est man is he who can rear
the best child, and the best woman is she who can rear the best child.
We very properly extol to the skies Harriet Hosmer, the artist, for
cutting in marble the statue of a Zenobia; how much more should we
sing praises to the man and the woman who bring into the world a noble
boy or girl. The one is a piece of lifeless beauty, the other a piece
of life Including all beauty, all possibilities.

[Illustration]

* * * * *

WORDS FOR YOUNG MOTHERS.

The act of nursing is sometimes painful to the mother, especially
before the habit is fully established. The discomfort is greatly
increased if the skin that covers the nipples is tender and delicate.
The suction pulls it off leaving them in a state in which the
necessary pressure of the child's lips cause intense agony. This can
be prevented in a great measure, says Elizabeth Robinson Scovil, in
_Ladies' Home Journal_, if not entirely, by bathing the nipples
twice a day for six weeks before the confinement with powdered alum
dissolved in alcohol; or salt dissolved in brandy. If there is any
symptom of the skin cracking when the child begins; to nurse, they
should be painted with a mixture of tannin and glycerine. This must
be washed off before the baby touches them and renewed when it leaves
them. If they are very painful, the doctor will probably order morphia
added to the mixture. A rubber nipple shield to be put on at the time
of nursing, is a great relief. If the nipples are retracted or drawn
inward, they can be drawn out painlessly by filling a pint bottle with
boiling water, emptying it and quickly applying the mouth over the
nipple. As the air in the bottle cools, it condenses, leaving a vacuum
and the nipple is pushed out by the air behind it.

When the milk accumulates or "cakes" in the breast in hard patches,
they should be rubbed very gently, from the base upwards, with warm
camphorated oil. The rubbing should be the lightest, most delicate
stroking, avoiding pressure. If lumps appear at the base of the breast
and it is red swollen and painful, cloths wrung out of cold water
should be applied and the doctor sent for. While the breast is full
and hard all over, not much apprehension need be felt. It is when
lumps appear that the physician should be notified, that he may, if
possible, prevent the formation of abscesses.

While a woman is nursing she should eat plenty of nourishing
food--milk, oatmea