Take hold of him by the legs, allowing his head to hang downward; then

give him, with the palm of your hand, several sharp blows on his back,

and you may have the good fortune to see the coin coughed out of his

mouth. Of course, if this plan does not succeed, send instantly for a

medical man.

PART III.

BOYHOOD AND GIRLHOOD.

_’Tis with him e’en standing water,

Between boy and man._

SHAKSPEARE.

_Standing with reluctant feet

Where the brook and river meet,

Womanhood and childhood fleet!_

LONGFELLOW.

ABLUTION, Etc.

302. _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 health. 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 rejuvenize! 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 then it becomes a second nature, and cannot afterward be dispensed

with. One accustomed to the luxury of his morning ablution would feel

most uncomfortable if anything prevented him from taking it; 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 traveled over by the soaped hands; then

fold the flannel as you would a neckerchief, 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 under 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 downward,—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 from 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 minutiæ? 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 they do not—they would be both much healthier and

happier if they did!”

303. _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

colds; 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

horseback 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 while 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 while 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.

304. _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 color of the hair, provided grease and pomatum have not been

previously used.

305. _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.

306. _Do you think a tepid[276] bath 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.

307. _Do you approve of warm bathing?_

A warm bath[277] 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.

308. _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

afterward?_

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 northeast.

Every house of any pretension ought to have a bath-room. 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 patronized.

309. _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 women’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.”[278]

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

little of the best sweet oil might, by means of an old tooth-brush, be

used to smooth it; sweet 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 equaled, far less surpassed!

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

bergamot and oil of lavender, 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. Cocoanut oil is another excellent application for the

falling off of the hair.

CLOTHING.

310. _Do you approve of a boy wearing flannel next 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.

Woolen 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.

311. _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.

312. _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.

313. _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 to be worn—flannel

drawers as well as a flannel vest.

314. _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.

315. _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 waterproof. In wet or dirty weather, india-rubber

overshoes 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 lamb’s-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.

316. _When should a girl begin to wear stays?_

She ought never to wear them.

317. _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.[279] (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.”[280]

318. _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 sympathize 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; toward 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 noonday. Oh, that a mother should be so blinded and so infatuated!

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

dress?_

It is injurious to wear a _green_ dress, if the color 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 color, always to choose the gas-light green, and to wear and to use

for worsted work no other green besides.

DIET.

320. _Which is the most 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 be 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.

321. _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.

322. _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.”[281]

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 girl broth or soup, in lieu of meat for dinner; the stomach

takes such slops in a grumbling 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.

323. _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 overdistend the stomach, and hence weaken it, and

thus produce indigestion.

324. _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 takes unusual exercise, requires anything but water with

his meals.

325. _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 be delicate, I should

be sorry to endeavor 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. 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.

326. _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.

327. _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.

328. _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 overworked) 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.

329. _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 temperance, 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).”[282]

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!

AIR AND EXERCISE.

330. _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

ladylike to be natural—all their movements must be measured by rule and

compass!

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

undersized, 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, practicing music

lessons, doing crochet 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.”

331. _What is the best exercise for youth?_

Walking or running, provided it 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 little, and the knocks will do them good. Poor youths

who are, as it were, tied to their mothers’ apron-strings, are much to

be pitied; they are usually puny and delicate, and utterly deficient of

self-reliance.

332. _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 farther 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.

Riding 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 football, both of which are practiced, with

such zest and benefit, by the rougher sex.

333. _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.

334. _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.

335. _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.

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

beneficial to health?_

Many games—such as rowing, skating, cricket, quoits, football, 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

σκιομαχια, 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.”[283] Single-stick may be taught by any drill-sergeant in the

neighborhood. Do everything to make a boy strong. Remember, “the glory

of young men is their strength.”[284]

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

useless creatures would not abound. Let a boy or a 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 institutions, and should be patronized accordingly.

First of all, by an abundance of exercise and of 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 afterward; the results are, broken health, precocious,

stunted, crooked, and deformed youths, and premature decay.

One great advantage of gymnastic exercise is, it makes the lungs expand,

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

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.

337. _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.

338. _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 as exhilarating as a glass of champagne,

but will do her far more good! Skating exhilarates the spirits, improves

the figure, and makes a girl balance and carry herself 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.

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

of coughs, of colds, 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

piercing cold, to plunge into a suffocating, hot ball-room, made doubly

injurious by the immense number of lights, which consume the oxygen

intended for the due performance of the healthy function 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?

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

pleasures 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.

341. _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.

EDUCATION.

342. _Do you approve of corporal punishment 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 willful, and are made little better than

brutes.[285] 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 jailer, and, as he grows up

to manhood, hates and despises the man who has flogged him. Corporal

punishment is revolting, disgusting, and demoralizing to the boy, and is

degrading to the school-master as a man and as a Christian.

If school-masters must flog, let them flog their own sons. If they must

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

have more right to practice 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 afterward

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 eyes, 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-laborer, in reply to a question from his clergyman respecting the

bad behavior 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.’”[286]

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 school-masters 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 nowadays 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 honor; but now many

school-masters trust much to fear, little to honor, 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 honor 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 school-masters do not like, and patience they do not possess; the

use of the cane is quick, sharp, 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 was done to

abate such disgraceful practices.

Never should a school-master, or any one else, be allowed, _on any

pretense 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 traveling 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 permitted.

343. _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 brainwork

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 wires 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 schoolgirl

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.’”[287]

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 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,[288] 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, battledore and shuttlecock, gardening, walking, running, etc.

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

overcrowded, 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 yourself, 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 forever from the school-room.

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,[289] 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.

344. _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 gymnastic exercises and health-giving

exertion are unladylike, forsooth!

HOUSEHOLD WORK FOR GIRLS.

345. _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 exercise to expand the figure and to beautify

the shape better than 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, nowadays, 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 make!

CHOICE OF PROFESSION OR TRADE.

346. _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 horse.”[290]

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 by Dr. Casper, published in

the _British Review_. Of 1000 members of the medical profession, 600

died before their sixty-second year; while 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 humor 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.”

347. _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 any

one 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 are poor, of course you will bring him up to

some calling; but if you are rich, and your boy is 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!

SLEEP.

348. _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 center-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 sleep 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 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 boys and girls to sleep alone.

The roof of the bed should be left open—that is to say, the top of the

bedstead ought not 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 daytime, 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 you wish to be healthy?—

Then keep the house 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 labor

And lessen your care.

You are weary—no wonder,

There’s weight and there’s gloom

Hanging heavily round

In each overfull room.

Be sure all the trouble

Is profit and gain,

For there’s headache, and heartache,

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 pass’d away.”[291]

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

daytime, 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 theater and morning ball.

Give 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.”[292]

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 awakes 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.

349. _How many hours of sleep 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 pain nor care to keep them

awake; while, on the contrary, the old have frequently one or both:

“Care keeps his watch on every old man’s eye,

And where care lodges, sleep will never lie.”[293]

ON THE TEETH AND THE GUMS.

350. _What are the best 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 teaspoonful of salt to a

tumbler of water. I was induced to try the above plan by the

recommendation of an intelligent American writer.[294]

The salt and water should be used _every night_ at bedtime.

The following is an excellent tooth-powder:

Take of finely-powdered 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-mouth 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 clear,

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 the 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

upward and then downward, 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 set of teeth I ever saw in 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 scaling 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.

351. _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 excite 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!

352. _How can danger in such a case be warded off?_

It behooves 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 overworked 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.

353. _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 “Fraser’s

Magazine” speaks very much to the purpose when he says, “Give us

intellectual beef rather than intellectual veal.”

354. _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 he or she 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

brilliant, but short.

355. _How may Scrofula be warded off?_

Strict attention to the rules 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 neighborhood, 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 farinaceous food—such

as rice, sago, arrow-root, etc.—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.”[295]

356. _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 is generally most beneficial. In a patient

with confirmed scrofula it will of course be necessary to consult a

skillful 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, Llandudno; or, if the lungs be delicate, by a more

sheltered coast, such as either St. Leonard’s 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 far_ 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.”[296]

357. _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 horse-hair

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.

358. _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 laborer 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!”[297]

359. _My daughter has grown out of shape, she has grown on one side, 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

parlor gymnasium, the chest expander, the skipping-rope, the swimming

bath; all sorts of out-door games, such as croquet, archery, etc.; 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.

360. _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 must be cruel only to be kind.”[298]

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.

361. _What is 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,[299] 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 recognize, 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 toward the evening; there is also a sense of lassitude and

depression, shortness of breathing, 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 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 about 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.

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 toward 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 toward 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.

362. _What are the causes of Consumption?_

The _predisposing_ causes of consumption are the scrofulous 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, overtaxing 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.

363. _Supposing a youth to have spitting of blood, what precautions

would you take to prevent it from ending in Consumption?_

I should let his health be the first consideration; I should throw books

to the winds; if he be at school, I should advise you to take him away;

if he be in trade, I should cancel his indentures; if he be in the town,

I should send him to a sheltered healthy spot in the country, or to the

south coast; as, for instance, either to St. Leonards-on-Sea, or to

Torquay.

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 agrees, 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 northeast;

the latter is more especially dangerous. If it be spring, and the

weather be favorable, 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 best 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[300]—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

outweigh any benefit of change of air.

364. _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

lukewarm 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,[301] or with salt and

water—two teaspoonfuls 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.”

365. _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 a 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_.[302] “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 time

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 five 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 colors, the horrors of his

case, and assured him that if he still persisted in his bad practices,

he would soon become a driveling 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.

366. _What are the best methods to restrain a violent Bleeding from the

Nose?_

Do not interfere with a bleeding from the nose unless it be violent. 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 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 forearm 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 hands high above the head;

this plan has frequently succeeded when others have failed. Let the room

be kept cool, throw open the windows, and do not have many in the room

to crowd around the patient.

Doubtless, Dr. Richardson’s local anæsthetic—the ether spray—playing

from 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.

367. _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;[303] 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 teaspoonful of sal-volatile in a wineglassful

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—Muriated Tincture of Iron, one drachm and a half;

Tincture of Calumba, six drachms;

Distilled Water, seven ounces.

Two tablespoonfuls 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 tablespoonfuls 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.

368. _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 drug 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.

369. _Will you give me a list of remedies for the prevention and for the

cure of Constipation?_

If you find it necessary to give to your son or to your daughter

aperient medicine, the mildest ought to be selected; for instance, an

agreeable and an effectual one is an electuary composed of the following

ingredients:

Take of—Best picked Alexandria Senna, one ounce;

Best Figs, two ounces;

Best Raisins (stoned), two ounces:

All chopped very fine. The size of a nutmeg or two to be occasionally

eaten.

Or, one or two teaspoonfuls of compound confection of senna (lenitive

electuary) may occasionally, early in the morning, be taken. Or, for a

change, a teaspoonful of Henry’s magnesia, in half a tumblerful of warm

water. If this should not be sufficiently active, a teaspoonful 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 bedtime. 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;[304] 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 are.

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 tablespoonfuls 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.”[305]

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

bold 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.

370. _What is the reason girls are so subject to Costiveness?_

The principal reason why girls suffer more from costiveness than boys,

is that their habits are more sedentary; as the best opening medicines

in the world are an abundance of exercise, of muscular exertion, and of

fresh air.

Unfortunately, poor girls in this enlightened age must be engaged,

sitting all the while, several hours every day at fancy work, the piano,

and other accomplishments, they, consequently, have little time for

exercise of any kind. The bowels, as a matter of course, become

constipated; they are, therefore, dosed with pills, with black draughts,

with brimstone and treacle—oh! the abomination!—and with medicines of

that class, almost _ad infinitum_. What is the consequence? Opening

medicines, by constant repetition, lose their effects, and, therefore,

require to be made stronger and still stronger, until at length the

strongest will scarcely act at all, and the poor unfortunate girl, when

she becomes a woman, _if she ever does become one_, is spiritless,

heavy, dull, and listless, requiring daily doses of physic, until she

almost lives on medicine!

All this misery and wretchedness proceed from Nature’s laws having been

set at defiance, from _artificial_ means taking the place of _natural_

ones—from a mother adopting as her rule and guide fashion and folly,

rather than reason and common sense. When will a mother awake from her

folly and stupidity? This is strong language to address to a lady; but

it is not stronger than the subject demands.

Mothers of England! do, let me entreat you, ponder well upon what I have

said. Do rescue your girls from the bondage of fashion and folly, which

is worse than the bondage of the Egyptian task-masters; for the

Israelites did, in making bricks without straw, work in the open air—“So

the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to

gather stubble instead of straw;”[306] but your girls, many of them at

least, have no work, either in the house or in the open air—they have no

exercise whatever. They are poor, drawling, dawdling, miserable

nonentities, with muscles, for the want of proper exercise, like

ribbons; and with faces, for the lack of fresh air, as white as a sheet

of paper. What a host of charming girls are yearly sacrificed at the

shrine of fashion and of folly!

Another, and a frequent cause of costiveness, is the bad habit of

disobeying the call of having the bowels opened. The moment there is the

slightest inclination to relieve the bowels, _instantly_ ought it to be

attended to, or serious results will follow. Let me urge a mother to

instill into her daughter’s mind the importance of this advice.

371. _Young people are subject to Pimples on the Face, what is the

remedy?_

These hard red pimples (_acne_) are a common and an obstinate affection

of the skin, principally affecting the forehead, the temples, the nose,

and the cheeks; occasionally attacking the neck, the shoulders, the

back, and the chest; and as they more frequently affect the young, from

the age of 15 to 35, and are disfiguring, they cause much annoyance.

“These pimples are so well known by most persons as scarcely to need

description; they are conical, red, and hard; after awhile, they become

white, and yellow at the point, then discharge a thick yellow-colored

matter, mingled with a whitish substance, and become covered by a hard,

brown scab, and lastly, disappear very slowly, sometimes very

imperfectly, and often leaving an ugly scar behind them. To these

symptoms are not unfrequently added considerable pain, and always much

unsightliness. When these little cones have the black head of a ‘grub’

at their point, they constitute the variety termed _spotted acne_. These

latter often remain stationary for months, without increasing or

becoming red; but when they inflame, they are nowise different in their

course from the common kind.”[307]

I find, in these cases, great benefit to be derived from bathing the

face, night and morning, with strong salt and water—a tablespoonful of

table salt to a teacupful of water; by paying attention to the bowels;

by living on plain, wholesome, nourishing food; and by taking a great

deal of out-door exercise. Sea bathing, in these cases, is often very

beneficial. Grubs and worms have a mortal antipathy to salt.

372. _What is the cause of a Gum-boil?_

A decayed root of a tooth, which causes inflammation and abscess of the

gum, which abscess breaks, and thus becomes a gum-boil.

373. _What is the treatment of a Gum-boil?_

Foment the outside of the face with a hot chamomile and poppy-head

fomentation,[308] and apply to the gum-boil, between the cheek and the

gum, a small white-bread and milk poultice,[309] which renew frequently.

As soon as the gum-boil has become quiet, _by all means_ have the

affected tooth extracted, or it might cause disease, and consequently

serious injury of the jaw; and whenever the patient catches cold there

will be a renewal of the inflammation, of the abscess, and of the

gum-boil, and, as a matter of course, renewed pain, trouble, and

annoyance. Moreover, decayed fangs of teeth often cause the breath to be

offensive.

374. _What is the best remedy for a Corn?_

The best remedy for a _hard corn_ is to remove it. The usual method of

cutting, or of paring a corn away, is erroneous. The following is the

right way: Cut with a _sharp_ pair of pointed scissors around the

circumference of the corn. Work gradually round and round and toward the

center. When you have for some considerable distance well loosened the

edges, you can either with your finger or with a pair of forceps

generally remove the corn bodily, and that with little pain and without

the loss of any blood.

If the corn be properly and wholly removed, it will leave a small cavity

or round hole in the center, where the blood-vessels and the nerve of

the corn—vulgarly called the root—really were, and which, in point of

fact, constituted the very existence or the essence of the corn.

Moreover, if the corn be entirely removed, you will, without giving

yourself the slightest pain, be able to squeeze the part affected

between your finger and thumb.

_Hard corns_ on the sole of the foot and on the sides of the foot are

best treated by filing—by filing them with a sharp cutting file (flat on

one side and convex on the other), neither too coarse nor too fine in

the cutting. The corn ought, once every day, to be filed, and should

daily be continued until you experience a slight pain, which tells you

that the end of the corn is approaching. Many cases of _hard corn_, that

have resisted every other plan of treatment, have been _entirely_ cured

by means of the file. One great advantage of the file is, it cannot

possibly do any harm, and may be used by a timid person, by one who

would not readily submit to any cutting instrument being applied to the

corn.

The file, if properly used, is an effectual remedy for a _hard_ corn on

the sole of the foot. I myself have seen the value of it in several

cases, particularly in one case, that of an old gentleman of

ninety-five, who had had a corn on the sole of his foot for upwards of

half a century, and which had resisted numerous, indeed, almost

innumerable remedies; at length I recommended the file, and after a few

applications entire relief was obtained, and the corn was completely

eradicated.

The corns between the toes are called _soft corns_. A _soft corn_ is

quickly removed by the strong acetic acid—acid. acetic. fort.—which

ought to be applied to the corn every night by means of a camel’s-hair

brush. The toes should be kept asunder for a few minutes, in order that

the acid may soak in; then apply between the toes a small piece of

cotton wool.

_Hard corns_, then, on the sole and on the side of the foot, are best

treated by the file; _hard corns_ on the toes by the scissors; and _soft

corns_ between the toes by the strong acetic acid.

In the generality of cases the plans recommended above, if properly

performed, will effect a cure; but if the corn, from pressure or from

any other cause, should return, remove it again and proceed as before

directed. If the corn have been caused either by tight or by ill-fitting

shoes, the only way to prevent a recurrence is, of course, to have the

shoes properly made by a clever shoemaker—by one who thoroughly

understands his business, and who will have a pair of lasts made

purposely for the feet.[310]

The German method of making boots and shoes is a capital one for the

prevention of corns, as the boots and shoes are made scientifically, to

fit a _real_ and not an _ideal_ foot.

One of the best preventives of, as well as of the best remedies for

corns, especially of soft corns between the toes, is washing the feet

every morning, as recommended in a previous Conversation,[311] taking

especial care to wash with the thumb, and afterward to wipe with the

towel between each toe.

375. _What is the best remedy to destroy a Wart?_

Pure nitric acid,[312] carefully applied to the wart by means of a small

stick of cedar wood, a camel’s-hair pencil-holder, every other day, will

soon destroy it. Care must be taken that the acid does not touch the

healthy skin, or it will act as a caustic to it.

The nitric acid should be preserved in a stoppered bottle, and must be

put out of the reach of children.

376. _What is the best remedy for Tender Feet, for Sweaty Feet, and for

Smelling Feet?_

Cold water: bathing the feet in cold water, beginning with tepid water;

but gradually from day to day reducing the warm until the water be quite

cold. A large nursery-basin, one-third full of water, ought to be placed

on the floor, and one foot at a time should be put in the water, washing

the while with a sponge the foot, and with the thumb between each toe.

Each foot should remain in the water about half a minute. The feet ought

after each washing to be well dried, taking care to dry with the towel

between each toe. The above process must be repeated at least once every

day, every morning, and, if the annoyance be great, every night as well.

A clean pair of stockings ought in these cases to be put on daily, as

perfect cleanliness is absolutely necessary both to afford relief and to

effect a cure.

If the feet be tender, or if there be either bunions or corns, the shoes

and the boots made according to the German method (which are fashioned

according to the actual shape of the foot) should alone be worn.

377. _What are the causes of so many young ladies of the present day

being weak, nervous, and unhappy?_

The principal causes are—ignorance of the laws of health, Nature’s laws

being set at naught by fashion and by folly, by want of fresh air and

exercise, by want of occupation, and by want of self-reliance. Weak,

nervous, and unhappy! Well they might be! What have they to make them

strong and happy? Have they work to do to brace the muscles? Have they

occupation—useful, active occupation—to make them happy? No! they have

neither the one nor the other!

378. _What diseases are girls most subject to?_

The diseases peculiar to girls are—Chlorosis, Greensickness, and

Hysterics.

379. _What are the usual causes of Chlorosis?_

Chlorosis is caused by torpor and debility of the whole frame,

_especially of the womb_. It is generally produced by scanty or by

improper food, by the want of air and exercise, and by too close

application within doors. Here we have the same tale over again—close

application within doors, and the want of fresh air and exercise! When

will the eyes of a mother be opened to this important subject?—the most

important that can engage her attention!

380. _What is the usual age for Chlorosis to occur, and what are the

symptoms?_

Chlorosis more frequently attacks girls from fifteen to twenty years of

age; although unmarried women, much older, occasionally have it. I say

_unmarried_, for, as a rule, it is a complaint of the _single_.

The patient, first of all, complains of being languid, tired, and out of

spirits; she is fatigued with the slightest exertion; she has usually

palpitation of the heart (so as to make her fancy that she has a disease

of that organ, which, in all probability, she has _not_); she has

shortness of breath, and a short dry cough; her face is flabby and pale;

her complexion gradually assumes a yellowish or greenish hue—hence the

name of chlorosis; there is a dark, livid circle around her eyes; her

lips lose their color, and become almost white; her tongue is generally

white and pasty; her appetite is bad, and is frequently depraved—the

patient often preferring chalk, slate-pencil, cinder, and even dirt, to

the daintiest food; indigestion frequently attends chlorosis; she has

usually pains over the short-ribs, on the _left_ side; she suffers

greatly from “wind,” and is frequently nearly choked by it; her bowels

are generally costive, and the stools are unhealthy; she has pains in

her hips, loins, and back; and her feet and ankles are oftentimes

swollen. _The menstrual discharge is either suspended, or very partially

performed_; if the latter, it is usually almost colorless. Hysterical

fits not unfrequently occur during an attack of chlorosis.

381. _How may Chlorosis be prevented?_

If health were more and fashion were less studied, chlorosis would not

be such a frequent complaint. This disease generally takes its rise from

mismanagement—from Nature’s laws having been set at defiance. I have

heard a silly mother express an opinion that it is not _genteel_ for a

girl to eat _heartily_! Such language is perfectly absurd and cruel. How

often, too, a weak mother declares that a healthy, blooming girl looks

like a milkmaid! It would be well if she did! How true and sad it is,

that “a pale, delicate face, and clear eyes, indicative of consumption,

are the fashionable _desiderata_ at present for complexion.”[313]

A growing girl requires _plenty_ of _good_ nourishment—as much as her

appetite demands; and if she have it not, she will become either

chlorotic, or consumptive, or delicate. Besides, _the greatest

beautifier in the world is health_; therefore, by a mother studying the

health of her daughter, she will, at the same time, adorn her body with

beauty! I am sorry to say that too many parents think more of the beauty

than of the health of their girls. Sad and lamentable infatuation!

Nathaniel Hawthorne gives a graphic description of a delicate young

lady. He says: “She is one of those delicate, nervous young creatures

not uncommon in New England, and whom I suppose to have become what we

find them by the gradually refining away of the physical system among

young women. Some philosophers choose to glorify this habit of body by

terming it spiritual; but, in my opinion, it is rather the effect of

unwholesome food, bad air, lack of out-door exercise, and neglect of

bathing, on the part of these damsels and their female progenitors, all

resulting in a kind of hereditary dyspepsia.”

Nathaniel Hawthorne, a distinguished American, was right. Such ladies,

when he wrote, were not uncommon; but within the last two or three

years, to their great credit be it spoken, “a change has come o’er the

spirit of their dreams,” and they are wonderfully improved in health;

for, with all reverence be it spoken, “God helps them who help

themselves,” and they have helped themselves by attending to the rules

of health: “The women of America are growing more and more handsome

every year for just this reason. They are growing rounder of chest,

fuller of limb, gaining substance and development in every direction.

Whatever may be urged to the contrary, we believe this to be a

demonstrable fact.... When the rising generation of American girls once

begin to wear thick shoes, to take much exercise in the open air, to

skate, to play croquet, and to affect the saddle, it not only begins to

grow more wise but more healthful, and—which must follow as the night

the day—more beautiful.”[314]

If a young girl had plenty of wholesome meat, varied from day to day,

either plain roast or boiled, and neither stewed, nor hashed, nor highly

seasoned, for her stomach; if she had an abundance of fresh air for her

lungs; if she had plenty of active exercise, such as skipping, dancing,

running, riding, swimming, for her muscles; if her clothing were warm

and loose, and adapted to the season; if her mind were more occupied

with active, _useful_ occupation, such as household work, than at

present, and if she were kept calm and untroubled from the hurly-burly

and excitement of fashionable life,—chlorosis would almost be an unknown

disease. It is a complaint of rare occurrence with country girls, but of

great frequency with fine city ladies.

382. _What treatment should you advise?_

The treatment which would prevent should be adopted when the complaint

first makes its appearance. If the above means do not quickly remove

it, the mother must then apply to a medical man, and he will give

medicines _which will soon have the desired effect_. If the disease be

allowed for any length of time to run on, it might produce either

organic—incurable—disease of the heart, or consumption, or

indigestion, or confirmed ill health.

383. _At what period of life is a lady most prone to Hysterics, and what

are the symptoms?_

The time of life when hysterics occur is generally from the age of

fifteen to fifty. Hysterics come on by paroxysms—hence they are called

hysterical fits. A patient, just before an attack, is low spirited;

crying without a cause; she is “nervous,” as it is called; she has

flushings of the face; she is at other times very pale; she has

shortness of breath and occasional palpitations of the heart; her

appetite is usually bad; she passes quantities of colorless limpid

urine, having the appearance of pump-water; she is much troubled with

flatulence in her bowels, and, in consequence, she feels bloated and

uncomfortable. The “wind” at length rises upward toward the stomach, and

still upward to the throat, giving her the sensation of a ball stopping

her breathing, and producing a feeling of suffocation. The sensation of

a ball in the throat (_globus hystericus_) is the commencement of the

fit.

She now becomes _partially_ insensible, although she seldom loses

_complete_ consciousness. Her face becomes flushed, her nostrils

dilated, her head thrown back, and her stomach and bowels enormously

distended with “wind.” After a short time she throws her arms and legs

about convulsively, she beats her breast, tears her hair and clothes,

laughs boisterously, and screams violently; at other times she makes a

peculiar noise; sometimes she sobs, and her face is much distorted. At

length she brings up enormous quantities of wind; after a time, she

bursts into a violent flood of tears, and then gradually comes to

herself.

As soon as the fit is at an end she generally passes enormous quantities

of colorless limpid urine. She might, in a short time, fall into another

attack similar to the above. When she comes to herself she feels

exhausted and tired, and usually complains of slight headache, and of

great soreness of the body and limbs. She seldom remembers what has

occurred during the fit. Hysterics are sometimes frightful to witness;

but, in themselves, are not at all dangerous.

384. _What are the causes of Hysterics?_

Delicate health, chlorosis, improper and not sufficiently nourishing

food, grief, anxiety, excitement of the mind, closely confined rooms,

want of exercise, indigestion, flatulence, and tight lacing are the

causes which usually produce hysterics. Hysterics are frequently

feigned; indeed, oftener than any other complaint; and even a _genuine_

case is usually much aggravated by a patient herself giving way to them.

385. _What do you recommend an Hysterical lady to do?_

To improve her health by proper management; to rise early and to take a

walk, that she may breathe pure and wholesome air,—indeed, she ought to

live nearly half her time in the open air, exercising herself with

walking, skipping, etc.; to employ her mind with botany, croquet,

archery, or with any other out-door amusement; to confine herself to

plain, wholesome, nourishing food; to avoid tight lacing; to eschew

fashionable amusements; and, above all, not to give way to her feelings,

but if she feel an attack approaching, to rouse herself.

_If the fit be upon her_, the better plan is to banish all the _male_

sex from the room, and not even to have many women about her, and for

those around to loosen her dress; to lay her in the center of the room,

flat upon the ground, with a pillow under her head; to remove combs and

pins and brooches from her person; to dash cold water upon her face; to

apply cloths, or a large sponge wetted in cold water, to her head; to

throw open the window, and then to leave her to herself; or, at all

events, to leave her with only one _female_ friend or attendant. If such

be done, she will soon come round; but what is the usual practice? If a

girl be in hysterics, the whole house, and perhaps the neighborhood, is

roused; the room is crowded to suffocation; fears are openly expressed

by those around that she is in a dangerous state; she hears what they

say, and her hysterics are increased tenfold.

* * * * *

If this book is to be of use to mothers and to the rising generation, as

I humbly hope and trust that it has been, and that it will be still more

abundantly, it ought not to be listlessly read, merely as a novel, or as

any other piece of fiction, but it must be thoughtfully and carefully

studied, until its contents, in all its bearings, be completely mastered

and understood.

In conclusion, I beg to thank you for the courtesy, confidence, and

attention I have received at your hands, and to express a hope that my

advice, through God’s blessing, may not have been given in vain.

INDEX.

Ablution of a child, 1120.

of an infant, 1016.

of a youth, 1318.

thorough of boy and girl, 1318.

Accidents of children, 1297.

Acne, symptoms and treatment of, 1390.

Advice to a mother if her infant be poorly, 1148.

to _Mr. Paterfamilias_, 1087.

Ailments, the distinction between _serious_ and _slight_, 1087.

of infants, 1085.

Air and exercise for youth, 1337.

the importance of good, 1152.

the necessity of fresh and changing the, 1151.

American ladies, 1398.

Amusements for a child, 1177.

for a girl, 1344.

for a boy, 1341.

Ankles, weak, 1116.

Antipathies of a child, 1149.

Aperients for a child, 1255.

for an infant, 1091.

for a new-born babe, 1086.

for a youth, 1385.

danger of frequent, 1385.

Appeal to mothers, 1389.

Appetite, on a child losing his, 1146.

Applications, hot, 1295.

Apron, washing, 1022.

Archery, 1344.

Arnold, Doctor, on corporal punishment, 1349.

Arrow-root for an infant, 1040.

Artificial food for an infant at breast, 1036.

Asses’ milk, 1046.

Babes should kick on floor, 1076.

Baby-slaughter, 1045.

Baked crumb of bread for an infant, 1037.

flour for an infant, 1038.

Bakers’ and home-made bread, 1148.

Bathing after _full_ meal, 1324.

Baths, cold, tepid, and warm, 1325.

Baths, warm, as a remedy for flatulence, 1099.

Beard best respirator, 1380.

Bed, on placing child in, 1189.

Beds, feather, 1188.

purification of, 1238.

Bed-rooms, the ventilation of, 1359.

cool, 1190.

a plan to ventilate, 1359.

Bee, the sting of, 1312.

Beef, salted or boiled, 1141.

Belladonna, poisoning by, 1314.

Belly-band, when to discontinue, 1028.

Beverage for a child, 1143.

“Black eye,” remedies for, 1298.

Bladder and bowels of an infant, 1084.

Bleeding from navel, how to restrain, 1024.

of nose, 1381.

Blood, spitting of, 1374.

Blows and bruises, 1298.

Boarding-schools for females, 1351.

on cheap (_note_), 1352.

Boiled bread for infants, 1036.

flour for infants’ food, 1037.

Boils, the treatment of, 1252.

Boots and shoes, 1127, 1394.

Bottles, the best nursing, 1041.

Boulogne sore-throat, 1217.

Bow legs, 1277.

Bowels, large, of children, 1255.

looseness of, 1100.

protrusion of lower, 1258.

Boys should be made strong, 1343.

Brain, water on the, 1199.

Bran to soften water, 1280.

Bran poultices, 1296.

Breakfast of a child, 1135.

of a youth, 1332.

Breast, on early putting an infant to, 1032.

Breathing exercise, 1344.

Brimstone and treacle, 1261.

Brown and Polson’s Corn Flour, 1039.

Bronchitis, the treatment of, 1213.

Broth for infants, 1116.

for a new-born infant, 1041.

and soup, 1335.

Brothers and sisters, 1351.

Bruises, remedies for, 1298.

Burns and scalds, 1303.

Burning of women, 1152.

Bullying a child, 1166.

Butter, wholesome, 1135.

Calomel, the danger of a mother prescribing, 1095.

the ill effects of, 1385.

Camphor makes teeth brittle, 1365.

Caning a boy, 1347.

Caps, flannel, 1028.

Carpets in nurseries, 1171.

Carriage exercise, 1341.

Carron oil in burns, 1305.

Castor oil “to heal the bowels,” 1096.

Cat, bites and scratches of a, 1311.

“Chafings” of infants, the treatment of, 1088.

Chairs, straight-backed, 1354.

Change of air, 1263.

linen in sickness, 1267.

Chapped hands, legs, etc., 1280.

lips, 1281.

Chest, keeping warm the upper part of the, 1328.

“Chicken-breasted” and narrow-breasted children, 1274.

Chicken-pox, 1239.

Chilblains, 1279.

Child should dine with parents, 1150.

“Child-crowing,” 1206.

the treatment of a paroxysm, 1207.

Children’s hour, 1162.

parties, 1182.

Chimneys, on the stopping of, 1171, 1266.

Chiropodists (_note_), 1394.

Chlorosis or green sickness, 1396, 1397.

rare in rural districts, 1399.

“Choking,” what to be done in a case of, 1308.

Cisterns, best kind of, 1143.

Clothes, on airing an infant’s, 1030.

the ill effects of tight, 1124.

Clothing of children, 1123.

of infants, 1028.

during winter, 1031.

of youths, 1327.

Coffee as an aperient, 1285, 1333.

and tea, 1332.

Coin, on the swallowing of a, 1317.

Cold bedroom healthy, 1191.

a feverish, 1296.

on child always catching, 1264.

feet, method to warm, 1161.

Concluding remarks on infancy, 1119.

Constipation, prevention and cure of, 1385.

Consumption attacks the _upper_ part of the lungs, 1329.

the age at which it usually appears, 1374.

causes of, 1377.

death-rate, 1373.

importance of early consulting a medical man in, 1372.

spitting of blood in, 1372.

symptoms of, 1374.

Consumptive patient, the treatment of a, 1377.

Convulsions of children, 1066, 1089.

from hooping-cough, 1090.

Cooked fruit for child, 1134.

Coroners’ inquests on infants, 1082.

Corporal punishment at schools, 1347.

Corns, 1392, 1394.

Costiveness of infants, the means to prevent, 1096.

remedies for, 1091.

Costiveness, the reason why so prevalent, 1388.

Cough, the danger of stopping a, 1074.

Cow, the importance of having the milk from ONE, 1042, 1046.