ummer to give up nursing, she should at once procure a wet-nurse. If
she cannot, the child must be sent into the country. To wean an infant
in the city in hot weather, is to expose it to almost certain death.

_Proper method._--The process of weaning should be a very slow one. No
definite day should be fixed for it. Little by little, from week to
week, the amount of spoon-food is to be increased and the nursing
lessened--being first given up at night. The breast should never be
suddenly denied to a child unaccustomed to artificial food, but be
displaced by degrees, by the bottle and the spoon. This gradual change
will neither fret the child nor annoy the mother, as sudden weaning
always does.

The infant may begin to be accustomed to artificial food at the age of
four months. At first, only diluted cow's milk should be given it
occasionally between the times of nursing. In a tumbler one-third full
of water dissolve a tea-spoonful of sugar of milk; add to the sweetened
water an equal quantity of fresh cow's milk; then, if the child's stools
are at all green, mix with this two tea-spoonfuls of lime water. Instead
of pure water, barley-water made in the usual way, and boiled to the
consistency of milk, may be employed in this preparation--being added,
while still warm, to an equal amount of milk. Or, toast-water may be
substituted as a diluter of the milk. Cow's milk should not be boiled,
if it can be preserved in any other way. As the infant advances in
months, some solid food may be allowed. After six months, pap, made with
stale bread and tops and bottoms, is proper once or twice a day.
Beef-tea, made according to the recipe we have given, and chicken, lamb,
or mutton broth, may now also be occasionally taken. As the quantity of
milk diminishes towards the close of the first year, the spoon-food
should be resorted to more frequently to supply the want. Solid food
ought not to be given before the child is a year old.

The breasts usually cause little trouble when the weaning is performed
in the gradual manner which has been recommended. The mother should
during this time drink as little as possible, refrain from stimulating
food, and take occasionally a little cream of tartar, citrate of
magnesia, or a seidlitz powder. If the breasts continue to fill with
milk, _they should not be drawn_. The 'drying up of the milk' may be
facilitated by gently rubbing the breasts several times a day with
camphorated oil, made by disso