PART III.

BOYHOOD AND GIRLHOOD.

_Just at the age 'twixt boy and youth

When thought is speech and speech is truth_--SCOTT

_'Tis with him e'en standing water.

Between man and boy_--SHAKESPEARE

_Standing with reluctant feet,

Where the brook and river meet,

Womanhood and childhood fleet_--LONGFELLOW

ABLUTION, ETC.

310. _Have you any remarks to make on the ablution of boys and girls_?

How is it that a mother thinks it absolutely necessary (which it

really is) that her babe's _whole_ body should, every morning, be

washed; and yet who does not deem it needful that her girl or boy, of

twelve years old, should go through the process of daily and

_thorough_ ablution? If the one case be necessary, sure I am that the

other is equally if not more needful.

Thorough ablution of the body every morning at least is essential to

health. I maintain that no one can be in the enjoyment of perfect

health who does not keep his skin--the whole of his skin--clean. In

the absence of cleanliness, a pellicle forms on the skin which

engenders disease. Moreover, a person who does not keep his skin clean

is more susceptible of contracting contagious disease, such as

small-pox, typhus fever, cholera, diphtheria, scarlet fever, etc.

Thorough ablution of the body is a grand requisite of I maintain that

no one can be perfectly healthy unless he thoroughly wash his

body--the whole of his body; if filth accumulate which, if not washed

off, it is sure to do, disease must, as a matter of course, follow.

Besides, ablution is a delightful process; it makes one feel fresh and

sweet, and young and healthy; it makes the young look handsome, and

the old look young! Thorough ablution might truly be said both to

renovate and to rejuvenise! A scrupulously clean skin is one of the

grand distinctive characteristics both of a lady and of a gentleman,

Dirty people are not only a nuisance to themselves, but to all around;

they are not only a nuisance but a danger, as their dirty bodies are

apt to carry from place to place contagious diseases.

It is important that parts that are covered should be kept cleaner

than parts exposed to the air, as dirt is more apt to fester in dark

places; besides, parts exposed to the air have the advantage of the

air's sweetening properties; air acts as a bath, and purifies the skin

amazingly.

It is desirable to commence a complete system of washing early in

life, as it then becomes a second nature, and cannot afterwards be

dispensed with. One accustomed to the luxury of his morning ablution,

if anything prevented him from taking it, would feel most

uncomfortable; he would as soon think of dispensing with his breakfast

as with his bath.

Every boy, every girl, and every adult, ought each to have either a

room or a dressing-room to himself or to herself, in order that he or

she might strip to the skin and thoroughly wash themselves; no one can

wash properly and effectually without doing so.

Now, for the paraphernalia required for the process--(1.) A large

nursery basin, one that will hold six or eight quarts of water

(Wedgwood's make being considered the best); (2.) A piece of coarse

flannel, a yard long and half a yard wide; (3.) A large sponge; (4.) A

tablet either of the best yellow or of curd soap; (5.) Two towels-one

being a diaper, and the other a Turkish rubber. Now, as to the manner

of performing ablution. You ought to fill the basin three parts full

with _rain_ water, then, having well-soaped and cleansed your hands,

re-soap them, dip your head and face into the water, then with the

soaped hands well rub and wash your head, face, neck, chest, and

armpits; having done which, take the wetted sponge, and go over all

the parts previously travelled over by the soaped hands; then fold the

flannel, as you would a neck-kerchief, and dip it in the water, then

throw it, as you would a skipping-rope, over your shoulders and move

it a few times from right to left and from left to right, and up and

down, and then across the back and loins; having done which, dip the

sponge in the water, and holding your head over the water, let the

water stream from the sponge a time or two over your head, neck, and

face. Dip your head and face in the water, then put your hands and

arms (as far as they will go) into the water, holding them there while

you can count thirty. Having reduced the quantity of water to a third

of a basinful, place the basin on the floor, and sit (while you can

count fifty) in the water; then put one foot at a time in the water,

and quickly rub, with soaped hands, up and down your leg, over the

foot, and pass your thumb between each toe (this latter procedure

tends to keep away soft corns); then take the sponge, filled with

water, and squeeze it over your leg and foot, from the knee

downwards,--then serve your other leg and foot in the same way. By

adopting the above plan, the whole of the body will, every morning, be

thoroughly washed.

A little warm water might at first, and during the winter time, be

added, to take off the chill; but the sooner quite cold water is used

the better. The body ought to be quickly dried (taking care to wipe

between each toe), first with the diaper, and then with the Turkish

rubber. In drying your back and loins, you ought to throw as you would

a skipping-rope, the Turkish rubber over your shoulders, and move it a

few times front side to side, until the parts be dry.

Although the above description is necessarily prolix, the washing

itself ought to be very expeditiously performed; there should be no

dawdling over it, otherwise the body will become chilled, and harm

instead of good will be the result. If due dispatch be used, the whole

of the body might, according to the above method, be thoroughly washed

and dried in the space of ten minutes.

A boy ought to wash his head, as above directed, every morning, a

girl, who has much hair, once a week, with soap and water, with

flannel and sponge. The hair, if not frequently washed, is very dirty,

and nothing is more repulsive than a dirty head!

It might be said, "Why do you go into particulars? why dwell so much

upon minutiae? Every one, without being told, knows how to wash

himself!" I reply, "That very few people do know how to wash

themselves properly; it is a misfortune that they do not--they would

be healthier and happier and sweeter if they did!"

311. _Have you any remarks to make on boys and girls learning to

swim_?

Let me strongly urge you to let your sons and daughters be _early_

taught to swim. Swimming is a glorious exercise--one of the best that

can be taken; it expands the chest; it promotes digestion; it develops

the muscles, and brings into action some muscles that in any other

form of exercise are but seldom brought into play; it strengthens and

braces the whole frame, and thus makes the swimmer resist the

liability of catching cold; it gives both boys and girls courage,

energy, and self-reliance,--splendid qualities in this rough world of

ours. Swimming is oftentimes the means of saving human life; this of

itself would be a great recommendation of its value. It is a

delightful amusement; to breast the waves is as exhilarating to the

spirits as clearing on horse-back a five-barred gate.

The art of learning to swim is quite as necessary to be learned by a

girl as by a boy; the former has similar muscles, lungs, and other

organs to develop as the latter.

It is very desirable that in large towns swimming-baths for ladies

should be instituted. Swimming ought, then, to be a part and parcel of

the education of every boy and of every girl.

Swimming does not always agree. This sometimes arises from a person

being quite cold before he plunges into the water. Many people have an

idea that they ought to go into the water while their bodies are in a

cool state. Now this is a mistaken notion, and is likely to produce

dangerous consequences. The skin ought to be comfortably warm, neither

very hot nor very cold, and then the bather will receive every

advantage that cold bathing can produce, If he go into the bath whilst

the body is cold, the blood becomes chilled, and is driven to internal

parts, and thus mischief is frequently produced.

A boy, after using cold bathing, ought, if it _agree_ with him, to

experience a pleasing glow over the whole surface of his body, his

spirits and appetite should be increased, and he ought to feel

stronger; but if it _disagree_ with him, a chilliness and coldness, a

lassitude and a depression of spirits, will be the result; the face

will be pale and the features will be pinched, and, in some instances,

the lips and the nails will become blue; all these are signs that

_cold_ bathing is injurious, and, therefore, that it ought on no

account to be persevered in, unless these symptoms have hitherto

proceeded from his going into the bath whilst he was quite cold. He

may, previously to entering the bath, warm himself by walking briskly

for a few minutes. Where cold, sea water bathing does not agree,

_warm_ sea bathing should be substituted.

312. _Which do you prefer--sea bathing or fresh water bathing_?

Sea bathing. Sea bathing is incomparably superior to fresh water

bathing; the salt water is far more refreshing and invigorating; the

battling with the waves is more exciting; the sea breezes, blowing on

the nude body, breathes (for the skin is a breathing apparatus) health

and strength into the frame, and comeliness into the face; the sea

water and the sea breezes are splendid cosmetics; the salt water is

one of the finest applications, both for strengthening the roots and

brightening the colour of the hair, provided grease and pomatum have

not been previously used.

313. _Have you any directions to give as to the time and the seasons,

and the best mode of sea bathing_?

Summer and autumn are the best seasons of the year for cold sea

bathing--August and September being the best months. To prepare the

skin for the cold sea bathing, it would be well, before taking a dip

in the sea, to have on the previous day a warm salt water bath. It is

injurious, and even dangerous, to bathe _immediately_ after a _full_

meal; the best time to bathe is about two hours after breakfast-that

is to say, at about eleven or twelve o'clock in the forenoon. The

bather as soon as he enters the water, ought _instantly_ to wet his

head; this may be done either by his jumping at once from the machine

into the water, or, if he have not the courage to do so, by plunging

his head without loss of time _completely_ under the water. He should

remain in the water about a quarter of an hour, but never longer than

half an hour. Many bathers by remaining a long time in the water do

themselves great injury. If sea bathing be found to be invigorating--

and how often to the delicate it has proved to be truly magical--a

patient may bathe once every day, but on no account oftener. If he be

not strong, he had better, at first, bathe only every other day, or

even only twice a week. The bather, after leaving the machine, ought

for half an hour to take a brisk walk in order to promote a reaction,

and thus to cause a free circulation of the blood.

314. _Do you think a tepid bath [Footnote: A tepid bath from 62 to 96

degrees of, Fahrenheit.] may be more safely used_?

A tepid bath may be taken at almost any time, and a bather may remain

longer in one, with safety, than in a cold bath.

315. _Do you approve of warm bathing_?

A warm, bath [Footnote: A warm bath from 97 to 100 degrees of

Fahrenheit] may with advantage be occasionally used--say, once a

week. A warm bath cleanses the skin more effectually than either a

cold or a tepid bath; but, as it is more relaxing, ought not to be

employed so often as either of them. A person should not continue

longer than ten minutes in a warm bath. Once a week, as a rule is

quite often enough for a warm bath; and it would be an excellent plan

if every boy and girl and adult would make a practice of having one

regularly every week, unless any special reason should arise to forbid

its use.

316. _But does not warm bathing, by relaxing the pores of the skin,

cause a person to catch cold if he expose himself to the air

immediately afterwards_?

There is, on this point, a great deal of misconception and unnecessary

fear. A person, _immediately_ after using a warm bath, should take

proper precautions--that is to say, he must not expose himself to

draughts, neither ought he to wash himself in _cold_ water, nor should

he, _immediately_ after taking one, drink _cold_ water. But he may

follow his usual exercise or employment, provided the weather be fine,

and the wind be neither in the east nor the north-east.

Every house of any pretension ought to have a bathroom. Nothing would

be more conducive to health than regular systematic bathing. A hot and

cold bath, a sitz bath, and a shower bath--each and all in their

turn--are grand requisites to preserve and procure health. If the

house cannot boast of a bath-room, then the Corporation Baths (which

nearly every large town possesses) ought to be liberally patronised.

MANAGEMENT OF THE HAIR

317. _What is the best application for the hair_?

A sponge and _cold_ water, and two good hair-brushes. Avoid grease,

pomatum, bandoline, and all abominations of that kind. There is a

natural oil of the hair, which is far superior to either Rowland's

Macassar Oil or any other oil! The best scent for the hair is an

occasional dressing of soap and water; the best beautifier of the hair

is a downright thorough good brushing with two good hair brushes!

Again, I say, _avoid grease of all kinds to the hair_. "And as for

woman's hair, don't plaster it with scented and sour grease, or with

any grease; it has an oil of its own. And don't tie up your hair

tight, and make it like a cap of iron over your skull. And why are

your ears covered? You hear all the worse, and they are not the

cleaner. Besides, the ear is beautiful in itself, and plays its own

part in the concert of the features." [Footnote: _Health._ By John

Brown, M.D.]

If the hair cannot, without some application, be kept tidy, then a

little castor oil, scented, might, by means of an old tooth-brush, be

used to smooth it; castor oil is, for the purpose, one of the most

simple and harmless of dressings; but, as I said before, the hair's

own natural oil cannot be equalled, far less surpassed!

If the hair fall off, the castor oil, scented with a few drops either

of otto of roses or of essence of bergamot, is a good remedy to

prevent its doing so; a little of it ought, night and morning, to be

well rubbed into the roots of the hair. Cocoa-nut oil is another

excellent application for the falling off of the hair, and can never

do harm, which is more than can be said of many vaunted remedies for

the Hair!

CLOTHING.

318. _Do you approve of a boy wearing flannel next to the skin?_

England is so variable a climate, and the changes from heat to cold,

and from dryness to moisture of the atmosphere, are so sudden, that

some means are required to guard against their effects. Flannel, as it

is a bad conductor of heat, prevents the sudden changes from affecting

the body, and thus is a great preservative against cold.

Flannel is as necessary in the summer as in the winter time; indeed,

we are more likely both to sit and to stand in draughts in the summer

than in the winter; and thus we are more liable to become chilled and

to catch cold.

Woollen shirts are now much worn; they are very comfortable and

beneficial to health. Moreover, they simplify the dress, as they

supersede the necessity of wearing either both flannel and linen, or

flannel and calico shirts.

319. _Flannel sometimes produces great irritation of the skin: what

ought to be done to prevent it_?

Have a moderately fine flannel, and persevere in its use; the skin in

a few days will bear it comfortably. The Angola and wove-silk

waistcoats have been recommended as substitutes, but there is nothing

equal to the old-fashioned Welsh flannel.

320. _If a boy have delicate lungs, do you approve of his wearing a

prepared hare-skin over the chest_?

I do not: the chest may be kept too warm as well as too cold. The

hare-skin heats the chest too much, and thereby promotes a violent

perspiration; which, by his going into the cold air, may become

suddenly checked, and may thus produce mischief. If the chest be

delicate, there is nothing like flannel to ward off colds.

321. _After an attack of Rheumatic Fever, what extra clothing do you

advise_?

In the case of a boy, or a girl, just recovering from a severe attack

of Rheumatic Fever, flannel next the skin ought always, winter and

summer, to be worn--flannel drawers as well as a flannel vest.

322. _Have you any remarks to make on boys' waistcoats_?

Fashion in this, as in most other instances, is at direct variance

with common sense. It would seem that fashion was intended to make

work for the doctor, and to swell the bills of mortality! It might be

asked, What part of the chest, in particular, ought to be kept warm?

The upper part needs it most. It is in the _upper_ part of the lungs

that tubercles (consumption) usually first make their appearance; and

is it not preposterous to have such parts, in particular, kept cool?

Double-breasted waistcoats cannot be too strongly recommended for

_delicate_ youths, and for all men who have _weak_ chests.

323. _Have you any directions to give respecting the shoes and the

stockings_?

The shoes for winter should be moderately thick and waterproof. If

boys and girls be delicate, they ought to have double soles to their

shoes, with a piece of bladder between each sole, or the inner sole

may be made of cork; either of the above plans will make the soles of

boots and shoes completely water-proof. In wet or dirty weather

India-rubber over-shoes are useful, as they keep the _upper_ as well

as the _under_ leathers perfectly dry.

The socks, or stockings, for winter, ought to be either lambs-wool or

worsted; it is absurd to wear _cotton_ socks or stockings all the year

round. I should advise a boy to wear socks not stockings, as he will

then be able to dispense with garters. Garters, as I have remarked in

a previous Conversation, are injurious--they not only interfere with

the circulation of the blood, but also, by pressure, injure the bones,

and thus the shape of the legs.

Boys and girls cannot be too particular in keeping their feet warm and

dry, as cold wet feet are one of the most frequent exciting causes of

bronchitis, of sore throats, and of consumption.

324. _When should a girl begin to wear stays_?

She ought never to wear them.

325. _Do not stays strengthen the body_?

No; on the contrary, they weaken it (1.) _They, weaken the

muscles_. The pressure upon them causes them to waste; so that, in the

end, a girl cannot do without them, as the stays are then obliged to

perform the duty of the wasted muscles. (2.) _They weaken the lungs_

by interfering with their functions. Every inspiration is accompanied

by a movement of the ribs. If this movement be impeded, the functions

of the lungs are impeded likewise, and, consequently, disease is

likely to follow, and either difficulty of breathing, or cough, or

consumption, may ensue. (3) _They weaken the heart's action_, and thus

frequently produce palpitation, and, perhaps, eventually, organic or

incurable disease of the heart (4) _They weaken the digestion_, by

pushing down the stomach and the liver, and by compressing the latter,

and thus induce indigestion, flatulence, and liver-disease. [Footnote:

Several years ago, while prosecuting my anatomical studies in London

University College Dissecting rooms, on opening a young women, I

discovered an immense indentation of the liver large enough to admit a

rolling pin, produced by tight lacing!] (5) _They weaken the bowels_,

by impeding their proper peristaltic (spiral) motion, and thus might

produce either constipation or a rupture. Is it not presumptuous to

imagine that man can improve upon God's works, and that if more

support had been required, the Almighty would not have given it?--

"God never made his work for man to mend"--_Dryden._

326. _Have you any remarks to make on female dress_?

There is a perfect disregard of health in everything appertaining to

fashion. Parts that ought to be kept warm, remain unclothed, the

_upper_ portion of the chest, most prone to tubercles (consumption),

is completely exposed, the feet, great inlets to cold, are covered

with thin stockings, and with shoes as thin as paper. Parts that

should have full play are cramped and hampered, the chest is cribbed

in with stays, the feet with _tight_ shoes,--hence causing deformity,

and preventing a free circulation of blood. The mind, that ought to be

calm and unruffled, is kept in a constant state of excitement by

balls, and concerts, and plays. Mind and body sympathise with each

other, and disease is the consequence. Night is turned into day, and

a delicate girl leaves the heated ball room, decked out in her airy

finery, to breathe the damp and cold air of night. She goes to bed,

but, for the first few hours, she is too much excited to sleep,

towards morning, when the air is pure and invigorating, and, when to

breathe it, would be to inhale health and life, she falls into a

feverish slumber, and wakes not until noon-day. Oh, that a mother

should be so blinded and so infatuated!

327. _Have you any observations to make on a girl wearing a green

dress_?

It is injurious to wear a green dress, if the colour have been

imparted to it by means of _Scheele's green_, which is arsenite of

copper--a deadly poison. I have known the arsenic to fly off from a

_green_ dress in the form of powder, and to produce, in consequence,

ill-health. Gas-light green is a lovely green, and free from all

danger, and is fortunately superseding the Scheele's green both in

dresses and in worsted work. I should advise my fair reader, when she

selects green as her colour, always to choose the gas-light green, and

to wear and to use for worsted work no other green besides, unless it

be imperial green.

DIET.

328. _Which is the more wholesome, coffee or tea, where milk does not

agree, for a youth's breakfast_?

Coffee, provided it be made properly, and provided the boy or the girl

take a great deal of out-door exercise; if a youth be much confined

within doors, black tea is preferable to coffee. The usual practice of

making coffee is to boil it, to get out the strength! But the fact is,

the process of boiling boils the strength away; it drives off that

aromatic, grateful principle, so wholesome to the stomach, and so

exhilarating to the spirits; and, in lieu of which, extracts its dregs

and impurities, which are both heavy and difficult of digestion. The

coffee ought, if practicable, to be _freshly_ ground every morning, in

order that you may be quite sure that it be perfectly genuine, and

that none of the aroma of the coffee has flown off from long exposure

to the atmosphere. If a youth's bowels be inclined to be costive,

coffee is preferable to tea for breakfast, as coffee tends to keep the

bowels regular. Fresh milk ought always to be added to the coffee in

the proportion of half coffee and half new milk. If coffee does not

agree, then _black_ tea should be substituted, which ought to be taken

with plenty of fresh milk in it. Milk may be frequently given in tea,

when it otherwise would disagree.

When a youth is delicate, it is an excellent plan to give him, every

morning before he leaves his bed, a tumblerful of _new_ milk. The

draught of milk, of course, is not in any way to interfere with his

regular breakfast.

329. _Do you approve of a boy eating meat with his breakfast_?

This will depend upon the exercise he uses. If he have had a good walk

or run before breakfast, or if he intend, after breakfast, to take

plenty of athletic out-door exercise, meat, or a rasher or two of

bacon, may, with advantage, be eaten; but not otherwise.

330. _What is the best dinner for a youth_?

Fresh mutton or beef, a variety of vegetables, and a farinaceous

pudding. It is a bad practice to allow him to dine, exclusively,

either on a fruit pudding, or on any other pudding, or on

pastry. Unless he be ill, he must, if he is to be healthy, strong, and

courageous, eat meat every day of his life. "All courageous animals

are carnivorous, and greater courage is to be expected in a people,

such as the English, whose food is strong and hearty, than in the

half-starved commonalty of other countries."--Sir W. Temple.

Let him be debarred from rich soups and from high-seasoned dishes,

which only disorder the stomach and inflame the blood. It is a mistake

to give a boy or a girl broth or soup, in lieu of meat for dinner; the

stomach takes such slops in a discontented way, and is not at all

satisfied. It may be well, occasionally, to give a youth with his

dinner, _in addition to his meat_, either good soup or good broth not

highly seasoned, made of good _meat_ stock. But after all that can be

said on the subject, a plain joint of meat, either roast or boiled, is

far superior for health and strength than either soup or broth, let it

be ever so good or so well made.

He should be desired to take plenty of time over his dinner, so that

he may be able to chew his food well, and thus that it may be reduced

to an impalpable mass, and be well mixed with the saliva,--which the

action of the jaws will cause to be secreted--before it passes into

the stomach. If such were usually the case, the stomach would not have

double duty to perform, and a boy would not so frequently lay the

foundation of indigestion, etc., which may embitter, and even make

miserable, his after-life. Meat, plain pudding, vegetables, bread, and

hunger for sauce (which exercise will readily give), is the best, and,

indeed, should be, as a rule, the only dinner he should have. A youth

ought not to dine later than two o'clock.

331. _Do you consider broths and soups wholesome_?

The stomach can digest solid much more readily than it can liquid

food; on which account the dinner, specified above, is far preferable

to one either of broth or of soup. Fluids in large quantities too

much dilute the gastric juice, and over-distend the stomach, and hence

weaken it, and thus produce indigestion: indeed, it might truly be

said that the stomach often takes broths and soups in a grumbling way!

332. _Do you approve of a boy drinking beer with his dinner_?

There is no objection to a little good, mild table-beer, but _strong_

ale ought never to be allowed. It is, indeed, questionable whether a

boy, unless he take unusual exercise, requires anything but water with

his meals.

333. _Do you approve of a youth, more especially if he be weakly,

having a glass or two of wine after dinner_?

I disapprove of it: his young blood does not require to be inflamed,

and his sensitive nerves excited, with wine; and, if he he delicate, I

should be sorry to endeavour to strengthen him by giving him such an

inflammable fluid. If he be weakly, he is more predisposed to put on

either fever or inflammation of some organ; and, being thus

predisposed, wine would be likely to excite either the one or the

other of them into action.

"Wine and youth are fire upon fire."--_Fielding._

A parent ought on no account to allow a boy to touch spirits, however

much diluted; they are, to the young, still more deadly in their

effects than wine.

334. _Have you any objection to a youth drinking tea_?

Not at all, provided it be not _green_ tea, that it be not made

strong, and that it have plenty of milk in it. Green tea is apt to

make people nervous, and boys and girls ought not even to know what it

is to be nervous.

335. _Do you object to supper for a youth_?

Meat suppers are highly prejudicial. If he be hungry (and if he have

been much in the open air, he is almost sure to be), a piece of bread

and cheese, or of bread and butter, with a draught either of new milk

or of table beer, will form the best supper he can have. He ought not

to sup later than eight o'clock.

336. _Do you approve of a boy having anything between meals_?

I do not; let him have four meals a day, and he will require nothing

in the intervals. It is a mistaken notion that "little and often is

best," The stomach requires rest as much as, or perhaps more than (for

it is frequently sadly over-worked) any other part of the body. I do

not mean that he is to have "_much_ and seldom:" moderation, in

everything, is to be observed. Give him as much as a growing boy

requires (_and that is a great deal_), but do not let him eat

gluttonously, as many indulgent parents encourage their children to

do. Intemperance in eating cannot be too strongly condemned.

337. _Have you any objection to a boy having pocket money_?

It is a bad practice to allow a boy _much_ pocket money; if he be so

allowed, he will be loading his stomach with sweets, fruit, and

pastry, and thus his stomach will become cloyed and disordered, and

the keen appetite, so characteristic of youth, will be blunted, and

ill-health will ensue. "In a public education, boys early learn

intemperance, and if the parents and friends would give them less

money upon their usual visits, it would be much to their advantage,

since it may justly be said that a great part of their disorders arise

from surfeit, '_plus occidit gula quam gladius_' (gluttony kills more

than the sword)."--_Goldsmith._

How true is the saying that "many people dig their graves with their

teeth." You may depend upon it that more die from stuffing than from

starvation! There would be little for doctors to do if there were not

so much stuffing and imbibing of strong drinks going on in the world!

AIR AND EXERCISE.

338. _Have you any remarks to make on fresh air and exercise for boys

and girls_?

Girls and boys, especially the former, are too much confined within

doors. It is imperatively necessary, if you wish them to be strong and

healthy, that they should have plenty of fresh air and exercise;

remember, I mean fresh air--country air, not the close air of a town.

By exercise, I mean the free unrestrained use of their limbs. Girls,

in this respect, are unfortunately worse off than boys, although they

have similar muscles to develop, similar lungs that require fresh air,

and similar nerves to be braced and strengthened. It is not considered

lady-like to be natural--all then: movements must be measured by rule

and compass!

The reason why so many young girls of the present day are so sallow,

under-sized, and ill-shaped, is for the want of air and

exercise. After a time the want of air and exercise, by causing ill

health, makes them slothful and indolent-it is a trouble for them to

move from their chairs!

Respiration, digestion, and a proper action of the bowels,

imperatively demand fresh air and exercise. Ill health will inevitably

ensue if boys and girls are cooped up a great part of the day in a

close room. A distinguished writer of the present day says: "The

children of the very poor are always out and about. In this respect

they are an example to those careful mammas who keep their children,

the whole day long, in their chairs, reading, writing, ciphering,

drawing, practising music lessons, doing crotchet work, or anything,

in fact, except running about in spite of the sunshine always peeping

in and inviting them out of doors; and who, in the due course of time,

are surprised to find their children growing up with incurable heart,

head, lung, or stomach complaints."

339. _What is the lest exercise for a youth_?

Walking or running: provided either of them be not carried to

fatigue,--the slightest approach to it should warn a youth to desist

from carrying it further. Walking exercise is not sufficiently

insisted upon. A boy or a girl, to be in the enjoyment of good health,

ought to walk at least ten miles every day. I do not mean ten miles at

a stretch, but at different times of the day. Some young ladies think

it an awfully long walk if they manage a couple of miles! How can

they, with such exercise, expect to be well? How can their muscles be

developed? How can their nerves be braced? How can their spines be

strengthened and be straight? How can their blood course merrily

through their blood-vessels? How can their chests expand and be

strong? Why, it is impossible! Ill health must be the penalty of such

indolence, for Nature will not be trifled with! Walking exercise,

then, is the finest exercise that can be taken, and must be taken, and

that without stint, if boys and girls are to be strong and well! The

advantage of our climate is, that there is not a day in the whole year

that walking exercise cannot be enjoyed. I use the term enjoyed

advisedly. The roads may, of course, be dirty; but what of that A good

thick pair of boots will be the remedy.

Do then, let me entreat you, insist upon your--girls and boys taking

plenty of exercise; let them almost live in the open air! Do not

coddle them; this is a rough; world of ours, and they must rough it;

they must be knocked about a great deal, and the knocks will do them,

good. Poor youths who are, as it were, tied to their mother's apron

strings, are much to be pitied; they are usually puny and delicate,

and effeminate, and utterly deficient of self-reliance.

340. _Do you approve of--horse or pony exercise for boys and girls_?

Most certainly I do; but still it ought not to supersede

walking. Horse or pony exercise is very beneficial, and cannot be too

strongly recommended. One great advantage for those living in towns,

which it has over walking, is, that a person may go further into the

country, and thus be enabled to breathe a purer and more healthy

atmosphere. Again, it is a much more amusing exercise than walking,

and this, for the young, is a great consideration indeed.

Horse exercise is for both boys and girls a splendid exercise; it

improves the figure, it gives grace to the movements, it strengthens

the chest, it braces the muscles, and gives to the character energy

and courage. Both boys and girls ought to be early taught to ride.

There is nothing that gives more pleasure to the young than riding

either on a pony or on a horse, and for younger children, even on that

despised, although useful animal, a donkey. Exercise, taken with

pleasure, is doubly beneficial.

If girls were to ride more on horseback than they now do, we should

hear less of crooked spines and of round shoulders, of chlorosis and

of hysteria, and of other numerous diseases of that class, owing,

generally, to debility and to mismanagement.

Those ladies who "affect the saddle" are usually much healthier,

stronger, and straighter than those who either never or but seldom

ride on horseback.

Siding on horseback is both an exercise and an amusement, and is

peculiarly suitable for the fair sex, more especially as their modes

of exercise are somewhat limited, ladies being excluded from following

many games, such as cricket, and foot-ball, both of which are

practised, with such zest and benefit, by the rougher sex.

341. _Do you approve of carriage exercise_?

There is no muscular exertion in carriage exercise; its principal

advantage is, that it enables a person to have a change of air, which

may be purer than the one he is in the habit of breathing. But,

whether it be so or not, change of air frequently does good, even, if

the air be not so pure. Carriage exercise, therefore, does only

partial good, and ought never to supersede either walking or horse

exercise.

342. _What is the best time of the day, for the taking of exercise_?

In the summer time, early in the morning and before breakfast, as

"cool morning air exhilarates young blood like wine." If a boy cannot

take exercise upon an empty stomach, let him have a slice of bread and

a draught of milk. When he returns home he will be able to do justice

to his breakfast. In fine weather he cannot take too much exercise,

provided it be not carried to fatigue.

343. _What is the best time for him to keep quiet_?

He ought not to take exercise immediately after--say for half an hour

after--a hearty meal, or it will be likely to interfere with his

digestion.

AMUSEMENTS.

344. _What amusements do you recommend for a boy as being most

beneficial to health_?

Manly games--such as rowing, skating, cricket, quoits, foot-ball,

rackets, single-stick, bandy, bowls, skittles, and all gymnastic

exercises. Such games bring the muscles into proper action, and thus

cause them to be fully developed. They expand and strengthen the

chest; they cause a due circulation of the blood, making it to bound

merrily through the blood-vessels, and thus to diffuse health and

happiness in its course. Another excellent amusement for boys, is the

brandishing of clubs. They ought to be made in the form of a

constable's staff, but should be much larger and heavier. The manner

of handling them is so graphically described by Addison that I cannot

do better than transcribe it--"When I was some years younger than I am

at present, I used to employ myself in a more laborious diversion,

which I learned from a Latin treatise of exercises that is written

with great erudition; it is there called the [Greek: skiomachia] or

the fighting with a man's own shadow, and consists in the brandishing

of two short sticks grasped in each hand, and loaded with plugs of

lead at either end. This opens the chest, exercises the limbs, and

gives a man all the pleasure of boxing without the blows. I could wish

that several learned men would lay out that time which they employ in

controversies and disputes about nothing, in this method of fighting

with their own shadows. It might conduce very much to evaporate the

spleen which makes them uneasy to the public as well as to

themselves."

Another capital, healthful game is single-stick, which makes a boy "to

gain an upright and elastic carriage, and to learn the use of his

limbs."--_H. Kingsley_. Single-stick may be taught by any

drill-sergeant in the neighbourhood. Do everything to make a boy

strong. Remember, "the glory of young men is their strength."

If games were more patronised in youth, so many miserable, nervous,

useless creatures would not abound. Let a boy or girl, then, have

plenty of play; let half of his or her time be spent in play.

There ought to be a gymnasium established in every town of the

kingdom. The gymnasium, the cricket ground, and the swimming bath, are

among our finest establishments, and should be patronised accordingly.

First of all, by an abundance of exercise and fresh air make your boys

and girls strong, and then, in due time, they will be ready and be

able to have their minds properly cultivated. Unfortunately, in this

enlightened age, we commence at the wrong end--we put the cart before

the horse--we begin by cultivating the mind, and we leave the body to

be taken care of afterwards; the results are, broken health,

precocious, stunted, crooked, and deformed youths, and premature

decay.

One great advantage of gymnastic exercise is, it makes the chest

expand, it fills the lungs with air, and by doing so strengthens them

amazingly, and wards off many diseases. The lungs are not sufficiently

exercised and expanded; boys and girls, girls especially, do not as a

rule half fill their lungs with air; now air to the lungs is food to

the lungs, and portions of the lungs have not half their proper food,

and in consequence suffer.

It is very desirable that every boy and girl should, every day of his

or her life, and for a quarter of an hour at least each time, go

through a regular _breathing exercise_--that is to say, should be made

to stand upright, throw back the shoulders, and the while alternately

and regularly fully fill and fully empty the lungs of air. If this

plan were daily followed, the chest and lungs would be wonderfully

invigorated, and the whole body benefited.

345. _Is playing the flute, blowing the bugle, or any other wind

instrument, injurious to health_?

Decidedly so: the lungs and the windpipe are brought into unnatural

action by them. If a boy be of a consumptive habit, this will, of

course, hold good with tenfold force. If a youth must be musical let

him be taught singing, as that, provided the lungs be not diseased,

will be beneficial.

346. _What amusements do you recommend for a girl_?

Archery, skipping, horse exercise, croquet, the hand-swing, the

fly-pole, skating, and dancing, are among the best. Archery expands

the chest, throws back the shoulders, thus improving the figure, and

develops the muscles. Skipping is exceedingly good exercise for a

girl, every part of the body being put into action by it Horse

exercise is splendid for a girl; it improves the figure amazingly--it

is most exhilarating and amusing; moreover, it gives her courage and

makes her self-reliant Croquet develops and improves the muscles of

the arms, beautifies the complexion, strengthens the back, and throws

out the chest. Croquet is for girls and women what cricket is for boys

and men--a glorious game. Croquet has improved both the health and

the happiness of womankind more than any game ever before invented.

Croquet, in the bright sunshine, with the winds of heaven blowing

about the players, is not like a ball in a stifling hot ball-room,

with gas-lights poisoning the air. Croquet is a more sensible

amusement than dancing; it brings the intellect as well as the muscles

into play. The man who invented croquet has deserved greater glory,

and has done more good to his species, than many philosophers whose

names are emblazoned in story. Hand-swing is a capital exercise for a

girl, the whole of the body is thrown into action by it, and the

spine, the shoulders, and the shoulder-blades, are especially

benefited. The fly-pole, too, is good exercise for the whole of the

muscles of the body, especially of the legs and the arms. Skating is

for a girl excellent exercise, and is as exhilarating as a glass of

champagne, but will do her far more good! Skating improves the figure,

and makes a girl balance and carry herself upright and well; it is a

most becoming exercise for her, and is much in every way to be

commended. Moreover, skating gives a girl courage and self-reliance.

Dancing, followed as a rational amusement, causes a free circulation

of the blood, and provided it does not induce her to sit up late at

night, is most beneficial.

347. _If dancing be so beneficial why are balls such fruitful sources

of coughs, of cold, and consumptions_?

On many accounts. They induce young ladies to sit up late at night;

they cause them to dress more lightly than they are accustomed to do;

and thus thinly clad, they leave their homes while the weather is

perhaps piercingly cold, to plunge into a suffocating, hot ballroom,

made doubly injurious by the immense number of lights, which consume

the oxygen intended for the due performance of the healthy functions

of the lungs. Their partners, the brilliancy of the scene, and the

music, excite their nerves to undue and thus to unnatural, action, and

what is the consequence? Fatigue, weakness, hysterics, and extreme

depression follow. They leave the heated ball-room when the morning

has far advanced, to breathe the bitterly cold and frequently damp air

of a winter's night, and what is the result? Hundreds die of

consumption, who might otherwise have lived. Ought there not, then, to

be a distinction between a ball at midnight and a dance in the

evening?

348. _But still, would you have a girl brought up to forego the

pleasure of a ball_?

If a parent prefer her so-called pleasures to her health, certainly

not; to such a mother I do not address myself.

349. _Have you any remarks to make on singing, or on reading aloud_?

Before a mother allows her daughter to take lessons in singing, she

should ascertain that there be no actual disease of the lungs, for if

there be, it will probably excite it into action; but if no disease

exist, singing or reading aloud is very conducive to health. Public

singers are seldom known to die of consumption. Singing expands the

chest, improves the pronunciation, enriches the voice for

conversation, strengthens the lungs, and wards off many of their

diseases.

350. _Do you approve of corporal punishments in schools_?

I do not. I consider it to be decidedly injurious both to body and

mind. Is it not painful to witness the pale cheeks and the dejected

looks of those boys who are often flogged? If their tempers are mild,

their spirits are broken; if their dispositions are at all obstinate,

they become hardened and wilful, and are made little better than

brutes. [Footnote: "I would have given him, Captain Fleming, had he

been my son," quoth old Pearson the elder, "such's good sound drubbing

as he never would have forgotten--never!"

"Pooh! pooh! my good sir. Don't tell me. Never saw flogging in the

navy do good. Kept down brutes; never made a man yet."--Dr Norman

Macleod in _Good Words_, May 1861.] A boy who is often flogged loses

that noble ingenuousness and fine sensibility so characteristic of

youth. He looks upon his school as his prison, and his master as his

gaoler, and as he grows up to manhood, hates and despises the man who

has flogged him. Corporal punishment is revolting, disgusting, and

demoralising to the boy; and is degrading to the schoolmaster as a man

and as a Christian,

If schoolmasters must flog, let them flog their own sons. If they must

ruin the tempers, the dispositions, and the constitution of boys, they

have more right to practise upon their own than on other people's

children! Oh! that parents would raise--and that without any

uncertain sound--their voices against such abominations, and the

detestable cane would soon be banished the school-room! "I am

confident that no boy," says Addison, "who will not be allured by

letters without blows, will never be brought to anything with them. A

great or good mind must necessarily be the worse for such indignities;

and it is a sad change to lose of its virtue for the improvement of

its knowledge. No one has gone through what they call a great school,

but must have remembered to have seen children of excellent and

ingenuous natures (as have afterwards appeared in their manhood). I

say, no man has passed through this way of education but must have

seen an ingenuous creature expiring with shame, with pale looks,

beseeching sorrow, and silent tears, throw up its honest sighs, and

kneel on its tender knees to an inexorable blockhead, to be forgiven

the false quantity of a word in making a Latin verse. The child is

punished, and the next day he commits a like crime, and so a third,

with the same consequence. I would fain ask any reasonable man whether

this lad, in the simplicity of his native innocence, full of shame,

and capable of any impression from that grace of soul, was not fitter

for any purpose in this life than after that spark of virtue is

extinguished in him, though he is able to write twenty verses in an

evening?"

How often is corporal punishment resorted to at school because the

master is in a passion, and he vents his rage upon the poor

school-boy's unfortunate back!

Oh! the mistaken notion that flogging will make a bad-behaved boy a

good boy; it has the contrary effect. "'I dunno how 'tis, sir,' said

an old farm labourer, in reply to a question from his clergyman

respecting the bad behaviour of his children, 'I dunno how 'tis; I

beats 'em till they're black and blue, and when they won't kneel down

to pray I knocks 'em down, and yet they ain't good.'"--_The Birmingham

Journal._

In an excellent article in _Temple Bar_(November 1864) on flogging in

the army, the following sensible remarks occur:--"In nearly a quarter

of a century's experience with soldiers, the writer has always, and

without a single exception, found flogging makes a good man bad, and a

bad man worse." With equal truth it may be said that, without a single

exception, flogging makes a good boy bad, and a bad boy worse. How

many men owe their ferocity to the canings they received when

school-boys! The early floggings hardened and soured them, and blunted

their sensibility.

Dr Arnold of Rugby, one of the best schoolmasters that England ever

produced, seldom caned a boy--not more than once or twice during the

half year; but when he did cane him, he charged for the use of the

cane each time in the bill, in order that the parents might know how

many times their son had been punished. At some of our public schools

now-a-days, a boy is caned as many times in a morning as the worthy

doctor would have caned him during the whole half year; but then, the

doctor treated the boys as gentlemen, and trusted much to their

honour; but now many schoolmasters trust much to fear, little to

honour, and treat them as brute beasts.

It might be said that the discipline of a school cannot be maintained

unless the boys be frequently caned, that it must be either caning or

expulsion. I deny these assertions. Dr Arnold was able to conduct his

school with honour to himself, and with immense benefit to the rising

generation, without either frequent canings or expulsions. The humane

plan, however, requires at first both trouble and patience; and

trouble some schoolmasters do not like, and patience they do not

possess; the use of the cane is quick, sharp, decisive, and at the

time effective.

If caning be ever necessary, which it might occasionally be, for the

telling of lies for instance, or for gross immorality, let the head

master himself be the only one to perform the operation, but let him

not be allowed to delegate it to others. A law ought in all public

schools to be in force to that effect. High time that something were

done to abate such disgraceful practices.

Never should a schoolmaster, or any one else, be allowed, _on any

pretence whatever_, to strike a boy upon his head. Boxing of the ears

has sometimes caused laceration of the drum of the ear, and consequent

partial deafness for life. Boxing of the ears injures the brain, and

therefore the intellect.

It might be said, that I am travelling out of my province in making

remarks on corporal chastisement in schools? But, with deference, I

reply that I am strictly in the path of duty. My office is to inform

you of everything that is detrimental to your children's health and

happiness; and corporal punishment is assuredly most injurious both to

their health and happiness. It is the bounden duty of every man, and

especially of every medical man, to lift up his voice against the

abominable, disgusting, and degrading system of flogging, and to warn

parents of the danger and the mischief of sending boys to those

schools where flogging is, except in rare and flagrant cases,

permitted.

351. _Have you any observations to make on the selection, of a female

boarding-school_?

Home education, where it be practicable, is far preferable to sending

a girl to school; as _at_ home, her health, her morals, and her

household duties, can be attended to much more effectually than _from_

home. Moreover, it is a serious injury to a girl, in more ways than

one, to separate her from her own brothers: they very much lose their

affection for each other, and mutual companionship (so delightful and

beneficial between brothers and sisters) is severed.

If home education be not practicable, great care must be taken in

making choice of a school. Boarding school education requires great

reformation. Accomplishments, superficial acquirements, and

brain-work, are the order of the day; health is very little

studied. You ought, in the education of your daughters, to remember

that they, in a few years, will be the wives and the mothers of

England; and, if they have not health and strength, and a proper

knowledge of household duties to sustain their characters, what

useless, listless wives and mothers they will make!

Remember, then, the body, and not the mind, ought, in early life, to

be principally cultivated and strengthened, and that the growing brain

will not bear, with impunity, much book learning. The brain of a

school-girl is frequently injured by getting up voluminous questions

by rote, that are not of the slightest use or benefit to her, or to

any one else. Instead of this ridiculous system, educate a girl to be

useful and self-reliant. "From babyhood they are given to understand

that helplessness is feminine and beautiful; helpfulness, except in

certain received forms of manifestation, unwomanly and ugly. The boys

may do a thousand things which are 'not proper for little girls.'"--_A

Woman's Thoughts about Women_.

From her twelfth to her seventeenth year, is the most important epoch

of a girl's existence, as regards her future health, and consequently,

in a great measure, her future happiness; and one, in which, more than

at any other period of her life, she requires a plentiful supply of

fresh air, exercise, recreation, a variety of innocent amusements, and

an abundance of good nourishment--more especially of fresh meat; if

therefore you have determined on sending your girl to school, you must

ascertain that the pupils have as much plain wholesome nourishing food

as they can eat, [Footnote: If a girl have an _abundance_ of good

nourishment, the schoolmistress must, of coarse, be remunerated for

the necessary and costly expense; and how can this be done on the

paltry sum charged at _cheap_ boarding schools? It is utterly

impossible! And what are we to expect from poor and insufficient

nourishment to a fast-growing girl, and at the time of life, remember,

when she requires an _extra_ quantity of good sustaining, supporting

food? A poor girl, from such treatment, becomes either consumptive or

broken down in constitution, and from which she never recovers, but

drags on a miserable existence.] that the school be situated in a

healthy spot, that it be well-drained, that there be a large

play-ground attached to it, that the young people are allowed plenty

of exercise in the open air--indeed, that at least one-third of the

day is spent there in croquet, skipping, archery, battle-dore and

shuttlecock, gardening, walking, running, &c.

Take care that the school-rooms are well-ventilated, that they are not

over-crowded, and that the pupils are allowed chairs to sit upon, and

not those abominations--forms and stools. If you wish to try the

effect of them upon yourselves, sit for a couple of hours without

stirring upon a form or upon a stool, and, take my word for it, you

will insist that forms and stools be banished for ever from the

schoolroom.

Assure yourself that the pupils are compelled to rise early in the

morning, and that they retire early to rest; that each young lady has

a separate bed [Footnote: A horse-hair mattress should always be

preferred to a feather-bed. It is not only better for the health, but

it improves the figure] and that many are not allowed to sleep in the

same room, and that the apartments are large and well-ventilated. In

fine, their health and their morals ought to be preferred far above

all their accomplishments.

352. _They use, in some schools, straight-backed chairs to make a girl

sit upright, and to give strength to her back: do you approve of

them_?

Certainly not: the natural and the graceful curve of the back is not

the curve of a straight-backed chair. Straight-backed chairs are

instruments of torture, and are more likely to make a girl crooked

than to make her straight. Sir Astley Cooper ridiculed straight-backed

chairs, and well he might. It is always well for a mother to try, for

some considerable time, such ridiculous inventions upon herself before

she experiments upon her unfortunate daughter. The position is most

unnatural. I do not approve of a girl lounging and lolling on a sofa;

but, if she be tired and wants to rest herself, let her, like any

other reasonable being, sit upon a comfortable ordinary chair.

If you want her to be straight, let her be made strong; and if she is

to be strong, she must use plenty of exercise and exertion, such as

drilling, dancing, skipping, archery, croquet, hand-swinging,

horse-exercise, swimming, bowls, etc. This is the plan to make her

back straight and her muscles strong. Why should we bring up a girl

differently from a boy? Muscular exercises, gymnastic performances,

and health-giving exertion, are unladylike, forsooth!

HOUSEHOLD WORK FOR GIRLS.

353. _Do you recommend household work as a means of health for my

daughter_?

Decidedly: whatever you do, do not make a fine lady of her, or she

will become puny and delicate, listless, and miserable. A girl, let

her station be what it might, ought, as soon as she be old enough, to

make her own bed. There is no better exercise to expand the figure and

to beautify the shape than is bed-making. Let her make tidy her own

room. Let her use her hands and her arms. Let her, to a great extent,

be self-reliant, and let her wait upon herself. There is nothing

vulgar in her being useful. Let me ask, of what use are many girls of

the present day? They are utterly useless. Are they happy? No, for

the want of employment, they are miserable--I mean bodily employment,

household work. Many girls, now-a-days, unfortunately, are made to

look upon a pretty face, dress, and accomplishments, as the only

things needed! And, when they do become women and wives--if ever they

do become women and wives--what miserable lackadaisical wives, and

what senseless, useless mothers they will make!

CHOICE OF PROFESSION OR TRADE.

354. _What profession or trade would you recommend a boy of a delicate

or of a consumptive habit to follow_?

If a youth be delicate, it is a common practice among parents either

to put him to some light in-door trade, or, if they can afford it, to

one of the learned professions. Such a practice is absurd, and

fraught with danger. The close confinement of an in-door trade is

highly prejudicial to health. The hard reading requisite to fit a man

to fill, for instance, the sacred office, only increases delicacy of

constitution. The stooping at a desk, in an attorney's office, is most

trying to the chest. The harass, the anxiety, the disturbed nights,

the interrupted meals, and the intense study necessary to fit a man

for the medical profession, is still more dangerous to health than

either law, divinity, or any in-door trade. "Sir Walter Scott says of

the country surgeon, that he is worse fed and harder wrought than any

one else in the parish, except it be his fiorse."--_Brown's Horoe

Subsecivoe._

A modern writer, speaking of the life of a medical man, observes,

"There is no career which so rapidly wears away the powers of life,

because there is no other which requires a greater activity of mind

and body. He has to bear the changes of weather, continued fatigue,

irregularity in his meals, and broken rest; to live in the midst of

miasma and contagion. If in the country, he has to traverse

considerable distances on horseback, exposed to wind and storm; to

brave all dangers to go to the relief of suffering humanity. A fearful

truth for medical men has been established by the table of mortality

of Dr. Caspar, published in the _British Review_. Of 1000 members of

the medical profession, 600 died before their sixty-second year;

whilst of persons leading a quiet life--such as agriculturists or

theologians--the mortality is only 347. If we take 100 individuals of

each of these classes, 43 theologians, 40 agriculturists, 35 clerks,

32 soldiers, will reach their seventieth year; of 100 professors of

the healing art, 24 only will reach that age. They are the sign-posts

to health; they can show the road to old age, but rarely tread it

themselves."

If a boy, therefore, be of a delicate or of a consumptive habit, an

out-door calling should be advised, such as that of a farmer, of a

tanner, or a land-surveyor; but, if he be of an inferior station of

society, the trade of a butcher may be recommended. Tanners and

butchers are seldom known to die of consumption.

I cannot refrain from reprobating the too common practice among

parents of bringing up their boys to the professions. The anxieties

and the heartaches which they undergo if they do not succeed (and how

can many of them succeed when there is such a superabundance of

candidates?) materially injure their health. "I very much wonder,"

says Addison, "at the humour of parents, who will not rather choose to

place their sons in a way of life where an honest industry cannot but

thrive, than in stations where the greatest probity, learning, and

good sense, may miscarry. How many men are country curates, that might

have made themselves aldermen of London by a right improvement of a

smaller sum of money than what is usually laid out upon a learned

education? A sober, frugal person, of slender parts and a slow

apprehension, might have thrived in trade, though he starves upon

physic; as a man would be well enough pleased to buy silks of one whom

he could not venture to feel his pulse. Vagellius is careful,

studious, and obliging, but withal a little thick-skulled; he has not

a single client, but might have had abundance of customers. The

misfortune is that parents take a liking to a particular profession,

and therefore desire their sons may be of it; whereas, in so great an

affair of life, they should consider the genius and abilities of their

children more than their own inclinations. It is the great advantage

of a trading nation, that there are very few in it so dull and heavy

who may not be placed in stations of life which may give them an

opportunity of making their fortunes. A well-regulated commerce is

not, like law, physic, or divinity, to be overstocked with hands; but,

on the contrary, flourishes by multitudes, and gives employment to all

its professors. Fleets of merchantmen are so many squadrons of

floating shops, that vend our wares and manufactures in all the

markets of the world, and find out chapmen under both the tropics."

355. _Then, do you recommend a delicate youth to be brought up either

to a profession or to a trade_?

Decidedly; there is nothing so injurious for a delicate boy, or for

anyone else, as idleness. Work, in moderation, enlivens the spirits,

braces the nerves, and gives tone to the muscles, and thus strengthens

the constitution. Of all miserable people, the idle boy, or the idle

man, is the most miserable! If you be poor, of course you will bring

him up to some calling; but if you be rich, and your boy be delicate

(if he be not actually in a consumption), you will, if you are wise,

still bring him up to some trade or profession. You will, otherwise,

be making a rod for your own as well as for your son's back. Oh, what

a blessed thing is work!

356. _Have you any remarks to make on the sleep of boys and girls_?

Sleeping-rooms, are, generally, the smallest in the house, whereas,

for health's sake, they ought to be the largest If it be impossible to

have a _large_ bedroom, I should advise a parent to have a dozen or

twenty holes (each about the size of a florin) bored with a centre-bit

in the upper part of the chamber door, and the same number of holes in

the lower part of the door, so as constantly to admit a free current

of air from the passages. If this cannot readily be done, then let the

bedroom door be left ajar all night, a door chain being on the door to

prevent intrusion; and, in the summer time, during the night, let the

window-sash, to the extent of about two or three inches, be left open.

If there be a dressing-room next to the bedroom, it will be well to

have the dressing-room window, instead of the bedroom window, open at

night. The dressing-room door will regulate the quantity of air to be

admitted into the bedroom, opening it either little or much, as the

weather might be cold or otherwise.

_Fresh air during deep is indispensable to health._--If a bedroom be

close, the sleep, instead of being calm and refreshing, is broken and

disturbed; and the boy, when he awakes in the morning, feels more

fatigued than when he retired to rest.

If sleep is to be refreshing, the air, then, must be pure, and free

from carbonic acid gas, which, is constantly being evolved from the

lungs. If sleep is to be health-giving, the lungs ought to have their

proper food--oxygen, and not to be cheated by giving them instead a

poison--carbonic acid gas.

It would be well for each boy to have a separate room to himself, and

each girl a separate room to herself. If two boys are obliged, from

the smallness of the house, to sleep in one room, and if two girls,

from the same cause, are compelled to occupy the same chamber, by all

means let each one have a _separate_ bed to himself and to herself, as

it is so much more healthy and expedient for both boy and girl to

sleep alone.

The roof of the bed should be left open--that is to say, the top of

the bedstead ought not to be covered with bed furniture, but should be

open to the ceiling, in order to encourage a free ventilation of

air. A bed-curtain may be allowed on the side of the bed where there

are windy currents of air; otherwise bed-curtains and valances ought

on no account to be allowed. They prevent a free circulation of the

air. A youth should sleep on a horse-hair mattress. Such mattresses

greatly improve the figure and strengthen the frame. During the day

time, provided it does not rain, the windows must be thrown wide open,

and, directly after he has risen from bed, the clothes ought to be

thrown entirely back, in order that they may become, before the bed be

made, well ventilated and purified by the air--

"Do yon wish to be healthy?--

Then keep the home sweet,

As soon as you're up

Shake each blanket and sheet.

Leave the beds to get fresh

On the close crowded floor

Let the wind sweep right through--

Open window and door

The bad air will rush out

As the good air comes in,

Just as goodness is stronger

And better than sin.

Do this, it's soon done,

In the fresh morning air,

It will lighten your labour

And lessen your care

You are weary--no wonder,

There's weight and there's gloom

Hanging heavily round

In each over full room.

Be sure all the trouble

Is profit and gain

For there's head ache and heart-ache,

And fever and pain

Hovering round, settling down

In the closeness and heat

Let the wind sweep right through

Till the air's fresh and sweet,

And more cheerful you'll feel

Through the toil of the day,

More refreshed you'll awake

When the night's paved away" [Footnote: _Household Verses on

Health and Happiness_ London. Jarrold and Sons. Every mother

should read these _Verses_.]

Plants and flowers ought not to be allowed to remain in a chamber at

night. Experiments have proved that plants and flowers take up, in

the day-time, carbonic acid gas (the refuse of respiration), and give

off oxygen (a gas so necessary and beneficial to health), but give

out, in the night season, a poisonous exhalation.

Early rising cannot be too strongly insisted upon; nothing is more

conducive to health and thus to long life. A youth is frequently

allowed to spend the early part of the morning in bed, breathing the

impure atmosphere of a bedroom, when he should be up and about,

inhaling the balmy and health-giving breezes of the morning:--

"Rise with the lark, and with the lark to bed: The breath of night's

destructive to the hue Of ev'ry flower that blows. Go to the field,

And ask the humble daisy why it sleeps Soon as the sun departs? Why

close the eyes Of blossoms infinite long ere the moon Her oriental

veil puts off? Think why, Nor let the sweetest blossom Nature

boasts Be thus exposed to night's unkindly damp. Well may it droop,

and all its freshness lose, Compell'd to taste the rank and

pois'nous steam Of midnight theatre and morning ball Gire to repose

the solemn hour she claims; And from the forehead of the morning

steal The sweet occasion. Oh! there is a charm Which morning has,

that gives the brow of age, a smack of youth, and makes the lip of

youth Shed perfume exquisite. Expect it not Ye who till noon upon a

down-bed lie, Indulging feverish sleep."--_Hurdis_.

If early rising be commenced in childhood it becomes a habit, and will

then probably be continued through life. A boy ought on no account to

be roused from his sleep; but, as soon as he be awake in the morning,

he should be encouraged to rise. Dozing--that state between sleeping

and waking--is injurious; it enervates both body and mind, and is as

detrimental to health as dram drinking! But if he rise early he must

go to bed betimes; it is a bad practice to keep him up until the

family retire to rest. He ought, winter and summer, to seek his pillow

by nine o'clock, and should rise as soon as he awake in the morning.

Let me urge upon a parent the great importance of _not_ allowing the

chimney of any bedroom, or of any room in the house, to be stopped, as

many are in the habit of doing to prevent, as _they_ call it, a

draught, but to prevent, as _I_ should call it, health.

357. _How many hours of deep ought a boy to have_?

This, of course, will depend upon the exercise he takes: but, on an

average, he should have every night at least eight hours. It is a

mistaken notion that a boy does _better_ with _little_ sleep. Infants,

children, and youths require more than those who are further advanced

in years; hence old people can frequently do with little sleep. This

may in a measure be accounted for from the quantity of exercise the

young take. Another reason may be, the young have neither racking

pain, nor hidden sorrow, nor carking care, to keep them awake; while,

on the contrary, the old have frequently, the one, the other, or

all:--

"Care keeps his watch on every old man's eye,

And where care lodges, sleep will never lie."--_Shakspeare_.

ON THE TEETH AND THE GUMS.

358. _What are the beet means of keeping the teeth and the gums in a

healthy state_?

I would recommend the teeth and the gums to be well brushed with warm

salt and water, in the proportion of one large tea-spoonful of, salt

to a tumbler of water. I was induced to try the above plan by the

recommendation of an American writer--_Todd_. The salt and water

should be used _every night_.

The following is an excellent tooth-powder:--

Take of--Finely-powder Peruvian Bark;

'' Prepared Coral;

'' Prepared Chalk;

'' Myrrh, of each half an ounce

'' Orris root, a quarter of an ounce:

Mix them well together in a mortar, and preserve the powder in a wide

mouthed stoppered bottle.

The teeth ought to be well brushed with the above tooth-powder every

morning.

If the teeth be much decayed, and if, in consequence, the breath be

offensive, two ounces of finely-powdered charcoal well mixed with the

above ingredients will be found a valuable addition. Some persons

clean their teeth every morning with soap; if soap be used it ought to

be Castile soap; and if the teeth be not white and clean, Castile soap

is an excellent cleanser of the teeth, and may be used in lieu of the

tooth powder as before recommended.

There are few persons who brush their teeth properly. I will tell you

the right way. First of all procure a tooth brush of the best make,

and of rather hard bristles, to enable it to penetrate into all the

nooks and corners of the teeth; then, having put a small quantity of

warm water into your mouth, letting the principal of it escape into

the basin, dip your brush in warm water, and if you are about using

Castile soap, rub the brush on a cake of the soap, and then well brush

your teeth, first upwards and then downwards, then from side to

side--from right to left, and from left to right--then the backs of

the teeth, then apply the brush to the tops of the crowns of the teeth

both of the upper and of the lower jaw,--so that _every_ part of each

tooth, including the gums, may in turn be well cleansed and be well

brushed. Be not afraid of using the brush; a good brushing and

dressing will do the teeth and the gums an immensity of good; it will

make the breath sweet, and will preserve the teeth sound and

good. After using the brush the mouth must, of course, be well rinsed

out with warm water.

The finest get of teeth I ever saw m my life belonged to a middle-aged

gentleman; the teeth had neither spot nor blemish, they were like

beautiful pearls. He never had toothache in his life, and did not know

what toothache meant! He brushed his teeth, every morning, with soap

and water, in the manner I have previously recommended. I can only say

to you--go and do likewise!

Camphor ought never to be used as an ingredient of tooth-powder, it

makes the teeth brittle. Camphor certainly has the effect of making

the teeth, for a time, look very white; but it is an evanescent

beauty.

Tartar is apt to accumulate between and around the teeth; it is better

in such a case not to remove it by sealing instruments, but to adopt

the plan recommended by Dr Richardson, namely, to well brush the teeth

with pure vinegar and water.

PREVENTION OF DISEASE, ETC

359. _If a boy or a girl show great precocity of intellect, is any

organ likely to become affected_?

A greater quantity of arterial blood is sent to the brain of those who

are prematurely talented, and hence it becomes more than ordinarily

developed. Such advantages are not unmixed with danger; this same

arterial blood may exite and feed inflammation, and either

convulsions, or water on the brain, or insanity, or, at last, idiocy

may follow. How proud a mother is in having a precocious child! How

little is she aware that precocity is frequently an indication of

disease!

360. _How can danger in such a case be warded off_?

It behoves a parent, if her son be precocious, to restrain him--to

send him to a quiet country place, free from the excitement of the

town; and when he is sent to school, to give directions to the master

that he is not on any account to tax his intellect (for a master is

apt, if he have a clever boy, to urge him forward); and to keep him

from those institutions where a spirit of rivalry is maintained, and

where the brain is thus kept in a state of constant excitement. Medals

and prizes are well enough for those who have moderate abilities, but

dangerous, indeed, to those who have brilliant ones.

An over-worked precocious brain is apt to cause the death of the

owner; and if it does not do so, it in too many instances injures the

brain irreparably, and the possessor of such an organ, from being one

of the most intellectual of children becomes one of the most

commonplace of men.

Let me urge you, if you have a precocious child, to give, and that

before it be too late, the subject in question your best

consideration.

361. _Are precocious boys in their general health usually strong or

delicate_?

Delicate: nature seems to have given a delicate body to compensate for

the advantages of a talented mind. A precocious youth is predisposed

to consumption, more so than to any other disease. The hard study

which he frequently undergoes excites the disease into action. It is

not desirable, therefore, to have a precocious child. A writer in

"Eraser's Magazine" speaks very much to the purpose when he says,

"Give us intellectual beef rather than intellectual veal."

362. _What Habit of body is most predisposed to scrofula_?

He or she who has a moist, cold, fair, delicate and almost transparent

skin, large prominent blue eyes, protuberant forehead, light-brown or

auburn hair, rosy cheeks, pouting lips, milk-white teeth, long neck,

high shoulders, small, flat, and contracted chest, tumid bowels, large

joints, thin limbs, and flabby muscles, is the person, most

predisposed to scrofula. The disease is not entirely confined to the

above; sometimes she or he who has black hair, dark eyes and

complexion, is subject to it, but yet, far less frequently than the

former. It is a remarkable fact that the most talented are the most

prone to scrofula, and being thus clever their intellects are too

often cultivated at the expense of their health. In infancy and

childhood, either water on the brain or mesenteric disease; in youth,

pulmonary consumption is frequently their doom: they are like shining

meteors; their life is short, but brilliant.

363. _How may scrofula be warded off_?

Strict attention to the roles of health is the means to prevent

scrofula. Books, unless as an amusement, ought to be discarded. The

patient must almost live in the open air, and his residence should be

a healthy country place, where the air is dry and bracing; if it be at

a farm-house, in a salubrious neighbourhood, so much the better. In

selecting a house for a patient predisposed to scrofula, _good pure

water should be an important requisite;_ indeed for every one who

values his health. Early rising in such a case is most beneficial.

Wine, spirits, and all fermented liquors ought to be avoided.

Beef-steaks and mutton-chops in abundance, and plenty of milk and of

farinaceous food--such as rice, sago, arrowroot, &c., should be his

diet.

Scrofula, if the above rules be strictly and perseveringly followed,

may be warded off; but there must be no half measures, no trying to

serve two masters--to cultivate at the same time the health and the

intellect. The brain, until the body becomes strong, must _not_ be

taxed. "You may prevent scrofula by care, but that some children are

originally predisposed to the disease there cannot be the least doubt,

and in such cases the education and the habits of youth should be so

directed as to ward off a complaint, the effects of which are so

frequently fatal."--_Sir Astley Cooper on Scrofula_.

364. _But suppose the disease to be already formed, what must then be

done_?

The plan recommended above must still be pursued, not by fits and

starts, but steadily and continuously, for it is a complaint that

requires a vast deal of patience and great perseverance. Warm and cold

sea-bathing in such a case are generally most beneficial. In a patient

with confirmed scrofula it will of course be necessary to consult a

skilful and experienced doctor.

But do not allow without a second opinion any plan to be adopted that

will weaken the system, which is already too much depressed. No,

rather build up the body by good nourishing diet (as previously

recommended), by cod-liver oil, by a dry bracing atmosphere, such as,

either Brighton, or Ramsgate, or Llandudno; or if the lungs be

delicate, by a more sheltered coast, such as, either St Leonards or

Torquay.

Let no active purging, no-mercurials, no violent, desperate remedies

be allowed. If the patient cannot be cured _without_ them, I am

positive that he will not be cured _with_ them.

But do not despair; many scrofulous patients are cured by time and by

judicious treatment But if desperate remedies are to be used, the poor

patient had better by jar be left to Nature: "Let me fall now into the

hand of the Lord; for very great are his mercies; but let me not fall

into the hand of man."--_Chronicles_.

365. _Have you any remarks to make on a girl stooping_?

A girl ought never to be allowed to stoop: stooping spoils the figure,

weakens the chest, and interferes with the digestion. If she cannot

help stooping, you may depend upon it that she is in bad health, and

that a medical man ought to be consulted. As soon as her health is

improved the dancing-master should be put in requisition, and

calisthenic and gymnastic exercises should be resorted to. Horse

exercise and swimming in such a case are very beneficial The girl

should live well, on good nourishing diet, and not be too closely

confined either to the house or to her lessons. She ought during the

night to lie on a horsehair mattress, and during the day, for two or

three hours, flat on, her back on a reclining board. Stooping, if

neglected, is very likely to lead to consumption.

366. _If a boy be round-shouldered and slouching in his gait, what

ought to be done_?

Let him be drilled; there is nothing more likely to benefit him than

drilling. You never see a soldier round-shouldered nor slouching in

his gait He walks every inch like a man. Look at the difference in

appearance between a country bumpkin and a soldier! It is the drilling

that makes the difference: "Oh, for a drill-sergeant to teach them to

stand upright, and to turn out their toes, and to get rid of that

slouching, hulking gait, which gives such a look of clumsiness and

stupidity!" [Footnote: A. K, H. B., _Fraser's Magazine_, October

1861.]

367. _My daughter has grown out of shape, she has grown on one ride,

her spine is not straight, and her ribs bulge out more on the one side

than on the other; what is the cause, and can anything be done to

remedy the deformity_?

The causes of this lateral curvature of the spine, and consequent

bulging out of the ribs that you have just now described, arise either

from delicacy of constitution, from the want of proper exercise, from

too much learning, or from too little play, or from not sufficient or

proper nourishment for a rapidly-growing body. I am happy to say that

such a case, by judicious treatment, can generally be cured--namely,

by gymnastic exercises, such as the hand-swing, the fly-pole, the

patent parlour gymnasium, the chest-expander, the skipping rope, the

swimming bath; all sorts of out-door games, such as croquet, archery,

&c.; by plenty of good nourishment, by making her a child of Nature,

by letting her almost live in the open air, and by throwing books to

the winds. But let me strongly urge you not, unless ordered by an

experienced surgeon, to allow any mechanical restraints or appliances

to be used. If she be made strong, the muscles themselves will pull

both the spine and the ribs into their proper places, more especially

if judicious games and exercises (as I have before advised), and other

treatment of a strengthening and bracing nature, which a medical man

will indicate to you, be enjoined. Mechanical appliances will, if not

judiciously applied, and in a proper case, waste away the muscles, and

will thus increase the mischief; if they cause the ribs to be pushed

in in one place, they will bulge them out in another, until, instead

of being one, there will be a series of deformities. No, the giving of

strength and the judicious exercising of the muscles are, for a

lateral curvature of the spine and the consequent bulging out of one

side of the ribs, the proper remedies, and, in the majority of cases,

are most effectual, and quite sufficient for the purpose.

I think it well to strongly impress upon a mother's mind the great

importance of early treatment. If the above advice be followed, every

curvature in the beginning might be cured. Cases of several years'

standing might, with judicious treatment, be wonderfully relieved.

Bear in mind, then, that if the girl is to be made straight, she is

first of all to be made strong; the latter, together with the proper

exercises of the muscles, will lead to the former; and the _earlier_ a

medical man takes it in hand, the more rapid, the more certain, and

the more effectual will be the cure.

An inveterate, long-continued, and neglected case of curvature of the

spine and bulging out of the ribs on one side might require mechanical

appliances, but such a case can only be decided on by an experienced

surgeon, who ought always, _in the first place_, to be consulted.

368. _Is a slight spitting of blood to be looked upon as a dangerous

symptom_?

Spitting of blood is always to be looked upon with suspicion; even

when a youth appears, in other respects, to be in good health, it is

frequently the forerunner of consumption. It might be said that, by

mentioning the fact, I am unnecessarily alarming a parent, but it

would be a false kindness if I did not do so:--

"I most be cruel, only to be kind."--_Shakspeare_.

Let me ask, When is consumption to be cured? Is it at the onset, or is

it when it is confirmed? If a mother had been more generally aware

that spitting of blood was frequently the forerunner of consumption,

she would, in the management of her offspring, have taken greater

precautions; she would have, made everything give way to the

preservation of their health; and, in many instances, she would have

been amply repaid by having the lives of her children spared to

her. We frequently hear of patients, in _confirmed_ consumption, being

sent to Mentone, to Madeira, and to other foreign parts. Can anything

be more cruel or absurd? If there be any disease that requires the

comforts of home--and truly may an Englishman's dwelling be called

_home!_--and good nursing more than another, it is consumption.

369. _What it the death-rate of consumption in England? At what age

does consumption most frequently occur? Are girls more liable to it

than boys? What are the symptoms of this disease_?

It is asserted, on good authority, that there always are in England,

78,000 cases of consumption, and that the yearly death-rate of this

fell disease alone is 39,000! Consumption more frequently shows

itself between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one: after then, the

liability to the disease gradually diminishes, until, at the age of

forty-five, it becomes comparatively rare. Boys are more prone to this

complaint than girls. Some of the most important symptoms of pulmonary

consumption are indicated by the stethoscope; but, as I am addressing

a mother, it would, of course, be quite out of place to treat of such

signs in Conversations of this kind. The symptoms it might be well for

a parent to recognise, in order that she may seek aid early, I will

presently describe. It is perfectly hopeless to expect to cure

consumption unless advice be sought at the _onset_, as the only

effectual good in this disease is to be done _at first_.

It might be well to state that consumption creeps on insidiously. One

of the earliest symptoms of this dreadful scourge is a slight, dry,

short cough, attended with tickling and irritation at the top of the

throat. This cough generally occurs in the morning; but, after some

time, comes on at night, and gradually throughout the day and the

night. Frequently during the early stage of the disease _a slight

spitting of blood occurs_. Now, this is a most dangerous symptom;

indeed, I may go so far as to say that, as a rule, it is almost a sure

sign that the patient is in the _first_ stage of a consumption.

There is usually hoarseness, not constant, but coming on if the

patient be tired, or towards the evening; there is also a sense of

lassitude and depression, shortness of breath, a feeling of being

quickly wearied--more especially on the slightest exertion. The hair

of a consumptive person usually falls off, and what little remains is

weak and poor; the joints of the fingers become enlarged, or clubbed

as it is sometimes called; the patient loses flesh, and, after some

time, night sweats make their appearance: then we may know that hectic

fever has commenced.

Hectic begins with chilliness, which is soon followed by flushings of

the face, and by burning heat of the hands and the feet, especially of

the palms and the soles. This is soon succeeded by perspirations. The

patient has generally, during the day, two decided paroxysms of hectic

fever--the one at noon, which lasts above five hours; the other in the

evening, which is more severe, and ends in violent perspirations,

which perspirations continue the whole night through. He may, during

the day, have several attacks of hectic flushes of the face,

especially after eating; at one moment he complains of being too hot,

and rushes to the cool air; the next moment he is too cold, and almost

scorches himself by sitting too near the fire. Whenever the

circumscribed hectic flush is on the cheek, it looks as though the

cheek had been painted with vermilion, then is the time when the palms

of the hands are burning hot. Crabbe, in the following lines,

graphically describes the hectic flush:--

"When his thin cheek assumed a deadly hue,

And all the rose to one small spot withdrew:

They call'd it hectic; 'twas a fiery flush,

More fix'd and deeper than the maiden blush."

The expectoration at first is merely mucus, but after a time it

assumes a characteristic appearance; it has a roundish, flocculent,

woolly form, each portion of phlegm keeping, as it were, distinct; and

if the expectoration be stirred in water, it has a milk-like

appearance. The patient is commonly harassed by frequent bowel

complaints, which rob him of what little strength he has left. The

feet and ankles swell. The perspiration, as before remarked, comes on

in the evening, continues all night--more especially towards morning,

and while the patient is asleep; during the time he is awake, even at

night, he seldom sweats much. The thrush generally shows itself

towards the close of the disease, attacking the tongue, the tonsils,

and the soft palate, and _is a sure harbinger of approaching

death_. Emaciation rapidly sets in.

If we consider the immense engines of destruction at work-viz.,

the-colliquative (melting) sweats, the violent bowel complaints, the

vital parts that are affected, the harassing cough, the profuse

expectoration, the hectic fever, the distressing exertion of

struggling to breathe--we cannot be surprised that "consumption had

hung out her red flag of no surrender," and that death soon closes the

scene. In girls, provided they have been previously regular,

menstruation gradually declines, and then entirely disappears.

370. _What are the causes of consumption_?

The _predisposing_ causes of consumption are the tuberculous habit of

body, hereditary predisposition, narrow or contracted chest, deformed

spine, delicacy of constitution, bad and scanty diet, or food

containing but little nourishment, impure air, close in-door

confinement in schools, in shops, and in factories, ill-ventilated

apartments, dissipation, late hours, over-taxing with book-learning

the growing brain, thus producing debility, want of proper out-door

exercises and amusements, tight lacing; indeed, anything and

everything, that either will debilitate the constitution, or will

interfere with, or will impede, the proper action of the lungs, will

be the predisposing causes of this fearful and lamentable disease.

An ill, poor, and insufficient diet is the mother of many diseases,

and especially of consumption: "Whatsoever was the father of a

disease, an ill diet was the mother."

The most common _exciting_ causes of consumption are slighted colds,

neglected inflammation of the chest, long continuance of influenza,

sleeping in damp beds, allowing wet clothes to dry on the body,

unhealthy employments--such as needle-grinding, pearl button making

etc.

371. _Supposing a youth to have spitting of blood, what precautions

would you take to prevent it from ending in consumption_?

Let his health be the first consideration; throw books to the winds;

if he be at school, take him away; if he be in trade, cancel his

indentures; if he be in the town, send him to a sheltered healthy spot

in the country, or to the south coast; as, for instance, either to St

Leonards-on-Sea, to Torquay, or to the Isle of Wight.

I should be particular in his clothing, taking especial care to keep

his chest and feet warm. If he did not already wear flannel

waistcoats, let it be winter or summer, I should recommend him

immediately to do so: if it be winter, I should advise him also to

take to _flannel_ drawers. The feet must be carefully attended to;

they ought to be kept both warm and dry, the slightest dampness of

either shoes or stockings should cause them to be immediately

changed. If a boy, he ought to wear double-breasted waistcoats; if a

girl, high dresses.

The diet must be nutritious and generous; he should be encouraged to

eat plentifully of beef and mutton. There is nothing better for

breakfast, where it agree, than milk; indeed, it may be frequently

made to agree by previously boiling it. Good home-brewed ale or sound

porter ought, in moderation, to be taken. Wine and spirits must on no

account be allowed. I caution parents in this particular, as many have

an idea that wine, in such cases, is strengthening, and that _rum_ and

milk is a good thing either to cure or to prevent a cough!

If it be summer, let him be much in the open air, avoiding the evening

and the night air. If it be winter, he should, unless the weather be

mild for the season, keep within doors. Particular attention ought to

be paid to the point the wind is in, as he should not be allowed to go

out if it is either in the north, in the east, or in the north-east;

the latter is more especially dangerous. If it be spring, and the

weather be favourable, or summer or autumn, change of air, more

especially to the south-coast--to the Isle of Wight, for instance--

would be desirable; indeed, in a case of spitting of blood, I know of

no remedy so likely to ward off that formidable, and, generally,

intractable complaint--consumption--as change of air. The beginning of

the autumn is, of course, the beat season for visiting the coast. It

would be advisable, at the commencement of October, to send him either

to Italy, to the south of France--to Mentone [Footnote: See _Winter

and Spring on the Shores of the Mediterranean_, By J. Henry Bennet,

M.D., London: Churchill.]--or to the mild parts of England--more

especially either to Hastings, or to Torquay, or to the Isle of

Wight--to winter. But remember, if he be actually in a _confirmed_

consumption, I would not on any account whatever let him leave his

home; as then the comforts of home will far, very far, out-weigh any

benefit of change of air.

372. _Suppose a youth to be much predisposed to a sore throat, what

precautions ought he to take to ward off future attacks_?

He must use every morning thorough ablution of the body, beginning

cautiously; that is to say, commencing with the neck one morning, then

by degrees, morning after morning, sponging a larger surface, until

the whole of the body be sponged. The chill at first must be taken off

the water; gradually the temperature ought to be lowered until the

water be quite cold, taking care to rub the body thoroughly dry with a

coarse towel--a Turkish rubber being the best for the purpose.

He ought to bathe his throat externally every night and morning with

luke-warm salt and water, the temperature of which must be gradually

reduced until at length no warm water be added. He should gargle his

throat either with barm, vinegar, and sage tea, [Footnote: A

wine-glassful of barm, a wine-glassful of vinegar, and the remainder

sage tea, to make a half-pint bottle of gargle.] or with salt and

water--two tea-spoonfuls of table salt dissolved in a tumbler of

water. He ought to harden himself by taking plenty of exercise in the

open air. He must, as much as possible, avoid either sitting or

standing in a draught, if he be in one, he should face it. He ought to

keep his feet warm and dry. He should take as little aperient

medicine as possible, avoiding especially both calomel and blue

pill. As he grows up to manhood he ought to allow his beard to grow,

as such would be a natural covering for his throat. I have known great

benefit to arise from this simple plan. The fashion is now to wear the

beard, not to use the razor at all, and a sensible fashion I consider

it to be. The finest respirator in the world is the beard. The beard

is not only good for sore throats, but for weak chests. The wearing of

the beard is a splendid innovation, it saves no end of trouble, is

very beneficial to health, and is a great improvement "to the human

face divine."

373. _Have you any remarks to make on the almost universal habit of

boys and of very young men smoking_?

I am not now called upon to give an opinion of the effects of tobacco

smoking on the middle-aged and on the aged. I am addressing a mother

as to the desirability of her sons, when boys, being allowed to smoke.

I consider tobacco smoking one of the most injurious and deadly habits

a boy or young man can indulge in. It contracts the chest and weakens

the lungs, thus predisposing to consumption. It impairs the stomach,

thus producing indigestion. It debilitates the brain and nervous

system, thus inducing epileptic fits and nervous depression. It stunts

the growth, and is one cause of the present race of pigmies. It makes

the young lazy and disinclined for work. It is one of the greatest

curses of the present day. The following cases prove, more than any

argument can prove, the dangerous and deplorable effects of a boy

smoking. I copy the first case from _Public Opinion_. "The _France_

mentions the following fact as a proof of the evil consequences of

smoking for boys--'A pupil in one of the colleges, only twelve years

of age, was some tune since seized with epileptic fits, which became

worse and worse in spite of all the remedies employed. At last it was

discovered that the lad had been for two years past secretly indulging

in the weed. Effectual means were adopted to prevent his obtaining

tobacco, and he soon recovered.'"

The other case occurred about fifteen years ago in my own

practice. The patient was a youth of nineteen. He was an inveterate

smoker. From being a bright intelligent lad, he was becoming idiotic,

and epileptic fits were supervening. I painted to him, in vivid

colours, the horrors of his case, and assured him that if he still

persisted in his bad practices, he would soon become a drivelling

idiot! I at length, after some trouble and contention, prevailed upon

him to desist from smoking altogether. He rapidly lost all epileptic

symptoms, his face soon resumed its wonted intelligence, and his mind

asserted its former power. He remains well to this day, and is now a

married man with a family.

374. _What are the best methods to restrain a violent bleeding from

the nose_?

Do not, unless it be violent, interfere with a bleeding from the

nose. A bleeding from the nose is frequently an effort of Nature to

relieve itself, and therefore, unless it be likely to weaken the

patient, ought not to be restrained. If it be necessary to restrain

the bleeding, press firmly, for a few minutes, the nose between the

finger and the thumb; this alone will often stop the bleeding; if it

should not, then try what bathing the nose and the forehead and the

nape of the neck with water quite cold from the pump, will do. If that

does not succeed, try the old-fashioned remedy of putting a cold large

door-key down the back. If these plans fail, try the effects either of

powdered alum or of powdered matico, used after the fashion of

snuff--a pinch or two either of the one or of the other, or of both,

should be sniffed up the bleeding nostril. If these should not answer

the purpose, although they almost invariably will, apply a large lump

of ice to the nape of the neck, and put a small piece of ice into the

patient's mouth for him to suck.

If these methods do not succeed, plunge the hand and the fore-arm into

cold water, keep them in for a few minutes, then take them out, and

either hold, or let be held up, the arms and the hands high above the

head: this plan has frequently succeeded when others have failed. Let

the room he kept cool, throw open the windows, and do not have many in

the room to crowd around the patient.

Doubtless Dr Richardson's local anaesthetic--the ether spray--playing

for a few seconds to a minute _on_ the nose and _up_ the bleeding

nostril, would act most beneficially in a severe case of this kind,

and would, before resorting to the disagreeable operation of plugging

the nose, deserve a trial. I respectfully submit this suggestion to my

medical brethren. The ether--rectified ether--used for the spray ought

to be perfectly pure, and of the specific gravity of 0.723.

If the above treatment does not soon succeed, send for a medical man,

as more active means, such as plugging of the nostrils--_which, is not

done unless in extreme cases_--might be necessary.

But before plugging of the nose is resorted to, it will be well to try

the effects of a cold solution of alum:--

Take of--Powdered Alum, one drachm;

Water, half a pint:

To make a Lotion.

A little of the lotion should be put into the palm of the hand and

sniffed up the bleeding nostril; or, if that does not succeed, some of

the lotion ought, by means of a syringe, to be syringed up the nose.

375. _In case of a young lady fainting, what had better be done_?

Lay her flat upon her back, taking care that the head be as low as, or

lower than, the body; throw open the-windows, do not crowd around

her, [Footnote: Shakspeare knew the great importance of not crowding

around a patient who has fainted. He says--

"So play the foolish throngs with one that swoons; Come all to help

him, and so stop the air By which he should revive."] unloosen her

dress as quickly as possible; ascertain if she have been guilty of

tight-lacing--for fainting is sometimes produced by that

reprehensible practice. Apply smelling salts to her nostrils; if

they be not at hand, burn a piece of rag under her nose; dash cold

water upon her face; throw open the window; fan her; and do not, as

is generally done, crowd round her, and thus prevent a free

circulation of air. As soon as she can swallow, give her either a

draught of _cold_ water or a glass of wine, or a tea-spoonful of

sal-volatile in a wine-glassful of water.

_To prevent fainting for the future._--I would recommend early hours;

country air and exercise; the stays, if worn at all, to be worn slack;

attention to diet; avoidance of wine, beer, spirits, excitement, and

fashionable amusements.

Sometimes the cause of a young lady fainting, is either a disordered

stomach, or a constipated state of the bowels. If the fainting have

been caused by _disordered stomach_, it may be necessary to stop the

supplies, and give the stomach, for a day or two, but little to do; a

fast will frequently prevent the necessity of giving medicine. Of

course, if the stomach be _much_ disordered, it will be desirable to

consult a medical man.

If your daughter's fainting have originated from a _costive state of

the bowels_ (another frequent cause of fainting), I beg to refer you

to a subsequent Conversation, in which I will give you a list of

remedies for the prevention and the treatment of constipation.

A young lady's fainting occasionally arises from debility--from

downright weakness of the constitution; then the best remedies will

be, change of air to the coast, good nourishing diet, and the

following strengthening mixture:

Take of--Tincture of Perchloride of Iron, two drachms;

Tincture of Calumba, six drachms;

Distilled Water, seven ounces:

Two table-spoonfuls of this mixture to be taken three times a day.

Or for a change, the following:--

Take of--Wine of Iron, one ounce and a half

Distilled Water, six ounces and a half

To make a Mixture. Two table spoonfuls to be taken three times a day.

Iron medicines ought always to be taken _after_ instead of _before_ a

meal. The best times of the day for taking either of the above

mixtures will be eleven o'clock, four o'clock, and seven o'clock.

376. _You had a great objection to a mother administering calomel

either to an infant or to a child, have you the same objection to a

boy or a girl taking it when he or she requires an aperient_?

Equally as great. It is my firm belief that the frequent use, or

rather the abuse, of calomel and of other preparations of mercury, is

often a source of liver disease and an exciter of scrofula. It is a

medicine of great value in some diseases, when given by a _judicious_

medical man, but, at the same time, it is a drag of great danger when

either given indiscriminately, or when too often prescribed. I will

grant that in liver diseases it frequently gives temporary relief, but

when a patient has once commenced the regular use of it, he cannot do

without it, until, at length, the _functional_ ends in _organic_

disease of the liver. The use of calomel predisposes to cold, and thus

frequently brings on either inflammation or consumption. Family

aperient pills ought never to contain, in any form whatever, a

particle of mercury.

377. _Will you give me a list of remedies for the prevention and for

the cure of constipation_?

If you find it necessary to give your son or daughter an aperient, the

mildest should be selected, for instance, an agreeable and effectual

one, is an electuary composed of the following ingredients--

Take of--Beat Alexandria Senna, powdered, one ounce

Best figs, two ounces,

Best Raisins (stoned), two ounces,

All chopped very fine. The size of a nutmeg or two to be eaten, either

early in the morning or at bedtime.

Or, one or two tea-spoonfuls of Compound Confection. of Senna

(lenitive electuary) may occasionally, early in the morning, be

taken. Or, for a change, a tea-spoonful of Henry's Magnesia, in half a

tumblerful of warm water. If this should not be sufficiently active,

a tea-spoonful of Epsom salts should be given with the magnesia. A

Seidlitz Powder forms another safe and mild aperient, or one or two

Compound Rhubarb Pills may be given at bed time. The following

prescription for a pill, where an aperient is absolutely necessary, is

a mild, gentle, and effective one for the purpose--

Take of--Extract of Socotrine Aloes, eight grains,

Compound Extract of Colocynth, forty-eight grains,

Hard Soap, twenty four grains,

Treacle, a sufficient quantity

To make twenty four Pills. One or two to be taken at bedtime

occasionally.

But, after all, the best opening medicines are--cold ablutions every

morning of the whole body, attention to diet, variety of food,

bran-bread, grapes, stewed prunes, French plums, Muscatel raisins,

figs, fruit both cooked and raw--if it be ripe and sound, oatmeal

porridge, lentil powder, in the form of Du Barry's Arabica Revalenta,

vegetables of all kinds, especially spinach, exercise in the open air,

early rising, daily visiting the water-closet at a certain hour--there

is nothing keeps the bowels open so regularly and well as establishing

the habit of visiting the water-closet at a certain hour every

morning, and the other rules of health specified in these

Conversations. If more attention were paid to these points, poor

school boys and school girls would not be compelled to swallow such

nauseous and disgusting messes as they usually do to their aversion

and injury.

Should these plans not succeed (although in the majority of cases,

with patience and perseverance, they will) I would advise an enema

once or twice a week, either simply of warm water, or of one made of

gruel, table-salt, and olive-oil, in the proportion of two

table-spoonfuls of salt, two of oil, and a pint of warm gruel, which a

boy may administer to himself, or a girl to herself, by means of a

proper enema apparatus.

Hydropathy is oftentimes very serviceable in preventing and in curing

costiveness; and as it will sometimes prevent the necessity of

administering medicine, it is both a boon and a blessing. "Hydropathy

also supplies us with various remedies for constipation. From the

simple glass of cold water, taken early in the morning, to the various

douches and sea-baths, a long list of useful appliances might be made

out, among which we may mention the 'wet compresses' worn for three

hours over the abdomen [bowels], with a gutta percha covering."

I have here a word or two to say to a mother who is always physicking

her family. It is an unnatural thing to be constantly dosing either a

child, or any one else, with medicine. One would suppose that some

people were only sent into the world to be physicked! If more care

were paid to the rules of health, very little medicine would be

required! This is a hold assertion; but I am confident that it is a

true one. It is a strange admission for a medical man to make, but,

nevertheless, my convictions compel me to avow it.

378. _What is the reason girls are so subject to costiveness_?