The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-07-23

fed with mothers milk, cows milk or artificial foods. the food must be all
 tered to suit inc particular constitution
 of the child. scurvy is characterized
 by sore gums, hemorrhages, swollen and painful limbs. Tickets is disease of the bones, muscles and various or gans of the child. The bones become
 bent. irregular and soft, the htad sweats, the teeth appear very late and the child learns to walk late.
 'HThe term summer complaint is a name which covers a multitude of sins
 in children's diseases, but certain causes are common to them all. Young children are especially susceptible and mostly so in hot spells of weather.
 These diseases occur among the wealthy and the poor. in the country and in the city. crowding, bad air and dirty surroundings make them more frequent and severe, but they occur ey-
 anywhere. ~5-
 ERRORS AS TO TEETHING.
 Children weakened by other diseas- es are, of course, most apt to suffer.
 The public, however. have almost a SUI perstitious belief that teething may cause diarrhoea. As a matter of fact,
 while blaming the teeth they overlook the true cause, although just before the
 teeth pierce the gums there is rarely some trouble directly traceable to it.
 Fatal cases are frequent among bot
 tle-fed babies and very few among ba-
 bies fed on mothers milk; this not on
 account of artificial feeding, but be-
 cause as rule 1t is badly done. Cows milk is safe in the winter, but as soon as the summer heat increases the growth of bacteria in it these troubles
 begin. Another explanation is that ar tificially fed babies are always overfed. Whenever the child cries the bottle is thrust in it's mouth.
 Milk in summer is impure because of
 the very rapid growth of germs, which are always present. The impurity is increased by adulteration. by dirt from
 the COW, from the pails, from the bot ties, all of which are carefully sterilized
 by the large dairies.. ..- -g.. '-... AGAINST SOLID FOODS.
 Another source of these frequently fatal cases of diarrhoea is the common practice among the poor of giving all
 kinds of solid food to children from
 twelve to eighteen months old. Those of two years often receive the regular three meals of the family. overfeed- ing, too frequent feeding and the habit ual use of improper food produce the predisposing causes of diarrhea. The depression of the infants body pro- duced by high temperature seriously interferes with digestion. This gives the dysentery bacillus a chance to do its work, and many other bacteria en- ter the intestinal tract and create great havoc there. a.
 Children should not be wtaned, ,over- fed or given unboiled drinking water in the summer. When infants cry, 1t Is usually water they want and not food. Pure milk supplied to the poor during the hot summer months will do more to save lives than all the hospitals in Bal timore. Private philanthropy can find no higher outlet for doing good than by supplying pure milk and teaching the poor how to use it. Attention to feed ing and prompt prevention of the mild CT symptoms. which are, usually atribu- ted falsely to teething, will save the lives of many children. VALUE or FRESH AIR.
 Children should be kept outdoors and not allowedtato over-exert them selves. Thin. loose garments should be
 worn and sufficient clothing always at night if 1t is cool. The most precise
 cleanliness should be secured and all
 soiled clothing immediately placed in ldisinfectant solutions. @s
 Cholera infantum is more directly
 connected with impure milk than any of the other summer complaints. It is i due to the bacillus discovered by gDr Simon Flexner, of the Rockefeller In lstitute, formerly associate professor oi pathology at the Johns Hopkins. The texines of this dysentery bacillus act upon the nerve centers and nerves ot | the stomach, htart and intestines and thus poison the system. "-Baltimore
 Sun. IT. |