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CHAPTER X.

THE GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF THE INFANT'S HEALTH.

Sect. 1.-Apartments and Servants.

A LARGE portion of the early years of children being spent in the nursery, and under the immediate care of dependants, the apartments they inhabit, and the persons who have the charge of them, ought to be of no small moment to parents; for the health and future welfare of their children will greatly depend on these two points.

Apartments. The proper ventilation of the apartments of children has not hitherto received that share of attention which its serious influence upon health deserves. Provision is rarely made for a regular supply of fresh, or removal of vitiated air, beyond what is afforded by windows, doors, and open chimneys. The fact is, that the public generally are not yet alive to the vast evils consequent upon breathing impure air. If, however, any one wants to be convinced, and to see them in their most unmitigated form, it is only necessary to visit the dwellings of the poor in a crowded city; the atmosphere they will have to breathe, and the appearance of the inmates, will amply suffice to convince the most sceptical. There can be no doubt

that the habitual respiration of a deteriorated atmosphere is one of the most powerful causes, even in the child born in perfect health, and of the healthiest parents, of that constitutional affection which precedes the appearance of consumption. Sir James Clark remarks: 'The habitual respiration of the air of illventilated and gloomy alleys in large towns is a powerful means of augmenting the hereditary disposition to scrofula, and even of inducing such a disposition de novo. Children reared in the workhouses of this country, and in similar establishments abroad, almost all become scrofulous; and this more, I believe, from the confined, impure air in which they live, and the want of active exercise, than from defective nourishment.' Without entering more fully into this part of the subject, what has been stated will amply suffice to prove the extreme importance of thorough ventilation in the apartments of the young and, I should hope, to induce the reader to adopt the principle where, at present, it is in any degree neglected. For it is a wellascertained fact, that where systematic ventilation does not exist, it is almost impossible to keep an apartment shut up for any length of time without a condition of atmosphere being produced that must be injurious. How often, where rooms are ill-ventilated, must а mother, on entering her nursery in the course of a day, but more particularly the bedroom of her children in the early morning, be sensible of the impurity of the atmosphere, while the occupants are altogether unconscious of it! Comparatively fresh at the commencement of the day or night, the air deteriorates so slowly and equally, that, unless it is contrasted with the external atmosphere, its impure state is not perceived. Now the result of breathing this, day after day, and

night after night, however slightly it may be vitiated, is inevitably deteriorative of health; and although its injurious influence be not so immediate or serious as in the aggravated case of the poor child, it is slowly going on and is like in kind; and scrofula in one or other of its forms, or delicate health, will manifest itself. The lassitude and weariness of children after a night's repose, when they ought to be refreshed and sprightly, is often attributed to indisposition when it frequently arises simply from breathing through the night the atmosphere of a close bedroom.

In addition to the means necessary to secure constant and thorough ventilation, the windows of the nursery should be thrown wide open before the children come into it in the morning, and those of the bedroom after they have left it; and of course, in summer weather, both may be frequently left open during the day, with great advantage when judiciously managed. No cooking or washing of linen-nothing, in fact, that would pollute the atmosphere-must 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 warmed 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 is a good coal fire. In the winter months, in the case of young children, there should also be a fire in the bedrooms, so as to secure a temperature of 60°. Many an attack of inflammation of the lungs has arisen from a delicate child being undressed and put to bed, at this period of

the year, in a room where this precaution has been disregarded.

If possible, the nursery should have a southerly or westerly aspect, 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 development 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. The influence of light on the vegetable kingdom is known to every one who has observed the bleached appearance of a plant growing in the dark, or corn growing under the shade of a tree, which is always paler and later in ripening than that growing in an open part of the field. Some ingenious experiments were made by Dr. Edwards, showing the influence of light upon the development of animals, in which it was found that those which naturally change their form, as tadpoles, were prevented doing so by its withdrawal. By analogy we are warranted in inferring that light must materially influence development and health in man; and it is positively found that children deprived of its wholesome and gentle stimulus grow up pale, sickly, and deformed, of which numerous examples may be seen in the dark courts and cellars of all great cities.

Then, again, a dull and confined prospect is a source of gloom to the naturally cheerful and active mind of a child; it should look out upon that which would gladden and refresh it. For the same reason, the walls of its nursery should be surrounded with pleasant and instructive pictures (easily attainable in the present day); all which would tend constantly, although imperceptibly, to produce a beneficial and

The fire

happy influence upon health and character. should be guarded by a high and firmly fixed fender; the lower half of the windows with iron bars—a precaution which has saved many a life. The floor also should be well carpeted, which best prevents those serious effects which sometimes follow severe falls in early childhood. There should be no unnecessary furniture in this apartment, that there may be ample space for the children to exercise and amuse themselves in. As few things as possible should be left within their reach which they are not to touch; and painted toys never 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.

Nursemaid. Although the mother is the guardian of the physical and moral health of her children, it is most important for her to remember that the nursemaid must necessarily have a considerable influence over the culture of both. The most watchful parent cannot be every moment in her nursery; but her nursemaid 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 necssarily, more or less, have to do with the formation of their moral character. Not only their present health and well-doing, but their conduct and happiness in future life, will, to a great degree, be influenced by the manner in which the nursemaid's duty is performed. There is therefore every reason for using the utmost care in the selection of the individual to whom such a trust is confided.