oner the cause of the difficulty, and suggest the remedy.

It may be well here to mention--as, judging from the practice of many
nurses and mothers, it seems to be a fact not generally known or
attended to--that human milk contains _all that is required_ for the
growth and repair of the various parts of the child's body. It should
therefore be the sole food in early infancy.

INFLUENCE OF DIET ON THE MOTHER'S MILK.

Certain articles of food render the milk acid, and thus induce colicky
pains and bowel complaints in the child. Such, therefore, as are found,
in each individual case, to produce indigestion and an acid stomach in
the mother, should be carefully avoided by her.

_Retention of the milk in the breasts_ alters its character. The longer
it is retained, the weaker and more watery it becomes. An acquaintance
with this fact is of practical importance to every mother; for it
follows from it, that the milk is richer the oftener it is removed from
the breast. Therefore, if the digestion of the child is disordered by
the milk being too rich, as sometimes happens, the remedy is to give it
the breast less frequently by which not only is less taken, but the
quality is also rendered poorer. On the contrary, in those instances in
which the child is badly nourished and the milk is insufficient in
quantity, it should be applied oftener, and the milk thus rendered
richer.

The milk which last flows is always the richest. Hence, when two
children are nursed, the first is the worse served.

INFLUENCE OF PREGNANCY ON THE MILK.

Menstruation is ordinarily absent, and pregnancy therefore impossible,
during the whole course of nursing, at least during the first nine
months. Sometimes, however, mothers become unwell at the expiration of
the sixth or seventh month; in rare instances, within the first five or
six weeks after confinement. When the monthly sickness makes its
appearance without any constitutional or local disturbance, it is not
apt to interfere with the welfare of the infant. When, on the contrary,
the discharge is profuse, and attended with much pain, it may produce
colic, vomiting, and diarrhoea in the nursling. The disturbance in the
system of the child ordinarily resulting from pregnancy in the mother is
such that, as a rule, it should be at once weaned so soon as it is
certain that pregnancy exists. The only exceptions to this rule are
those cases in the city, during the hot months, in which it is
impossi