, doubtless owing largely to
his simple, frugal habits.

DIET FOR THE YOUNG.

A very large share of the mortality among young children results from
dietetic errors which proper knowledge and care on the part of those who
have them in charge might commonly avoid. From infancy to the age of
twelve or eighteen months, milk is the natural and proper food. Milk
contains all the food elements except starch, which cannot be digested
by very young children, owing to the insufficient formation of digestive
elements of the salivary secretion during the first few months. If the
child is deprived of the milk provided by nature, the best artificial
food is cow's milk; it, however, requires very careful selection and
intelligent preparation. The animal from which the milk comes, should be
perfectly healthy and well cared for. The quality of her food should
also receive attention, as there is little doubt that disease is often
communicated to infants by milk from cows improperly fed and cared for.
An eminent medical authority offers the following important points on
this subject:--

"The cow selected for providing the food for an infant should be between
the ages of four and ten years, of mild disposition, and one which has
been giving milk from four to eight weeks. She should be fed on good,
clean grain, and hay free from must. Roots, if any are fed, should be of
good quality, and she should have plenty of good clean water from a
living spring or well. Her pasture should be timothy grass or native
grass free from weeds; clover alone is bad. She should be cleaned and
cared for like a carriage horse, and milked twice a day by the same
person and at the same time. Some cows are unfit by nature for feeding
infants."

Milk from the same animal should be used if possible. Changing from one
cow's milk to another, or the use of such milk as is usually supplied by
city milkmen, often occasions serious results. The extraction of the
heat from the milk immediately after milking and before it is used or
carried far, especially in hot weather, is essential. While the milk
itself should be clean and pure, it should also be perfectly fresh and
without any trace of decomposition. To insure all these requisites,
besides great care in its selection, it must be sterilized, and if not
intended for immediate use, bottled and kept in a cool place until
needed. It is not safe to feed young children upon unsterilized milk
that has stood a few hours.