of the streets.  Nothing would induce those of them
who understand what real comfort is, and who have  the means of se-
curing it,  to  submit  to that kind of strait  jacket confinement,  which
many of the people of this country so ingeniously contrive for themselves
and their children.
  In London, proper, that is in the  most ancient part  of the city, which
was  walled in, the dwelling-houses, as wall as other buildings are very
compact, and most  of the  streets  are miserably narrow.  But in the
newer parts, embracing Westminster, Southwalk, Chelsea, Islington
Hackney, &c, the lots on which the houses are built, are so large and
so well laid out, as often to give a rural appearance to those very exten-
sive quarters of the city.  For long distances, on some of the most im-
portant streets, as on the New City road, for example, the houses are
built so far back, as to give ample  space in front, for trees,  shrubbery
and flowers.  It is often from fifty to a  hundred feet, from the outer gate
to the porch.  If in going home from his place of business, the merchant
is jostled at every step, and almost rua down by the crowd, the moment
he reaches his own door, he is free.  He enters, and the tumult dies
away.  He breathes  a pure air, and looks out from  every window of
         7 
74
his dwelling, not so much upon high and naked built walls, as upon the
sylvan and floral beauties by which it is surrounded.
  In parts of the city, where the luxury of spacious court-yards and gar-
dens cannot be enjoyed by every family, I  observed  here and there, a
charming little park or square, neatly enclosed  by a  high iron railing,
and  apparently belonging to a  number of families  in the immediate
vicinity.  These enclosures,  tastefully laid out, into gravelled walks
and  adorned with fine shade trees, shrubbery, flowers,  and ivy clad
summer houses, are favourite resorts in pleasant weather, and it is espe-
cially delightful to see very young children, spending hours together
with their nurses, in  these miniature Elysian fields, inhaling  the  fresh
breezes,  and playing  upon  the  smooth grass-plots, and  among the
bushes.  How very different, I could not help saying to myself, is this
young freedom and early exposure to air and sunshine, and soft showers
too, if one happen now and then to surprise them in the midst of their
sports—from that tender imprisonment, to which the children of wealthy
families, are for the most part doomed, in  our  own  cities.   And how
very striking, I may  add, is the contrast, too, between  the rosy health
of the former, and the white—lilly complexion and frailty of the latter.
It is easy to conceive, how in the laying out of  every large town, these
little  enchanting squares and elips.es might be  reserved, for every ten,
or twenty families ; and every body must see, how much they would add
to the beauty of the place,  and how essentially they would minister to
the health and comfort of the population.
  The newer and better parts of London, are adorned and refreshed by
public squares and gardens, which must be regarded by every man of
taste, as among the brightest ornaments of the city.   Of these there are
from  thirty to forty, chiefly in the west part of the town; and many of
them,  such as  Russell Square, Gray's  Inn Gardens, Lincoln's Inn
Fields, St.  James' Square, &c, are quite extensive.   Some of them can-
not eover less than from six to ten acres.   How exceedingly these bright
and verdant oases, these charming  shaded promenades, lying within a
few minutes' walk of a million of people, must  minister to their health
and  comfort!  Who  would consent, for half the Bank of England, to
have them cut up into small  building lots, and covered  oyer with stone
and brick and mortar ?  Who will  not  say, that were another London
to be built, in any part of the British Empire, there ought to be many
more, and  larger public squares, reserved  in laying out the new city
than there are here 1 
75
   But it is the great  Parks of the  Metropolis, which  more than any
 thing else, delight the eye, and excite the admiration of the stranger.
 At least it was so with  me.  There are four of these, the  smallest of
 which,  would  in any  American city, with which  I am acquaint d,  be
 regarded as a wasteful appropriation of land, which if brought into mar-
 ket, could in  half an hour be sold for millions of pounds  sterling.
 Were we  to  lay out such  a city,  we  should be much more  likely
 to calculate how many dollars it would  take, to cover a single large
 park, which  some might propose to fence off* and adorn, than  to con-
 sider what countless multitudes of  people  must want  it,  for  air and
 exercise and necessary relaxation, in all  coming generations.
   St. James'' Park, the smallest of the four, in London, lies near West-
 minster Abbey.   Its  fine  cool  avenues  and gravelled  walks,  are ex-
 tremely inviting during the warm season  to invalids, as well as to those,
 who are worn down with cares and exhausted by intense application  to
 business.  In the middle of this park, there is a beautiful sheet of water,
 called the Canal, which extends almost the whole length of it, from east
 to west, and adds very much to the attractiveness of the place.
   St. James Park opens  directly into  Green  Park, and  the  Palace
 Garden, which lie side by side, and each of which is about as extensive
 as itself.  They are  both handsomely laid out, and finely ornamented
 with trees  and promenades and fountains.   The Palace  Garden  ia
 particularly attractive; but of cctttrse, is  less accesssible to  the  public
 than the others.
  Hyde Park, which lies still further out,  is an immense military parade
 and pleasure ground.  It is here, that most of the grand reviews take
 place, in presence of the king and ruyal family.  It  contains  ground
 enough for the erection of no mean  city—more than half as much  as
 London itself did, when its walls were standing.  As you approach it
 from Oxford-street, or  Piccadilly, you seem to be  coming at once into
 the country—it opens so wide, and extends so far.  It  cannot  be less
 than five miles in circuit.   I believe it is  more.   Like  St. James' Park,
it is refreshed by a large and  beautiful sheet of water, called Serpentine
 River, and skirted by lofty trees, and as  fine walks and  carriage-roads
as can be made of stone and earth and gravel.
  Regent's Park, lies quite in the northwest quarter of London.  It  is
nearly as  extensive  as Hyde Park, and more tastefully laid out and
adorned.  It  is quite new,  having  been enclosed and  planted within  a
very few years, under  the  patronage and the  eye, if  I was rightly in, 
76
formed, of George the Fourth.  In one corner of this park,  are  the
Zoological gardens,  with  extensive accommodations  for  the  various
species of animals, suited to their natures and habits.  The plantations,
of course, are not yet grown, and all the improvements are too recent,
to be in the highest degree beautiful; but  the  plan  is  magnificent.
Even now, Regent's Park  is the favourite resoit of the rank and wealth
and fashion of this vast metropolis.  It is astonishing to see what mul-
titudes of people resort hither, as well as to Hyde Park for relaxation and
pleasure.  The brilliancy of this pageant of carriages and servants and out-
riders of pride and rank and property, in a fine afternoon, I will not at-
tempt to describe.  It is the  "fashion of this world, which soon passcth
away."  But I have often thought, what would be the condition of London,
without her public squares and gardens and parks ?  Where could her
vast population go for pure air, and to throw off" care and business and
study?   How coul i  such  a world of human beings hope to escape the
ravages of pestilential diseases ?
   And  how could I help  contrasting  London,  in the features  of it
which I have briefly delineated in this letter, with the populous growing
cities and towns in the United States ?  No  people in  the world, have
so much land—so much room to do just what they please, as we have.
A mile square, or five mile square, is nothing  to us ;—and yet,  no  peo-
ple under the sun are so covetous of every  foot of land, where there is
any prospect of thriving business, and a growing population.  It would
seem, in our large commercial cities, and even in places of limited trade,
as if  all the men of  business wanted to crowd into one narrow street,
and to erect as many buildings as possible, upon every square acre, that
is occupied at all.  Who has not been struck with this gregarious pro-
pensity, in passing through the new and flourishing towns and villages
of this  country?  Utica, Geneva, Oswego, Rochester, Buffalo, Cleve-
land,  Chicago,  Cincinnati, and  a hundred others.  Why, one would
judge, from their  extreme compactness, that  they were to be fortified,
like the old European towns, to prevent the  incursions of barbarians.
  Should merchants  and  other men of business, who  happen  to cast
their eye upon this letter,smile at my ignorance of the  great  facilities of
trade, as they probably will, and tell me that they find a thousand advan-
tages, in what I call their strait jacket and huddling systems, it would not
become me to dispute the matter with them at all.  Bu: whatever may be
true in regard to business,  there can be no good reason,  I am quite sure,
for bringing out whole blocks of dwelling houses to the very line of narrow 
77
streets, so as to have no yard in front, and then by narrowing the blocks,
to crowd the houses one upon another in the rear,  so as to leave no space
for gardens, or fruit yards, when thousands of acres of cleared land, or
primitive forest, lie all around, inviting the bu.l leis to extend their town,
over just as wide a surface as they please. This strange want of taste and
forecast—this unaccountable disregard to health and comfort and bcauly,
will be matter of the deepest regret to those who come after us, some two
or  three hundred years hence, when many of our  towns, which are now
just springing into existence will have become great cities; and it wdl
be too late to  remedy the evils  of our absurd and contracted  policy.
What a pity, that in fifty growing towns, which I might name, no open
squares, of any extent were left, in laying them out, and that as far as
they have been extended, almost  every rod of ground  is covered with
buildings.  In  most cases, perhaps something might yet be done, to
redeem these embryo cities from everlasting discomfort, by seasonably
purchasing and laying out the grounds which lie in the vicinity, so as
to leave ample  room for air and  exercise—for trees and  shrubbery, and
flowers—for gravelled walks and wide avenues.  How  much to be  de-
sired is it, that, suggestions of this sort, should be speedily acted upon
by  those who now have it in their power to bless  unborn millions, with
health and convenience;  and that those  men of wealth and enterprise,
who are founding new cities and towns in the far west and elsewhere,
should in the  same way, hand down  such invaluable comforts and
blessings, if they do not their own  names to a grateful posterity.  And
may I  not just  add in  this connexion,  how easy it would  be to plant
avenues, and lay out little  malls, and parks, and pleasure grounds, in
and around our thousand thriving villages.  How greatly  would it add
to their beauty and  multiply their attractions.  I  am  mortified, when I
think,  how difficult it is, in most cases, to  raise even a few dollars  for
any such purpose.   In acting upon the maxim, that those who come
after us must take care of themselves, as we have done, we neglect to
take care of our own health and comfort.
  In the small provincial towns  of England, more  attention has been
bestowed  upon  this subject, than with  us.  Still much remains to be
done there  as well as  here.  At the last  session  of Parliament, Mr.
Buckingham, the great champion of temperance, brought  in a bill,
which  was  favourably received, to aid  and encourage the people,   in
making such healthful and ornamental  improvements  as  I  have just
mentioned.  It  was  thought the biil would pass,  and that whatever 
                               78

appropriations the government may be inclined to make, will impart a
favourable stimulus to the people.
  In respect to reserving and laying out pleasure grounds upon a grand
scale, in or near any of our cities, it  may be  said, that we have no
London, with its million and a half of people to  be  provided for ;  and
that it would be absurd in  us to fence off" such territories as Hyde
and Regent's Parks for public accommodation.   It is true, we have as
yet, no London in America ;  but are we not every day told,  that New-
York, at least, will  one day vie with the proud metropolis of the British
Empire.   The whole of  York Island, I believe  is already laid out, in
anticipation  of the  future greatness of the city.  New-York has her
Battery, I know ; and a  few  public squares, of moderate  extent, have
been reserved in the plan; but where is  the reservation for even  one
great park, to impart beauty and health and comfort  to this commercial
emporium of the Western Continent 1  How  grievously will this want
be  felt, when it comes to number  a million  of inhabitants, and how
bitterly will they regret the narrow policy of its founders.
                                                     Yours, &c. 
 
s*
-^ 
 
 
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WW    I