ple stomach of the carnivorous
animal, intended for food which shall not need to stay long in that
receptacle, but shall be speedily digested; and it is only as the child
grows older, and takes more varied food, that the stomach alters
somewhat in form, that it assumes a more rounded shape, resembling
somewhat that of the herbivorous animal, and suited to retain the food
longer. The young of all creatures live upon their mother for a certain
time after birth; but in all the preparation for a different kind of
food, and with it for an independent existence, begins much sooner and
goes on more rapidly than in man. Young rabbits are always provided with
two teeth when born, and the others make their appearance within ten
days. In the different ruminants the teeth have either begun to appear
before birth, or they show themselves a few days afterwards; and in
either case dentition is completed within the first month, and in dogs
and cats within the first ten weeks of existence.

In the human subject the process of teething begins late, between the
seventh and the ninth month, and goes on slowly: the first grinding
teeth are seldom cut before the beginning of the second year, and
teething is not finished until after its end. Until teething has begun
the child ought to live exclusively on the food which nature provides;
for until that time the internal organs have not become fitted to digest
other sustenance, and the infant deprived of this too often languishes
and dies. To get from other food the necessary amount of nourishment,
that food has to be taken in larger quantities, and, from the difficulty
in digesting it, needs to remain longer in the stomach than the mother's
milk. One of the results of the indigestibility of the food is that the
child is often sick, the stomach getting rid of a part of that food
which it is unable to turn to any useful purpose; and so far well. But
the innutritious substances do not relieve the sense of hunger. The
child cries in discomfort, and more is given to it, and by degrees the
over-distended stomach becomes permanently dilated, and holds a larger
quantity than it was originally meant to contain. The undigested mass
passes into a state of fermentation, and the infant's breath becomes
sour and offensive, it suffers from wind and acid eructations, and
nurses sometimes express surprise that the child does not thrive since
it is always hungry. While some of the food is got rid of by vomiting,