either from eating too much or
from taking indigestible food, are the best purgatives that can be
given. A dose of castor oil, often one of the great griefs of the
nursery, may generally be given without the least difficulty if
previously shaken up in a bottle with a wine-glassful of hot milk
sweetened and flavoured with a piece of cinnamon boiled in it, by which
all taste of the oil is effectually concealed.

The domestic remedy, senna tea with prunes which render it palatable,
confection of senna, syrup of senna, and the sweet essence of senna are
generally very readily taken by children, but all have the disadvantage
of being liable to gripe. The German liquorice powder, as it is called,
which is composed of powdered senna, liquorice powder, fennel, and a
little sulphur with white sugar, is freer from this drawback than any
other preparation, and when mixed with a little water is not generally
objected to. It is important, as senna is often adulterated and loses
its properties by exposure to the air, that this powder should always be
obtained from a very good chemist, purchased in small quantities, and
always kept in a glass-stoppered bottle.

Jalap, in the form in which it is usually sold--as compound jalap
powder--is in general readily taken; it acts speedily, but often with
pain, and is not a desirable domestic remedy. Jalapine, which is a sort
of extract of jalap, is much less apt to gripe, and owing to its small
bulk is much handier. It may be given in doses of from two to five
grains to children from two years old and upwards.

Scammony is another powerful simple aperient, apt to be violent in its
action, and therefore not to be given except when the bowels have long
been confined, or when it is given to expel worms. The compound scammony
powder is the form in which it is usually given, and of that five grains
would be a dose for a child two years old.

Scammony, however, is a costly drug, and therefore the caution given
with reference to German liquorice powder applies here also.

There is a preparation of scammony, the so-called scammony mixture,
which consists of the resin or extract of scammony dissolved in milk,
which is extremely useful when the stomach is irritable, or there is
much difficulty in inducing the child to take medicine. It is almost
tasteless, and a tablespoonful, which would be a proper dose for a child
of five years old, can be given without being detected.

Much of the difficulty e