The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1893-12-22

VI IA cry, is the sound uhat
W grects the startled
ears of the mother the
night after Christmas, and generally it Is
noise that may well startle the ears OF Il
mother 1t is next to impossible to prevent
children from eating things on that day
that prove too much for the tender lit
tie stomaohs Loving aunts, indulgent
grandmotherS needless fathers and often
ignorant mothers let the little ones, eyen
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 n day wherein nearly every
body gets more than is good for him. and
the food considered suitable for that dav Is
OF the richest and most complicated and
indigestible kind. Grown people find
a 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 ovcrrating is the
cGnvulsion. The child may or may not
show signs Of the coming illness. Its checks
may be very red, its lips white and pinehad,
and the child cross and nervous. 1t may
go to sleep, but it will often cry out IN
sleep and move about restlessly. The mus
Giles often twitch and the eyes frequently
turn upward, but all these symptoms NAV
be present aud yet the child will not have
a convulsion. Still they give sufficient cause
for alarm to demand II good dose of sifIp
Of rhubarb, or of maguesia, or n wine
glassful of llunyadi mineral water, which
/ have used with good success with chill
dren.
Where there are symptoms like those
mentioned above one has n warning and
can combat the danger, but only tcO often
there is no sign of coming sickness until
the mother hears that one strange croak-
ing cry, md then it is often too late, and in
any case requires the most active and he
roic treat ment to save the little sufferer,
who lies rigid and without consciousness.
The eyes aIe 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 writes
and twists, hut is all the whlcunconsciOGs
Sometimes bloody frOth appears in the
mouth, the breath comes irrcgularly ard
often seems to stop altogether-and some
times does.
There is something SO uncar.hly in that
one terrible cry that preccdcs II 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 rs not
Us the mother, wrist cnu bear. IL IL easy
to say from 50 to 100 degrees of heat, but
few have a Thermometer at hand, so the
mothers wrist must be the guide in emer-
gcncc7.
The child should remain in the water 10
to Is minutes, IL little longer il the conitll-
suns do not relax somewhat. Then it
should he taken from the water and laid in
warmed shawl or WOODEN blanket. with
out stopping to dry or dress the little one,
and N soon as it can swallow give it an
emctic of warm mustard or salt and water
a teas spoonful of ci. her is enough. mixed
with a cup Of warm water. strip OF ipecac
is better still, if at hand. and can be given
in tcaspGonfnl dezes every 10 minutes until
the little stomach is freed from the cause of
irritation As soon Us the child has vomit-
ed freely the commissions generally cease,
but some nervous children are apt to have
several in succession.
As soon asthevomiting has ceased. dose
of castor oil, rnIbarb or Inaencsia should