Debility, Tabes Mesenterica, and Scrofula, may also be traced to the
same origin, as every practitioner of experience must have repeatedly
observed: so may that intractable disease, termed Rickets; and it is
worthy of notice, that among the worst instances of this malady I have
seen, were two sisters, _who had been suckled for a very unusual
period_. Neither do I doubt the probability of Epilepsy being similarly
occasioned; and although, I must candidly own, I cannot produce numerous
cases in proof of the correctness of such hypothesis, yet I recollect
that of a girl affected with this complaint, respecting whom the mother
stated (and I recorded the fact at the time) that she had been '_suckled
for two years_;' and, to use her own expression, had 'never been well
since.'[O]

Convulsions arising from protracted suckling, or simply from the nurse's
milk becoming deteriorated at any period, are very common, and I have
kept notes of many such cases that have occurred in the course of my own
practice; which, however, I abstain from here inserting, being anxious
to prevent the present publication from swelling into a volume. Indeed,
the occurrence of convulsions from this cause (diseased milk) has been
mentioned by several of the best authors. Mr. North, in particular,
(whose excellent work on Convulsions should be in the hands of every
practitioner) observes--'It cannot be doubted that children suffer, that
their health is destroyed, and the foundation laid for convulsive
diseases, by _sucking unhealthy nurses_.' 'A predisposition to
convulsive affections in children may be originally produced in
consequence of their being suckled by a nurse addicted to the frequent
use of spirituous liquors. In several instances I have known children
rapidly recover their health when the nurse was changed, who had
exhibited most of the premonitory symptoms of convulsions while they
were suckled by a woman who indulged in the common vice of
gin-drinking.' And Mr. Burns also makes the following remark--'Violent
passions of the mind affect the milk still more;--it often becomes thin
and yellowish, and _causes_ colic, or even _fits_.' It is needless,
however, to say more on this topic, since it is one which no longer
admits of discussion.

The reader may now, perhaps, expect that I shall introduce a series of
practical deductions from the foregoing facts and observations; but
such is not my object upon the present occasion. I merely wish to ca