Lessons in Nursing Sick Children.

[Illustration: HEALTHY YOUTH AND RIPE OLD AGE.]

1. MISMANAGEMENT.--Every doctor knows that a large share of the ills to
which infancy is subject are directly traceable to mismanagement. Troubles
of the digestive system are, for the most part due to errors, either in the
selection of the food or in the preparation of it.

2. RESPIRATORY DISEASES.--Respiratory diseases or the diseases of the
throat and lungs have their origin, as a rule, in want of care and judgment
in matters of clothing, bathing and exposure to cold and drafts. A child
should always be dressed to suit the existing temperature of the weather.
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3. NERVOUS DISEASES.--Nervous diseases are often aggravated if not caused
by over-stimulation of the brain, by irregular hours of sleep, or by the
use of "soothing" medicines, or eating indigestible food.

4. SKIN AFFECTIONS.--Skin affections are generally due to want of proper
care of the skin, to improper clothing or feeding, or to indiscriminate
association with nurses and children, who are the carriers of contagious
diseases.

5. PERMANENT INJURY.--Permanent injury is often caused by lifting the child
by one hand, allowing it to fall, permitting it to play with sharp
instruments, etc.

6. RULES AND PRINCIPLES.--Every mother should understand the rules and
principles of home nursing. Children are very tender plants and the want of
proper knowledge is often very disastrous if not fatal. Study carefully and
follow the principles and rules which are laid down in the different parts
of this work on nursing and cooking for the sick.

7. WHAT A MOTHER SHOULD KNOW:

I. INFANT FEEDING.--The care of milk, milk sterilization, care of
bottles, preparation of commonly employed infant foods, the general
principles of infant feeding, with rules as to quality and frequency.

II. BATHING.--The daily bath; the use of hot, cold and mustard baths.

III. HYGIENE OF THE SKIN. Care of the mouth, eyes and ears.
Ventilation, temperature, cleanliness, care of napkins, etc.

IV. TRAINING OF CHILDREN in proper bodily habits. Simple means of
treatment in sickness, etc.

8. THE CRY OF THE SICK CHILD.--The cry of the child is a language by which
the character of its suffering to some extent may be ascertained. The
manner in which the cry is uttered, or the pitch and tone is generally a
symptom of a certain kind of disease.

9. STOMACHACHE.--The cry of t