Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1886-02-06
NOTIONS ABOUT BABIES.
Superstitlons that are Foolish, and
Others Dangerous.


is simply marvellous" said DR.. Tom
linson, of the Health Department, to
a Mail reporter, and not less marvel
Gus is the AFFECT Difference which the
man Of the house pays to these no
tons, particularly if it is his first.
"Take, for example, the supersti-
ton that saffron tea must be given to
the baby to clear its complexion. /
suppose that every fond mother who
has any regard for her baby at all, in
structed by long line of illustrious
maternal predecessors, has fed her
baby enough saffron tea topaint Madi-
son street gorgeous yellow from the
Lake to Western avenue. She might
just as well have dosed it with SO
much hot water, as far as any drug
action is concerned. But the miIlen-
mum will be nigh at hand, indeed,
when the useless practice is discon-
tinued. / think the most careful,
conservative doctors will admit that
saffron is very inert drug.
"There is another superstition in
which there is possibly a grain of
truth, but every stomach-ache the
baby has is always laid to it, and that
is, change of milk. To hear the
mothers talk, you would think that
one might as well kill the child out
right as to change the cow.
81 couldn't begin to tell all the fool
ish notions people have about tend
ing babies. The worst is that the
child must be fed all the time it is
awake or it will starve. Gorging
carries off about half the children who
die. l don't count the superstition
which solemnly forbids the placing of
three lights in a row in the same
room with the baby, nor allowing a
child to look in a mirror, for in either
case, before the year is out, little
white coffin will be in the front par
lor.
"But surely it iG a superstition
which fears to have a cat in the room
with sleeping baby, for fear it will
jump into the crib when no one is
looking, and suck the baby's breath.
What good do you suppose it would
do the cat odraw intoits lungs breath
which human being has just ex-
hailed? But just see how that fond
delusion hangs on. The primitive
cat got into the pre-Adamite cradle
to enjoy the warmth Of the contem-
poraneous baby, and the savage
mother believed the cat to be an EN-.
bodiment of an evil spirit, and chased
it away. From that day to this the
superstition has obtained, and each
succeeding generation holds the faith
with greater tenacity.
''These people believe" continued
the doctor, ''that if a child looks a
any person with sore eyes, the chile
will be afflicted in the same way
They also think that piercing the
ears improves the eyesight. Nigh
as well pare your toe-nails for a cold
Another notion which is fostered by
superstitious parents, is that if chilC
is bitten by dog, the beast must bC
killed Immediately, not so much by
way of revenge as in the belief that i
that dog in the years to come were II
go mad, the person bitten would q
mad too, even if he were in China a
the time.
"There's good deal of talk abou
it's being wrong to allow children tt
sleep with old persons, and although
| think there's good deal of foolish
ness about it, l don't know but Their,
may be some germ of truth in it afte
all.
"But there is one superstitious prac
tice that is positively dangerous. 1t i
customary among uneducated peopl,
to Charm away warts. So long as i
is done with 'spunk water and sucl
harmless things, there is no trouble
but some of the rigmaroles prescrib
the pricking of the wart until tn
blood comes. This blood, you know
must be smeared on a bit of rag ant
carefully tied up and laid where SOM
unlucky person coming along ma.
pick up the bundle and thus get al
the warts, which leave the afflicted
person and fasten upon the new vic
tim. Now, pricking a wart is a dan
gerous thing, for very often when
growth like that is irritated, it start
cancer to growing, and the result
are not at all pleasant"
Pure and fresh seeds lie at the yer,
: foundation of progressive agriculture