ll is properly done. As special messengers are sent, a number of
men are sometimes kept busy for two or three days.

After all these festivities, a quiet, undisturbed life begins for the
baby,--a life which is neither unpleasant nor unhealthful. It is not
jolted, rocked, or trotted to sleep; it is allowed to cry if it chooses,
without anybody's supposing that the world will come to an end because
of its crying; and its dress is loose and easily put on, so that very
little time is spent in the tiresome process of dressing and undressing.
Under these conditions the baby thrives and grows strong and fat; learns
to take life with some philosophy, even at a very early age; and is not
subject to fits of hysterical or passionate crying, brought on by much
jolting or trotting, or by the wearisome process of pinning, buttoning,
tying of strings, and thrusting of arms into tight sleeves.

The Japanese baby's dress, though not as pretty as that of our babies,
is in many ways much more sensible. It consists of as many wide-sleeved,
straight, silk, cotton, or flannel garments as the season of the year
may require,--all cut after nearly the same pattern, and that pattern
the same in shape as the grown-up _kimono_. These garments are fitted,
one inside of the other, before they are put on; then they are laid down
on the floor and the baby is laid into them; a soft belt, attached to
the outer garment or dress, is tied around the waist, and the baby is
dressed without a shriek or a wail, as simply and easily as possible.
The baby's dresses, like those of our babies, are made long enough to
cover the little bare feet; and the sleeves cover the hands as well, so
preventing the unmerciful scratching that most babies give to their
faces, as well as keeping the hands warm and dry.

Babies of the lower classes, within a few weeks after birth, are carried
about tied upon the back of some member of the family, frequently an
older sister or brother, who is sometimes not more than five or six
years old. The poorer the family, the earlier is the young baby thus put
on some one's back, and one frequently sees babies not more than a month
old, with bobbing heads and blinking eyes, tied by long bands of cloth
to the backs of older brothers or sisters, and living in the streets in
all weathers. When it is cold, the sister's _haori_, or coat, serves as
an extra covering for the baby as well; and when the sun is hot, the
sister's parasol keeps off its