Chapter XXVI: Part III: Boyhood and Girlhood (3)

Or, one or two teaspoonfuls of compound confection of senna (lenitive electuary) may occasionally, early in the morning, be taken. Or, for a change, a teaspoonful of Henry’s magnesia, in half a tumblerful of warm water. If this should not be sufficiently active, a teaspoonful of Epsom salts should be given with the magnesia. A Seidlitz powder forms another safe and mild aperient; or one or two compound rhubarb pills may be given at bedtime. The following prescription for a pill, where an aperient is absolutely necessary, is a mild, gentle, and effective one for the purpose:

Take of—Extract of Socotrine Aloes, eight grains;
Compound Extract of Colocynth, forty-eight grains:
Hard Soap, twenty-four grains;
Treacle, a sufficient quantity:

To make twenty-four Pills. One or two to be taken at bedtime
occasionally.

But, after all, the best opening medicines are—cold ablutions every morning of the whole body; attention to diet; variety of food; bran-bread; grapes; stewed prunes;[304] French plums; Muscatel raisins; figs; fruit both cooked and raw—if it be ripe and sound; oatmeal porridge; lentil powder, in the form of Du Barry’s Arabica Revalenta; vegetables of all kinds, especially spinach; exercise in the open air; early rising; daily visiting the water-closet at a certain hour—there is nothing keeps the bowels open so regularly and well as establishing the habit of visiting the water-closet at a certain hour every morning; and the other rules of health specified in these Conversations. If more attention were paid to these points, poor school-boys and school-girls would not be compelled to swallow such nauseous and disgusting messes as they usually are.

Should these plans not succeed (although in the majority of cases, with patience and perseverance, they will), I would advise an enema once or twice a week, either simply of warm water, or of one made of gruel, table salt, and olive oil, in the proportion of two tablespoonfuls of salt, two of oil, and a pint of warm gruel, which a boy may administer to himself, or a girl to herself, by means of a proper enema apparatus.

Hydropathy is oftentimes very serviceable in preventing and in curing costiveness; and as it will sometimes prevent the necessity of administering medicine, it is both a boon and a blessing. “Hydropathy also supplies us with various remedies for constipation. From the simple glass of cold water, taken early in the morning, to the various douches and sea-baths, a long list of useful appliances might be made out, among which we may mention the ‘wet compresses’ worn for three hours over the abdomen [bowels], with a gutta-percha covering.”[305]

I have here a word or two to say to a mother who is always physicking her family. It is an unnatural thing to be constantly dosing either a child or any one else with medicine. One would suppose that some people were only sent into the world to be physicked! If more care were paid to the rules of health, very little medicine would be required! This is a bold assertion; but I am confident that it is a true one. It is a strange admission for a medical man to make, but, nevertheless, my convictions compel me to avow it.

370. _What is the reason girls are so subject to Costiveness?_

The principal reason why girls suffer more from costiveness than boys, is that their habits are more sedentary; as the best opening medicines in the world are an abundance of exercise, of muscular exertion, and of fresh air.

Unfortunately, poor girls in this enlightened age must be engaged, sitting all the while, several hours every day at fancy work, the piano, and other accomplishments, they, consequently, have little time for exercise of any kind. The bowels, as a matter of course, become constipated; they are, therefore, dosed with pills, with black draughts, with brimstone and treacle—oh! the abomination!—and with medicines of that class, almost _ad infinitum_. What is the consequence? Opening medicines, by constant repetition, lose their effects, and, therefore, require to be made stronger and still stronger, until at length the strongest will scarcely act at all, and the poor unfortunate girl, when she becomes a woman, _if she ever does become one_, is spiritless, heavy, dull, and listless, requiring daily doses of physic, until she almost lives on medicine!

All this misery and wretchedness proceed from Nature’s laws having been set at defiance, from _artificial_ means taking the place of _natural_ ones—from a mother adopting as her rule and guide fashion and folly, rather than reason and common sense. When will a mother awake from her folly and stupidity? This is strong language to address to a lady; but it is not stronger than the subject demands.

Mothers of England! do, let me entreat you, ponder well upon what I have said. Do rescue your girls from the bondage of fashion and folly, which is worse than the bondage of the Egyptian task-masters; for the Israelites did, in making bricks without straw, work in the open air—“So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw;”[306] but your girls, many of them at least, have no work, either in the house or in the open air—they have no exercise whatever. They are poor, drawling, dawdling, miserable nonentities, with muscles, for the want of proper exercise, like ribbons; and with faces, for the lack of fresh air, as white as a sheet of paper. What a host of charming girls are yearly sacrificed at the shrine of fashion and of folly!

Another, and a frequent cause of costiveness, is the bad habit of disobeying the call of having the bowels opened. The moment there is the slightest inclination to relieve the bowels, _instantly_ ought it to be attended to, or serious results will follow. Let me urge a mother to instill into her daughter’s mind the importance of this advice.

371. _Young people are subject to Pimples on the Face, what is the remedy?_

These hard red pimples (_acne_) are a common and an obstinate affection of the skin, principally affecting the forehead, the temples, the nose, and the cheeks; occasionally attacking the neck, the shoulders, the back, and the chest; and as they more frequently affect the young, from the age of 15 to 35, and are disfiguring, they cause much annoyance. “These pimples are so well known by most persons as scarcely to need description; they are conical, red, and hard; after awhile, they become white, and yellow at the point, then discharge a thick yellow-colored matter, mingled with a whitish substance, and become covered by a hard, brown scab, and lastly, disappear very slowly, sometimes very imperfectly, and often leaving an ugly scar behind them. To these symptoms are not unfrequently added considerable pain, and always much unsightliness. When these little cones have the black head of a ‘grub’ at their point, they constitute the variety termed _spotted acne_. These latter often remain stationary for months, without increasing or becoming red; but when they inflame, they are nowise different in their course from the common kind.”[307]

I find, in these cases, great benefit to be derived from bathing the face, night and morning, with strong salt and water—a tablespoonful of table salt to a teacupful of water; by paying attention to the bowels; by living on plain, wholesome, nourishing food; and by taking a great deal of out-door exercise. Sea bathing, in these cases, is often very beneficial. Grubs and worms have a mortal antipathy to salt.

372. _What is the cause of a Gum-boil?_

A decayed root of a tooth, which causes inflammation and abscess of the gum, which abscess breaks, and thus becomes a gum-boil.

373. _What is the treatment of a Gum-boil?_

Foment the outside of the face with a hot chamomile and poppy-head fomentation,[308] and apply to the gum-boil, between the cheek and the gum, a small white-bread and milk poultice,[309] which renew frequently.

As soon as the gum-boil has become quiet, _by all means_ have the affected tooth extracted, or it might cause disease, and consequently serious injury of the jaw; and whenever the patient catches cold there will be a renewal of the inflammation, of the abscess, and of the gum-boil, and, as a matter of course, renewed pain, trouble, and annoyance. Moreover, decayed fangs of teeth often cause the breath to be offensive.

374. _What is the best remedy for a Corn?_

The best remedy for a _hard corn_ is to remove it. The usual method of cutting, or of paring a corn away, is erroneous. The following is the right way: Cut with a _sharp_ pair of pointed scissors around the circumference of the corn. Work gradually round and round and toward the center. When you have for some considerable distance well loosened the edges, you can either with your finger or with a pair of forceps generally remove the corn bodily, and that with little pain and without the loss of any blood.

If the corn be properly and wholly removed, it will leave a small cavity or round hole in the center, where the blood-vessels and the nerve of the corn—vulgarly called the root—really were, and which, in point of fact, constituted the very existence or the essence of the corn. Moreover, if the corn be entirely removed, you will, without giving yourself the slightest pain, be able to squeeze the part affected between your finger and thumb.

_Hard corns_ on the sole of the foot and on the sides of the foot are best treated by filing—by filing them with a sharp cutting file (flat on one side and convex on the other), neither too coarse nor too fine in the cutting. The corn ought, once every day, to be filed, and should daily be continued until you experience a slight pain, which tells you that the end of the corn is approaching. Many cases of _hard corn_, that have resisted every other plan of treatment, have been _entirely_ cured by means of the file. One great advantage of the file is, it cannot possibly do any harm, and may be used by a timid person, by one who would not readily submit to any cutting instrument being applied to the corn.

The file, if properly used, is an effectual remedy for a _hard_ corn on the sole of the foot. I myself have seen the value of it in several cases, particularly in one case, that of an old gentleman of ninety-five, who had had a corn on the sole of his foot for upwards of half a century, and which had resisted numerous, indeed, almost innumerable remedies; at length I recommended the file, and after a few applications entire relief was obtained, and the corn was completely eradicated.

The corns between the toes are called _soft corns_. A _soft corn_ is quickly removed by the strong acetic acid—acid. acetic. fort.—which ought to be applied to the corn every night by means of a camel’s-hair brush. The toes should be kept asunder for a few minutes, in order that the acid may soak in; then apply between the toes a small piece of cotton wool.

_Hard corns_, then, on the sole and on the side of the foot, are best treated by the file; _hard corns_ on the toes by the scissors; and _soft corns_ between the toes by the strong acetic acid.

In the generality of cases the plans recommended above, if properly performed, will effect a cure; but if the corn, from pressure or from any other cause, should return, remove it again and proceed as before directed. If the corn have been caused either by tight or by ill-fitting shoes, the only way to prevent a recurrence is, of course, to have the shoes properly made by a clever shoemaker—by one who thoroughly understands his business, and who will have a pair of lasts made purposely for the feet.[310]

The German method of making boots and shoes is a capital one for the prevention of corns, as the boots and shoes are made scientifically, to fit a _real_ and not an _ideal_ foot.

One of the best preventives of, as well as of the best remedies for corns, especially of soft corns between the toes, is washing the feet every morning, as recommended in a previous Conversation,[311] taking especial care to wash with the thumb, and afterward to wipe with the towel between each toe.

375. _What is the best remedy to destroy a Wart?_

Pure nitric acid,[312] carefully applied to the wart by means of a small stick of cedar wood, a camel’s-hair pencil-holder, every other day, will soon destroy it. Care must be taken that the acid does not touch the healthy skin, or it will act as a caustic to it.

The nitric acid should be preserved in a stoppered bottle, and must be put out of the reach of children.

376. _What is the best remedy for Tender Feet, for Sweaty Feet, and for Smelling Feet?_

Cold water: bathing the feet in cold water, beginning with tepid water; but gradually from day to day reducing the warm until the water be quite cold. A large nursery-basin, one-third full of water, ought to be placed on the floor, and one foot at a time should be put in the water, washing the while with a sponge the foot, and with the thumb between each toe. Each foot should remain in the water about half a minute. The feet ought after each washing to be well dried, taking care to dry with the towel between each toe. The above process must be repeated at least once every day, every morning, and, if the annoyance be great, every night as well. A clean pair of stockings ought in these cases to be put on daily, as perfect cleanliness is absolutely necessary both to afford relief and to effect a cure.

If the feet be tender, or if there be either bunions or corns, the shoes and the boots made according to the German method (which are fashioned according to the actual shape of the foot) should alone be worn.

377. _What are the causes of so many young ladies of the present day being weak, nervous, and unhappy?_

The principal causes are—ignorance of the laws of health, Nature’s laws being set at naught by fashion and by folly, by want of fresh air and exercise, by want of occupation, and by want of self-reliance. Weak, nervous, and unhappy! Well they might be! What have they to make them strong and happy? Have they work to do to brace the muscles? Have they occupation—useful, active occupation—to make them happy? No! they have neither the one nor the other!

378. _What diseases are girls most subject to?_

The diseases peculiar to girls are—Chlorosis, Greensickness, and Hysterics.

379. _What are the usual causes of Chlorosis?_

Chlorosis is caused by torpor and debility of the whole frame, _especially of the womb_. It is generally produced by scanty or by improper food, by the want of air and exercise, and by too close application within doors. Here we have the same tale over again—close application within doors, and the want of fresh air and exercise! When will the eyes of a mother be opened to this important subject?—the most important that can engage her attention!

380. _What is the usual age for Chlorosis to occur, and what are the symptoms?_

Chlorosis more frequently attacks girls from fifteen to twenty years of age; although unmarried women, much older, occasionally have it. I say _unmarried_, for, as a rule, it is a complaint of the _single_.

The patient, first of all, complains of being languid, tired, and out of spirits; she is fatigued with the slightest exertion; she has usually palpitation of the heart (so as to make her fancy that she has a disease of that organ, which, in all probability, she has _not_); she has shortness of breath, and a short dry cough; her face is flabby and pale; her complexion gradually assumes a yellowish or greenish hue—hence the name of chlorosis; there is a dark, livid circle around her eyes; her lips lose their color, and become almost white; her tongue is generally white and pasty; her appetite is bad, and is frequently depraved—the patient often preferring chalk, slate-pencil, cinder, and even dirt, to the daintiest food; indigestion frequently attends chlorosis; she has usually pains over the short-ribs, on the _left_ side; she suffers greatly from “wind,” and is frequently nearly choked by it; her bowels are generally costive, and the stools are unhealthy; she has pains in her hips, loins, and back; and her feet and ankles are oftentimes swollen. _The menstrual discharge is either suspended, or very partially performed_; if the latter, it is usually almost colorless. Hysterical fits not unfrequently occur during an attack of chlorosis.

381. _How may Chlorosis be prevented?_

If health were more and fashion were less studied, chlorosis would not be such a frequent complaint. This disease generally takes its rise from mismanagement—from Nature’s laws having been set at defiance. I have heard a silly mother express an opinion that it is not _genteel_ for a girl to eat _heartily_! Such language is perfectly absurd and cruel. How often, too, a weak mother declares that a healthy, blooming girl looks like a milkmaid! It would be well if she did! How true and sad it is, that “a pale, delicate face, and clear eyes, indicative of consumption, are the fashionable _desiderata_ at present for complexion.”[313]

A growing girl requires _plenty_ of _good_ nourishment—as much as her appetite demands; and if she have it not, she will become either chlorotic, or consumptive, or delicate. Besides, _the greatest beautifier in the world is health_; therefore, by a mother studying the health of her daughter, she will, at the same time, adorn her body with beauty! I am sorry to say that too many parents think more of the beauty than of the health of their girls. Sad and lamentable infatuation! Nathaniel Hawthorne gives a graphic description of a delicate young lady. He says: “She is one of those delicate, nervous young creatures not uncommon in New England, and whom I suppose to have become what we find them by the gradually refining away of the physical system among young women. Some philosophers choose to glorify this habit of body by terming it spiritual; but, in my opinion, it is rather the effect of unwholesome food, bad air, lack of out-door exercise, and neglect of bathing, on the part of these damsels and their female progenitors, all resulting in a kind of hereditary dyspepsia.”

Nathaniel Hawthorne, a distinguished American, was right. Such ladies, when he wrote, were not uncommon; but within the last two or three years, to their great credit be it spoken, “a change has come o’er the spirit of their dreams,” and they are wonderfully improved in health; for, with all reverence be it spoken, “God helps them who help themselves,” and they have helped themselves by attending to the rules of health: “The women of America are growing more and more handsome every year for just this reason. They are growing rounder of chest, fuller of limb, gaining substance and development in every direction. Whatever may be urged to the contrary, we believe this to be a demonstrable fact.... When the rising generation of American girls once begin to wear thick shoes, to take much exercise in the open air, to skate, to play croquet, and to affect the saddle, it not only begins to grow more wise but more healthful, and—which must follow as the night the day—more beautiful.”[314]

If a young girl had plenty of wholesome meat, varied from day to day, either plain roast or boiled, and neither stewed, nor hashed, nor highly seasoned, for her stomach; if she had an abundance of fresh air for her lungs; if she had plenty of active exercise, such as skipping, dancing, running, riding, swimming, for her muscles; if her clothing were warm and loose, and adapted to the season; if her mind were more occupied with active, _useful_ occupation, such as household work, than at present, and if she were kept calm and untroubled from the hurly-burly and excitement of fashionable life,—chlorosis would almost be an unknown disease. It is a complaint of rare occurrence with country girls, but of great frequency with fine city ladies.

382. _What treatment should you advise?_

The treatment which would prevent should be adopted when the complaint first makes its appearance. If the above means do not quickly remove it, the mother must then apply to a medical man, and he will give medicines _which will soon have the desired effect_. If the disease be allowed for any length of time to run on, it might produce either organic—incurable—disease of the heart, or consumption, or indigestion, or confirmed ill health.

383. _At what period of life is a lady most prone to Hysterics, and what are the symptoms?_

The time of life when hysterics occur is generally from the age of fifteen to fifty. Hysterics come on by paroxysms—hence they are called hysterical fits. A patient, just before an attack, is low spirited; crying without a cause; she is “nervous,” as it is called; she has flushings of the face; she is at other times very pale; she has shortness of breath and occasional palpitations of the heart; her appetite is usually bad; she passes quantities of colorless limpid urine, having the appearance of pump-water; she is much troubled with flatulence in her bowels, and, in consequence, she feels bloated and uncomfortable. The “wind” at length rises upward toward the stomach, and still upward to the throat, giving her the sensation of a ball stopping her breathing, and producing a feeling of suffocation. The sensation of a ball in the throat (_globus hystericus_) is the commencement of the fit.

She now becomes _partially_ insensible, although she seldom loses _complete_ consciousness. Her face becomes flushed, her nostrils dilated, her head thrown back, and her stomach and bowels enormously distended with “wind.” After a short time she throws her arms and legs about convulsively, she beats her breast, tears her hair and clothes, laughs boisterously, and screams violently; at other times she makes a peculiar noise; sometimes she sobs, and her face is much distorted. At length she brings up enormous quantities of wind; after a time, she bursts into a violent flood of tears, and then gradually comes to herself.

As soon as the fit is at an end she generally passes enormous quantities of colorless limpid urine. She might, in a short time, fall into another attack similar to the above. When she comes to herself she feels exhausted and tired, and usually complains of slight headache, and of great soreness of the body and limbs. She seldom remembers what has occurred during the fit. Hysterics are sometimes frightful to witness; but, in themselves, are not at all dangerous.

384. _What are the causes of Hysterics?_

Delicate health, chlorosis, improper and not sufficiently nourishing food, grief, anxiety, excitement of the mind, closely confined rooms, want of exercise, indigestion, flatulence, and tight lacing are the causes which usually produce hysterics. Hysterics are frequently feigned; indeed, oftener than any other complaint; and even a _genuine_ case is usually much aggravated by a patient herself giving way to them.

385. _What do you recommend an Hysterical lady to do?_

To improve her health by proper management; to rise early and to take a walk, that she may breathe pure and wholesome air,—indeed, she ought to live nearly half her time in the open air, exercising herself with walking, skipping, etc.; to employ her mind with botany, croquet, archery, or with any other out-door amusement; to confine herself to plain, wholesome, nourishing food; to avoid tight lacing; to eschew fashionable amusements; and, above all, not to give way to her feelings, but if she feel an attack approaching, to rouse herself.

_If the fit be upon her_, the better plan is to banish all the _male_ sex from the room, and not even to have many women about her, and for those around to loosen her dress; to lay her in the center of the room, flat upon the ground, with a pillow under her head; to remove combs and pins and brooches from her person; to dash cold water upon her face; to apply cloths, or a large sponge wetted in cold water, to her head; to throw open the window, and then to leave her to herself; or, at all events, to leave her with only one _female_ friend or attendant. If such be done, she will soon come round; but what is the usual practice? If a girl be in hysterics, the whole house, and perhaps the neighborhood, is roused; the room is crowded to suffocation; fears are openly expressed by those around that she is in a dangerous state; she hears what they say, and her hysterics are increased tenfold.

* * * * *

If this book is to be of use to mothers and to the rising generation, as I humbly hope and trust that it has been, and that it will be still more abundantly, it ought not to be listlessly read, merely as a novel, or as any other piece of fiction, but it must be thoughtfully and carefully studied, until its contents, in all its bearings, be completely mastered and understood.

In conclusion, I beg to thank you for the courtesy, confidence, and attention I have received at your hands, and to express a hope that my advice, through God’s blessing, may not have been given in vain.

INDEX.

Ablution of a child, 1120.
of an infant, 1016.
of a youth, 1318.
thorough of boy and girl, 1318.

Accidents of children, 1297.

Acne, symptoms and treatment of, 1390.

Advice to a mother if her infant be poorly, 1148.
to _Mr. Paterfamilias_, 1087.

Ailments, the distinction between _serious_ and _slight_, 1087.
of infants, 1085.

Air and exercise for youth, 1337.
the importance of good, 1152.
the necessity of fresh and changing the, 1151.

American ladies, 1398.

Amusements for a child, 1177.
for a girl, 1344.
for a boy, 1341.

Ankles, weak, 1116.

Antipathies of a child, 1149.

Aperients for a child, 1255.
for an infant, 1091.
for a new-born babe, 1086.
for a youth, 1385.
danger of frequent, 1385.

Appeal to mothers, 1389.

Appetite, on a child losing his, 1146.

Applications, hot, 1295.

Apron, washing, 1022.

Archery, 1344.

Arnold, Doctor, on corporal punishment, 1349.

Arrow-root for an infant, 1040.

Artificial food for an infant at breast, 1036.

Asses’ milk, 1046.

Babes should kick on floor, 1076.

Baby-slaughter, 1045.

Baked crumb of bread for an infant, 1037.
flour for an infant, 1038.

Bakers’ and home-made bread, 1148.

Bathing after _full_ meal, 1324.

Baths, cold, tepid, and warm, 1325.

Baths, warm, as a remedy for flatulence, 1099.

Beard best respirator, 1380.

Bed, on placing child in, 1189.

Beds, feather, 1188.
purification of, 1238.

Bed-rooms, the ventilation of, 1359.
cool, 1190.
a plan to ventilate, 1359.

Bee, the sting of, 1312.

Beef, salted or boiled, 1141.

Belladonna, poisoning by, 1314.

Belly-band, when to discontinue, 1028.

Beverage for a child, 1143.

“Black eye,” remedies for, 1298.

Bladder and bowels of an infant, 1084.

Bleeding from navel, how to restrain, 1024.
of nose, 1381.

Blood, spitting of, 1374.

Blows and bruises, 1298.

Boarding-schools for females, 1351.
on cheap (_note_), 1352.

Boiled bread for infants, 1036.
flour for infants’ food, 1037.

Boils, the treatment of, 1252.

Boots and shoes, 1127, 1394.

Bottles, the best nursing, 1041.

Boulogne sore-throat, 1217.

Bow legs, 1277.

Bowels, large, of children, 1255.
looseness of, 1100.
protrusion of lower, 1258.

Boys should be made strong, 1343.

Brain, water on the, 1199.

Bran to soften water, 1280.

Bran poultices, 1296.

Breakfast of a child, 1135.
of a youth, 1332.

Breast, on early putting an infant to, 1032.

Breathing exercise, 1344.

Brimstone and treacle, 1261.

Brown and Polson’s Corn Flour, 1039.

Bronchitis, the treatment of, 1213.

Broth for infants, 1116.
for a new-born infant, 1041.
and soup, 1335.

Brothers and sisters, 1351.

Bruises, remedies for, 1298.

Burns and scalds, 1303.

Burning of women, 1152.

Bullying a child, 1166.

Butter, wholesome, 1135.

Calomel, the danger of a mother prescribing, 1095.
the ill effects of, 1385.

Camphor makes teeth brittle, 1365.

Caning a boy, 1347.

Caps, flannel, 1028.

Carpets in nurseries, 1171.

Carriage exercise, 1341.

Carron oil in burns, 1305.

Castor oil “to heal the bowels,” 1096.

Cat, bites and scratches of a, 1311.

“Chafings” of infants, the treatment of, 1088.

Chairs, straight-backed, 1354.

Change of air, 1263.
linen in sickness, 1267.

Chapped hands, legs, etc., 1280.
lips, 1281.

Chest, keeping warm the upper part of the, 1328.

“Chicken-breasted” and narrow-breasted children, 1274.

Chicken-pox, 1239.

Chilblains, 1279.

Child should dine with parents, 1150.

“Child-crowing,” 1206.
the treatment of a paroxysm, 1207.

Children’s hour, 1162.
parties, 1182.

Chimneys, on the stopping of, 1171, 1266.

Chiropodists (_note_), 1394.

Chlorosis or green sickness, 1396, 1397.
rare in rural districts, 1399.

“Choking,” what to be done in a case of, 1308.

Cisterns, best kind of, 1143.

Clothes, on airing an infant’s, 1030.
the ill effects of tight, 1124.

Clothing of children, 1123.
of infants, 1028.
during winter, 1031.
of youths, 1327.

Coffee as an aperient, 1285, 1333.
and tea, 1332.

Coin, on the swallowing of a, 1317.

Cold bedroom healthy, 1191.
a feverish, 1296.
on child always catching, 1264.
feet, method to warm, 1161.

Concluding remarks on infancy, 1119.

Constipation, prevention and cure of, 1385.

Consumption attacks the _upper_ part of the lungs, 1329.
the age at which it usually appears, 1374.
causes of, 1377.
death-rate, 1373.
importance of early consulting a medical man in, 1372.
spitting of blood in, 1372.
symptoms of, 1374.

Consumptive patient, the treatment of a, 1377.

Convulsions of children, 1066, 1089.
from hooping-cough, 1090.

Cooked fruit for child, 1134.

Coroners’ inquests on infants, 1082.

Corporal punishment at schools, 1347.

Corns, 1392, 1394.

Costiveness of infants, the means to prevent, 1096.
remedies for, 1091.

Costiveness, the reason why so prevalent, 1388.

Cough, the danger of stopping a, 1074.

Cow, the importance of having the milk from ONE, 1042, 1046.

Cream and egg, 1135.
and water for babe, 1135.

Crinoline and burning of ladies, 1152.

Croquet for girls, 1344.

Crossness in a sick child, 1268.

Croup, 1200.
the treatment of, 1202.

Cry of infant, 1115.

Cure, artificial and natural, 1277.

“Curious phenomenon” in scarlet fever, 1228.

Cut finger, the application for, 1297.

Dancing and skipping, 1344.

Danger of constantly giving physic, 1119.

Delicate child, plan to strengthen a, 1262.

Dentition, 1062.
lancing of gums, 1064.
second, 1094.
symptoms and treatment of painful, 1071.

Diarrhœa of infants, 1100.
treatment of, 1103.

Diet of a child who has cut his teeth, 1135.
of children, 1132.
of a dry-nursed child, 1046.
of infants, 1032.
on a mother being particular in attending to, 1142.
of youth, 1332.

Dietary, an infant’s, 1036.

Dinner for a child, 1133.
youth, 1333.

Diphtheria, symptoms, causes, and treatment of, 1217–223.

Dirty child, a, 1085.

Diseased nature and strange eruptions, 1291.

Diseases of children, 1195.
girls, 1396.
infants, 1085.
obscure, 1283.
the prevention of, 1366.
produced by tight lacing, 1330.
symptoms of _serious_, 1088.

Doctor, on early calling in, 1293.

Dog, the bite of a, 1309.

Doleful child, 1157.

Drainage, 1153, 1238.

Dress, female, 1331.
of a child while asleep, 1080.

Drinking fountains, 1043.

Dropping child, danger of, 1299.

Dry-nursed children, the best food for, 1046.

“Dusting-powder” for infants, 1020.

Dysentery, symptoms, and treatment of, 1104–108.

Ear, discharges from, 1254.
removal of a pea or bead from, 1316.

Earache, treatment of, 1253.

Earwig in ear, 1316.

Early rising, 1192, 1362.

Education of children, 1084.

Education in infant schools, 1083.
home, the best for girls, 1351.
modern, 1351.
for youth, 1347.

Eggs for children, 1042.

Enema apparatus (_note_), 1262.

Engravings in nurseries, 1055.

Eruptions about the mouth, 1289.

Excoriations, applications for, 1021.
best remedy for, 1021.

Exercise, 1075, 1172, 1337.
best composing medicine, 1092.
for children, 1072.
in wet weather, 1175.
on violently tossing infants, 1077.
horse and pony, 1339.
an infant himself taking, 1076.
in wet weather, 1075.
for youth, 1338.

Fecal matter in pump-water, 1238.

Fainting, 1383.
from constipation, 1384.
from debility, 1384.
from disordered stomach, 1384.

Falling off of hair, 1327.

Falls on the head, 1299.

Fashion, dangerous effects of strictly attending to, 1331.
the present, of dressing children, 1131.

Fashionable _desiderata_ for complexion, 1397.

Favoritism, 1067.

Feeding infants, proper times for, at breast, 1043.

Feet, smelling, 1395.
sweating, 1395.
tender, 1395.

Female dress, 1331.

Fire, on a child playing with, 1302.
danger of back to, 1153.
in night nursery, 1190.
the manner of extinguishing, if clothes be on, 1302.
guards, 1152, 1302.

Fire-proof, making dresses, 1303.

Flannel night-gowns, 1126.
shirts for a delicate child, 1126.
waistcoats, 1328.

Flatulence, remedies for, 1097, 1294.

Fleas, to drive away, 1272.

Flute, bugle, and other wind instruments, 1344.

Fly-pole, 1345.

Fog, on sending child out in, 1175.

Folly of giving physic after vaccination, 1061.

Food, artificial, during suckling, 1043.
care in preparing infants’, 1041.
for dry-nursed infants, 1036, 1046.
for infants who are sucking, 1036.

Frightening a child, 1159.

Fruit, as an aperient, 1258.

Garters impede circulation, 1128.

Gin or peppermint in infants’ food, 1055.

Giving joy to a child, 1162.

Glass, a child swallowing broken, 1316.

Gluttony, 1337.

Glycerin soap, 1281.

Goat’s milk, 1046.

_Godfrey’s Cordial_, 1098.
poisoning by, treatment, 1313.

Grazed skin, 1312.

Green dresses poisonous, 1155, 1332.
paper-hangings for nurseries, 1155.

“Gripings” of infants, 1098.

“Gross superstition,” 1230.

Gums, the lancing of the, 1064.

Gum-boil, cause and treatment, 1391.

Gum-sticks, the best, 1067.

Gymnasium, value of, 1343.

Hair, the best application for the, 1326.
falling off, 1327.
making tidy, 1327.

Half-washed and half-starved child, 1177.

Hand-swing, 1345.

Happiness to a child, 1162.

Happy child, 1163.

Hard’s Farinaceous Food, 1038.

Hardening of children’s constitutions, 1126.
of infants, 1078.

Hats for a child, the best kind, 1124.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel, on American ladies, 1398.

Head, fall upon, 1299.

Heat, external application of, 1295.

Hiccoughs of infants, 1100.

Hints conducive to the well-doing of a child, 1157.

Home of childhood—the nursery, 1157.

Hooping-cough, 1243.
obstinate, 1248.
treatment of, 1245.

Horse exercise for boys or girls, 1339.
and pony exercise, 1339.

Hot-water bag or bottle, 1295.

Household work for girls, 1355.

Hydrophobia, 1309.

Hysterics, 1400, 1402.

India-rubber hot-water bottle, 1295.

Infants should be encouraged to use exertion, 1076.

Infant schools, 1183.

Ipecacuanha wine, preservation of, 1205.

Ladies “affecting the saddle,” 1344.

Laudanum, poisoning by, 1313.

Law, physic, and divinity, 1356.

Leaden cisterns, 1143.

Learning without health, 1275.

Leech-bites, the way to restrain bleeding from, 1117.

Lessons for child, 1180.

Lice in head after illness, 1271.

Light, best artificial, for nursery, 1156.
the importance of, to health, 1156.

Lime in the eye, 1307.
to harden the bones, 1288.

Lime-water and milk, 1140.

“Looseness of the bowels,” the treatment of, 1101.

Love of children, 1164.

Lucifer matches, the poisonous effects of, 1156, 1301.

Luncheon for a child, 1140.

Lungs, inflammation of, 1126, 1209.
precautions to prevent, 1273.
symptoms of, 1209.
treatment of, 1209.

Lying lips of a child, 1167.

Mad dog, the bite of, 1309.
description of, 1310.

Magnesia to cool a child, 1096.

Massacre of innocents, 1045.

Mattresses, horse-hair, best for child, 1188.

Meals, a child’s, 1144.

Measles, 1223.
and scarlet fever, 1227.
treatment of, 1224.

Meat, daily, on giving, 1333.
raw, in long-standing diarrhœa, 1262.
in exhaustive diseases, 1262.
when a child should commence taking, 1132.

Meddlesome treatment, 1291.

Medical man, a mother’s treatment toward, 1291.

Medicine, the best way of administering, 1264.
on giving new-born infants, 1085.
on making palatable (_note_), 1265.

Menstruating female during suckling, 1048.

Mercury, on the danger of parents giving, 1094, 1385.

Milk, on the importance of having it from ONE cow, 1036, 1046.
bad, very nasty, 1138.
for babe indispensable, 1048.
or meat, or both, 1139.
a plan to make a child take, 1139.
the value of, for children, 1136.
a way to prevent, turning sour, 1140.
crust, 1289.

Mismanaged baby, 1014.

Modified small-pox and chicken-pox, 1242.

Mother, fretting, injurious to infant, 1053.
a foolish, 1083.
of many diseases, 1377.

Mother’s and cow’s milk, on mixing, 1036.

Motions, healthy, of babe, 1100.

Mumps, 1251.

Napkins, when to dispense with, 1084.

Nature’s physic, 1118.

Navel, management of the, 1024.
rupture of, 1025.

Nervous and unhappy young ladies, 1395.

Nettle-rash, 1108.

New-born infants and aperients, 1085.

Night-terrors, 1159.

Nose, removal of foreign substances from, 1315.
bleeding from, means to restrain, 1381.

Nurse, on the choice of a, 1158.
a lazy, 1161.
strong and active, 1158.
young, not desirable, 1158.
for the sick, 1269.

Nursery-basin, 1017.

Nursery a child’s own domain, 1157, 1179.
selection, warming, ventilation, arrangements of, 1150.

Nursery of a sick child, 1266.
on the light of a, 1156.
must be airy, 1151.
observations, further, 1151.
windows to be often opened, 1156.

Opium, a case of poisoning by, 1074.
the danger of administering, to infants, 1098.
the treatment of poisoning by, 1313.

Over-education, 1184.

Paint-boxes dangerous as toys, 1180.

Peevishness of a child, the plan to allay, 1164.

Perambulators, 1173.

Physicking a child, on the frequent, 1118.

Pies and puddings, 1133.

Pimples of the face, treatment of, 1390.

Pin, on a child’s swallowing, 1317.

Play, a course of education in, 1185.

Play-grounds for children, 1182.
and play, 1182.

Pleasant words to a child, 1166.

Poisoning, accidental, 1313.
by the breath, 1189.

Poppy-syrup, 1098.

Pork, an improper meat for children, 1141.

Position of a sleeping child, 1190.

Potatoes for children, 1142.

Poultice, a white-bread, 1297.

Powder, “dusting,” 1020.

Precocity of intellect, 1366.

Precocious youths, the health of, 1367.

Princess of Wales and her baby (_note_), 1022.

Professions and trades, 1355.

Proper person to wash an infant, 1022.

Prunes, the best way of stewing, 1258.

Profession or trade, choice of, for delicate youth, 1355.
delicate youths should be brought up to, 1357.

Puddings for children, 1133.

Quack medicines, 1098.

Quacking an infant, 1096.

Quicklime in eye, 1307.

Red-gum, 1109.

Respiration, products of, poisonous, 1359.

Rest, the best time for a child to retire to, 1189.

Revaccination, importance of, 1057.
every seven years, 1057.

Rheumatic fever, flannel vest and drawers, 1328.

Ribs, bulging out of, 1371.

Rice, prepared as an infant’s food, 1039.

Richardson, Dr., ether spray, 1382.

Rickets, 1285.
various degrees of, 1286.

Rocking-chairs, and rockers to cradle, 1079.

Rocking infants to sleep, 1078.

Rooms, ill effects of dark, 1156.

Round shoulders, 1275, 1370.

Round-worm, 1282.

Running scall, 1289.

Rupture, 1026, 1027.

Rusks, 1039.

Sallowness, cause of, in young girls, 1338.

Salt water and fresh water, 1324.

Salt should be added to an infant’s food, 1042.
bag of hot, 1295.
necessary to human life, 1284.
meats for children, 1141.

Salt and water ablutions for a delicate child, 1123.
for teeth and gums, 1364.

Scalds and burns, 1303.
of mouth, 1304.

Scarlatina, 1226.

Scarlet fever, 1226.
the contagion of, 1237.
the danger of giving aperients in, 1227.
the dropsy of, 1227, 1237.
management of child after, 1236.
and measles, the importance of distinguishing between, 1229.
the principal danger of, 1227.
purification of house after, 1238.
treatment of, 1229.

Schools, female boarding, 1351.
public, 1350.

Screaming in sleep, 1250.

Scrofula, 1367.
prevention of, 1368.

Scurfy head, 1122.

Sea bathing and fresh water bathing, 1324.
for a young child, 1264.

Secrets, talking, before child, 1187.

Senna as an aperient, 1255.

Shivering fit, importance of attending to a, 1249.
treatment of, 1250.

Shoes, plan to waterproof, 1329.
preferable to boots, 1128.
and stockings for children and youths, 1127, 1329.
the ill effects of tight, 1128.

“Shortening” an infant, 1032.

Shoulder-blades “growing out,” 1275.

Sick child, the nursing of a, 1265.
not to be stuffed with food, 1269.

Sick-room, management of, 1265.

Sickness of infants, 1110.

Singing and reading aloud, 1346.
beneficial to a child, 1187.

Single-stick, 1342.

Sitting with back to fire, 1153.

Sitz-bath, for protrusion of bowels, 1260.

Skating for boys and girls, 1345.

Skin, grazed, 1312.

Sleeping-rooms, importance of well ventilating, 1359.

Sleep of children, 1188.
infants, 1077.
in middle of day beneficial, 1188.
much, necessary for infants, 1080.
temperature of infant’s bedroom during, 1077.
right time of putting a child to, 1189.
rocking infants to, 1077.

Sleep of youth, 1362.

Slippers, the best for sick-room (_note_), 1269.

Small-pox, 1056.
a pest and disgrace, 1057.
modified, 1240.
when in neighborhood, 1059.
to prevent pitting of, 1279.

Smothering of infants, the cause, 1082.

Socks and stockings for a child, 1127.

Soda, ill effects of washing clothes with, 1021.

Sounds, joyful, 1163.

Soups and broths, 1254.

Speak gently to a child, 1165.

Spencer, a knitted worsted, 1371.

Spines, distorted, 1188, 1371.
injury to, 1299.
curvature of, 1031.
twisted, 1275.

Spirits, deadly effects of, to the young, 1335.

Spitting of blood, 1372, 1374.
precautions, 1377.

Spurious croup, 1206.

Stammering, cause of, 1169.
cure of, 1170.

Stays, the ill effects of, 1330.

Stillness of sick-room, 1269.

Sting of bee or wasp, 1312.

Stir-about and milk, 1136.

Stockings and shoes, 1127, 1329.

Stooping in a girl, 1370.

Stopping of chimneys, 1171, 1266.

Stuffing a sick child with food, 1269.

“Stuffing of the nose,” of infants, 1110.

“Sty,” treatment of, 1255.

Suckling, the proper times of, 1035.

Suet-pudding, 1133.

Sugar for infants, 1042, 1055.
confectionery, 1148.
_raw_, as an aperient, 1056.

Sunstroke, 1125.

Sunday, 1181.

Supper for a child and for a youth, 1144, 1336.

Surfeit water and saffron tea, 1224.

Sweetmeats and cakes, 1148.

Swimming, on boys and girls, 1322.

Symptoms of _serious_ diseases, 1195.

Tape-worm, 1282.

Taste for things refined, 1156.

Tea, on giving a child, 1147.
green, the ill effects of, 1147, 1336.

Teeth, attention to, importance of, 1364.
child should not have meat until he have cut several, 1132.
the diet of a child who has cut all his, 1132.
and gums, 1364.
right way of brushing, 1365.
appearance and number of _first_ set of, 1063.
appearance and number of _second_ set of, 1194.
second crop of, 1194.

Teething, 1062.

Teething, eruptions from, 1074.
frequent cause of sickness, 1111.
fruitful source of disease, 1070.
purging during, 1073.
restlessness from, 1294.
_second_, 1194.
symptoms and treatment of painful, 1071.
in town and country, 1073.

Temperature and ventilation of a nursery, 1150.
of a warm bath, 1294.

Thread-worm, 1282.

Throats, sore, precautions to prevent, 1370.

Thrush, cause, symptoms, prevention, and cure of, 1112.

Thumb, best gum-stick, 1067.

Tight bands, belts, and hats, 1124.

Tight lacing, the ill effects of, 1330.

Times for suckling an infant, 1035.

Tobacco smoking for boys, 1380.
cases illustrating the danger of, 1381.

Toe-nails, the right way of cutting, 1130.

Tongue-tied, an infant, 1034.

“Tooth-cough,” 1074.

Tooth-powder, an excellent, 1364.

Top crust of bread as infant’s food, 1039.

Tous-les-mois, 1037.

Toys, children’s, 1181.
painted with arsenic, 1155, 1180.

Trade or profession for delicate youth, 1358.

Treatment of a delicate child, 1263.
of some urgent serious diseases, 1087, 1196.

Truth, the love of, 1167.

Tub, commencement of washing infant in, 1017.

Tumbling and rolling of a child, 1176.

Vaccination, 1056.

Veal for a child, 1141.

Vegetables for a child, 1142.

Ventilation, and on stopping of chimneys, 1171, 1266.
and sleep, 1359.
of a nursery, 1151.

Violet powder, 1020.

Walking, on the early, of infants, 1172.
exercise, value of, 1338.
in his sleep, a child, 1193.

Warm baths for children, 1294.
external applications, 1295.

Warts, 1394.

Washing of a child, 1120.
an infant, 1016.
a new-born infant’s head with brandy, 1018.
a nursery floor, 1154.

Wasp, the sting of a, 1312.

Water, on the importance of good, 1143.
on the brain, 1199.
-closet, on going regularly to, 1387, 1389.
cold and warm, for ablution, 1119.

Weaned child, the diet of a, 1054.

Weaning, proper time and manner of, 1053, 1054.

Weather, on a child almost living in the air in fine, 1175.
on sending a child out in wet, 1175.

Weight of new-born infants (_note_), 1080.

Wet-flannel application, 1296.

Wet-nurse, 1045.
for feeble babe, 1049.

“Wetting the bed” during sleep, 1277.

Wheezing of a new-born infant, 1085.

White lily leaf for bruises, 1299.

Windows of a nursery, 1156.

Windpipe, foreign substance in, 1317.

Wine for children and youths, 1146, 1335.

Winter clothing, 1130.

Woolen garments, 1126, 1327.

Worms, 1282.
quack medicines for, 1283.

THE END.

-----

Footnote 1:

Shakspeare.

Footnote 2:

Martial.

Footnote 3:

_The Nurse_; a Poem. Translated from the Italian of Luigi Tansillo by
William Roscoe.

Footnote 4:

_Good Words_, July, 1862.

Footnote 5:

Emerson.

Footnote 6:

Douglas Jerrold.

Footnote 7:

Shakspeare.

Footnote 8:

Chesterfield.

Footnote 9:

From a notice of _this work_ in _The Reader_ of 14th February 1863.

Footnote 10:

“The whole world around us, and the whole world within us, are ruled
by law.”—The Duke of Argyle, _Good Words_, January, 1865.

Footnote 11:

_The Family Friend_, vol. i. London: Houlston & Stoneman.

Footnote 12:

“The indulgences and vices of prosperity are far more fatal than the
privations entailed by any English form of distress.”—_The Times_,
Feb. 3d, 1868.

Footnote 13:

From a notice of _this work_ in _The Reader_ of 14th February 1863.

Footnote 14:

Which may be procured of any respectable ironmonger.

Footnote 15:

A nursery-basin (Wedgewood’s make is considered the best) holding six
or eight quarts of water, according to the size of the patient—whether
she be either a little or a large woman. It will only be necessary to
fill it about one-third full with water: this, of course, is only for
the sitz-bath—the sitting-bath. The same basin for the _previous_
washing ought to have been three parts full of water.

Footnote 16:

Rock-salt makes the strongest bath, but is much more difficult to
dissolve in the water than either table salt or bay salt—the two
latter being so readily dissolved.

Footnote 17:

Armstrong.

Footnote 18:

There is an admirable review in the _Spectator_ (Feb. 17th, 1866) of a
work on _The Breakfast Book_, in which the reviewer proves the
importance of people making good and substantial breakfasts, and in
which he indicates the kinds most suitable for the purpose. I have, in
the text, availed myself of many of his valuable suggestions.

Footnote 19:

For the preservation of the teeth and gums, see Pye Chavasse’s _Advice
to a Mother on the Management of her Children_, under the head of “On
the Teeth and the Gums.”

Footnote 20:

Armstrong.

Footnote 21:

Armstrong.

Footnote 22:

Milton.

Footnote 23:

Longfellow.

Footnote 24:

Coleridge.

Footnote 25:

Byron.

Footnote 26:

Pye Chavasse’s _Advice to a Mother_, Ninth Edition.

Footnote 27:

Ecclesiastes, v. 12.

Footnote 28:

_Light._ By Forbes Winslow, M.D.

Footnote 29:

I have entered so fully into the evil effects of tight lacing in my
other book, _Advice to a Mother_, that I consider it quite unnecessary
to say more in this place on the subject. Moreover, it is not so
necessary now as in the early editions of my two works to dwell upon
the subject, as, I am happy to say, the evil effects of tight lacing
are at the present time better understood. Stays used to be
formidable-looking apparatuses; indeed, they were instruments of
torture. Now they are more simple, and therefore more suitable.

Footnote 30:

From a notice of _this work_ in _The Reader_ of 14th of February,
1863.

Footnote 31:

Cowper.

Footnote 32:

From a notice of this work in _The Reader_ of 14th of February, 1868.

Footnote 33:

_Poems_, by the author of _The Patience of Hope_.

Footnote 34:

Longfellow.

Footnote 35:

“Hold idleness to be the mother of sin; it both robs thee of the good
thou hast and hinders thee of what thou hast not.”—“On some Guesses at
Truth,” in _Good Words_, June, 1862.

Footnote 36:

Cowper.

Footnote 37:

Tennyson.

Footnote 38:

Proverbs, xxxi. 17.

Footnote 39:

Dr. Samuel Johnson.

Footnote 40:

“A pale, delicate face, and clear eyes, indicative of consumption, are
the fashionable _desiderata_ at present for complexion.”—_Dublin
University Magazine._

Footnote 41:

Byron.

Footnote 42:

Sir Egerton Brydges.

Footnote 43:

Dr. Grosvenor.

Footnote 44:

“In the human female, the period of puberty, or of commencing aptitude
for procreation, is usually between the thirteenth and sixteenth
years. It is generally thought to be somewhat earlier in warm climates
than in cold, and in densely populated manufacturing towns than in
thinly populated agricultural districts. The mental and bodily habits
of the individual have also considerable influence upon the time of
its occurrence; girls brought up in the midst of luxury or sensual
indulgence undergoing this change earlier than those reared in
hardihood and self-denial.”—_Dr. Carpenter’s Human Physiology._

Footnote 45:

“Some curious facts come to light in the Scotch Registrar-General’s
report in reference to prolific mothers. One mother, who was only
eighteen, had four children; one, who was twenty-two, had seven
children; and of two who were only thirty-four, one had thirteen and
the other fourteen children; and, on the other hand, two women became
mothers as late in life as at fifty-one, and four at fifty-two; and
one mother was registered as having given birth to a child in the
fifty-seventh year of her age.”

Footnote 46:

_British Medical Journal_, Nov. 21st, 1863.

Footnote 47:

It is very unusual, in this climate, for a girl to become a mother
until she be seventeen or eighteen years of age. A case has just
occurred, however (1864), where a girl became a mother before she
reached her fourteenth year. In his last report to the
Registrar-General, the registrar for Park district, Sheffield, says:
“I have registered the birth of a child in my district this quarter,
the age of the mother being only thirteen years and ten months. She
was employed in a cotton mill in the neighborhood of Manchester.”

Footnote 48:

De Quincey.

Footnote 49:

_Exposition of the Signs and Symptoms of Pregnancy._

Footnote 50:

“The catamenial discharge, as it issues from the uterus [womb],
appears to be nearly or quite identical with ordinary blood; but in
its passage through the vagina it becomes mixed with the acid mucus
exuded from its walls, which usually deprives it of the power of
coagulating. If the discharge should be profuse, however, a portion of
its fibrin remains unaffected, and clots are formed.”—_Dr. Carpenter’s
Human Physiology._

Footnote 51:

Dr. David D. Davis was physician-accoucheur in attendance at the birth
of her present Majesty.

Footnote 52:

With regard to the origin of the word _enceinte_, Dr. Montgomery, in
his valuable _Exposition of the Signs and Symptoms of Pregnancy_,
observes: “Many a one who confesses, with a smile or a blush, that she
is _enceinte_, would do well to remember the origin of the word she
uses. It was the habit of the Roman ladies to wear a tight girdle or
cincture round their waists; but when pregnancy occurred, they were
required by law—at least that of opinion—to remove this restraint; and
hence a woman so situated was said to be _incincta_, or unbound, and
hence also the adoption of the term _enceinte_ to signify a state of
pregnancy.”

Footnote 53:

“William Hunter had such faith in this sign that he always asserted he
could judge by it alone whether or not a woman was pregnant.”—_Signs
and Diseases of Pregnancy._ (Dr. Tanner.)

Footnote 54:

Dr. Denman.

Footnote 55:

This work is exclusively intended for the perusal of wives; I beg,
however, to observe that there is one sign of pregnancy which I have
not pointed out, but which to a medical man is very conclusive; I mean
the sounds of the fœtal heart, indicated by the stethoscope. Moreover,
there are other means besides the stethoscope known to a doctor, by
which he can with certainty tell whether a woman be pregnant or
otherwise, but which would be quite out of place to describe in a
popular work of this kind.

Footnote 56:

The _bidet_ may be procured of a cabinet-maker, the _sitz-bath_ of a
furnishing ironmonger.

Footnote 57:

Burton.

Footnote 58:

Abernethy.

Footnote 59:

_Popular Science Review._

Footnote 60:

These pills and all medicines prescribed in this book ought to be
prepared by a chemist.

Footnote 61:

The hot-water bag, or bottle as it is sometimes called, is composed of
vulcanized india-rubber, and is made purposely to hold very hot water.
The bag ought not to be more than _half filled_ with water, as it will
then better adapt itself to the shape of the bowels. The water must be
hot, but not boiling hot; if it should be very hot, the bag ought to
be wrapped in flannel.

Footnote 62:

Take four poppy-heads and four ounces of chamomile blows, and boil
them in four pints of water for half an hour, to make the fomentation,
which should then be strained, and made quite hot in a saucepan when
required.

Footnote 63:

Waring’s _Manual of Therapeutics_.

Footnote 64:

Let the ointments be made by a druggist.

Footnote 65:

Which may be procured either of a medical man or of any respectable
surgical-instrument-maker.

Footnote 66:

_Domette_ is a mixture of flannel and cotton. One of good quality
should be used for the purpose.

Footnote 67:

Ten grains of powdered alum to half an ounce of chloroform.

Footnote 68:

Camphor julep may be made by putting a few lumps of camphor in a
wide-mouthed bottle of cold water; cork it up, and let it stand for a
few days; then strain it, sweeten it with lump sugar, and it will be
fit for use.

Footnote 69:

A hot-water bag is composed of vulcanized india-rubber, and is made
purposely to hold very hot water—boiling water. It ought only to be
_half_ filled with water, in order that it may adapt itself to the
surface of the stomach. The temperature of the water need only be hot,
and not boiling hot. It is a most delightful stomach warmer and
comforter, and should be in every house where there is a family. One
great advantage of it is, that it is, in a few minutes, ready for use.
It may be procured at any respectable india-rubber warehouse.

Footnote 70: