versed the experiment, giving to the first the orange, and to the second the wine, and the results corresponded: the child who had the orange continued well, and the system of the other got straightway into disorder, as in the first experi

ment.

Marcellin relates an instance of seven children in a family whose bowels became infested with worms, from the use of stimulants. They were cured by substituting water for the pernicious beverage.

I

In this town, spirits, particularly gin, are given to infants and children to a frightful extent. have seen an old Irish woman give diluted spirits to the infant just born. A short time since one of these dram-drinking children, about eight years of age, was brought into one of our hospitals. The attendants, from its emaciated appearance, considered the child was dying from mere starvation; which was true enough in a certain sense. Food was accordingly offered and pressed upon it, but the boy would not even put it to his lips. The next day it was discovered that the mother brought the child very nearly a pint of gin, every drop of which before night he had consumed.

It is easy to discover when children have been fed upon spirits: they are always emaciated; have a lean, yellow, haggard look: the eyes sunk,

the lips pale, and the teeth discoloured, the cadaverous aspect of the countenance being most fearful. They are continually suffering from bowel complaints and convulsive disorders; which, under these circumstances, terminate invariably in an early death.

CHAPTER II.

GENERAL MANAGEMENT.

SECT. I.THE NURSERY.

A LARGE portion of the early years of children being spent in the nursery and under the immediate care of dependents, the apartments they inhabit and the person or persons who have the charge of them, ought to be a matter of no small moment to a parent. Upon the proper regulation of the one, and the judicious selection of the other, will their health and future welfare much depend.

The nursery ought never to be upon the ground floor: damp or damp air being very injurious to children. If possible it should command a pleasant prospect without, and be light and cheerful within. The light of the sun has a powerful influence upon the growth and healthy developement of the body; and if children are immured in cheerless rooms, looking into dark shrubberies, or on the back-yards and chimneys of a town, their health must inevitably suffer. always be a day and a night nursery.

There should

The day

nursery must be well ventilated and cleaned before the children go into it in the morning, and the sleeping room or rooms must have the same care bestowed upon them during the day. By such an arrangement the children will breathe day and night a pure and wholesome atmosphere. The nursery must be of good size with but little furniture in it, not only for better ventilation, but that there may be ample space for the children to exercise and amuse themselves in. No cooking or washing of linen,-no chimney-boards or stopping-up of chimneys in the summer,—nothing in short that would interfere with the purity and freshness of the atmosphere, must ever be permitted in the nursery. Its temperature must be carefully regulated, and never allowed to rise above 65°. Heated rooms make children very susceptible of disease, particularly during the period of teething; and such as are accustomed to immoderately warm rooms will always when taken into the cold external air be much more liable to suffer than others, and during cold and humid weather will seldom be free from coughs and colds. The best mode of warming a nursery is by means of a good coal-fire, well guarded by a high and firmly fixed fender. The lower half of the windows should always be guarded with iron bars-a precaution which has saved many a life. Let the floor of the nursery be

carpeted; this is particularly necessary during early infancy. I have known very serious illness to arise from blows received from a fall on the bare boards of a nursery floor; a soft carpet is the most likely means to prevent this. Never have any unnecessary furniture in this apartment; and as few things as possible ought to be left within the reach of children which they are not to touch. Painted toys should never be allowed to very young children; they carry them to their mouths (particularly if teething), and sucking off the paint, there is great danger of their health suffering from the lead which is thus swallowed.

In reference to the nurse-maid it is not for me to point out the qualifications such an individual should possess, or to dwell upon the duties she has to perform. Still I cannot refrain from reminding the mother that although she is the guardian of the physical and moral health of her children, she must yet recollect that the nurse-maid must necessarily have a considerable influence over the culture of both. The most watchful parent cannot be every moment in her nursery, but her nurse-maid lives there. Day and night she has the care of and is the companion of the little ones. She looks after their persons, food, clothing and apartments, their amusements, exercise and rest, -and she must necessarily, more or less, have to do with the formation of their moral character.