It is not necessary, indeed it is hardly
desirable, to ask a dairyman to furnish only
the milk from one cow. You must know
the cow very well to be sure that its milk is
the best. A good dairy man is the best de-
pendence of all ; and there is no harm in
mixing the milk of several cows, all equally
fresh. What ought not to be done is to mix
hco days' milks together. Thorough scour-
ing of the pans, and keeping milk in a pure
atmosphere (as w^ell as a cool one), are of
extreme importance.
When milk is served only once a day in
hot weather, it had better be brought at
once to the boiling point — to make it keep
better, — and then set in the coolest and clean-
est part of the house ; best of all, put on ice.
A young infant, under a year old, had
better take all its food waj^in ; unless in the
torrid heat of our midsummer. With the
thermometer from 95° to 98°, one does not,
young or old, want anything warm, inside
or out.
If there be a sour smell on the breath, or
sourness of the curds thrown up, or colicky
pain after feeding, or beginning looseness of
the bowels, lime-water should be added to
the bottle-food. A tablespoonful to the
bottle will not be too much. It is always
harmless, if the bowels are not constipated ;
and it often does a great deal of good.
When very tough curds are formed after
taking cow's milk, a pinch of soda (bicar-
bonate) will help to dissolve them still more
effectually than lime-water or the starch
foods. But soda must be used in small
doses, and occasionally only. Lime-water
may be, if called for, an every- day remedy
for sourness of stomach, especially with a
disposition towards diarrhoea.
For thirsty between feeding- times, in
summer weather, the best plan is to give
cold water moderately, and supply from
time to time a soft clean rag containing
pounded ice for the child to suck. When a
sick child has fever, however, it may often
need to drink a good deal of water.
Clothing for Infants.
Let the clothing of infants, from birth,
be warm enough and loose enough for com-
fort. No tight bands should ever be put on
554
them. Some parents, in over- anxiety about
cold, put on three times as much as is
needed, and then shut all their chamber and
nursery windows and doors, with big, hot
fires ; wondering, then, that their babies are
fretful, get skin diseases all over, and often
seem to catch cold almost every time they
are taken out.
Babies resist actual cold less safely than
older persons ; but just enough clothing is
always better than too much for them. And
they do not need to have the rooms they live
in any warmer than we do — say 68° to 70°
Fahr. usually. They are also more hurt by
close, foul air than grown people are.
When they are old enough to wear short
clothes, a common mistake has been of an
opposite kind : to leave their arms and legs
bare ; they are so pretty thus ! But many
an attack of croup and of inflammation of
the lungs, sometimes fatal, has followed
such exposure in a chilly atmosphere.
Children should have no less protection of
their limbs from cold than men and women.
Kven though, when healthy and active,
they do not seem to feel it ; it is not safe.
Page 233
Presented as published in 1901. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
It is not necessary, indeed it is hardly desirable, to ask a dairyman to furnish only the milk from one cow. You must know the cow very well to be sure that its milk is the best. A good dairy man is the best dependence of all ; and there is no harm in mixing the milk of several cows, all equally fresh. What ought not to be done is to mix two days' milks together. Thorough scouring of the pans, and keeping milk in a pure atmosphere (as well as a cool one), are of extreme importance.
When milk is served only once a day in hot weather, it had better be brought at once to the boiling point — to make it keep better, — and then set in the coolest and cleanest part of the house ; best of all, put on ice.
A young infant, under a year old, had better take all its food warm in ; unless in the torrid heat of our midsummer. With the thermometer from 95° to 98°, one does not, young or old, want anything warm, inside or out.
If there be a sour smell on the breath, or sourness of the curds thrown up, or colicky pain after feeding, or beginning looseness of the bowels, lime-water should be added to the bottle-food. A tablespoonful to the bottle will not be too much. It is always harmless, if the bowels are not constipated ; and it often does a great deal of good. When very tough curds are formed after taking cow's milk, a pinch of soda (bicarbonate) will help to dissolve them still more effectually than lime-water or the starch foods. But soda must be used in small doses, and occasionally only. Lime-water may be, if called for, an every- day remedy for sourness of stomach, especially with a disposition towards diarrhoea.
For thirsty between feeding- times, in summer weather, the best plan is to give cold water moderately, and supply from time to time a soft clean rag containing pounded ice for the child to suck. When a sick child has fever, however, it may often need to drink a good deal of water.
Clothing for Infants.
Let the clothing of infants, from birth, be warm enough and loose enough for comfort. No tight bands should ever be put on
them. Some parents, in over- anxiety about cold, put on three times as much as is needed, and then shut all their chamber and nursery windows and doors, with big, hot fires ; wondering, then, that their babies are fretful, get skin diseases all over, and often seem to catch cold almost every time they are taken out.
Babies resist actual cold less safely than older persons ; but just enough clothing is always better than too much for them. And they do not need to have the rooms they live in any warmer than we do — say 68° to 70° Fahr. usually. They are also more hurt by close, foul air than grown people are.
When they are old enough to wear short clothes, a common mistake has been of an opposite kind : to leave their arms and legs bare ; they are so pretty thus ! But many an attack of croup and of inflammation of the lungs, sometimes fatal, has followed such exposure in a chilly atmosphere. Children should have no less protection of their limbs from cold than men and women. Kven though, when healthy and active, they do not seem to feel it ; it is not safe.