o be that
excessive labor, with either body or mind, is alike injurious to both men
and women, and herein lies the sting of that old curse. This paragraph
suggests all that need be said on the question whether pregnant women
should or should not labor.

2. FOOLISHLY IDLE.--At least it is certain that they should not be
foolishly idle; and on the other hand, it is equally certain that they
should be relieved from painful laborious occupations that exhaust and
unfit them for happiness. Pleasant and useful physical and intellectual
occupation, however, will not only do no harm, but positive good.

3. THE BEST MAN AND THE BEST WOMAN.--The best man is he who can rear the
best child, and the best woman is she who can rear the best child. We very
properly extol to the skies Harriet Hosmer, the artist, for cutting in
marble the statue of a Zenobia, how much more should we sing praises to the
man and the woman who bring into the world a noble boy or girl. The one is
a piece of lifeless beauty, the other a piece of life including all beauty,
all possibilities.

* * * * *

{286}

Words for Young Mothers.

[Illustration]

The act of nursing is sometimes painful to the mother, especially before
the habit is fully established. The discomfort is greatly increased if the
skin that covers the nipples is tender and delicate. The suction pulls it
off, leaving them in a state in which the necessary pressure of the child's
lips cause intense agony. This can be prevented in a great measure, says
Elizabeth Robinson Scovil, in _Ladies' Home Journal_, if not entirely, by
bathing the nipples twice a day for six weeks before the confinement with
powdered alum dissolved in alcohol; or salt dissolved in brandy. If there
is any symptom of the skin cracking when the child begins to nurse, they
should be painted with a mixture of tannin and glycerine. This must be
washed off before the baby touches them and renewed when it leaves them. If
they are {287} very painful, the doctor will probably order morphia added
to the mixture. A rubber nipple shield to be put on at the time of nursing,
is a great relief. If the nipples are retracted or drawn inward, they can
be drawn out painlessly by filling a pint bottle with boiling water,
emptying it and quickly applying the mouth over the nipple. As the air in
the bottle cools, it condenses, leaving a vacuum and the nipple is pushed
out by the air behind it.

When the mi