The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Young Mother, by William A. Alcott

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Title: The Young Mother
Management of Children in Regard to Health

Author: William A. Alcott

Release Date: December 17, 2003 [EBook #10482]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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THE YOUNG MOTHER, OR

MANAGEMENT OF CHILDREN IN REGARD TO HEALTH.

BY WM. A. ALCOTT

1836

ADVERTISEMENT TO THE THIRD EDITION.

The present edition has been much enlarged. The author has added a
section on the conduct and management of the mother herself, besides
several other important amendments and additions. The whole has also
been carefully revised, and we cannot but indulge the hope that no
popular work of the kind will be found more perfect, or more worthy of
the public confidence.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. THE NURSERY.

General remarks. Importance of a Nursery--generally overlooked. Its
walls--ceiling--windows--chimney. Two apartments. Sliding partition.
Reasons for this arrangement. Objections to carpets. Furniture, &c.
Feather beds. Holes or crevices. Currents of air. Cats and dogs.
"Sucking the child's breath." Brilliant objects. Squinting. Causes of
blindness.

CHAPTER II. TEMPERATURE.

General principle--"Keep cool." Our own sensations not always to be
trusted. Thermometer. Why infants require more external heat than
adults. Means of warmth. Air heated in other apartments. Clothes taking
fire. Stove--railing around it. Excess of heat--its dangers.

CHAPTER III. VENTILATION.

General ignorance of the constitution of the atmosphere. The subject
briefly explained. Oxygen gas. Nitrogen. Carbonic acid. Fires, candles,
and breathing dependent on oxygen. Danger from carbonic acid. How it
destroys people. Impurity of the air arising from lamps and candles.
Other sources of impurity. Experiment of putting the candle under the
bed-clothes. Covering the heads of infants while sleeping--its dangers.
Proportions of oxygen and nitrogen in pure and impure air. No wonder
children become sickly. Particular means of ventilating rooms. Ca