defect.

HOW ITS EXISTENCE MAY BE DETERMINED.--The best guide for a parent to
determine whether it exist or not, is for her to watch whether the
infant can protrude the tip of the tongue beyond the lips: if so, it
will be able to suck a good nipple readily, and nothing need or ought
to be done. No mother will unnecessarily expose her infant to an
operation, which, unless very carefully performed, is not altogether
unattended with danger; and, if she suspects any defect of this kind to
exist, she has only to observe the circumstance mentioned above, to
satisfy her mind upon the subject.

MOLES AND MARKS ON THE SKIN, ETC.

The supposed influence of the imagination of the mother, in the
production of the above appearances in the texture of the skin of her
infant, has been fully discussed in the author's work "Hints to
Mothers, etc." This part of the subject is, however, foreign to the
present inquiry, which chiefly has reference to the probable effect of
their presence upon the health of the child.

They may be divided into two classes: the brownish mole, and claret-
stain; and small but somewhat elevated tumours, either of a dark blue,
livid colour, or of a bright vermilion hue.

MOLES AND STAINS.--They are of no importance, as far as the health of
the infant is concerned. If situated in the face, however, they
frequently cause great disfigurement, as the claret-stain, which may be
seen sometimes to occupy nearly half the face. But they happily do not
increase in size, remaining stationary through life; and as any
operation that might be proposed for their removal, would only cause an
equal, if not greater, deformity, they ought to be left alone.

COLOURED SPOTS OR TUMOURS.--These vary in their number, size, and
situation. The same child is sometimes born with many of them. They may
be as small as a pea, or as large as a crown piece. They are not only
found on the skin, but on the lips, in the mouth, etc. etc.

These, also, sometimes remain stationary in their size, having no
tendency to enlarge, unless, indeed, they are subjected to friction or
pressure. But as they frequently require surgical aid, in which case,
the earlier the application of remedial measures, the less severe in
their kind, and the greater the probability of a speedy and successful
result,--so is it always important for the mother early to obtain a
medical opinion, that the measure of interference or non-interference
may be decided