Opening medicines are also the common re. sort when a child seems troubled with any irritability of the stomach. If it vomits its milk, and specially, of course, if this happens frequently, it must be dosed with some drug or another. Here, again, in all probability the fault is the mother's. It is commonly an over loaded stomach that is indicated ; the child is allowed to take, or is forced to take, too much milk. Perhaps the mother's breasts are very full, and the milk flows so freely that the child can scarcely drink fast enough, and gulps it down, or perhaps the mother puts the nipple again and again into the infant's mouth, and encourages it to take more, when by withdraw ing its head it has already indicated its satis faction. In such cases the vomiting is simply nature's method of disposing of the excess. ' When mothers see this, their business is to try to make the child drink more slowly, to take away the breast when they think the child has had enough, and never to urge it to take an extra supply. As soon as this has been done, probably the vomiting will cease. If, however, medicine does seem needful, then it ought to be a simple dose of one or two tea-spoonfuls of castor-oil, or two or three tea-spoonfuls of fluid magnesia repeated occasionally for a day ar two.
Many people find it very difficult to give medicine to infants. The child can easily be held on the left arm, propped up with its head resting on the shoulder and held so by the arm gently pressing the head against the person's chest, the hand of the same arm being brought round in front to hold down the infant's hands. The medicine is taken in a small spoon in t'ne right hand, and gently, but firmly, introduced into the month far enough to place the medicine well back on the tongue. If this is properly done the child cannot help swallowing it. Only a small quantity should be taken on the spoon at a time, about a quarter of the spoonful, and when that has been disposed of a little more is given, till the necessary quantity has been swallowed.
A second thing which some nurses are too ready to do is giving the lately-born infant a little gin-and-water or a little spirits of nitre and water, because the child has not made water, or what they think not enough. This must never be allowed. A small quantity of water may be made but be unnoticed, because of being soaked up by the cloths. Even though it is quite certain that no water has been made, drugs must not be given. A pad of flannel wrung out of moderately warm water and placed over the lower part of the belly and between the legs will usually be sufficient to encourage the flow. This application may be repeated for several times. Nothing else should be (lone without medical advice.
Stimulants of any kind should never be given to children by parents or nurses. A doctor may find it advisable to administer them in certain cases, but on no account should others employ them without medical orders.
Some form of stimulant is often given to dis pel wind, but there are some harmless drugs, such as dill water or essence of anise, which are equally satisfactory in their action. The method of giving them is mentioned on p. 601. But again it cannot be too strongly insisted on that flatulence and similar disturbance of the bowels are due most frequently to bad man agement in suckling or feeding, and that that evil should be rectified. The practice of giving to children, and specially to infants, what are insinuatingly called soothing medicines cannot be too strongly condemned. The effective in gredient in the most of these compounds is opium in some one of its forms: Laudanum itself, the tincture of opium, is frequently given on sugar by unscrupulous nurses or careless mothers, to quiet a fretful child, whose pain, restlessness, and sleeplessness are due to wretched mismanagement or gross inattention. Even mothers who would not dream of giving laudanum or opium to any of their children are glad to make use of preparations in which the opiate is masked by some special name, such as Mrs.- Winslow's Soothing Syrup, God frey's Cordial, Dalby's Carminative, syrup of poppies, 8tc. &c. In each of these it is the con tained opium that produces the so-called sooth ing effect, and each is capable, if used in suffi cient quantity, of introducing a "quietness" that will not again be broken. One drop of laudanum has killed a child, and numerous cases of infants' deaths have been reported in medical journals from the use of Mrs. Win slow's remedy, and from such preparations. Medical men themselves are extremely chary of administering opiates in any form to young children, even in cases of serious disease, where their use seems demanded, and when they do feel compelled to use them they are extremely careful in prescribing the dose and in watching its effects. Children are extremely susceptible to the action of opium. This must never be forgotten, for of some other drugs, of which belladonna is a good example, they can "stand'. a larger quantity than most grown-up persons It ought then to be a rule, never departed from that neither opium nor any of its preparations_ nor any compound in which it exists, is ever to be administered by mother or nurse to a child. Mothers who intrust their children largely to the care of nurses cannot be too careful in seeing that the nurse does not secretly employ such remedies to give herself greater ease and convenience by drugging her charge to sleep.
To sum up, the only medicines parents or nurses need have at hand are castor-oil, mag nesia, and dill water. If they are kept at hand in case of being required, they should, never theless, be sparingly used. The child, it may again be repeated, ought not, in ordinary cases to be restored to a proper condition by the us., of medicines, but ought to be kept in a healthy state by proper feeding and general careful and watchful management.