Ignorance bandages the new-born child, as tight as a drum, from arm- pits to hips, compressing every, vital organ. There is a tradition that all infants are subject to colic for the first three months of their existence; at Seay ICS the end of which time the bandage is removed, and the colic ceases. Reason : suggests that the bandage may be the cause of the colic, and queries as to the origin of the custom, and its use. She is told, with all seriousness, ‘‘ that apes the bones of a new-born child are like cartilage, that, unless they are pinned ot _up snugly, they are in danger of falling to pieces.’’ Reason replies: ‘‘If In- | finite Wisdom has made kittens and puppies so that their component parts remain together, it is marvelous that He should have left the human being wholly at the mercy of a bandage;”’ and proposes, with her first-born, to dis- pense with swaddling bandages, leaving only a slight compress on the navel,: yaa for a few days, until perfectly healed. ARE TS Ignorance, believing that every child comes into the world in a diseased HN, and starving condition, begins at once the preparation of a variety of nos- ey trums, chemical and culinary, which she persistently administers to the struggling victim. Reason, knowing that after the fatigue of a long and perilous march, what the young soldier most needs is absolute rest in some warm and cozy tent, shelters him under her wing, and fights off all intruders, sure that when he needs his rations the world will hear from him. His first bath should be preceded by a generous application of pure, sweet olive-oil, from head to foot, in every little corner and crevice of his outer man; and cea then he should be immersed in warm soap-suds, so neatly the temperature Mesaeet 2 of the body as to cause no shock. Great care should be taken that neither Ae oil nor soap touch the eyes. The room should be very warm, all drafts ex- foiok cluded; and on emerging from the tub, a hot soft-flannel blanket should be Cet closely wrapped around him, in which he may rest awhile before dressing. age The softest garments, simply made, and so cut, as to fasten round the throat and rest on the shoulders, should constitute his wardrobe; eschew all bands, pins, ligatures, ruffles, embroidery, caps, socks, etc. Let the child’s first efforts at foraging for an existence be at his mother’s breast; there he will find the medicine he needs, and just what she needs, too, to dispose of. t The child’s mouth and the mother’s nipples should be carefully washed be uae PP ews Y gS Sai ety Hanon met Ae Sena! eee ne ey arn } my Ger » | | i te iv | ht net ie ba Fe | ee ; a A i 462 » SOMETHING ABOUT BABIES. ee NAT Any Rea vegr es before nursing; thus, much suffering, for both mother and child, will be prevented. ‘“Give the baby water six times a day,” was one of the most. important messages ever sent over the telegraph wires to a young mother. Ignorance bathes her baby on a full stomach, because she finds it will go through the ordeal of dressing more quietly; Reason bathes hers two hours after feeding, knowing that the vital forces needed for digestion should not be drawn to the surface. Being constructed on the same general plan with its parents, the same principle that makes it dangerous for a man to go swimming immediately after eating, makes it equally so to put a baby in its tub after nursing.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Ignorance bandages the new-born child, as tight as a drum, from armpits to hips, compressing every, vital organ. There is a tradition that all infants are subject to colic for the first three months of their existence; at Seay ICS the end of which time the bandage is removed, and the colic ceases. Reason : suggests that the bandage may be the cause of the colic, and queries as to the origin of the custom, and its use. She is told, with all seriousness, ‘‘ that since the bones of a new-born child are like cartilage, that, unless they are pinned ot _up snugly, they are in danger of falling to pieces.’’ Reason replies: ‘‘If In- | finite Wisdom has made kittens and puppies so that their component parts remain together, it is marvelous that He should have left the human being wholly at the mercy of a bandage;”’ and proposes, with her first-born, to dis- pense with swaddling bandages, leaving only a slight compress on the navel, for a few days, until perfectly healed. ARE TS Ignorance, believing that every child comes into the world in a diseased HN, and starving condition, begins at once the preparation of a variety of nos- ey trums, chemical and culinary, which she persistently administers to the struggling victim. Reason, knowing that after the fatigue of a long and perilous march, what the young soldier most needs is absolute rest in some warm and cozy tent, shelters him under her wing, and fights off all intruders, sure that when he needs his rations the world will hear from him. His first bath should be preceded by a generous application of pure, sweet olive-oil, from head to foot, in every little corner and crevice of his outer man; and cea then he should be immersed in warm soap-suds, so neatly the temperature Mesaeet 2 of the body as to cause no shock. Great care should be taken that neither Ae oil nor soap touch the eyes. The room should be very warm, all drafts ex- foiok cluded; and on emerging from the tub, a hot soft-flannel blanket should be Cet closely wrapped around him, in which he may rest awhile before dressing. age The softest garments, simply made, and so cut, as to fasten round the throat and rest on the shoulders, should constitute his wardrobe; eschew all bands, pins, ligatures, ruffles, embroidery, caps, socks, etc. Let the child’s first efforts at foraging for an existence be at his mother’s breast; there he will find the medicine he needs, and just what she needs, too, to dispose of. t The child’s mouth and the mother’s nipples should be carefully washed be uae PP ews Y gS Sai ety Hanon met Ae Sena! eee ne ey arn } my Ger » | | i te iv | ht net ie ba Fe | ee ; a A i 462 » SOMETHING ABOUT BABIES. ee NAT Any Rea vegr es before nursing; thus, much suffering, for both mother and child, will be prevented. ‘“Give the baby water six times a day,” was one of the most. important messages ever sent over the telegraph wires to a young mother. Ignorance bathes her baby on a full stomach, because she finds it will go through the ordeal of dressing more quietly; Reason bathes hers two hours after feeding, knowing that the vital forces needed for digestion should not be drawn to the surface. Being constructed on the same general plan with its parents, the same principle that makes it dangerous for a man to go swimming immediately after eating, makes it equally so to put a baby in its tub after nursing.

Buckeye cookery