Chapter XXVII: Part III: Boyhood and Girlhood (4)

Dissolve half a teaspoonful of powdered alum in a quarter of a pint of
tepid water, to make the injection.

Footnote 71:

Which may be procured either of a surgical-instrument-maker or of an
india-rubber manufacturer. The best kind of india-rubber vaginal
syringe is the one purposely made for the patient to use herself.

Footnote 72:

See pages 43, 124, and 172.

Footnote 73:

See page 166.

Footnote 74:

Which sitz-bath may be procured of any respectable tinman or
furnishing ironmonger.

Footnote 75:

Tanner, _On Signs and Diseases of Pregnancy_.

Footnote 76:

I say _usually_, for the duration of gestation is very uncertain. Dr.
Reid gives (in _The Lancet_ of July 20th, 1850) an interesting table
of the duration of pregnancy. The table comprises 500 cases; out of
which numbers, nearly the half terminated in labor in the fortieth and
forty-first weeks. The following is the order in which they occurred:

23 cases in the 37th week.
48 „ „ 38th „
81 „ „ 39th „
131 „ „ 40th „
112 „ „ 41st „
63 „ „ 42d „
28 „ „ 43d „
8 „ „ 44th „
6 „ „ 45th „

The above is merely a summary of Dr. Reid’s valuable table.

Footnote 77:

We are informed by Jourdan and other French writers that Fernel acted
on the knowledge of this fact when consulted by Henry II. of France as
to the best means of rendering his queen, Catherine de Medicis,
fruitful. He advised the king to visit her only immediately after the
cessation of the menstrual discharge, the adoption of which advice was
attended with success, and the queen, after years of disappointment,
gave birth to a son.—_Dr. Montgomery._

Footnote 78:

_On the Signs and Diseases of Pregnancy._

Footnote 79:

_Braithwaite’s Retrospect._ A Synopsis of Dr. Packman’s _Paper on
Impregnation_, in _The Lancet_, July 18th, 1863.

Footnote 80:

_Belforest. A Tale of English Country Life._ By the author of _Mary
Powell_. London: Richard Bentley.

Footnote 81:

_Not Proven._ London: Hurst & Blackett.

Footnote 82:

“He that goeth about as a tale-bearer revealeth secrets.”—PROV. xx 19.

Footnote 83:

The Rev. J. G. Wood’s _Duties of the Hospital Chaplain_, in the
_Churchman’s Family Magazine_.

Footnote 84:

Higginson’s syringe may be procured either of Weiss & Son, Strand,
London, or of any other respectable surgical-instrument-maker. There
are other india-rubber apparatuses besides Higginson’s which will
answer a similar purpose. Sometimes they are made with two separate
and distinct india-rubber pipes, the one of which is to be used in the
administration of an enema, and the other either for giving an
injection up the vagina, or for washing out the vagina with warm
water. The best quality of apparatus ought always to be chosen. It
might be procured either of a surgical-instrument-maker or at an
india-rubber warehouse. C. Mackintosh & Co.’s Patent Vaginal Syringe
(No. 2 size) is a capital vaginal syringe; but it will only act as a
vaginal, while Higginson’s and some others will act a double
purpose—as an enema and as a vaginal syringe.

Footnote 85:

Pye Chavasse’s _Advice to a Mother_. Ninth edition.

Footnote 86:

_A System of Midwifery._ By E. Rigby, M.D.

Footnote 87:

“Adam’s children must work, Eve’s children must suffer.”—“On some
Guesses at Truth,” in _Good Words_, June, 1862. Young, in his _Night
Thoughts_, beautifully expresses the common lot of woman to suffer:

“’Tis the common lot;
In this shape, or in that, has fate entailed
The mother’s throes on all of woman born,
Not more the children than sure heirs of pain.”

Footnote 88:

“Through thee have I been holden up ever since I was born: thou art he
that took me out of my mother’s womb; my praise shall be always of
thee.”—_The Psalms of David_, lxxi. 5.

Footnote 89:

Dr. David D. Davis used, in his valuable lectures, strongly to
reprobate meddlesome midwifery: he justly observed that “accoucheurs
were only life-guardsmen to women.” A life-guardsman, while on duty at
the palace, does not interfere with every passer-by, but only removes
those who obstruct the way.

Footnote 90:

Dr. George Smith, of Madras, communicated an interesting case of the
kind to the _Edinburgh Medical Journal_ (November, 1862).

Footnote 91:

“Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her
delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs.”—Isa. xxvi. 17.

Footnote 92:

A two-ounce pot of _unsalted_ or prepared lard, as it is usually
called, should, previously to the labor, be procured from a chemist.

Footnote 93:

And may be procured at any india-rubber warehouse or at a baby-linen
establishment.

Footnote 94:

Dryden.

Footnote 95:

St. John, xvi. 21.

Footnote 96:

Dr. Kidd on Chloroform, in the _Medical Press and Circular_, March
14th, 1866.

Footnote 97:

Dr. Kidd, in _Dublin Quarterly_. Dr. Kidd is an authority on
chloroform.

Footnote 98:

_The Theory and Practice of Midwifery._ By Fleetwood Churchill, M.D.

Footnote 99:

“Dr. Vose (of Liverpool) said, that once, when in the remote valleys
of Westmoreland and Cumberland, he used to ask the people how they got
on without medical aid, particularly in regard to midwifery cases.
People wondered that he should ask. He found that they had no midwives
even; when a woman begins her troubles, they told him, they give her
warm beer; if she is worse, more warm beer; but if that fails, then
‘she maun dee.’ So they give stimulants from the first. One word in
the paper read seemed to contain the gist of the matter; we must treat
the patients according to ‘common sense.’”—_Diet Suitable after
Childbirth. British Medical Journal_, December 12th, 1863.

Footnote 100:

As a rule, the “waters break” just before the head is born, then there
is no fear of a membrane covering the mouth, as the head passes
_through_ the ruptured membrane. “In other instances, the membrane
does not burst before the expulsion of the head of the fœtus [child]
externally, which it covers, and in such cases the infant is said by
nurses to be born with _a caul_, and this is advertised in the London
newspapers in our day, and sold at a high price by midwives, as it is
superstitiously supposed to prevent shipwreck.”—_Ryan’s Manual of
Midwifery._

Footnote 101:

Shakspeare.

Footnote 102:

See page 232, paragraph 554.

Footnote 103:

_The female slipper_ may be procured either at any respectable
earthenware warehouse, or of a surgical-instrument-maker.

Footnote 104:

“The female slipper,” and the French bed-pan and the bed-pan of the
Liverpool Northern Hospital, may be procured either at any respectable
earthenware warehouse or of a surgical-instrument-maker.

Footnote 105:

Boil two handfuls of marshmallows and two handfuls of chamomile blows
in two quarts of water for a quarter of an hour, and strain.

Footnote 106:

Which may be obtained either of a surgical-instrument-maker or at an
india-rubber warehouse.

Footnote 107:

There are few persons who know how to make beef-tea: let me tell you
of a good way. Let the cook mince _very fine_—as fine as
sausage-meat—one pound of the shoulder blade of beef, taking care that
every particle of fat be removed; then let her put the meat either
into a saucepan or into a digester with three pepper corns and a pint
and a half of _cold_ water; let it be put on the fire to boil; let it
slowly boil for an hour, and then let it be strained; and you will
have most delicious beef-tea, light and nourishing, grateful to the
stomach and palate. When cold, carefully skim any remaining fat (if
there be any) from it, and warm it up when wanted. It is always well,
when practicable, to make beef-tea the day before it is wanted, in
order to be able to skim it when quite cold. It may be served up with
a finger or two of dry toast, and with salt to suit the taste.
Sometimes a patient prefers the beef-tea _without_ the pepper corns;
when such be the case, let the pepper corns be omitted.

If you wish your beef-tea to be particularly strong and nourishing,
and if you have any beef bones in the house, let them be broken up and
slowly boiled in a _digester_ for a couple of hours, or even longer,
with the finely minced-up beef.

Footnote 108:

A knuckle of veal boiled in new milk makes a light and nourishing food
for a delicate lying-in woman. Milk is an admirable article of food
for the lying-in room.

Footnote 109:

Letter from Edward Crossman, Esq., in _British Medical Journal_, Nov.
19th, 1864.

Footnote 110:

Barley-water and new milk, in equal proportions, was Dr. Gooch’s
favorite beverage for a lying-in woman. “After the fifth day,” he
says, “the patient should be quite well, and your visits are merely
for the purpose of watching her. Women now generally wish for wine or
porter. I usually mix good barley-water with milk (equal parts),
making barley gruel; and, presenting this beverage, I tell them, this
is your wine and your porter too; it will relieve your thirst and
sinking at the stomach, and will manufacture milk better than anything
else.”

Footnote 111:

Erasmus Darwin.

Footnote 112:

_The Nurse_: a Poem.

Footnote 113:

_Advice to a Mother on the Management of her Children_; the ninth
edition. By Pye Henry Chavasse F.R.C.S.

Footnote 114:

From an admirable paper on _Health of Body and Mind_, in _Good Words_,
Jan. 1st, 1866.

Footnote 115:

_Good Words_, October, 1861.

Footnote 116:

Wordsworth.

Footnote 117:

Prior.

Footnote 118:

Milton.

Footnote 119:

Fenton.

Footnote 120:

Burton.

Footnote 121:

Carlyle’s _Inaugural Address_ at his installation as Rector of the
University of Edinburgh.

Footnote 122:

Either of which may be procured of any respectable
surgical-instrument-maker.

Footnote 123:

For much valuable information on this subject, see _A New and Rational
Explanation of the Diseases peculiar to Infants and Mothers_. By
Thomas Ballard, M.D.

Footnote 124:

Two tablespoonfuls of olive oil, two tablespoonfuls of table salt, and
a pint of warm oatmeal gruel.

Footnote 125:

Dr. William Parr _On the Mortality of Children_.

Footnote 126:

_Advice to a Mother on the Management of her Children_; the ninth
edition. By Pye Henry Chavasse, F.R.C.S.

Footnote 127:

_Advice to a Mother on the Management of her Children_ the ninth
edition. By Pye Henry Chavasse, F.R.C.S.

Footnote 128:

Pye Chavasse’s _Advice to a Mother_.

Footnote 129:

_Romeo and Juliet._

Footnote 130:

_Good Words_, Dr. W. Lindsay Alexander, March, 1861.

Footnote 131:

_Woman’s Mission._

Footnote 132:

Tupper.

Footnote 133:

A nursery-basin (Wedgwood’s make is considered the best) holding
either six or eight quarts of water, and which will be sufficiently
large to hold the whole body of the child. The basin is generally
fitted into a wooden frame, which will raise it to a convenient height
for the washing of the baby.

Footnote 134:

Sir Charles Locock strongly recommends that an infant should be washed
_in a tub_ from the _very_ commencement. He says: “All those that I
superintend _begin_ with a tub.”—_Letter to the Author._

Footnote 135:

Mrs. Baines (who has written so much and so well on the Management of
Children), in a _Letter_ to the Author, recommends flannel to be used
in the _first_ washing of an infant, which flannel ought afterward to
be burned; and that the sponge should be only used to complete the
process, to clear off what the flannel had already loosened. She also
recommends that every child should have his own sponge, each of which
should have a particular distinguishing mark upon it, as she considers
the promiscuous use of the same sponge to be a frequent cause of
_ophthalmia_ (inflammation of the eyes). The sponges cannot be kept
too clean.

Footnote 136:

In one case related by Koop (_Journ. de Pharm._, xx. 603), a child was
destroyed by it.

Footnote 137:

2 Kings, v. 13, 14.

Footnote 138:

Communicated by Sir Charles Locock to the Author.

Footnote 139:

“The Princess of Wales might have been seen on Thursday taking an
airing, in a brougham in Hyde Park, with her baby—the future King of
England—on her lap, without a nurse, and accompanied only by Mrs.
Bruce. The Princess seems a very pattern of mothers, and it is
whispered among the ladies of the Court that every evening the mother
of this young gentleman may be seen in a flannel dress, in order that
she may properly wash and put on baby’s night-clothes and see him
safely in bed. It is a pretty subject for a picture.”—_Pall Mall
Gazette._

Footnote 140:

Communicated by Sir Charles Locock to the Author.

Footnote 141:

“Tous-les-mois” is the starch obtained from the tuberous roots of
various species of _canna_; and is imported from the West Indies. It
is very similar to arrow-root. I suppose it is called “tous-les-mois,”
as it is good to be eaten all the year round.

Footnote 142:

If there is any difficulty in obtaining _prepared_ oatmeal,
Robertson’s Patent Groats will answer equally as well.

Footnote 143:

_British Medical Journal_, Dec. 18, 1858.

Footnote 144:

_The Cook’s Guide._ By C. E. Francatelli.

Footnote 145:

I consider it to be of immense importance to the infant, that the milk
be had from ONE cow. A writer in the _Medical Times and Gazette_,
speaking on this subject, makes the following sensible remarks: “I do
not know if a practice common among French ladies, when they do not
nurse, has obtained the attention among ourselves which it seems to me
to deserve. When the infant is to be fed with cow milk, that from
various cows is submitted to examination by the medical man, and if
possible, tried on some child, and when the milk of any cow has been
chosen, no other milk is ever suffered to enter the child’s lips, for
a French lady would as soon offer to her infant’s mouth the breasts of
half a dozen wet-nurses in the day, as mix together the milk of
various cows, which must differ even as the animals themselves, in its
constituent qualities. Great attention is also paid to the pasture, or
other food of the cow thus appropriated.”—_December 29, 1860._

Footnote 146:

For further reasons why artificial food is not desirable at an early
period of infancy, see answer to 35th question, p. 1043.

Footnote 147:

_The Nurse_, a Poem. Translated from the Italian of Luigi Tansillo. By
William Roscoe.

Footnote 148:

Liebig, the great chemist, asserts that a small quantity of table salt
to the food is essential to the health of children.

Footnote 149:

It now and then happens that if the milk be not boiled, the motions of
an infant are offensive; _when such is the case_ let the milk be
boiled, but not otherwise.

Footnote 150:

“It should be thin, and of a bluish-white color, sweet to the taste,
and when allowed to stand should throw up a considerable quantity of
cream.”—_Maunsell and Evenson on the Diseases of Children._

Footnote 151:

Sir Charles Locock considers that a woman who menstruates during
lactation is objectionable as a wet-nurse, and “that as a mother with
her first child is more liable to that objection, that a second or
third child’s mother is more eligible than a first.”—_Letter to the
Author._

Footnote 152:

“The child is poisoned.”

“Poisoned! by whom?”

“By you. You have been fretting.”

“Nay, indeed, mother. How can I help fretting?”

“Don’t tell me, Margaret. A nursing mother has no business to fret.
She must turn her mind away from her grief to the comfort that lies in
her lap. Know you not that the child pines if the mother vexes
herself?”—_The Cloister and the Hearth._ By Charles Reade.

Footnote 153:

The previous boiling of the milk will prevent the warmth of the bed
turning the milk sour, which it would otherwise do.

Footnote 154:

For the first three or four months never, if you can possibly avoid
it, give artificial food to an infant who is sucking. There is
nothing, in the generality of cases, that agrees, for the first few
months, like the mother’s milk _alone_.

Footnote 155:

Communicated by Sir Charles Locock to the author.

Footnote 156:

Dendy. _Lancet_, October 25, 1851.

Footnote 157:

Dr. George Gregory.

Footnote 158:

Sir Charles Locock, in a _Letter_ to the Author.

Footnote 159:

For the precautions to be used in putting a child into a warm bath,
see the answer to question on “Warm Baths.”

Footnote 160:

No family, where there are young children, should be without
Fahrenheit’s thermometer.

Footnote 161:

_Ingoldsby Legends._

Footnote 162:

The young of animals seldom suffer from cutting their teeth—and what
is the reason? Because they live in the open air and take plenty of
exercise, while children are frequently cooped up in close rooms and
are not allowed the free use of their limbs. The value of fresh air is
well exemplified in the Registrar-General’s Report for 1843: he says
that in 1,000,000 deaths from all diseases, 616 occur in the town from
teething, while 120 only take place in the country from the same
cause.

Footnote 163:

See answer to Question 63.

Footnote 164:

“‘Soothing Syrup.’ Some of them probably contain opiates, but a
perfectly safe and useful one is a little nitrate of potassa in syrup
of roses—one scruple to half an ounce.”—_Communicated by Sir Charles
Locock to the Author._

Footnote 165:

“I should put this in capitals, it is so important and so often
mistaken.”—_C. Locock._

Footnote 166:

I have somewhere read that if a cage, containing a canary, be
suspended at night within a bed where a person is sleeping, and the
curtains be drawn closely around, that the bird will, in the morning,
in all probability be found dead!

Footnote 167:

The _Nurse_, a Poem.

Footnote 168:

It may be interesting to a mother to know the average weight of
new-born infants. There is a paper on the subject in the _Medical
Circular_ (April 10, 1861), and which has been abridged in
_Braithwaite’s Retrospect of Medicine_ (July and December, 1861). The
following are extracts: “Dr. E. von Siebold presents a table of the
weights of 3000 infants (1586 male and 1414 female), weighed
immediately after birth. From this table (for which we have not space)
it results that by far the greater number of the children (2215)
weighed between 6 and 8 lbs. From 5¾ to 6 lbs. the number rose from 99
to 268; and from 8 to 8¼ lbs. they fell from 226 to 67, and never rose
again at any weight to 100. From 8¾ to 9½ lbs. they sank from 61 to 8,
rising, however, at 9½ lbs to 21. Only six weighed 10 lbs., one 10¾
lbs., and two 11 lbs. The author has never but once met with a child
weighing 11¾ lbs. The most frequent weight in the 3000 was 7 lbs.,
numbering 426. It is a remarkable fact, that until the weight of 7
lbs. the female infants exceeded the males in number, the latter
thenceforward predominating.... From these statements, and those of
various other authors here quoted, the conclusion may be drawn that
the normal weight of a mature new-born infant is not less than 6 nor
more than 8 lbs., the average weight being 6½ or 7 lbs., the smaller
number referring to female and the higher to male infants.”

Footnote 169:

_Hints on Household Management._ By Mrs. C. L. Balfour Partridge,
London.

Footnote 170:

In a _Letter_ to the Author.

Footnote 171:

_Letter_ to the Author.

Footnote 172:

Take of—Tincture of aloes, half an ounce;
Soap liniment, one ounce:

Make a liniment.

Footnote 173:

Sir Charles Locock, in a _Letter_ to the Author.

Footnote 174:

Take of—Powdered Turkey Rhubarb, half a scruple;
Carbonate of Magnesia, one scruple;
Simple Syrup, three drachms;
Dill Water, eight drachms:

Make a Mixture. One or two teaspoonfuls (according to the age of the
child) to be taken every four hours, until relief be
obtained—first shaking the bottle.

Footnote 175:

See Symptoms and Treatment of Dysentery.

Footnote 176:

For a rhubarb and magnesia mixture prescription, see page 1099
(_note_).

Footnote 177:

Let the mixture be made by a chemist.

Footnote 178:

Communicated by Sir Charles Locock to the Author.

Footnote 179:

Let this mixture, or any other medicine I may prescribe, be always
made by a respectable chemist.

Footnote 180:

My friend, the late Dr. Baly, who had made dysentery his particular
study, considered the combination of opium and castor oil very
valuable in dysentery.

Footnote 181:

See the Treatment of Dysentery.

Footnote 182:

Tennyson.

Footnote 183:

Sir Charles Locock, in a _Letter_ to the Author.

Footnote 184:

See Infancy—Ablution, page 1016.

Footnote 185:

_The Lancet_, April 25, 1857.

Footnote 186:

_The Foot and its Covering._ By James Dowie. London, 1861.

Footnote 187:

The Psalms of David, cxliv. 12.

Footnote 188:

How is milk, in the making of cheese, converted into curds? By rennet.
What is rennet? The juice of a calf’s maw or stomach. The moment the
milk enters the human maw or stomach, the juice of the stomach
converts it into curds—into solid food, just as readily as when it
enters a calf’s maw or stomach, and much more readily than by rennet,
as the _fresh_ juice is stronger than the _stale_. An ignorant mother
often complains that because, when her child is sick, the milk
curdles, that it is a proof that it does not agree with him! If, at
those times, it did _not_ curdle, it would, indeed, prove that his
stomach was in a wretchedly weak state; she would, then, have abundant
cause to be anxious.

Footnote 189:

_The Times_, September 19, 1864.

Footnote 190:

The _Lancet_, December 18, 1858.

Footnote 191:

Ibid.

Footnote 192:

Although caraway seeds _whole_ are unwholesome, yet caraway-tea, made
as recommended at page 1097, is an excellent remedy to disperse wind.

Footnote 193:

_Christian’s Mistake._ By the author of “John Halifax Gentlemen.”

Footnote 194:

“Pure air and water are practically the two great elements of
health.”—_The Times._

Footnote 195:

_The Times._

Footnote 196:

“Two little girls died in London last week from sucking some lucifer
matches.”—_The Birmingham Daily Gazette_, June 21, 1864.

Footnote 197:

_The Times_, October 5, 1863.

Footnote 198:

Shakspeare.

Footnote 199:

_A Woman’s Thoughts about Women._

Footnote 200:

_Tales of a Wayside Inn._ By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Footnote 201:

Douglas Jerrold

Footnote 202:

Tennyson.

Footnote 203:

Sir Walter Scott.

Footnote 204:

“But we were gentle among you, even as a woman cherisheth her
children.”—I. Thess. ii. 7.

Footnote 205:

_Household Verses on Health and Happiness._ London: Jarrold & Sons. I
should advise _every_ mother to purchase a copy of this delightful
little book. Unlike a great deal of poetry, it is both useful and
truthful.

Footnote 206:

_Life’s Problems._ London: Bell & Dalby.

Footnote 207:

_The Leadbeater Papers._ London: Bell & Dalby.

Footnote 208:

Romans, xii. 10.

Footnote 209:

_A Woman’s Thoughts about Women._

Footnote 210:

_The Protoplast._

Footnote 211:

Wordsworth.

Footnote 212:

Goldsmith.

Footnote 213:

From an excellent article _About Toys_, by J. Hamilton Fyfe, in _Good
Words_ for December, 1862, which I should strongly advise a mother to
read.

Footnote 214:

_The Saturday Review_, December 13, 1862.

Footnote 215:

“According to Aristotle, more care should be taken of the body than of
the mind for the first seven years; strict attention to diet be
enforced, etc.... The eye and ear of the child be most watchfully and
severely guarded against contamination of every kind, and unrestrained
communication with servants be strictly prevented. Even his amusements
should be under due regulation, and rendered as interesting and
intellectual as possible.”—The Rev. John Williams, in his _Life and
Actions of Alexander the Great_.

Footnote 216:

Tennyson.

Footnote 217:

Sir Charles Locock in a _Letter_ to the Author.

Footnote 218:

Geo. M’Donald, M.A.

Footnote 219:

_Medical Times and Gazette._

Footnote 220:

In case of a sudden attack of croup, _instantly_ give a teaspoonful of
ipecacuanha wine, and repeat it every five minutes until free vomiting
be excited.

Footnote 221:

See “Warm baths”—directions and precautions to be observed.

Footnote 222:

_Essays and Notes._ Churchill.

Footnote 223:

If you put your finger into the mouth of a child laboring under
inflammation of the lungs, it is like putting your finger into a hot
apple-pie, the heat is _so_ great.

Footnote 224:

See page 1210.

Footnote 225:

_Diphtheria_: by Ernest Hart. A valuable pamphlet on the subject. Dr.
Wade, of Birmingham, has also written an interesting and useful
monograph on diphtheria. I am indebted to the above authors for much
valuable information.

Footnote 226:

“Now all my carefully conducted inquiries induce me to believe that
the disease comes from drain-poison. All the cases into which I could
fully inquire have brought conviction to my mind that there is a
direct law of sequence in some peculiar conditions of atmosphere
between diphtheria and bad drainage; and if this be proved by
subsequent investigations, we may be able to prevent a disease which,
in too many cases, our known remedies cannot cure.”—W. Carr, Esq.,
Blackheath. _British Medical Journal_, Dec. 7, 1861.

Footnote 227:

Let the infusion of roses be made merely with the rose-leaves and
boiling water.

Footnote 228:

See page 1221.

Footnote 229:

See page 1210.

Footnote 230:

_Edinburgh Medical Journal._

Footnote 231:

On the 4th of March, 1856, I had the honor to read a _Paper on the
Treatment of Scarlet Fever_ before the members of Queen’s College
Medico-Chirurgical Society, Birmingham,—which _Paper_ was afterward
published in the _Association Journal_ (March 15, 1856); and in
Braithwaite’s _Retrospect of Medicine_ (January-June, 1856); and in
Ranking’s _Half-Yearly Abstract of the Medical Sciences_
(July-December, 1856); besides in other publications. Moreover, the
_Paper_ was translated into German, and published in _Canstatt’s
Jahresbericht_, iv. 456, 1859.

Footnote 232:

In the _Times_ of September 4, 1863, is the following, copied from the
_Bridgewater Mercury_:

“GROSS SUPERSTITION.—In one of the streets of Taunton there resides a
man and his wife who have the care of a child. This child was attacked
with scarlatina, and to all appearance death was inevitable. A jury of
matrons was, as it were, impaneled, and, to prevent the child ‘dying
hard,’ all the doors in the house, all the drawers, all the boxes, all
the cupboards were thrown wide open, the keys taken out, and the body
of the child placed under a beam, whereby a sure, certain, and easy
passage into eternity could be secured. Watchers held their vigils
throughout the weary night, and in the morning the child, to the
surprise of all, did not die, and is now gradually recovering.”

These old women—this jury of matrons—stumbled on the right remedy,
“all the doors in the house ... were thrown wide open,” and thus they
thoroughly ventilated the apartment. What was the consequence? The
child who, just before the opening of the doors, had all the
appearances “that death was inevitable,” as soon as fresh air was let
in, showed symptoms of recovery, “and in the morning the child, to the
surprise of all, did not die, and is now gradually recovering.” There
is nothing wonderful—there is nothing surprising to my mind—in all
this. Ventilation—thorough ventilation—is the grand remedy for
scarlatina! Oh, that there were in scarlet fever cases a good many
such old women’s—such a “jury of matrons”—remedies! We should not then
be horrified, as we now are, at the fearful records of death, which
the Returns of the Registrar-General disclose!

Footnote 233:

For the prescription of the acidulated infusion of roses with syrup,
see page 1221.

Footnote 234:

On the importance, the vital importance, of the wearing of flannel
next to the skin, see Flannel Waistcoats.

Footnote 235:

If any of my medical brethren should do me the honor to read these
pages, let me entreat them to try my plan of treating scarlet fever,
as my success has been great. I have given full and minute
particulars, in order that they and mothers (if mothers cannot obtain
medical advice) may give my plan a fair and impartial trial. My only
stipulations are that they must _begin_ with my treatment, and _not
mix_ any other with it, and carry out my plan to the very letter. I
then, with God’s blessing, shall not fear the result; but shall
rejoice that I have been of some little service in my generation.

Footnote 236:

“It would be well if we were to use whitewash in many cases where
great cleanness of surface cannot be obtained. We remove in this way,
by an easy method, much of the dullness and still more of the
unwholesomeness of dirt.”—Dr. Angus Smith, in _Good Words_, April,
1861.

Footnote 237:

_Quarterly Report of the Board of Health_ upon Sickness in the
Metropolis.

Footnote 238:

_Vesicles._ Small elevations of the cuticle, covering a fluid which is
generally clear and colorless at first, but becomes afterward whitish
and opaque, or pearly.—_Watson._

Footnote 239:

See page 1221.

Footnote 240:

For the prescription of the ipecacuanha wine mixture, see page 1210.

Footnote 241:

For the treatment of bronchitis, see page 1214.

Footnote 242:

The above extract from Tennyson is, in my humble opinion, one of the
most beautiful pieces of poetry in the English language. It is a
perfect gem, and a volume in itself, so truthful, so exquisite, so
full of the most valuable reflections: for instance—(1) “The little
rift within the lute,”—the little tubercle within the lung, “that
by-and-by will make the music mute, and ever widening slowly silence
all,” and the patient eventually dies of consumption. (2) The little
rent—the little rift of a very minute vessel in the brain, produces an
attack of apoplexy, and the patient dies. (3) Each and all of us, in
one form or another, sooner or later will have “the little rift within
the lute.” But why give more illustrations? a little reflection will
bring numerous examples to my fair reader’s memory.

Footnote 243:

Four poppy-heads and four ounces of chamomile blows to be boiled in
four pints of water for half an hour, and then strained to make the
decoction.

Footnote 244:

Sir Charles Locock, in a _Letter_ to the Author.

Footnote 245:

Infusion of senna may be procured of any respectable druggist. It will
take about one or two tablespoonfuls, or even more, of the infusion
(according to the age of the child and the obstinacy of the bowels),
to act as an aperient. Of course you yourself will be able, from time
to time, as the need arises, to add the milk and the sugar, and thus
to make it palatable. It ought to be given warm, so as the more to
resemble tea.

Footnote 246:

_A Manual of Practical Therapeutics._ By Edward John Waring, F.R.C.S.
London: John Churchill and Sons.

Footnote 247:

One part of bran to three parts of flour, mixed together and made into
bread.

Footnote 248:

See page 1094.

Footnote 249:

An enema apparatus is an important requisite in every nursery; it may
be procured of any respectable surgical-instrument-maker. The
india-rubber enema bottle is, for a child’s use, a great improvement
on the old syringe, as it is not so likely to get out of order, and,
moreover, is more easily used.

Footnote 250:

_Blackwood_, December, 1861.

Footnote 251:

If any of my medical brethren should perchance read these
Conversations, I respectfully and earnestly recommend them to take
more pains in making medicines for children pleasant and palatable. I
am convinced that, in the generality of instances, provided a little
more care and thought were bestowed on the subject, it may be done;
and what an amount of both trouble and annoyance it would save! It is
really painful to witness the struggles and cries of a child when
_nauseous_ medicine is to be given; the passion and the excitement
often do more harm than the medicine does good.

Footnote 252:

George M‘Donald, M.A.

Footnote 253:

Nurses at these times ought to wear slippers, and not shoes.

Footnote 254:

_Household Verses on Health and Happiness._ London: Jarrold & Sons. A
most delightful little volume.

Footnote 255:

Which fine-tooth comb ought _not_ to be used at any other time except
for the purpose of examination, as the constant use of a fine-tooth
comb would scratch the scalp, and would encourage a quantity of scurf
to accumulate.

Footnote 256:

Where milk does not agree, it may generally be made to do so by the
addition of one part of lime-water to seven parts of new milk.
Moreover, the lime will be of service in hardening his bones; and in
these cases, the bones require hardening.

Footnote 257:

Which may be procured at any respectable india-rubber warehouse.

Footnote 258:

Take of—Spirits of Turpentine, three drachms;
Camphorated Oil, nine drachms:

Mix for a Liniment. For an adult, four drachms of the former, and
eight of the latter, may be used. If the child be young, or if the
skin be very tender, the camphorated oil may be used without the
turpentine.

Footnote 259:

Wilson, on _Healthy Skin_.

Footnote 260:

_Rain_ water ought _always_ to be used in the washing of a child;
pump-water is likely to chap the skin, and to make it both rough and
irritable.

Footnote 261:

Sometimes, if the child’s skin be very irritable, the glycerin
requires diluting with water—say, two ounces of glycerin to be mixed
in a bottle with four ounces of spring water—the bottle to be well
shaken just before using it.

Footnote 262:

One frequent, if not the most frequent, cause of tape-worm is the
eating of pork, more especially if it be underdone. _Underdone_ pork
is the most unwholesome food that can be eaten, and is the most
frequent cause of tape-worm known. _Underdone_ beef also gives
tape-worm; let the meat, therefore, be well and properly cooked. These
facts ought to be borne in mind, as prevention is always better than
cure.

Footnote 263:

_The Grocer._

Footnote 264:

Shakspeare.

Footnote 265:

Tennyson.

Footnote 266:

Every house where there are children ought to have one of these
india-rubber hot water bottles. It may be procured at any respectable
vulcanized india-rubber warehouse.

Footnote 267:

South’s _Household Surgery_.

Footnote 268:

“It has been computed that upwards of 1000 children are annually
burned to death by accident in England.”

Footnote 269:

The cotton wool here recommended is that purposely made for surgeons,
and is of a superior quality to that in general use.

Footnote 270:

If there be no other lard in the house but lard _with_ salt, the salt
may be readily removed by washing the lard in cold water. Prepared
lard—that is to say, lard _without_ salt—can, at any moment, be
procured from the nearest druggist in the neighborhood.

Footnote 271:

See the _Lancet_ for October 10th, 17th, and 24th, 1840.

Footnote 272:

A stick of _pointed_ nitrate of silver, in a case, ready for use, may
be procured of any respectable chemist.

Footnote 273:

Which may be instantly procured of a druggist, as he always keeps it
ready prepared.

Footnote 274:

A Bee-master. _The Times_, July 28, 1864.

Footnote 275:

Shaw’s _Medical Remembrancer_, by Hutchinson.

Footnote 276:

A tepid bath from 62 to 96 degrees of Fahrenheit.

Footnote 277:

A warm bath from 97 to 100 degrees of Fahrenheit.

Footnote 278:

_Health._ By John Brown, M.D. Edinburgh: Alexander Strahan & Co.

Footnote 279:

Several years ago, while prosecuting my anatomical studies in London
University College Dissecting-rooms, on opening a young woman, I
discovered an immense indentation of the liver large enough to admit a
rolling-pin, entirely produced by tight lacing!

Footnote 280:

Dryden.

Footnote 281:

Sir W. Temple.

Footnote 282:

Goldsmith’s _Essays_.

Footnote 283:

_Geoffry Hamlyn._ By H. Kingsley.

Footnote 284:

Proverbs, xx. 29.

Footnote 285:

“I would have given him, Captain Fleming, had he been _my_ son,” quoth
old Pearson the elder, “such a good sound drubbing as he never would
have forgotten—never!”

“Pooh! pooh! my good sir. Don’t tell me. Never saw flogging in the
navy do good. Kept down brutes; never made a man yet.”—Dr. Norman
Macleod in _Good Words_, May, 1861.

Footnote 286:

_The Birmingham Journal._

Footnote 287:

_A Woman’s Thoughts about Women._

Footnote 288:

If a girl has an _abundance_ of good nourishment, the school-mistress
must, of course, be remunerated for the necessary and costly expense;
and how this can be done on the paltry sum charged at _cheap_
boarding-schools? It is utterly impossible! The school-mistress will
live, even if the girls be half-starved. And what are we to expect
from poor and insufficient nourishment to a fast-growing girl, and at
the time of life, remember, when she requires an _extra_ quantity of
good sustaining, supporting food? A poor girl, from such treatment,
becomes either consumptive or broken down in constitution, and from
which she never recovers, but drags out a miserable existence. A
_cheap_ boarding-school is _dear_ at any price.

Footnote 289:

A horse-hair mattress should always be preferred to a feather bed. It
is not only better for the health, but it improves the figure.

Footnote 290:

_Spare Hours._ By John Brown, M.D., F.R.S.E.

Footnote 291:

_Household Verses on Health and Happiness._ London: Jarrold and Sons.

Footnote 292:

Hurdis’s _Village Curate_.

Footnote 293:

Shakspeare.

Footnote 294:

Todd’s _Student’s Guide_.

Footnote 295:

Sir Astley Cooper’s _Lectures on Scrofula_.

Footnote 296:

I. Chronicles, xxi. 13.

Footnote 297:

A. K. H. B., _Fraser’s Magazine_, October, 1861.

Footnote 298:

Shakspeare.

Footnote 299:

_The Times_, May 16, 1867.

Footnote 300:

_Winter in the South of Europe._ By J. Henry Bennett. Third Edition.
London: Churchill and Sons, 1865.

Footnote 301:

A wineglassful of barm, a wineglassful of vinegar, and the remaining
sage tea, to make a half-pint bottle of gargle.

Footnote 302:

December 10, 1864.

Footnote 303:

Shakspeare knew the great importance of not crowding around a patient
who has fainted. He says:

“So play the foolish throngs with one that swoons;
Come all to help him, and so stop the air
By which he should revive.”
_Measure for Measure_, Act ii. sc. 4.

Footnote 304:

For the best way of stewing prunes, see page 1258.

Footnote 305:

Professor Trousseau in _Medical Circular_, Feb. 5, 1862.

Footnote 306:

Exodus, v. 12.

Footnote 307:

Wilson on _Healthy Skin_.

Footnote 308:

Four poppy-heads and four ounces of chamomile blows to be boiled in
four pints of water for half an hour, and then to be strained to make
the fomentation.

Footnote 309:

Cut a piece of bread, about the size of the little finger—without
breaking it into crumb—pour boiling hot milk upon it, cover it over,
and let it stand for five minutes, then apply the soaked bread over
the gum-boil, letting it rest between the cheek and the gum.

Footnote 310:

As long as fashion, instead of common sense, is followed in the making
of both boots and shoes, men and women will as a matter of course
suffer from corns.

It has often struck me as singular, when all the professions and
trades are so overstocked, that there should be, as there is in every
large town, such a want of chiropodists (corn-cutters)—of respectable
chiropodists—of men who would charge a _fixed_ sum for every visit the
patient may make; for instance, to every working-man a shilling, and
to every gentleman half a crown or five shillings for _each_ sitting,
and not for _each_ corn (which latter system is a most unsatisfactory
way of doing business). I am quite sure that if such a plan were
adopted, every town of any size in the kingdom would employ regularly
one chiropodist at least. However we might dislike some few of the
American customs, we may copy them with advantage in this
particular—namely, in having a regular staff of chiropodists both in
civil and in military life.

Footnote 311:

Youth—Ablution, page 1321.

Footnote 312:

A very small quantity of pure nitric acid—just a drain at the bottom
of a stoppered bottle—is all that is needed, and which may be procured
of a chemist.

Footnote 313:

_Dublin University Magazine._

Footnote 314:

_The Round Table._

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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

1. Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in spelling. 2. Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed. 3. Reindexed footnotes using numbers and collected together at the end of the last chapter. 4. Renumbered pages “Advice to a Mother” by adding 1000. 5. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_. 6. Enclosed blackletter font in =equals=.