R^de II. — Do not wean the child just
before or during the hot weather, nor, as a
rule, until after its second summer. If
suckling disagrees with the mother, she
must not wean the child, but feed it in part
out of a nursing-bottle, on such food as has
been directed. However small the supply
of breast-milk, provided it agrees with the
child, the mother should carefully keej") it
up against sickness : it alone will often save
the life of a child when everything else fails.
When the child is over six months old, the
mother may save her strength ])y giving it
one or two meals a day of stale bread and
milk, which should be pressed througli a
sieve and put into a nursing-bottle. When
from eight months to a year old, it may have
also one meal a day of the yolk of a fresh
and rare-boiled egg, or one of beef- or nuit-
ton -broth into which stale bread has been
559
96
THE FAMILY DOCTOR
crumbled. When older than this, it can
have a little meat finely minced ; but even
then milk should be its principal food, and
not such food as grown people eat.
When an infant's bowels do not act, at
least once or twice, freely, every day, sweet
(olive) oil may be given, a teaspoonful at
once ; or vianna^ a quarter of a teaspooful
at a time (it is sweet and easily taken) ; or
simple syrup of rhubai'b, a teaspoonful at
once; ox glycerine, a teaspoonful at a time.
If the stomach is sick at the same time,
magnesia may do more good, a quarter or
"half a teaspoonful, according to the age of
the child, stirred well up in a little water.
If colic is present, castor oil, a teaspoonful
mixed with two teaspoonfuls of spiced syriLp
of rhubarb wil be the best thing to open the
bowels.
THE LAV/S OF HYGIENE
How to Keep Well,
In the pages over which we have passed,
our effort has been, as the reader will per-
ceive, to describe the various ailments with
which man is afflicted and the accidents or
injuries to which he is liable; also, the
remedies to be applied or the methods to be
adopted in the treatment of the sick or the
injured. This, while a great part of the
story, is not the whole story. There is a
further very important phase of the subject.
It is one thing to know how to get well ; it
is another to know how to keep well. There
is a science of health as well as a science of
sickness. The former we call hygiene.
This deals with the rules to be observed to
enable us to avoid ill-health. These are of
the highest importance, and it is incumbent
upon us here to give the leading laws and
principles of hygiene science.
The world we dwell in is full of the
seeds of disease. They come to us in the
food we eat, the water we drink, the air we
breathe. We cannot stir abroad or confine
ourselves at home without exposing our-
selves to some unwholesome condition. The
germs of disease lurk everywhere. We may
escape them in part, but cannot altogether.
But what effect they will have upon us de-
pends largely upon ourselves. A sound,
vigorous constitution and health}^ normal
condition of the organs of the body, enable
us to expose ourselves, with impunity to
conditions which might prove fatal to those
of feeble powers of resistance or weakness
in some of the vital organs. Therefore, in
addition to care in avoiding exposure to in-
jurious influences, it is very important to
560
Page 241
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
R^de II. — Do not wean the child just before or during the hot weather, nor, as a rule, until after its second summer. If suckling disagrees with the mother, she must not wean the child, but feed it in part out of a nursing-bottle, on such food as has been directed. However small the supply of breast-milk, provided it agrees with the child, the mother should carefully keep it up against sickness : it alone will often save the life of a child when everything else fails. When the child is over six months old, the mother may save her strength ])y giving it one or two meals a day of stale bread and milk, which should be pressed through a sieve and put into a nursing-bottle. When from eight months to a year old, it may have also one meal a day of the yolk of a fresh and rare-boiled egg, or one of beef- or mutton-broth into which stale bread has been
crumbled. When older than this, it can have a little meat finely minced ; but even then milk should be its principal food, and not such food as grown people eat.
When an infant's bowels do not act, at least once or twice, freely, every day, sweet (olive) oil may be given, a teaspoonful at once ; or vianna, a quarter of a teaspooful at a time (it is sweet and easily taken) ; or simple syrup of rhubarb, a teaspoonful at
once; ox glycerine, a teaspoonful at a time. If the stomach is sick at the same time, magnesia may do more good, a quarter or "half a teaspoonful, according to the age of the child, stirred well up in a little water. If colic is present, castor oil, a teaspoonful mixed with two teaspoonfuls of spiced syrup of rhubarb will be the best thing to open the bowels.
THE LAV/S OF HYGIENE
How to Keep Well,
In the pages over which we have passed, our effort has been, as the reader will perceive, to describe the various ailments with which man is afflicted and the accidents or injuries to which he is liable; also, the remedies to be applied or the methods to be adopted in the treatment of the sick or the injured. This, while a great part of the story, is not the whole story. There is a further very important phase of the subject. It is one thing to know how to get well ; it is another to know how to keep well. There is a science of health as well as a science of sickness. The former we call hygiene. This deals with the rules to be observed to enable us to avoid ill-health. These are of the highest importance, and it is incumbent upon us here to give the leading laws and principles of hygiene science.
The world we dwell in is full of the seeds of disease. They come to us in the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe. We cannot stir abroad or confine ourselves at home without exposing ourselves to some unwholesome condition. The germs of disease lurk everywhere. We may escape them in part, but cannot altogether. But what effect they will have upon us depends largely upon ourselves. A sound, vigorous constitution and healthy normal condition of the organs of the body, enable us to expose ourselves, with impunity to conditions which might prove fatal to those of feeble powers of resistance or weakness in some of the vital organs. Therefore, in addition to care in avoiding exposure to injurious influences, it is very important to