emselves understood--at least
partially. Lip reading is a wonderful improvement over the deaf and
dumb alphabet, and should be taught early.

_Congenital Blindness._ Perhaps not until the child is six months old
can the observer distinguish between blindness and idiocy. The blind
child of course will not fix his eyes upon any object; but the general
lassitude and the inability to hold up its head, while seen in idiocy,
is not present in blindness.

_Feeble Mindedness._ A baby that is born with a weak mind is found to
be very backward in all the normal developmental attainments of the
growing child. A normal baby holds up its head at four months and
should be able to sit erect at six months. The weak-minded baby will
not do this, and often as late as two years it will not make any
attempt to walk or to talk. There is an unnatural expression--a vacant
look--to the face, while there is often much dribbling at the mouth.

_Early Training should be Instituted._ It is necessary to call the
attention of a physician to these facts, that the parents may be
instructed in regard to the early training which is so essential in
all these weak-minded little folk. In our opinion it is best to remove
these children early to special institutions, where their education
can be superintended by those thoroughly accomplished and accustomed
to dealing with this class. There are varying grades of feeble
mindedness--the backward child who requires a longer time to learn
things, and the child who is slow at school and possibly cannot get
through more than the fourth or fifth grade--but as soon as weak
mindedness is discovered, it is best to transfer the child to some
special institution.

CHAPTER XXXII

SKIN TROUBLES

One of the earliest skin troubles that the average normal child
suffers from is prickly heat--a tiny, red-pointed rash always
accompanied by sweating and usually resulting from over-dressing,
stuffy rooms, and other conditions that make the child too warm.
Prickly heat produces more or less discomfort but usually little or no
itching. Ordinarily, a sponge bath followed by the application of
talcum powder is sufficient to give relief in mild cases; but severe
or neglected cases should be treated by means of bran baths, a cupful
of bran being tied up in a gauze bag and suspended in water until the
water assumes a milky color. Soda baths, two tablespoons to a gallon
of water, are also very soothing. A baby should never