General remarks. Importance of a Nursery--generally overlooked. Its
walls--ceiling--windows--chimney. Two apartments. Sliding partition.
Reasons for this arrangement. Objections to carpets. Furniture, &c.
Feather beds. Holes or crevices. Currents of air. Cats and dogs.
"Sucking the child's breath." Brilliant objects. Squinting. Causes of
blindness.
CHAPTER II. TEMPERATURE.
General principle--"Keep cool." Our own sensations not always to be
trusted. Thermometer. Why infants require more external heat than
adults. Means of warmth. Air heated in other apartments. Clothes taking
fire. Stove--railing around it. Excess of heat--its dangers.
CHAPTER III. VENTILATION.
General ignorance of the constitution of the atmosphere. The subject
briefly explained. Oxygen gas. Nitrogen. Carbonic acid. Fires, candles,
and breathing dependent on oxygen. Danger from carbonic acid. How it
destroys people. Impurity of the air arising from lamps and candles.
Other sources of impurity. Experiment of putting the candle under the
bed-clothes. Covering the heads of infants while sleeping--its dangers.
Proportions of oxygen and nitrogen in pure and impure air. No wonder
children become sickly. Particular means of ventilating rooms. Caution
in regard to lamps. Washing, ironing, cooking, &c., in a nursery. Their
evil tendency. Fumigation--camphor, vinegar.
CHAPTER IV. THE CHILD'S DRESS.
General principles--1. To cover us; 2. To defend us from cold; 3. from
injury.
SEC. 1. _Swathing the Body._
Buffon's remarks. Transforming children into mummies. Use of a belly-band.
Evils produced by having it too tight. Cripples sometimes made. Absurdity
of confining the arms. Infants should be made happy.
SEC. 2. _Form of the Dress._
Curious suggestion of a London writer. Advantages of his plan. Killing
with kindness. Dr. Buchan's opinion. Conformity to fashion. Tight-lacing
the chest. Its effects--dangerous. Physiology of the chest. Its motions.
An attempt to make the subject intelligible. Serious mistakes of some
writers. Appeal to facts. Color of females. Their breathing. Their
diseases. Customs of Tunis. Our own customs little less ridiculous.
SEC. 3. _Material._
Flannel in cold weather. Its use--1. As a kind
of flesh brush; 2. As a protection against taking cold; 3. As means of
equalizing the temperature. Clothing should be kept clean--often
changed--color--lightness--softness. Cotton apt to take fire. Silk
expensive. Linen not warm enough. Flannel under-clothes.
SEC. 4. _Quantity._
The power of habit, in this respect. Opinion that no clothing is
necessary. Anecdote of Alexander and the Scythian. Argument from
analogy. Begin right, in early life. We generally use too much
clothing. Should clothing be often varied?--objections to it. Avoid
dampness.
SEC. 5. _Caps._
How caps produce disease. Nature's head-dress. Miserable apology for
caps. What diseases are avoided by going with the head bare. Judicious
remarks of a foreign writer. Covering the "open of the head." Wetting
the head with spirits.
SEC. 6. _Hats and Bonnets._
Hats usually too warm. No covering needed in the house; and but little
in the sun or rain. Is it dangerous to go with the head always bare?
SEC. 7. _Covering for the Feet._
The feet should be well covered. Why. Rule of medical men. No garters.
Objections to covering the feet considered. Shoes useful. Not too thick.
Thick soles. Mr. Locke's opinion.
SEC. 8. _Pins._
These ought not to be used. Why. Substitutes. Practice of Dr. Dewees.
Needles--their danger. Shocking anecdote.
SEC. 9. _Remaining Wet._
Changing wet clothing. Monstrous error--its evils. Clean as well as dry.
A lame excuse for negligence. No excuse sufficient but poverty.
SEC. 10. _Remarks on the Dress of Boys._
Every restraint of body or limb injurious. Tight jackets. Stiff stocks
and thick cravats. Boots. Evils of having them too tight. A painful
sight.
SEC. 11. _On the Dress of Girls._
Clothing should be loose for girls or boys. Girls to be kept warmer than
boys. Few girls comfortable, at home or abroad. Going out of warm rooms
into the night air. How it promotes disease.
CHAPTER V. CLEANLINESS.
Physiology of the human skin. Of checking perspiration. Diseases thus
produced. "Dirt" not "healthy." How the mistake originated. "Smell of
the earth." Effect of uncleanliness on the morals. Filthiness produces
bowel complaints. Changing dress for the sake of cleanliness.
CHAPTER VI. BATHING.
Practice of savage nations. Rather dangerous. Mistake of Rousseau.
Plunging into cold water at birth may produce immediate death. Hundreds
injured where one is benefited. Spirits added to the water. First
washings of the child--should be thorough. Rules in regard to the
temperature of both the water and the air. Washing an introduction to
bathing. Hour for bathing changes with age. Temperature of the water.
Size of a bathing vessel. Unreasonable fears of the warm bath. How they
arose. A list of common whims. Apology for opposing cold baths. Dr
Dewees' eight objections to them. Does cold water harden? Cold bath
sometimes useful under the care of a skilful physician. Its danger in other
cases. Rules for using the cold bath, if used at all. Securing a glow after
it. General management. Proper hour. Coming out of the bath. Dressing.
Singing. Bathing after a meal. Local bathing. Tea-spoonful of water in the
mouth. Its use. The shower bath. Vapor bath. Medicated bath. Sponging.
Conveniences for bathing indispensable to every family. General neglect
of bathing. Attention of the Romans to this subject. We treat domestic
animals better than children.
CHAPTER VII. FOOD.
SEC. 1. _General Principles._
The mother's milk the only appropriate food of infants. Unreasonableness
of some mothers. The tendency to ape foreign fashions. Nursing does not
weaken the mother.
SEC. 2. _Conduct of the Mother._
Much depends on the mother. Opinions of medical societies. Mothers
sometimes make children drunkards. The general fondness for excitements.
Hints to those whom it concerns. Caution to mothers. Opinions of Dr.
Dewees. Slavery of mothers to strong drink and exciting food. Opinions
of the Charleston Board of Health.
SEC. 3. _Nursing, how often._
Children should never be nursed to quiet them. Stomach must have time
for rest. Regular seasons for nursing. Once in three hours. Difference
of constitution. Indulgence does not strengthen. Feeble children require
the strictest management. Nothing should be given between meals.
SEC. 4. _Quantity of Food._
Errors. Repetition of aliment. Variety. Children over-fed. Appetite not
a safe guide. Training to gluttony. Illustrations of the principle.
Mankind eat twice as much as is necessary.
SEC. 5. _How long should Milk be the only Food?_
First change in diet. Objections of mothers. Choice bits. Ignorance of
the nature of digestion. What digestion is. Food which the author of
nature assigned.
SEC. 6. _On Feeding before Teething._
When feeding before teething is necessary. Diet of mothers. Substitute
for the mother's milk. How prepared. Variety not necessary to the
infant. Milk best from the same cow. Vessels in which it is used should
be clean. Sweet milk not heated too much. Not frozen. Disgusting
practices. Pure water. If not pure, boil it. Best of sugar. Is sugar
injurious? When the state of the mother's health forbids nursing. Use of
sucking-bottles. Feeding should in all cases be slow. Jolting children
after eating. Tossing. Sucking-bottle as a plaything. Evils of using it
as such. Dirty vessels. Poisonous ones. Character of nurses. Nursing at
both breasts. Age of the nurse. Parents should have the oversight, even
of a nurse.
SEC. 7. _From Teething to Weaning._
Proper age for weaning. Cullen's opinion. Proper season of the year.
When the teeth have fairly protruded. First food given. New forms of
food. Animal broth.
SEC. 8. _During the Process of Weaning._
The spring the best time for weaning. Should not be too sudden. The
process--how managed. Exciting an aversion to the breast. What solid
food should first be given. Buchan's opinion. Health of the mother. She
should--if possible--avoid medicine.
SEC. 9. _Food subsequently to Weaning._
Views of Dr. Cadogan. Half the children that come into the world go out
of it before they are good for anything. Why? Owing chiefly to errors in
nursing, feeding, and clothing. Simplicity of children's food. Picture
of a modern table. Every dish tortured till it is spoiled. Plain, simple
food, generally despised. How bread is now regarded. How it ought to be.
Mr. Locke's opinion in favor of bread for young children, and against
the use of animal food. Does not differ materially from that of most
medical writers. Vegetable food generally preferred to animal. What is
true of youth, in this respect, is true of every age, with slight
exceptions. Who require most food. Mere bread and water not best. Bread
the staple article of diet. Best kind of bread. Objections to it. How
groundless they are. Fondness, for hot, new bread not natural. Fondness
of change. What it indicates. How it is caused. Train up a child in the
way he should go. We can like what food we please. Second best kind of
bread. Other kinds. Plain puddings. Indian cakes. Salt may be used, in
moderate quantity, but no other condiments. Of butter, cheese, milk, &c.
Potatoes, turnips, onions, beets, and other roots. Beans, peas, and
asparagus. No fat or gravies should be used.
SEC. 10. _Remarks on Fruit._
Diversity of opinion. The cholera. Fruits useful. Seven plain rules in
regard to them. Other rules. A mistake corrected. Fruit before
breakfast. Four arguments in its favor. Particular fruits. Apples. Why
fruits brought to market are generally unfit to be eaten. Are good, ripe
fruits difficult of digestion? Cooking the apple? A man who lives
entirely on apples. Cutting down orchards. Pears, peaches, melons,
grapes. Mixing improper substances with summer fruits.
SEC. 11. _Confectionary._
Confectionary sometimes poisonous. Case in New York. All, or nearly
all confectionaries injurious. Physical evils attending their use.
Intellectual evils. Moral evils. The last most to be dreaded. Slaves
to confectionary are on the road to gluttony, drunkenness, or
debauchery--perhaps all three.
SEC. 12. _Pastry._
Dr. Paris's opinion of pastry. Various forms of it. Hot flour bread a
species of it. Produces, among other evils, eruptions on the face.
Appeal to mothers.
SEC. 13. _Crude, or Raw Substances._
Salads, herbs, &c.--raw--cooked. Nuts, spices, mustard, horseradish,
onions, cucumbers, pickles, &c. None of these should be used, except as
medicine.
CHAPTER VIII. DRINKS.
Infants need little drink. Adults, even, generally drink to cool
themselves. Simple water the best drink. Opinions of Dr. Oliver and Dr.
Dewees. Animal food increases thirst. Only one real drink in the world.
The true object of all drink. Tea, coffee, chocolate, beer, &c. Milk
and water, molasses and water, &c. Cider, wine, and ardent spirits. Bad
food and drink the most prolific sources of disease. Children naturally
prefer water. Danger of hot drinks. Cold drinks. Mischiefs they produce.
Caution to mothers. Extracts. Drinking cold water, while hot.
CHAPTER IX. GIVING MEDICINE.
"Prevention" better than "cure." Nine in ten infantile diseases caused
by errors in diet and drink. Signs of failing health. Causes of a bad
breath. Flesh eaters. Gormandizers. General rule for preventing disease.
When to call a physician.
CHAPTER X. EXERCISE.
SEC. 1. _Rocking in the Cradle._
Objections to the use of cradles. Under what circumstances they are
least objectionable.
SEC. 2. _Carrying in the Arms._
Carrying in the arms a suitable exercise for the first two months of
life. Danger of too early sitting up. Improper position in the arms.
Mothers must see to this themselves. Motion in the arms should be
gentle. No tossing, running, or jumping. Infants should not always be
carried on the same arm.
SEC. 3. _Creeping._
Creeping useful to health. Why. Go-carts and leading strings prohibited.
The longer children creep, the better. Their progress in learning to
stand. Let it be slow and natural. Let it be, as much as possible, by
their own voluntary efforts.
SEC. 4. _Walking._
Walking in the nursery. Walking abroad. Hoisting children into carriages.
Walks should not become fatiguing.
SEC. 5. _Riding in Carriages._
Carriages useful before children can walk. Their construction. Should be
drawn steadily. Position of the child in them: Falling asleep. How long
this exercise should be continued.
SEC. 6 _Riding on Horseback._
Never safe for infants. Riding schools. Objections to riding on
horseback, while very young. Tends to cruelty and tyranny.
CHAPTER XI. AMUSEMENTS.
Universal need of amusements. Why so necessary. Error of schools. Error
of families. Infant schools, as often conducted, particularly injurious.
Lessons, or tasks, should be short. Mistakes of some manual labor
schools. Of particular amusements in the nursery. With small wooden
cubes--pictures--shuttlecock--the rocking horse--tops and
marbles--backgammon--checkers--morrice--dice--nine-pins--skipping the
rope--trundling the hoop--playing at ball--kites--skating and
swimming--dissected maps--black boards--elements of letters--dissected
pictures.
CHAPTER XII. CRYING.
Its importance. Danger of repressing a tendency to cry. Anecdote from
Dr. Rush. Physiology of crying. Folly of attempting wholly to suppress
it.
CHAPTER XIII. LAUGHING.
"Laugh and be fat." Laughing is healthy. A common error. Monastic
notions yet too prevalent on this subject.
CHAPTER XIV. SLEEP.
General remarks. A prevalent mistake. A hint to fathers. Few Catos.
Everything left to mothers.
SEC. 1. _Hour for Repose._
Night the season of repose, generally. Infants require all hours.
Sleeping in dark rooms. Excess of caution. Habit of sleeping amid noise.
SEC. 2. _Place._
Where the infant should sleep. Why alone. Poisoning by impure air.
Illustration. Proofs. Friedlander. Dr. Dewees. Destruction of children
by mothers. Anecdote. Moral reasons for having children sleep alone.
Sleeping with the aged. Sleeping with cats and dogs.
SEC. 3 _Purity of the Air._
Nurseries. Windows open during the night. Lowering them from the top.
Habit of Dr. Gregory. Going abroad in the open air.
SEC. 4. _The Bed._
No feathers should be used. They are too warm. Their effluvia
oppressive. Other objections to their use. Mattresses. Air beds. Beds of
cut straw. Soft beds. Testimony of physicians. The pillow. Dampness.
Curtains. Warming the bed. Beds recently occupied by the sick.
SEC. 5. _The Covering._
Light covering. Mistakes of some mothers. Covering the head with bed
clothes.
SEC. 6. _Night Dresses._
As little dress during sleep as possible. No caps. No stockings. Loose
night shirt. No tight articles of nightdress. Frequent exchanging of
clothes.
SEC. 7. _Posture of the Body._
Sleeping on the back--on the sides. Position of the head. The infant's
bedstead. Sir Charles Bell. Darkening the room.
SEC. 8. _State of the Mind._
Mental quiet favorable to sleep. Crying to sleep. A good father. All
anxiety should be avoided.
SEC. 9. _Quality of Sleep._
Soundness of our sleep. Nightmare. How produced. Late reading. Late
suppers. Influence of religion on sleep. Different opinions about sleep.
Truth midway between extremes. Effect of silence and darkness on our
sleep. Of sleep before midnight. Light unfavorable to sleep.
SEC. 10. _Quantity._
Infants need to sleep nearly the whole time. Number of hours required
for sleep. Opinions of eminent men. The author's own opinion. Statements
of Macnish. Estimates on the loss of time by over-sleeping. Hint to
young mothers.
CHAPTER XV. EARLY RISING.
All children naturally early risers. Evils of sitting up late at night.
Excitements in the evening. The morning, by its beauties, invites us
abroad. Example of parents. Forbidding children to rise early. Keeping
them out of the way. Burning them up. "Lecturing" them. What is an early
hour?
CHAPTER XVI. HARDENING THE CONSTITUTION.
Mistakes about hardening children. Their clothing. Much cold enfeebles.
The Scotch Highlanders. The two extremes equally fatal--over-tenderness
and neglect. An interesting anecdote from Dr. Dewees.
CHAPTER XVII. SOCIETY.
Duty of mothers in this matter. Children prefer the society of parents.
Importance of other society. Necessity of society. Early diffidence.
Selecting companions. Moral effects of society on the young. Parents
should play with their children.
CHAPTER XVIII. EMPLOYMENTS.
Influence of mothers over daughters. Anecdote of Benjamin West. Anecdote
of a poor mother. Of set lessons and lectures. Daughters under the
mother's eye. Disliking domestic employments. Miserable housewives--not
to be wondered at. Mistake of one class of men. Mr. Flint's opinion.
CHAPTER XIX. EDUCATION OF THE SENSES.
Extent to which the senses can be improved. Case of the blind. The
Indians. Julia Brace. Tailors, painters, &c.
SEC. 1. _Hearing._
Injury done by caps. Syringing the ears. Anecdote of deafness from
neglect. Means of improving the hearing.
SEC. 2. _Seeing._
Importance of seeing. Near-sighted people--why so common. Heat of our
rooms. Very fine print. Spectacles. Reading when tired. Rubbing the
eyes. Cold water to the eyes.
SEC. 3. _Tasting and Smelling._
Benumbing the senses. How this has often been done. The teeth. How to
preserve them.
SEC. 4. _Feeling._
Corpulence and slovenliness. Sense of touch. The blind--how taught to
read. Hint to parents. The hand. Neglecting the left hand. Physiology of
the hand and arm. Evils of being able to use but one hand. Both should
be educated.
CHAPTER XX. ABUSES.
Bad seats for children at table and elsewhere. Why children hate Sunday.
Seats at Sabbath school--at church--at district schools. Suspending
children between the heavens and the earth. Cushions to sit on. Seats
with backs. Children in factories. Evils produced. Bodily punishment.
Striking the heads of children very injurious. Beating across the middle
of the body. Anecdote of a teacher. Concluding advice to mothers.
* * * * *
PREFACE.
There is a prejudice abroad, to some extent, against agitating the
questions--"What shall we eat? What shall we drink? and Wherewithal
shall we be clothed?"--not so much because the Scriptures have charged
us not to be over "anxious" on the subject, as because those who pay the
least attention to what they eat and drink, are supposed to be, after
all, the most healthy.
It is not difficult to ascertain how this opinion originated. There are
a few individuals who are perpetually thinking and talking on this
subject, and who would fain comply with appropriate rules, if they knew
what they were, and if a certain definite course, pursued a few days
only, would change their whole condition, and completely restore a
shattered or ruined constitution. But their ignorance of the laws which
govern the human frame, both in sickness and in health, and their
indisposition to pursue any proposed plan for their improvement long
enough to receive much permanent benefit from it, keep them,
notwithstanding all they say or do, always deteriorating.
Then, on the other hand, there are a few who, in consequence of
possessing by nature very strong constitutions, and laboring at some
active and peculiarly healthy employment, are able for a few, and
perhaps even for many years, to set all the rules of health at defiance.
Now, strange as it may seem, these cases, though they are only
exceptions (and those more apparent than real) to the general rule, are
always dwelt upon, by those who are determined to live as they please,
and to put no restraint either upon themselves or their appetites. For
nothing can be plainer--so it seems to me--than that, taking mankind by
families, or what is still better, by larger portions, they are most
free from pain and disease, as well as most healthy and happy, who pay
the most attention to the laws of human health, that is, those laws or
rules by whose observance alone, that health can be certainly and
permanently secured.
But these families and communities are most healthy and happy, not
because they live in a proper manner, by fits and starts, but because
they have, from some cause or other, adopted and persevered in HABITS
which, compared with the habits of other families, or other communities,
are preferable; that is, more in obedience to the laws which govern the
human constitution. Not that even _they_ are "without sin" or error on
this subject--gross error too--but because their errors are fewer or
less destructive than those of their neighbors.
Now is it possible that any intelligent father or mother of a family,
whose diet, clothing, exercise, &c. are thus comparatively well
regulated, would derive no benefit from the perusal of works which treat
candidly, rationally, and dispassionately, on these points? Is there a
mother in the community who is so destitute of reason and common sense
as not to desire the light of a broader experience in regard to the
tendency of things than she has had, or possibly can have, in her own
family? Is there one who will not be aided by understanding not only
that a certain thing or course is better than another, but also WHY it
is so?
It is by no means the object of this little work to set people to
watching their stomachs from meal to meal, in regard to the effects of
food, drink, &c.; for nothing in the world is better calculated to make
dyspeptics than this. It is true, indeed, that some things may be
obviously and greatly injurious, taken only once; and when they are so,
they should be avoided. But in general, it is the effect of a habitual
use of certain things for a long time together--and the longer the
experiment the better--which we are to observe.
A book to guide mothers in the formation of early good habits in their
offspring, should be the result of long observation and much experiment
on these points, but more especially of a thorough understanding of
human physiology. It should not consist so much of the conceits of a
single brain--perhaps half turned--as of the logical deductions of
severe science, and facts gleaned from the world's history.
Here is a nation, or tribe of men, bringing up children to certain
habits, from generation to generation--and such and such is their
character. Here, again, is another large portion of our race, who, under
similar circumstances of climate, &c. &c., have, for several hundred
years, educated their children very differently, and with different
results. A comparison of things on a large scale, together with a close
attention to the constitution and relations of the human system, affords
ground for drawing conclusions which are or may be useful. If this book
shall not afford light derived from such sources, it were far better
that it had never been written. If it only sets people to watching over
the effects of things taken or used only for a single day, instead of
leading them from early infancy to form in their children such habits as
will preclude, in a great measure, the necessity of watching ourselves
daily, then let the day perish from the memory of the writer, in which
the plan of bringing it forth to the world was conceived. But he is
confident of better things. He does not believe that a work which, to
such an extent, GIVES THE REASON WHY, will be productive of more evil
than good. On the contrary, it must, if read, have the opposite effect.
I do not deny that even after the formation of the best habits, there
will be a necessity of paying some attention to what we eat and what we
drink, from day to day, and from hour to hour; but only that the
tendency of this work is not to increase this necessity, but on the
contrary, to diminish it. In my own view; these occasions of inquiry in
regard to what is right, _physically_ as well as _morally_, are one part
of our trials in this world--one means of forming our characters. We are
constantly tempted to excess and to error, in spite of the most firm
habits of self-denial which can be formed. If we resist temptation, our
characters are improved. And it is by self-denial and self-government in
these smaller matters, that we are to hope for nearly all the progress
we can ever make in the great work of self-education. Great trials of
character come but seldom; and when they come, we are often armed
against them; but these little trials and temptations, coming upon us
every hour--these it is, after all, that give shape to our characters,
and make us constantly growing either better or worse, both in the sight
of God and man. But, as I have repeatedly said, the object of this work
is to diminish rather than to increase the frequency of these trials,
useful though they may be, if duly improved, in the formation of
virtuous, and even of holy character.
There is a sense in which every infant may be said to be born healthy,
so that we may not only adopt the language of the poet, Bowring, and
say
--"a child is born;
Take it, and make it a bud of _moral_ beauty,"
but we may also add--Take it and make it beautiful _physically_. For
though a hereditary predisposition undoubtedly renders some individuals
more susceptible than others to particular diseases, yet when the bodily
organization of an infant is complete, and the degree of vitality which
nature gives it is sufficient to propel the machinery of the frame, it
can scarcely be regarded as in any other state than that of health.
Now if it be the intention of divine Providence (and who will doubt that
it is?) that the animal body should be capable of resisting with
impunity the impressions of heat, cold, light, air, and the various
external influences to which, at birth, it is subjected, it may be
properly asked why this primitive state of health cannot be maintained,
and diseases, and medicines, and even PREVENTIVES wholly avoided.
But the reason is obvious. Civilized society has placed the human race
in artificial circumstances. Instead of listening to the dictates of
reason, making ourselves acquainted with the nature of the human
constitution, and studying to preserve it in health and vigor, we yield
to the government of ignorance and presumption. The first moment, even,
in which we draw breath, sees us placed under the control of individuals
who are totally inadequate to the important charge of preserving the
infant constitution in its original state, and aiding its progress to
maturity. And thus it is that though infants, as a general rule, may be
said to be born healthy, few actually remain so. Seldom, indeed, do we
find a person who has arrived at maturity wholly free from disease, even
in those parts of our country which are reckoned to have the most
healthy climate.
It is indeed commonly said, that a large proportion, both of children
and adults, among the agricultural portion of our population, are
healthy. But it is not so. There is room for doubt whether, on the
whole, the farmers of this country are healthier than the mechanics, or
much more so than the manufacturers; or the whole mass of the country
population healthier than that of the crowded city. The causes of
disease are sufficiently numerous, in all places and conditions; and
this will continue to be the fact, not merely until parents and teachers
shall become more enlightened, but until many generations have been
trained under their enlightened influence.
If the children and adults among our agricultural population derive from
their employments in the open air a more ruddy appearance than those
either of the city or country who are confined more to their rooms; or
to a vitiated atmosphere, and to numerous other sources of disease, and
if they _appear_ more favored with health, I have learned, by accurate
observation, that these appearances are somewhat deceptive. Their active
sports and employments in the open air give them a stronger appetite
than any other class of people; and the indulgence of this appetite, not
only with articles which are heating or indigestible in their nature,
but with an unreasonable quantity even of those which are considered
highly proper, is almost in an exact proportion. And it is hence
scarcely possible for the causes of disease and premature death to be
more operative in factories and in cities than in farm houses and the
country. Indeed it may be questioned whether the abuses of the ANIMAL
part of man--more common in some of their forms in country than in
city--though they may be less conspicuous, are not more certainly and
even more immediately destructive than those abuses which, in city life,
and bustle, and competition, affect more the MORAL nature.
Be that as it may, however--for this is not the place for the grave
discussion of so broad a question--one thing, to my mind, is perfectly
clear, namely, that until physical education shall receive more
attention from all those who hold the sacred office of instructors of
the young, humanity can neither be much elevated nor improved. Mothers
and schoolmasters especially--they who, as Dr. Rush says, plant the
seeds of nearly all the good or evil in the world--must understand, most
deeply and thoroughly, the laws which regulate the various provinces of
the little world in which the soul resides, and which, like so many
states of a great confederacy, have not only their separate interests
and rights, but certain common and general ones; as well as those laws
by which the human constitution is related to and connected with the
objects which everywhere surround, and influence, and limit, and extend
it.
This book contains little, if anything, new to those who are already
familiar with anatomy and physiology. Indeed, whatever may be its
claims, its merits or its demerits, it disclaims novelty. It is, indeed,
in one point of view, _original_;--I mean in its form, manner, and
arrangement. What I have written is chiefly from my own resources--the
results of patient study and observation, and careful reflection; but
that study and observation of human nature, and this reflection, have
been greatly aided by reading the writings of others.
In the prosecution of the task which I had assigned myself, no work has
been of more service to me than an octavo volume of 548 pages, by Dr.
Wm. P. Dewees, of Philadelphia, entitled, "A Treatise on the Physical
and Medical Treatment of Children." It is one of the most valuable works
on Physical Education in the English language, as is evident from the
fact that notwithstanding its expense--three or four dollars--it has, in
nine years, gone through five editions. If it were written in such a
style, and published at such a price as would bring it within reach of
the minds and purses of the mass of the community, its sale would have
been, I think, much greater still; and the good which it has
accomplished would have been increased ten-fold.
If the "YOUNG MOTHER" should be favorably received by the American
community, and prove extensively useful, it will undoubtedly be owing to
the fact that it presents so large a collection of facts and principles
on the great subject of physical education, in a manner so practical,
and at a price which is very low. To accomplish an object so desirable
is by no means an easy task. It was once said by the author of a huge
volume, that he wrote so large a work because he had not time to prepare
a smaller one. And however unaccountable it may be to those who have not
made the trial, it may be safely asserted, that to present, within
limits so small, anything like a system of Physical Education for the
guidance of young mothers, requires much more time, and labor, and
patience, than to prepare a work on the same subject twice as large.
Nor is it to be expected, after all, that the work is, in all respects,
perfect. I have indeed done what I could to render it so; but am
conscious that future inquiries may lead to the discovery of errors.
Should such discoveries be made, they will be cheerfully acknowledged
and corrected; truth being, as it should be, the leading object.
* * * * *
THE YOUNG MOTHER.
CHAPTER I.
THE NURSERY.
General remarks. Importance of a Nursery--generally overlooked. Its
walls--ceiling--windows--chimney. Two apartments. Sliding partition.
Reasons for this arrangement. Objections to carpets. Furniture, &c.
Feather beds. Holes or crevices. Currents of air. Cats and dogs.
"Sucking the child's breath." Brilliant objects. Squinting. Causes of
blindness.
It is far from being in the power of every young mother to procure a
suitable room for a nursery. In the present state of society, the
majority must be contented with such places as they can get. Still there
are various reasons for saying what a nursery should be. 1. It may be of
service to those who _have_ the power of selection. 2. Information
cannot injure those who _have not_. 3. It may lead those who have wealth
to extend the hand of charity in this important direction; for there
are not a few who have little sympathy with the wants and distresses of
the adult poor, who will yet open their hearts and unfold their hands
for the relief of suffering _infancy_.
Among those who have what is called a nursery, few select for this
purpose the most appropriate part of the building. It is not
unfrequently the one that can best be spared, is most retired, or most
convenient. Whether it is most favorable to the health and happiness of
its occupants, is usually at best a secondary consideration.
But this ought not so to be. A nursery should never, for example, be on
a ground floor, or in a shaded situation, or in any circumstances which
expose it to dampness, or hinder the occasional approach of the light of
the sun. It should be spacious, with dry walls, high ceiling, and tight
windows. The latter should always be so constructed that the upper sash
can be lowered when we wish to admit or exclude air. It should have a
chimney, if possible; but if not, there should be suitable holes in the
ceiling, for the purposes of ventilation.
The windows should have shutters, so that the room, when necessary, can
be darkened--and green curtains. Some writers say that the windows
should have cross bars before them; but if they do not descend within
three feet of the floor, such an arrangement can hardly be required.
It is highly desirable that every nursery should consist of two rooms,
opening into each other; or what is still better, of one large room,
with a sliding or swinging partition in the middle. The use of this is,
that the mother and child may retire to one, while the other is being
swept or ventilated. They would thus avoid damp air, currents, and dust.
Such an arrangement would also give the occupants a room, fresh, clean
and sweet, in the morning, (which is a very great advantage,) after
having rendered the air of the other foul by sleeping in it.
In winter, and while there is an infant in the nursery, just beginning
to walk, it is recommended by many to cover the floor with a carpet. The
only advantage which they mention is, that it secures the child from
injury if it falls. But I have seldom seen lasting injury inflicted by
simple falls on the hard floor; and there are so many objections to
carpeting a nursery, since it favors an accumulation of dust, bad air,
damp, grease, and other impurities, that it seems to me preferable to
omit it. Many physicians, I must own, recommend carpets during winter,
though not in summer; and in no case, unless they are well shaken and
aired, at least once a week.
No furniture should be admissible, except the beds for the mother and
child, a table, and a few chairs. With the best writers and highest
authorities on the subject, I am decidedly of opinion that all feather
beds ought effectually and forever to be excluded from nurseries. The
reasons for this prohibition will appear hereafter.
Every nursery should, if possible, be free from holes or crevices;
otherwise the occupants will be exposed to currents of air, and their
sometimes terrible and always injurious consequences. The room may, in
this way, be kept at a lower medium temperature--a point of very great
importance.
Cats and dogs, I believe, are usually excluded from the nursery; if not,
they ought to be. For though the apprehension of cats "sucking the
child's breath," is wholly groundless, yet they may be provoked by the
rude attacks of a child to inflict upon it a lasting injury. Besides,
they assist, by respiration, in contaminating the air, like all other
animals.
If there are, in the nursery, objects which, from the vivacity or
brilliancy of their colors, attract the attention of the child, they
should never be presented to them sideways, or immediately over their
heads. The reason for this caution is, that children seek, and pursue
almost instinctively, bright objects; and are thus liable to contract a
habit of moving their eyes in an oblique direction, which _may_
terminate in squinting.
Many parents seem to take great pleasure in indulging the young infant
in looking at these bright objects; especially a lamp or a candle. If
the child is naturally strong and vigorous, no immediate perceptible
injury may arise; but I am confident in the opinion that the result is
often quite otherwise. For many weeks, if not many months of their early
existence, they should not be permitted to sit or lie and gaze at any
bright object, be it ever so weak or distant, unless placed exactly
before their eyes; and even in the latter case, it were better to avoid
it.
Heat is also injurious to the eyes of all, and of course not less so to
children than to adults. But when a strong light and heat are conjoined,
as is the case of sitting around a large blazing fire--the former custom
of New England--it is no wonder if the infantile eyes become early
injured. No wonder that the generation now on the stage, early subjected
to these abuses, should be found almost universally in the use of
spectacles.
This may be the most proper place for observing that great care ought to
be taken, at the birth of the child, to prevent a too sudden exposure of
the tender organ of vision to the light. We believe this caution is
generally omitted by the American physician, though it is one which
accords with the plainest dictates of common sense. Who of us has not
experienced the pain of emerging suddenly from the darkness of a cellar
to the ordinary light of day? The strongest eyes of the adult are
scarcely able to bear the transition. How much more painful to the
tender organs of the new-born infant must be the change to which it is
so frequently subjected? And how easy it is to prevent the pain and
danger of the change, by more effectually darkening the room into which
it is introduced!
But we have testimony on this point. A distinguished German physician
states that he has known many cases of permanent blindness from this
very cause to which we have referred. The Principal of the Institution
for the Blind, at Vienna, says he is confident that most children who
appear to be born blind, are actually made blind by neglecting this same
precaution.