tion of saccharine matter, which is thought to be that quality in all our food which renders, it nutritious. It is true, bread, as it requires more digestion, will lie longer on the stomach both of infants and adults; and hence, probably, because it satisfies the present cravings, it has been conceived to afford a greater proportion of nourishment: though mixed up only with water, as it too frequently is, it is far less nutritive than has been imagined; for the water affords no nourishment, and the bread is but imperfectly digested. Children ought to be frequently hungry, and as often supplied with light food, of which milk is really the most nourishing we are acquainted with."

From authority so indisputable I presume there will be no appeal.

Therefore, as I wish to enable my fair readers to manage the infants committed to their care without being obliged to call in a physician for every trifling indisposition, I will now beg leave briefly to notice such little complaints as are generally incident to them at this early age; with the remedies I have

from long experience found beneficial. I shall also, as mentioned in my introduction, occasionally enforce my opinions with the best medical authorities, lest some fond mothers should doubt my ability to direct on so important an occasion as where the health, and, possibly, the lives, of their children are concerned. Honouring, as I most cordially do, every indication of maternal tenderness, I reverence even prejudices arising from so amiable a source; and therefore as I proceed I shall endeavour to obviate such as I think most injurious to the health of infants, by arguments drawn from the best authorities, as well as from my own successful experience, rather than by asserting them to be either false or unfounded.

SECTION IV.

"To watch the infant form with anxious care,
"The lurking symptoms of disease detect,
"And with the aid of sweet nutritious food,
"Or potent herb, or kindly drug, to aid
"Oppressed nature in her arduous task
"Be thine! and thine the grateful rich reward
"Of conscious duty done-a mead more fair
"Than all the laurels which bedeck the brow
"Of modern Cæsar."

On Diseases incident to the Navel.

AS this is a part which requires the earliest attention, and which, as every nurse knows, will call for particular care the first fortnight of the infant's existence, and sometimes much longer, I shall notice it here. It is not my intention, however, to enter into the treatment of ruptures, or any other uncommon disorder of this part which may possibly occur, as every mother in such cases would undoubtedly wish for the best professional aid and advice. I shall confine myself to the common complaints, and the best method of treating them, that has come within my

D*

knowledge. As young mothers and nurses are sometimes at a loss how to proceed in the first dressing of the child, it may perhaps be advantageous to insert a quotation from Dr. Buchan upon that subject in the first place. "If too much of the cord or navel string is left to the body of the child it is apt to occasion inflammation; nay, in some cases, even mortification. The best way of managing it is, to make a hole in a piece of fine linen, many times doubled, and passing the end of the navel string through the hole, to fold the cloth several times till its gets near the belly; to which it should be bound by a smooth roller (or belly-band) but not drawn too tight. The navel string commonly separates and falls off in four or five days; when that happens, which should be carefully attended to, a bit of singed rag may be laid over the navel; and if any rawness or soreness should appear round it, and the skin should be fretted or galled, a raisin split and stoned may be applied, and the part washed with a little alum water, or a weak solution of sugar of lead, and a plaster of cerate applied, to protect it from rubbing." I have al ways been in the habit of roasting the raisin,

and grating upon it a little nutmeg; and I think the dressing ought to be renewed every day, and the part anointed with sweet oil in preference to the waters recommended above. I observe that Dr. Underwood enters largely into the treatment of this part, and to his book I would refer all those who wish for more particular information. But as some of my readers may not have it either in their power or inclination to consult so large a work, I will for their convenience extract from it what is said upon the most common complaints incident to it at this age.

"A complete separation (of the cord) in some instances takes place in five days, and even earlier; and in others not until the fifteenth or sixteenth. When so late the cord is usually found to hang for some time only by a very small filament or thread, which, having no life remaining, ought to be divided. For want of this a source of irritation and discharge is kept up, which I have suspected being the cause of some of the little disorders of this part. The separation, however, is not often followed with much soreness or pain, though there is frequently