Grey powder, blue pill, and calomel are the three forms in one or other
of which mercurials are commonly given. Of the three, grey powder is the
mildest; but it has the inconvenience of not infrequently causing
nausea, or actual sickness. This objection does not apply to blue pill,
which can be given either in the tiny pills of which I have already
spoken, or else broken down, and given in a little jam, or in a
teaspoonful of syrup or treacle. On the whole I prefer calomel in small
doses. It has the great advantage of tastelessness, small bulk, and of
never causing sickness. Half a grain of calomel may be regarded as
equivalent to two grains of grey powder or blue pill.

I shall speak afterwards of other medicines, which may in various
circumstances be given, to act upon the bowels; but the above include
all that are at all fit for common use in the nursery.

Before leaving this subject I will add a word or two about the use of
suppositories and lavements in infancy and childhood. A piece of paper
rolled up into a conical form and greased, or a bit of soap, is not
infrequently introduced by nurses just within the bowel, as a means of
overcoming constipation in infants. The irritation of the muscle at its
orifice (the sphincter, as it is termed) excites the bowels to action,
and does away with the necessity for giving an aperient. The drawback
from this, as well as from the use of the lavement, is that if
frequently employed they become habitually necessary, and the bowels
will then never act without their customary stimulus. The lavement, too,
has the additional disadvantage that while the lower part of the bowel
is in proportion more capacious in infancy and childhood than in the
adult, this peculiarity becomes exaggerated by the constant distension
of the intestine, and a larger and still larger quantity of fluid needs
to be thrown up in order to produce the requisite action of the bowels.

Opiates and other soothing medicines should never be given except when
prescribed by the doctor. Thirty-two deaths in England under five years
of age in 1882 represent but a very small part of the evil wrought by
the overdose or injudicious use of these remedies. Above all, soothing
medicines of varying strength, as syrup of poppies, or of unknown
composition, as Dalby's Carminative or Winslow's Soothing Syrup, should
never be employed. The only safe preparation, and this to be given only
by the doctor's orders or with his appr