The avoidance of salt in the large quantity in which it is generally used diminishes thirst, and thereby the drinking of an excessive tity of fluid. Simplicity in the preparation of food prevents an cial stimulation of the appetite and the consequent overfeeding, while, On the other hand, a luxurious diet, at least for older children who are allowed to partake of these richer foods, leads to a decided stimulation of the activity of the digestive organs. A habit of simple tastes in food will find enjoyment in fruit, etc. This idea should be borne in mind, particularly where scrofula and the neuropathic habit are coexistent. Care.—The care of the child is of just as much importance as is its nourishment. How often do we see children recover perfect health when hoth of these points have received attention, even when only the normal regime which is correct for the healthy child has been instituted! Aside from the wonderful healing qualities of natural food (i.e., milk) for infants, a mixed diet in older children will often immediately cure a disturbance in nutrition or digestion which has resisted all other methods of treatment. The extraordinary therapeutic value of proper nursing, like proper nourishment, may manifest itself in such an pected manner when employed in a case in which it has not previously been used, that the real importance of the treatment may 11 ot be realized. In spite of the great value which hospital nursing possesses, larly for small children, it should as a rule be looked upon only as a makeshift, of which too long use should not be made, notwithstanding the earlier statement. If a healthy infant requires almost the entire attention of a nurse, much more is this true of a sick one. With good training, a practical turn of mind and a gift for unbiassed observation, a nurse will succeed in obtaining results in private nursing by alizing, which arc impossible in the routine nursing of large numbers in the hospital. Even though the child is not to be allowed to acquire bad habits, as it is apt to do in the leniency shown it during illness, it must nevertheless he rememhered that long spells of crying and the free perspiration caused by the effort are harmful. In painful diseases of the bones { rachitis, infantile scorbutus, osteomyelitis), unnecessary disturbance of position would he cruel. I M the (ohmr hand, in dyspmea or a tendency to laryngismus stridulus, it is necessary to take the child up; and it is possible in some cases, as in earache, to ease the pain by simply carrying the child around.
Warming the bed is of importance not only in premature birth, but in many of the severe diseases as well A particular position in bed may be required, owing to a tendency to vomit, to laryng,ismus stridulus, or in certain internal or surgical diseases. The bed itself should be hard in beginning rachitic kyphosis. Where there is a ten dency to sweating, as in rachitis, the child should be only lightly covered with a woollen blanket.
Extreme cleanliness of body. the linen. and the clothing, will in duce a more rapid recovery from many skin diseases (eczema), and will prevent complicating skin affections in acute diseases of the intestines, for instance, and in all protracted diseases accompanied by exhaustion and emaciation. For the cure of itching and vesicular eruptions, clean
liness of the hands should be given especial attention. In intestinal diseases, the mouth should he observed expectantly. In diseases of the mouth (thrush, aphthir, etc.), a frequent and appropriate treatment is necessary, which, however, should not be such as to produce injury (Bednar's aphth:e).
The clothing, which in general should be suited to the season, should be neither too nor too heavy, and where there is a tendency to sweating, particularly in rheumatism, should he selected with a view to the ready evaporation of the sweat. Porous underwear made of stock inet, which should not be covered with impenetrable outer garments, is to be recommended. Under no circumstances should the neck and trunk be particularly closely enveloped. through the fear of repeated catarrhal attacks. Impermeable head coverings produce headache, hut impermeable foot gear, unfortunately, often cannot be dispensed with, owing to the danger of wetting the feet.
Fresh, clean air for the sick room not only should he strenuously urged for its favorable effect upon all diseases of the respiratory passages, as well as for its importance in all chronic diseases: but it is absolutely required during such conditions as catarrh of the larger and smaller bronchi, and particularly in whooping-cough and pneumonia, and indirectly in rachitis, tetanoid spasms, and scroftilo-tuberculosis. To maintain the purity of the air, it is necessary to remove such furnish ings as may create or retain dust, and to leave undisturbed the dust which has already settled. The sick room is to be thoroughly ventilated day and night, either directly or indirectly (through an adjoining room), according to the weather, at the same time avoiding draughts. In con junction with fresh air, bright daylight should be admitted into the room for the sake of its purifying and invigorating effects. The one exception to this rule is in inflammation of the conjunctive, as this occurs, for instance, in measles, in which case a deadening of the bright light is desirable. All these points in the nursing of the sick can only be touched upon here.
Psychotherapy.—In the care and treatment of a sick child at any age, the psychical effect is of the greatest importance. The inner life of the child is not sufficiently understood by physicians and nurses.
far as psychically normal children are concerned, to be successful it is necessary only to carry out all painless procedures without producing resistance on the part of the child. This can be accomplished by a gentle and friendly manner or by diverting the attention of the child, or through encouragement, which will cause the child to become trustful and docile. That many methods of treatment (e.y., dietetic) are successful only under these circumstances requires no elaboration. Psychotherapy acts in a direct manner, since it awakens conscious perceptions and possibly fixes them through repetition, and by influencing unconscious perceptions by suggestion. Motor anomalies may be cited as examples of the former. Faulty positions of the body may be improved through training, and by means of suitable gymnastic exercises the improvement can be made permanen t.