The National tribune., 1890-07-03
CHAPTER LXXIII.

CHAPTER LXXIII.
POPULAR FALLACIEs-( coutinued).
The traveller Victor Jacquemont tells a
memorable story about a Hind0o village that
had been almost depopulated by the depreda-
tiOns OF sacred monkeys. Large troops of those
hairy maraudeTs made constant raids on the
crops of the super5titous peasants, who would
SEQ their children starve to death rather than
lift a hand against the long tailed saints. At
last the British stakeholder saw way to re-
lleve their distress. He called q meeting of
their siTdaTs and offered them free transporta-
tion to a mODkeyless island of the Malay archi-
peiago. Learning that the land of the proposed
colony was fertile and thinly settled. the sur
yivOrs accepted the proposal with tears of graft
tude; but when the band of gaunt refugees
embarked at the mouth of the HoOglyn the
Stockholders agent was dismayed to learn that
their cargo of household goods included largo
cageful of sacred monkeys.
With similar concern philanthropist watch
ing the arrival of European emigrauts, might
often notice among their baggage Of nursery
outfit such items as cradles and bottles of mar
cotic soothing -srups" The practice of rock
ing children TO sleep or Of fudding them by
means OF sweotened Opiates may have been ex-
celeutly suited to the ethics of the Middle
Ages, when education was largely process Of
stupciaction. but the adjustment Of such
methods should be valued among the most
lEEDUOllc.
The fretful crying of young children is gen.
orally provoked by one of the three following
causes Tight swaddlipg- clothes, irritating food,
and the breathing Of vitiated or oveTheated
atmosphere In such cases there could be moth
ing much more preposterous than the plan of
siiencing the protest of nature by the stupefac-
ton of the patient. We might as well try to
remedy the nOisiness of a pet animal BY crack
ing its skull with a club. A few miles east of
Bristol, Tenn, there is cave which attracts
frequent visitors by the curious shapes of its
gypsum vaults and the still more curious mis-
shapes of the bats that cling in clusters to the
crevices Of the rocks, but rather frightened the
children OF Summer visitor who had pur-
chased the cave together with a neighboring
country house. They are certainly interest
ing creatures" said the new proprietor but
what makes them keep up those piercing
squcaks whenever you come near them with
lauternP"
Dunno, Boss" said his darby of all work,
but I'll fix that all right this evening" True
10 his word, be soon after filed the cave with
mass of brushwood and dry leaves aud then
set fire to the pile. Heaps of cbarred wings
and claws had to DO raked out next morning,
and the eolonnades of snow-white stalactites
wero black with SCOT, but the problem Of ST.
| lcncing the bats had been efTectualIy solved.
The direct purpose of nOise-distracted nurses
can, no doubt, be equally we'll accomplished by
SIMPLIFYING a child into the silence Of trance
like sleep. Grading. as well as opium fud-
ding, induces lethargy which, for the eonve-
nence of the audience, may seem decidedly
preferable 10 the inceSsant Squalling of fret
fnl child; but-not to mention the interests Of
the child itselt-even its parents might save
themselves a larger amount of eventual trouble
by trying TO remove the cause, instead of sup
pressing the symptoms, of that fretfulness. On
awakening from its stupor, the child will be
ltr raH
digestive organs will prove TO be sorey disor-
dered, and the persistent use Of narcotics may
ayenge itself IN lifelong infFmities of body
or mind. In warm weather, especially, the
administration of Opiated medicines always
involves perilous experiment on the vitality
of feeble patient, and there is no doubt that
the appalling Midsummer mortality among the
infant population of our large cities has good
deal TO do with the use Of narcotic soothing
sirups.
The imports of opium seem TO be still on
the increase; do you think our Chinese opium
smokers are making many American conyerts?"
asked an Intelligent druggist OF my acquaint-
ance.
Yes, the habit is spreading" said he; "but
the wholesale dealers in opium could furnish
the best explanation of the puzzle. For one
pound they sell to the panders of opium-dens
or to private druggists, they sell at least 20 20
the manufacturers OF baby -sirups. There are
manufacturing towns where the family mothers
OF the working population are better custom
erS 10 retail drugstore than the dram-drink-
ers OF q Kansas prohibition town. They liter
ally besiege the down town sores at certain
hours OF the day and find use for an enormous
amount OF narcotic treaele in the course of
year, though their individual purchases rarely
exceed dimes worth or so-a small dose, it
might seem, but large enough to do deal Of
mischief IN warm weather. For one baby
or, ztr,rr i'll -
TO make the trip in Midsummer, and il the
truth were known, half of them are shipped by
the opium-line"
What do you think makes the stuff so much
more ruinous in warm weather." / asked.
Well, in the first place it is then used in
larger quantities. Summer nights are short;
women who have worked in the factory all
day, and in the kitchen all evening, do not
want TO be howled out of their scant chance
for sleep at time when heat and musketoes
make their kids so intolerably cross. But,
besides, stuffy atmosphere seems to aggrayate
the effect of narcotic pOisons. In cold weather.
you know. a Russian stand quAntum Of
brandy that would kill II Hindoos, and it may
DO the same with opiates. Thousands of
youngsters, no doubt. are drugged to sleep in
Winter, too, but the braeing, cool air helps to
straighten them out before morning In hot
weather the bedrooms of our sum-teuements
are often so stutfy that 10 seems u marvel how
any human being old or young, can stand It
all night without choking, like the prisoners in
the Calcutta Blackhole. Weakly children
penned up in such dens are, anyhow, crowded
TO the very brink of Kingdom Come. and in =
more than usually close night spoonful of
paregoric gives them the finishing push"
Kindergardens and day-nurseries (creches-
"cribs. as they call them in Paris, might seem
the only practicable remedy for that slaughter
of the innocents; but even by domestic expe-
dents the evil might be- greatly moderated,
especially where circumstances afford the least
chance for ventilation aud outdoor exercise.
A few hours play OH the most humble outdoor
playgrOund-a grassy yard or u sunlit gravel
pit, would enable nine of out 10 fretful young
sters TO sleep far more soundly than their care
ridden parents, and the cure of their nervous
restlessness could generally be completed by u
few simple dietetic remedies-lresh milk with
little water and sugar, instead of baby-pap
milk, bread aud fruit instead of coffee aud
potatoes And even the gnats OF the Hacken-
sack meadows cannot excuse the practice of
closing bedroom windows in the sitting Mid
summer nights of our East American climate.
Raise the window to the full capacity of the
sash, and obviate insect invasiOns by means of
n wire. gauze frame or piece of ordinary mus
keto-bar netting, doubled at the edges and
tackled closely across the open space.
10 be eORtiRued1