d should be had to
the season of the year; and that the end of summer and beginning of fall
are of all periods the most unfavorable. The best time, on every
account, is in the spring--in March, April, May, or June; and the next
best is during the months of October and November. But December, January
and February are better than July, August and September.

Weaning should never be sudden. We may safely and properly call upon
those who are addicted to snuff or opium taking, tobacco chewing, rum
drinking, and other habits which are purely artificial, to break
off--_to wean themselves_--suddenly; since _they_ can do so with
considerable safety, and will seldom have the courage or the
perseverance to do it otherwise. But with the child, in regard to his
food, such a course will not be advisable. If we regard his future
health or happiness, he must be weaned gradually.

The first proper step will be to give the child a little larger quantity
of the cow's milk and gum arabic mixture, between nursings, at the same
time increasing very gradually the intervals of nursing. When the
intervals become six hours distant from each other, it will be best to
add a little good bread to the milk with which it is fed, about two or
three times a day. Arrowroot jelly, if he can be made to relish it, will
be highly useful; but if not, some boiled rice, into which a little
arrowroot has been sprinkled while boiling, may be added to his milk.

It may be worth the attempt to excite an aversion in the child to
nursing his mother, so that be will refuse to nurse, if possible, of his
own accord. This aversion may be excited by such an application of
aloes, or some other offensive substance, as will cause him to withdraw
himself from the breast as soon as he tastes it.

A serious mistake is often made, in connection with weaning, in giving
the child not only too much food, but that which is too solid, or too
rich. This mistake has undoubtedly grown out of the belief that his
feeble condition _requires_ it; whereas the truth is, that he neither
needs food at this period, nor is capable of digesting it. For let us be
as judicious in the process of weaning as we may, the tone of the
child's stomach will be somewhat reduced, or in other words, its powers
of digestion will be weakened by it; and to give it strong food, or
overload it with that which is weaker, is not only unreasonable and
unphilosophical, but cruel. And if there should be a tendency in