ighteen hours, giving only boiled, unsweetened water. Vomiting
frequently ushers in some acute disease, and in remote cases, when it
is very persistent, it may indicate inflammation of the brain.
Complete rest is essential, trotting on the knee, suddenly changing
the baby's position, or other quick movements must all be avoided. A
physician should see the sick one and determine the cause of the
trouble.

COLIC

Cases of ordinary colic are usually relieved by heat to the abdomen
and feet, drinking hot water in which there has been dissolved a pinch
of ordinary baking soda, or a portion of a soda mint tablet, or by the
use of the photophore, as previously described. The treatment of such
ordinary colic need not be given further consideration here because
it has been described at length in a former chapter; but we do call
the attention of the mother to a more serious form of recurring colic
which so often accompanies chronic intestinal indigestion, marasmus,
and malnutrition.

In most instances the food is radically at fault and should be reduced
to a mixture which can more readily be digested and assimilated by the
child. Often whey mixtures, peptonized foods, or buttermilk may be
indicated. The weight of the baby, the age of the baby, and the color
of the stools, must all be taken into account in the preparation of
this easily digested food. Weak mixtures should be given at first and
then gradually and carefully the quality may be strengthened until the
normal formula is again used for the baby.

Injections into the bowel of water, to which has been added one level
teaspoon of soda to the pint, will often give relief in this form of
colic.

CHRONIC INDIGESTION

While this condition may occur at any time during babyhood days, it
often makes its appearance during the last half of the first year and
up to the fifth year. It is accompanied by mucus in the stools,
chronic flatulence, constipation or diarrhea, or the alternating of
the two, restlessness at night, distention of the abdomen ("pot
bellied") accompanied by pain, a coated tongue with a fetid breath,
and loss of appetite. It is a pitiable picture--the weight is usually
reduced and the child gives the appearance of being decidedly
undernourished. This condition is usually occasioned by errors in
diet, whether it be over-feeding or feeding of the wrong element of
food, and, since the diet is usually responsible for the condition, in
the line of treatment