A nurse is to be chosen who is free from every complaint, and is neither
very old nor very young. She ought not to be less than twenty-five nor
more than thirty-five. Her chest should be large, as also her breasts,
and her nipples neither contracted nor turned aside. The rest of her body
should be neither very fat nor very spare. It is of great consequence
to the child that his nurse should have brought forth but a short time
before, and that her child had been a male rather than otherwise. She
ought to avoid everything of a very desiccative nature, and likewise
such as are saltish, acrid, sour, acid, bitter, very heating, or of an
offensive smell: also, such as are strongly fragrant, condiments, and
such like acrid substances. Let the nurse also abstain from venery. Let
her work with her hands and shoulders, let her labour at the mill and the
loom, and carry about the child in her arms. This may be done for three
or four months.
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