Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1836-08-25
MISCELLANEOUS.
From the Mothers Monthly Journal
IMPORTANCE OF CLEANLINESS AND
SUITABLE CLOTHING FOR
CHILDREN.

The following extract is taken from
1" Dick on the Mental illumination and
improvement Of Mankind" book which
ought to be in the possession of every in
telligent mother who is DESTROYS of &C.
curing information on many essential
points in the education of youth-ED.
Few things are Of more importance to
the health and comfort of children ,han
cleanliness. The functions ofthe skin are
of peculiar importance in the animal sys-
tenn, and have a great influence in pre-
serving the health and vigor of the corpo-
raj frame. Through its millions of pores
the insensible Precipitation is necessarily |
flowing, and more than one-half of what
we eat and drink is in this way discharg-
ed Hence the danger which must arise
from frequent distractions of this essen
tial function from wet, excrementS, dirty
linens, and every kind of uncIeanness.-)
From want OF attention TO this circum
stance, various diseases Of the skin, erup-
tons, catarrh, coughs, the itch, obstruc-
tions of-the passages, and even many fatal
disorders, derive their origin. 1t is inju-
rious both to the health and the virtue OF
man; it Supplies the mind sinks it into
lethargic state, deprives him Of animal
enjoyment, and of the esteem and regard
ofothers Whereas, cleanliness promotes
both health and virtue, clears the under
standing, encourages to cheerfulness and
activity, prevents many loathsome mala-
dies, and procures the attachment and es
TEEN of associates. Hence the inCessant
and minute attention which ought to be
paid to this circumstance, by parents and
nurses, in the rearing of the Young
Cleanliness in domestic life may lie con-
siIcred as one Of the cardinal virtues, as
an essential requisite in the physical edu-
cation of children, and, perhaps, the onIy
province Of parental care in which they
can never do too much. The pores ofthe
skin should be kept open by washing the
BODY, and changing the clothes and linen
whenever they are unc'ean. In the first
instance, children may be bathed in luke
warm water, and afterwards with water of
a colder temperature, as they are able to
bear it, Some parts Of the body, such as
the interior Of the legs, the folds of the
neck, the arm-pits. and the parts behind
the ear, which are liable to be inhamcd,
demand particular attention. The nose,
likewise, should be occasionally washed,
and thoroughly cleaned it having been
found that the unpleasant smell peculiar to
some infants is owing to the habituaI neg
lect of cleaning that organ. Great atten-
ton ought to be paid to children in regard
to their excavations; and everything that
may occasion dampnesS, and every kind
of offensive matter that might adhere to
the skin, should be speedily removed As
children are liable to perspire more than
: adults, frequent change of their linen is a
matter of some consequence; and all pa
rents who can afford it, should give them
clean dry linen crery day. It's as much
t the duty of parents to wash and clean their
= children as it is to feed and clothe them
3 and children that are frequently washed
and Kept clean, gradually improve in
health and vivacity; cleanliness becomes
familiar to them, their spirits ere enliven
cd, and they grow up virtuous, polite, and
:, happy.
The Russians, with all their ignorance
and rusticity Of manners, are said to be su
! perior to the more refined Enc!i5h
t French, and Germans, both in a delicate
: sens bility of cleanliness and in the prac.
teal use Of the bath. A foreign gentle
o man, travelling in Russia, had hired one
b of the natives as his groom or position
: After having travelled several days to
gcther in very sultry weather, the semi
: barbarian, upon his knees, requested his
employer to grant him leave of absence
for two or three hours, to refresh himsel
= with the luxury Of bath, which to hin
v was indispensable, and the want Of which
;, he had long felt. In Russia almost eve
r rv house has its bath; and the peasants
5 in that country possess refinement O
# sense, with respect to the surface of tht
5 body, with which the most elegant ladies
in other countries seem totally un2cqlaint
. ed. Even the American Indians, who
>, can not change their furs so frequently a.
Y we can do our clothes, pat under thei
v children the dust Of rotten wood, and re
r new it as often as it becomes damp.
The clothing Of children likewise re
j., qu;res some degree of skill and attention
C This, indeed, is so simple a mater, that
is surprising that persons living in civiIiz
ed countries should ever have erred s.
y egregiously in regard to it; and vet it i
= a fact that many children have been rem
- dered detormed, and others have los. thei
: lives, by the pride and folly of their pa
J. rents in respect to this circumstance. Tn
is time has not long gone by Gt it have ye
n passed) since poor child, as soon as
he breathed the vital air, had as many roller
10 and wrappers, sometimes ten feet in length
9e applied to its body, as if every bone ha
Is been fractured in the birth and thes
OF were often drawn so tight as to gall its ter