ENT OF SPEECH.--A baby six or seven months old begins
consciously to utter sounds, and usually can say a few unconnected words
by the time he is a year old. The average child, however, does not begin
to form sentences of more than two or three words until he is about two
years old.

DEVELOPMENT OF TEETH.--The so-called milk teeth are twenty in number;
they are followed by thirty-two permanent teeth. The two lower front
teeth (central incisors) generally appear when a child is from five to
nine months old, and in from one to three months later the four upper
front teeth (upper incisors) appear. All the first or milk teeth should
have come through by the time a child is two and a half years old, but
wide variations occur both in the time and order of appearance and
should occasion no uneasiness if the child seems well. Unusual
conditions of any sort should be referred to the physician; it is a
great mistake to attribute all illness at this time to teething.

The first of the permanent teeth appear when a child is about six years
old. Mothers sometimes mistake the first permanent molars for temporary
teeth, a mistake that frequently leads to neglect and even extraction of
highly important teeth. All but the last four molars, sometimes called
wisdom teeth, should be through by the time a child is fifteen. The
wisdom teeth may not appear before the 20th or even the 25th year.

NORMAL EXCRETIONS.--A new-born baby should have one or two bowel
movements during the first twenty-four hours; the first bowel movements
are sticky and almost black in color. After the baby begins to nurse,
three to four movements a day are not unusual, and throughout infancy
and childhood as well as adult life there should be one or two
evacuations of the bowels daily. The character of the stools is more
important than the number. While the baby is taking milk only, the
movements should be soft, yellow in color, and nearly odorless. Change
in frequency of the movements, or appearance of undigested food or curds
of milk in the stool, should be carefully noted and if continued,
reported to a physician; they may be the first signs of serious
digestive trouble.

The urine of an infant should be odorless and colorless. It should be
voided at least once during the first twenty-four hours, and much more
frequently after the baby begins to nurse. Marked diminution in the
amount of urine should be reported to a doctor.

Efforts should be made early to dev