Year: 1877

THE n TRITON OF INFANTS.
/ The following is tranlacted from
lecturesby Archambault on nursing
and detention delivered at the Hos
pital des Enfants Malades:


Mixed nursing gives excellent re-
suits, and enables almost every
mother to nurse her infant. | scarce
! ly know a mother who cannot nurse
her infant for three months with
great benefit to it and without in
Ijury to herself. On the other hand |
have never seen an infant unless dis
eased who, at three months could not
take and digest cows milk properly
prepared. Thus at three months,
and even before, there is no difficult
ty in relieving the mother by giving
the baby the bottle at night and and
subsequently during the day. The
popular notion that the mixture of
the two kinds of milk is injurious,
is an error.


One difficulty which should be
borne in mind is that the infant, find
ing it so much easier to take nour-
ishment from the bottle may reject
the breast. Starvation is the rene
dy.


la Switzerland mixed nursing, ,and
sometimes artificial nursing with
concentrated milk, is practiced. There
is another preparation which have
also seen, very useful farina of Nes-
tie.


After having aided the alimenta-
tion from the breast with cows milk
diluted one-half at first, then a third
then one-fourth according to the
digestive power the time comes
when other food should be added.
What should this be- and at what
age! We select from among the
starchy articles but practitioners do
not agree as to age.


1t is wiser to get an infant to take
other nourishment than milk at six
months than at twelve. Tapioca, ar
row root, the farina of cassava root,
of barely of oats of wheat bread,
toasted or not, ETC., are employed
to prepare for infants the liquid
nourishment suitable for them, water
or milk being used-a small guam
tity of sugar may be added and also
of salt-if the preparation be made
with water it is well to a id little
fresh butter. With the farinas and
milk an aliment is made which has
been too much commended, too
much condemned pap. A pap well
made properly diluted and thin
enough to be taken from nursing
bottle, is generally easily digested.
Slices of bread dried in an oven, or
simply bread boiled long enough to
destroy all consistence, and in a suf-
ficient quantity of water making a
gelatinous like fluid which the infant
can drink from the bottle as it
pleases furnish an excellent food, in
which not only the starch but the
gluten, and salts are utilized for nu-
triton such food is to be preferred
to tapioca arrow root, which are
simply starch.


You may give this artificial food
once day at first; at eight months
give it twice day, one of the times
let it be prepared with water, the
other with milk and at this time Won
may also give racahout compound
Of starch and cacao, and as this food
is very dear good substitute for it
may be made by adding to a clear
panada powder of good chocolate. I
have observed that infants were al
ways fond of this preparation and
that they digested it we'll. A mother
is desirous that her child should take
broth, thinking this more nourishing
than milk and it will give it greater
vigor but this is an error, and if the
broth is given it should first be di-
luted with water.


At ten to twelve months soup
may used three times day if the
mothers milk is lessened but even
then it is better to give the soup but
twice and let the infant have once
or twice day some good milk, each
equivalent to one nursing. At twelve
months an egg may be given either
soft-boiled in the she'll or broken, or
with milk.


| The child at this age likes to bite
upon crust of bread, gnaw the
bone of fowl or suck the juice of
meat. But here is a new ambition
on the part of mother; she thinks
that her infant Will become vigorous
by eating meat and drinking wine.
l have generally seen wine produce
acidity of the stomach and diarrhea;
and if m eat is given it should be