The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1893-12-22

i'll cry, Ii VIC SOouO tuB5
.greets the startled
ears of the mother the
night after Christmas, and generally 1t IL .
noise that may well startle the ears of =
mother. 1t is next toimpossible to prevent
children from eating things on that day
that prove too much for the tender lit
tie stomachs. Loving aunts indulgent
grandmothers, needless fathers and often
ignorant mothers let the little ones. even
the baby, have things that no child or
grown person should eat They say, ''Oh,
a little won't hurt him." but when nearly
every one in the household has acted on the
same principle the children have filled
themselves with indigestible stuff little
better than poison.
Christmas is day wherein nearly every
body gets more than is good for him, and
the food considered suitable for that DAY n
of the richest and most complicated and
indigestible kind. Grown people find
q Christmas days feasting serious mat
ter. How then can we expect little child
to live through it? A physician of note
once said more children die of overeating
than of starvation.
The most dreaded and dangerous form of
illness resulting from overeating is the
convulsion The child may or may not
show signs of the coming illness. It's cheeks
may be very red. it's lips white and pinched,
and the child cross and nervous. 1t may
goto sleep, but it will often cry out in
sleep and move about restlessly. The mus
cles often twitch and the eyes frequently
turn upward, but all these symptoms may
be present and yet the child will not have
a convulsion. Still they give sufficient cause
for alarm to demand a good dose of strip
OF rhubarb. or of magnesia, or wine
glassful of Hunyadi mineral water, which
l have used with good success wl.h chill
dren.
Where there are symptoms like those
mentioned above, one has warning and
can combat the danger, but only too often
there is no sign of coming sickness until
the mother hears that one strange croak-
ing cry, and then it is often too late, and in
any case requires the most active and he
roic treatment to save the little sufferer,
who lies rigid and without consciousness.
The eyes are then turned upward, having
only the whites visible, the little teeth are
set tightly and the lips drawn back. After
awhile the commissions begin, and the poor
little muscles strain. and the child writhes
and twists, but is all the while unconscious.
Sometimes bloody froth appears in the
mouth, the breath comes irregularly and
often seems 10 stop altogether-and some
times does.
There is something SO unearthly in that
one terrible cry that precedes convulsion
that no mother ever heard it without trem-
bling. In an instant the doctor is sent for,
and women fly for remedies. The first
thing is to get the little sufferer into hot
bath up to the chin, the water to be as hot
as the mothers wrist can bear. 1t is easy
to say from 80 to 100 degrees of heat, but
few have a thermometer at hand, so the
mothers wrist must be the guide in emer-
gencies.
The child should remain in the water 10
to Is minutes, little longer if the convul-
sions do not relax somewhat. Then it
should be taken from the water and laid in
a warmed shawl or wooden blanket, with
out stopping to dry or dress the little one,
and as soon as it can swallow give it an
emetic of warm mustard or salt and water
Ia teaspoonful of either is enough, mixed
with cup of warm water. Strip of ipeca,
Is better still, if at hand, and can be given
in teaspoonful doses every 10 minutes until
the little stomach is freed from the cause of
irritation. As soon as the child has vomit-
ed freely the commissions generally cease,
but some nervous children are apt to have
several in succession.
AS soon as the vomiting has ceased, a dose
of castor oil, rhubarb or magnesia should
be given, the oil preferably, as it heals and
Gains the irritation and carries off the mat
ter which has caused all the danger and
trouble. Some physicians employ ether
and chloroform to quiet the commissions,
but all doctors agree that nothing can be
done for child in commissions from the
Christmas feast but TO rid it as quickly as
possible of the cause of its trouble, and the
hot bath and -emetic are the first RENE
dies and can be administered safely while
awaiting the arrival of the doctor. None
but physicians should administer ether.
The wise mother will take care to include
among her Christmas purchases an ounce of
strip of ipecac, two ounces of spiced strip
of rhubarb and two ounces of castor oil.
When she goes to bed at night, after the
great day has passed, she will have seen
that there is plentiful supply of hot water.
and that the mustard and salt are handy.
and lastly she will visit each happy II un-
comfortable little sleeper and see how he or
she looks and note whether the sleep is
restless and the child flushed. Then she
may go to bed and sleep with one eye open
and both ears anda her senses on the alert.
A few such precautions would prevent many
an early death, and little more firmness
in not allowing children to eat too much
sweets and rich food would avoid these
dangers. KATHERINE LORD