ing red, hot, and swollen; the eyes red, irritable, and
watery; and the saliva running from the mouth profusely. The fever is
great, and the thirst extreme. The child is at one time restless and
irritable, and at another heavy and oppressed: the sleep will be
broken, and the infant frequently awake suddenly and in alarm from its
short slumbers. Such are the chief symptoms of difficult teething, and
which will be present to a greater or less degree.

TREATMENT.--As most of the above symptoms are induced by the painful
tension of the gum, it would seem that the most rational mode of
attempting their relief is by freely lancing the swollen part. Great
prejudices, however, still exist in the minds of some parents against
this operation. They think it gives great pain, and, if the tooth is
not very near, makes its coming through the gum subsequently the more
difficult.

With regard to the first objection, the lancet is carried through the
gum so quickly, that this is hardly possible; and the fact that the
infant will often smile in your face after it is done, although
previously crying from pain, is sufficient evidence that it is not a
very painful operation. In reference to the second, that the scar which
ensues, opposes, by its hardness, the subsequent progress of the tooth,
it is quite groundless; for cicatrices, like all other new-formed
parts, are much more easily absorbed than the original structure.

Of the practical utility and perfect safety of this operation we have
ample proof in its daily performance with impunity, and in the instant
relief which it often affords to all the symptoms.

Mere scarifying the gums is sometimes all that is required, and will
afford great relief. This operation, therefore, should not be opposed
by the mother. She, at the same time, should be acquainted with its
precise object, lest the speedy return of the symptoms, and the non-
appearance of the expected tooth, might tend to bring the operation of
lancing the gums into disrepute.

The parental management of the infant, then, and by which much of the
pain and difficulty of teething may be removed or alleviated, consists
in attending to the following directions:--

FIRST, TO THE STATE OF THE MOUTH.--To this it is an important part of
the mother's duty to pay especial attention; and, by so doing, she will
save her child much suffering. The condition of the mouth should be
carefully inspected from time to time; and should a swoll