ver indulged them in crying, fretfulness,
and ill-humour; upon which account Spartan nurses were often bought by
people of other countries.'

_Position in sleeping._--It has long been a popular opinion that the
position of our bodies at night, with reference to the cardinal points
of the compass, has some influence on the health. This belief has
recently been corroborated by some observations made by a prominent
physician, Dr. Henry Kennedy. In an essay on the 'Acute Affections of
Children,' published in the Dublin _Quarterly Journal of Medical
Science_, he states that for several years he has put in force in his
practice a plan of treatment by means of the position of the patient,
and often with very marked results. He asserts that, in order to ensure
the soundest sleep, the head should lie to the north. Strange as this
idea may at first sight appear, it has more in it than might be
supposed. There are known to be great electrical currents always
coursing in one direction around the globe. In the opinion of Dr.
Kennedy there is no doubt that our nervous systems are in some
mysterious way connected with this universal agent, as it may be called,
electricity. He relates several cases of acute diseases in children, in
which, by altering the position of the body so that the patient should
lie from north to south instead of from east to west, quiet sleep was
induced. This plan of invoking sleep is often successful; but not always
so, for all are not equally susceptible. It applies likewise to adults.
It is not so striking in its effects on the poorer as on the richer
classes of society. This is what might be expected, for it cannot be
doubted that the nervous system in the middle and upper ranks is always
in a much more sensitive state than with their poorer brethren. It is
worth noting, that even in healthy persons sleep will often be absent or
of a broken kind, from the cause of which we are now speaking. It is
very common to hear people saying they can never sleep in a strange bed.
Although many causes may conspire to this, Dr. Kennedy cannot doubt that
amongst these ought to be placed the one to which we are now drawing
attention.

THE CLOTHING OF INFANTS AND YOUNG CHILDREN.

A fertile cause of disease and death is to be found in the negligence or
ignorance displayed in regard to the dress of children. And it is not
the poorly attired, but nearly always the fashionably robed child, which
suffers the most. To parent