excellent remedies in
their experience. Children have different constitutions, and there are
multitudes of different causes for their sickness; and what might cure
one child, might kill another, which _appeared_ to have the same
complaint. A mother should go on the general rule, of giving an infant
very little medicine, and then only by the direction of a discreet and
experienced physician. And there are cases, when, according to the views
of the most distinguished and competent practitioners, physicians
themselves are much too free in using medicines, instead of adopting
_preventive_ measures.

Do not allow a child to form such habits, that it will not be quiet,
unless tended and amused. A healthy child should be accustomed to lie or
sit in its cradle, much of the time; but it should occasionally be taken
up, and tossed, or carried about, for exercise and amusement. An infant
should be encouraged to _creep_, as an exercise very strengthening and
useful. If the mother fears the soiling of its nice dresses, she can
keep a long slip or apron, which will entirely cover the dress, and can
be removed, when the child is taken in the arms. A child should not be
allowed, when quite young, to bear its weight on its feet, very long at
a time, as this tends to weaken and distort the limbs.

Many mothers, with a little painstaking, succeed in putting their
infants, while awake, into their cradle, at regular hours, for sleep,
and induce regularity in other habits, which saves much trouble. In
doing this, a child may cry, at first, a great deal; but for a healthy
child, this use of the lungs does no harm, and tends rather to
strengthen, than to injure, them. A child who is trained to lie or sit,
and amuse itself, is happier than one who is carried and tended a great
deal, and thus rendered restless and uneasy when not so indulged.

CHAPTER XX.

ON THE MANAGEMENT OF YOUNG CHILDREN.

In regard to the physical education of children, Dr. Clarke, Physician
in Ordinary to the Queen of England, expresses views, on one point, in
which most physicians would coincide. He says, "There is no greater
error in the management of children, than that of giving them animal
diet very early. By persevering in the use of an overstimulating diet,
the digestive organs become irritated, and the various secretions,
immediately connected with, and necessary to, digestion, are diminished,
especially the _biliary secretion_. Children, so fed, beco