94 FOOD FOR BABES. can not fail to be hindered — the probabihty is great that he will not survive his birth, or if he does, it will be to drag out a few weary, suffering months, and then find rest in death. There is no exaggeration in this sketch. No reader need look far to find cases where the sickness and death of infants in one sad un- broken succession, occupy nearly the whole of tlie first ten or twelve years of married life. Our advice, then, is, that wlien a feeble mother has an infant, she should not attempt to nurse it herself. She should do the best she can for this child that she has, and not cause it to suffer for fear of uncertain future events. We would say to her: — "Do not sacrifice the well-being of this child to your fears of a speedy pregnancy. Your child ■ FOOD FOR BABES. 95 may die, your husband may die, you yourself may die ; in any one of wliicli events your fears will not be realized. Reartliis child as well as you can, contented to leave the issue in the hand of God. You will not find it so difficult or so expensive to rear one healthy child a year, as to watch over one that lan- guishes and dies in spite of close attention and medical skill. And it may be that you will have the happiness of seeing your chil- dren thrive and prosper through childhood and youth, and enter with strength upon the active career of adult life." Another objection with many is the diffi- culty of carrying into effect this plan of arti- ficial lactation. To this objection there is one simple and conclusive reply : — " There is no alternative. If you adopt any other plan 9G FOOD FOR BABES. (except in those rare cases in wliicli a good nurse may be obtained), you will not bave good results. Your cliild may not die, but he will not thrive. If you are willing to count your own labor and care against the well-being of your cliild, you can do so. But remember that you will have labor and care, and anxiety, and fear, and perhaps death too, if you adopt an inferior mode. Take your choice ; w^e have set the facts before you ; the decision rests with you." A third objection comes from those who live in cities, and would willingly do what they can to provide for their children. They know not how to obtain such food as we have recommended. This objection is a seri- ous one, but it might soon be removed. Let a demand arise for th"s food in the cities, and FOOD FOR BABES. 97 it could be supplied. If meats, and vegeta- bles, and eggs, and butter, and fruits can be sent from the country into the cities to feed the adult inhabitants, why might not tliis needed food be supplied for the city infants ? We might then hope for some serious dimi- nution of that fearful mortality among in- fants against which medical skill seems of no avail It is famine that sweeps away these myriads of little ones ; they die for want of food. 98 FOOD FOli BABES. Note A. Schedule showin.^ the Dilution of Milk at various Ages. MILK. WATER. FOOD. 2 to 10 days old, 1^ gills, 3i gills, making ik gills 10 to 20 '' l| '' 44 ** '' 6 ** 20 to 30 '' 24 ** 6 '' *' 84 '' 1 to IJmontlis, 3 '' 6| ** ** 9| ** 14 to 2 ** 34 '^ 7 ** ** 104 *^ 2 to £4 ** 4 ** 74 ** ** 114 '' 24 to 3 ** 44 ** 7A ** *' 12 (< 3 to 34 ** 5 '' 74 ** ** 124 '' 34 to 4 ** 54 ** 74 '* '* 13 (( o ;3 I 4 to 44 '* 6 '' 74 *^ ** 184 '' :a ^ 44 to 5 *^ 64 ** 74 *' *' 14 *' ■^ 5 to 6 ** 7 *; 7 <. << 24 ic ^ 6 to 7 ** 74 *' 64 ** ** 14 ** jg 7 to 8 ** 8 ** 6 ** ** 14 '' 8 to 9 '' 8i *^ 6 ** ** 14; ** 9 to 10 ** 84 '' 6 ** ** 144 " 10 to 11 ** 8| ^* 6 *^ ** 14| 11 to 12 " 9 ^* 54 '' '' 144 12 to 15 ** 94 ** 5i ** *' 14| *' 15 to 18 ** 94 '' 5 ** '* 144 '' vis onward ** 10 " 5 ** ** 15 li (I (( It will be well to have a cup holding a gill when full. Eight ordinary table-spoonfuls equal one gill ; six equal three quarters of a gill ; four equal half a gill ; and two equal a quarter of a gill. FOOD FOR BABES. 99 Note B. The anterior fontanelle is the soft place in the front of an infant's head, just above the forehead. Note C. There is a class of mothers who give a great, even an excessive quantity of milk, who are not vigorous themselves, and whose nurslings do not thrive. The probability is that these women furnish a great quantity of milk of very poor quality. In some cases the infant is not able to take all the milk furnished by the mother, and yet it seems unsatisfied. We would advise such mothers to diminish the amount of liquid food or drink. Most, if not all, of such women drink a great deal of gruel, or beer, or some other 100 FOOD FOR BABES. liquid. The probable resemblance of such milk to that of swill-fed cows may, perhaps, be profitably suggested. An abundance of good food, well digested, can not be dispenser' with by a good nurse. The infant can take only two quarts of milk daily ; let it be of the best quality. % \ I FOOD FOR BABES. •»•■»■ THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE. Life begins in animals and plants in a point so small as to he visible only by the aid of the microscope. From this small begin- ning up to adult size, to tlie giant oak, to the mighty whale, all increase is gained from food. The germs of plants and animals, while yet invisible, to tlie naked eye, are drawing from parts around them the mate- rials needed for their growth. We find them increasing slowly and steadily, until their size is such that we may lay aside the instrument and observe their progress with our unaided 10 FOOD FOK BABES. vision. The circuinstances amid which this growth takes phice are exceedingly various, and the sources of nourishment differ in the various cases. But it is tnie of all, that ma- terials similar to those existing in the future j)lant or animal, must he supplied and l)rought into contact with the germ ; and that thus alone it can make progress and gtv^i increase. Concerning the growth of the ]i-anangerni, we have no certain knowledge until concep- tion has taken place. How great the action and influence of the male parent upon the future offspring, we do not kiiow, but they cease from that moment. Thenceforth the germ continues for a time in complete depen- dence on the mother for food. It is to this period of human life that we shall confine our attention. FOOD FOR BABES, 11 At the time of impregnation tlie germ is visible only Ly tlie aid of high magnifying power. It probably does not weigh the thousandth part of a grain. Let us trace its increase during the next nine months, while it derives its food solely from the mother's blood. At first its IcTigtli is and its ^vciglit At the end of 2 nios. its length is 1 4 in. ** 250 grs. a 4 ** "5 ** ** 1,200 ** it Q << '< 9 ** ** 0,000 ** <« 8 ** ** 14 ** '* 30,000 ** « 9 << *' 19 ** '* 50,000 '' Thus from a point invisible to the naked eye, the germ lias grown to a length of 18 or 20 inches, and to a w^eight of 6, 7, vill he fearfully deficient. Now, these solids are needed by the child ; the water will neither warm nor feed him ' If the solids be deficient, he can not crow and thrive. And yet many (may we not say most?) mothers are furnishing milk very deficient in these important materials. And, that this is true, will be made very apparent • from the foUowuig statement:— A strong, healthy, fat woman almost always loses weight while nursing a child, although supplied with as much wholesome food as she can eat. Even while eatingthuslargely, and digesting well her food, she can not do more than supply her child. Wlrat then are we to expect from a feeble woman, whose digestion scarcely sufaces for 46 J'OOD FOR BABES. the support of lier own "body? If she could supply this large amount of food to a nursling, could she not have taken better care of herself? A woman wlio can not digest large quantities of food can not be an efficient and successful nurse. A laboring man does not consume more food than a woman who is fully nourish- ing a child. A comparison of the quantity of milk fur- nished by a cow with that required by a vigorous child, may be here profitably intro- duced. AVe have seen that a child needs 1200 lbs. in the first year. We will suppose the mother to weigh 132 pounds. She has tlien to give nine times her weight in milk in one year, and this milk must contain her weight (132 lbs.) of dry solids. Let us take a cow weighing six times as much, or 800 FOOD FOK BABES. 47 lbs.; slie nn.ot giv(3 800 lbs. of dry solids in a year. This will require 6154 lbs. of milk in a year, or 7 quarts daily. This is a very large quantity for a cow to give as a daily average for a whole year. ■ It follows from this, tliat in fully nourish- ing a child, a woman must give as much milk in proportion to her weight as a good cow. And yet how few mothers have powers of digestion at all edequate to such a result. A large number of mothers give less than one- half of this amount ; their children must, therefore, suffer unless a good substitute can be procured. We are probably within limits when we say that nine-tenths of the mothers of this country fail to supply fully their infants with milk.* Some fail almost from the very begin- * This was written in the United States. 48 FOOD FOR BABES. ning; some do well for two, three, or four months; a very few continue to the end of the first year, and not one in fifty keeps up a good supply for eighteen months. And this leads us at once to consider the length of time during which a woman should furnish milk in large quantity to her child. HOW LONG SHOULD MILK BE GIVEN ? This is a most important question. How long does a child need milk as his sole or principal article of food ? How old must he be before being weaned ? There are three different sources of information on this sub- ject. And first, let us look at a vigorous woman, one who evidently performs this duty well. We shall find that such a woman ^ives milk FOOD FOR BABES. 49 for one and a half or two years ; some of them go even beyond this period. Secondly, let us look at other animals, and observe at what stage of develoj)ment they cease to depend on their mothers for food. To those who are acquainted with the condi- tion of young animals of different kinds at birth, it is scarcely necessary to remark that they differ greatly in this respect. The calf, the kid, the lamb, are well-known instances of the highest development. Next comes the colt ; after him the pig, and lower down, the puppy, the kitten, the rat come into the world in a much less advanced state. The human infant is at birth far inferior in development to the first-named animals, and somewhat superior to those last mentioned. Let any one familiar with the condition of new-born calves 50 FOOD FOR BABES. O ay at what age the human infant attains an equal development. He will probably fix upon the age of nine or ten months in the case of healthy, vigorous infants. Feeble children frequently fail to reach this advanced state in 12, 15, 18, or even 24 months. Those who rear cattle know that the calf receives milk for five or six months, and they know too, tliat a calf thus fed, is a far finer animal than one deprived of this natural food. Now, let us suj)pose a human infant nine months old equally advanced with a new^-born calf, and we shall have at the least six months longer to supply him with milk. But we must remember that the calf belongs. to a comparatively short-lived race, becoming an adult at the age of 4 or 5 years, and dying of old age at 25 or 30; whereas the human FOOD FOR babj:s. 51 infant belongs to a long-lived race, not be- coming an adult before the nge of 20, and living 70, 80, 90, or 100 years. The stages of a calf's life are, therefore, only one-fourth as long as those of a child, and hence five months of lactation for a calf would represent at least 20 months for a child. Add, then, 20 months to 9, and we have 29 months, or nearly 2| years as the age at wliich a child should be weaned. But, on the other liand, it must be re- membered that the usual food of the calf is more difficult of digestion than that given to the human infant, and, therefore, it is not necessary that the child should be so well developed as the calf at the time of wean- ing. Let us, in the third place, consider the ap- 52 FOOD FOR BABEft. paratus for mastication in the cliild, that we' may learn at what age he is prepared to have solid food. The first set of teeth (milk teeth they are called) are in vigorous infants usu- ally complete at the age of li or 2 years. Twenty-one months would probably be a safe age to fix upon for vigorous, well-developed children. At that age tliey may chew with success, and, thencefortli, may ])e considered able to dispense \vith milk altogether. It would j)r(^bably be a fair inference from these considerations, tliat children may be wholly weaned when they have completed their first dentition ; that to vigorous chil- dren 18 months oLd, or having 16 teeth, good food (other than milk) may be given in gra- dually increasing quantity ; and that to slow- ly-developed children (no matter what their FOOL) FOR BABES. 53 age) no other food tliau milk should he given until 16 teeth are out. HOW GET SO MUCH MILK ? But here tlie question will be asked : " Whence is this Inilk to be obtained?'* And this brings us to the second part of our sub- ject — the consideration ^ the effects of insuffi- cient food upon infants, and the remedies for this deficiency. We have spoken of the amount of food needed by an infant. We have said that he needs 3| lbs. daily, after the age of three months. Before that age he needs from 2 to 3 1 lbs. This statement may be readily veri- fied by weighing a child before and after feed- ing. If three hours have elapsed since the 54 FOOD FOR BABES. last feeding, it will be found that lie weighs half a pound more after taking as much milk as he wants. In this experiment, both mother and child must be vigorous and healthy. A child requires six or seven such doses daily, or from 3 to 3| lbs. Many of the motliers who read this, know that they have never supplied this quantity, and have never fully satisfied the wants of their infants. They have at- tempted to remedy this deficiency by giving to their little ones bread, panada, corn -starch, barley, arrow-root, or some other farinaceous food, mingled, perhaps, with a certain quan- tity of milk. But they have not thus suc- ceeded in rearing healthy, vigorous infants. The children have suffered from colic, consti- pation, diarrhoea, or some other disorder of the bowels ; the teeth have given rise to pain FOOD FOR BABES. 55 and fever, and tlie fears of the parents have been often excited by alarming symptoms. It is true that children thus fed do not all die; but very many do, and this not from any distinct, clearly-marked disease, but from debility and starvation. The fatal disease called cholera infantum, which sweeps off so many tens of thousands during the three hot months, is not common among well-fed and thriving infants. We propose to parents, in this work, tlie use of food nearly if not quite equal to the best quality of human milk, and far superior to that furnished by most mothers. We believe it able, not merely to sustain life, but to pro- mote a vigorous, steady, healthful growth. We believe, tliat if generally used, it would greatly diminish tlie annual mortality among 5G FOOD FOR BABES. infants, and would exert a marked influence on the health of after years. It furnishes, when properly administered, all that an in- fant needs for growth, activity, and health. By a reference to what has been said con- cerning milk, it will be seen that a substitute for the natural food of tlie infant must have very peculiar properties. No article in the vegetable kingdom with which we are ac- quainted bears any resemblance to milk in its internal composition. We can not imitate human milk by means of flour, starch, or any other substance of the kind. Nor can we do it with any substance but one that can be found in the animal kingdom, and that one is Milh The milk of animals bears a greater or less resemblance to human milk, and it is among them that we must find our substitute FOOD FOR BABES. 57 « for it. The animal milk most readily obtain- ed is that of the cow, and practically we can get no other in most cases. The milk of the goat, which is sometimes used for this pur- pose, is less suited to meet our wants, and, therefore, to the milk of the cow we will ex- clusively direct our attention. COW^S MILK. But the objection will at once be made by many readers, that cow's milk has been tried by thousands without success, and this when the milk has been pure and fresh. This is freely admitted, for in the country parents often fail when they attempt to rear infants on cow's milk. Many mothers in the coun- try, where cow's milk is abundant and cheap and good, use starch or arrow-root or barley 58 FOOD FOR BABES. ratlier tlian milk, because tliemilkdisorclerstlie infant's stomach. Let us explain this failure. The various animals furnish milk of various kinds to suit the various degrees of develop- ment of their young at birth. The milk that is adapted to a new-born calf is not suitable for an infant. It must be modified, or else it will do harm rather than good. Every one knows that an infant can not bear pure cow's milk,and every one adds more or less w^ater to weaken it. Yes, there is too much cheese in cow's milk, and the child can not digest it. There is al- most three times as nriich as in human milk, as wdll be seen by looking at this table : ■ 1 1 ( Butter, 38.59 parts, "rts of ~ . ^'^«"" ^0-75 " I part parts 01 cow ^ % a ^^ kq milk there are of ^ \^'f^^^^ g^^; 97 69 1000.00 FOOD FOR BABES. 59 arts. ^TTv-T . .1 1 ( Butter, 20.^6 i)art vVhile in a thousand \ .^ . ' -, a oa a •n 1 Casein, 14.34 " nan nulk < c.„_„ ' ^. ^o parts of hunniii nnlk ^ yg ^^ there are of I wkcr, 889.88 <( 1000.00 Therefore, to reduce tlie casein of cow's milk (40.75) to the proportion found in human milk (14.34), we must add 14 times, or nearly twice as much, water, that is, to ten (10) parts of milk we must add eighteen (18) parts of water. Now, milk thus diluted would not be likely to disagree with a child, that is, it would not produce derangement ot the stomach and bowels ; but after a while we should find that the child was not thriving on this diet ; and by examining the table, we shall see the rea- son. By watering the milk so largely, we have diminished the proportion of butter as well as of casein. Now, by turning back to GO FOOD FOK BABES. the paragraphs on the uses of butter, we shall see that the child can not dispense with the proper proj)ortion of this oil. By diluting the milk with 1 i parts of water, we have re- duced the butter from 38.59 to 13.58 thou- sandths. This is just about two-thirds of the proportion of butter existing in human milk, which is 20. 7G thousandths. Suppose that a child were to take this milk for a year, instead of 25 lbs. of butter, he would get only 16|- Ibs. But we have seen that he needs 25 lbs. in order to thrive and prosper. He must, therefore, languish on this short allowance. ARTIFICIAL HUMAN MILK. To those at all familiar with the elements of Arithmetic, it will be evident from the fore- going table that dilution of ordinary cow's milk will never enable us to imitate i\\Q^ composition FOOD FOR BABES. 61 of liuman milk. In liuinan milk the butter is to the casein as 20.76 to 1434, or as 100 to 70- In cow's milk the butter is to the casein as 38.59 to 40.75, or as 100 to 105. Dilution will never change this relation of the two substan- ces to each other ; therefore, dilution will be vain. But if we could get cow's milk of the following composition : Butter, 54; casein, 38; sugar, 52; and water, 856 ; and should add to it sugar, 142; and water, 1458, we should have a milk of the following composition : Butter, 54; casein, 38 ; sugar, 194 ; and water, 2314. This would give, when divided by 2.6, (to reduce it to thousandths), butter, 20,77; casein, 14.61; sugar, 75; and water, 889.62. Butter 5i ) ^Butter 54^ f Butter 20.77 Casein 38 [ _ j Casein 38 [ _^. ._ J Casein 14.61 Sugar 52+ 142 j'-] Sugar 194 ( ' ^~ 1 Sugar 74.62 Water 856 + 1458; VWater2314; VWater890.00 1000 1600 2600 1000.00 62 FOOD FOR BABES. Compare this result with the composition of human milk as given on page 30, and you will tind the difference unworthy of notice. But can sucli milk be obtained ? Yes ; in two ways. ' The first way is by taking the ^qyper third of cow's milk that has stood for four or five hours. This upper portion contains about fifty per cent, more butter than the ordinary milk of the cow. To obtain one quart of this milk, set three quarts of milk aside, and at the end of four or five hours, remove the upper quart. Another, and in warm weather a better way, is by taking milk from the latter half of that given by the cow. The first part of the milk taken from the cow contains very little butter ; the last part (called in the country FOOD FOR BABES. C3 " strippiiigs") is very rich. The former half of the cow's milk contains about 21 thou- sandths of butter ; the latter half contains 56. If the cow gives eight quarts at a milking, use milk taken from the last four quarts. Milk the first half into one pail, and set it aside, and then taking another pail, milk the other half into it, taking care that the cow be milked dry, for the last portions of the milk are by far the richest. This milk, when diluted witli 1^ parts of water, and properly sweetened, resembles or- dinary himian milk. CHOICE OF A COW FOR THIS PURPOSE. Health and vigor are the most important qualities in a nursing cow. She should be in the prime of life — from four to ten ye^rs old 64 FOOD FOR BABES. — free from disease, and evidently in fine health. It is not important that she sliould give a great quantity of milk. Her calf should not be less than two weeks old ; and when the calf is four or five months old, she must be given up, and another cow with a young calf ol)tained, if the best results are de- sired. She should have good pasture in sum- mer, and in winter an abundance of good hay, and of water. No slops of any kind should be given to her ; no pot-liquor, no swill, no brewer's grains, no refuse vegetables, nor tur- nips, nor carrots, nor potatoes, nor indeed any thing but hay, and salt and water. With this mode of feeding, the milk will be of excellent quality, though the quantity will be far less than if the other articles of food were used. Grass is the cowl's appropriate food, and her FOOD FOR BAHES. 65 milk may be greatly changed by the use of tl.ese various articles of diet. The cow should be well housed in cold weather, in a clean, large, and well-ventilated stable. She should be allowed to go out for exercise whenever the weather will permit, but she nnist not be exposed to cold rains. Indeed, her health should be cared for in every way. If a cow is too much exposed to the cold, there will be very little butter in her milk. Our experience teaches us that, four or five months^after calving, the cow should be given up, and|milk obtained from a cow having a young calf. This change to younger milk we have^always found advantageous to the cliild. It is perhaps connected with a falling off in the equality of the milk due to a new preg- nancy of the cow, but of this we are not sure. 6G FOOD FOll BABES. VARIOUS DILUTIONS FOR VARIOUS AGES. We have said that tlie mother's milk has, for the first two weeks after the birth of the cliihl, a peculiar composition, and a special name. It is called colostrum. From its first appearance, the milk gradually changes until it becomes ordinary milk. Our mode of feed- « ing involves tlie imitation of tliese several qualities of the milk. We call our substitute artificial human milk ; let us begin by prepar- ing artificial colostrum. To do this, we must use milk containing much more butter than that already described. We must take the upper ciffJith instead of the upper third of milk that has stood for four or five hours. Thus, in order to get half a pint c " this very oily milk, we must use two quarts of milk, and FOOD FOR liABES. G7 skim ofr carefully half a pint. Or we may obtain the same result l)y using the last tenth of the milk furnislied by the cow. Thus, if a cow gives five quarts at a milking, the last pint will be sufficiently rich fur this purpose. This milk must tlien be largely diluted with water, as will be seen in the following sche- dule : (See page 68). It will be seen from this schedule that the milk is made more nutritious as tlie child ad- vances in age. This schedule is arranged to suit the wants of vigorous children. But in using it, great care and skill are needed. Re- gard must be had not to the mere age, T)ut to the condition of the child. One child ^roes on prosperously to the age of six months ; he is in every sense six months old. The dilution directed for that age will suit him exactly. 08 FOOD FOK BABES. r-( i—l « o o o O O O iO o VO »o o o o iv-5 »o O U"5 o 1-- o l^ (M vo o VO (M CO O CM o oo 1-^ CO CO o vo c^ C^ rH rH rH iH ^ v_^.. ^ r~ H o3 _ ^ o 'fi J2 '^ ^ ^ "X '^ 27 y^ ^ « e._- cc ^ -L_j L^j.i_i c*-i _^ _i_j r^ r? CI tC C 4-» i^^ c^ ^ ^ o C .S '^ '^3 - o o rt rH Ot) O o o S COOi— f(MCO'^10COt>*Ci»H'<*00 nj ce o <1 ^ •'H . = = = - " ^ = ' ^ - - - ^ O o) coooooooioooiooon^ 'Thi o ^v-j lo o u"5 o 1^ o i^ (M vo o ce ^ - ^ ^ - ^ ^ - - - - - ^ t^ o o o FOOD FOR BABES. 69 Aiiotlier, during liis tliird, fourth and fifth months, is sick and feeble. On learning these facts and observing his condition, we should say: "This cliild was born, it is true, six months ago ; but liis time has been ill-spent, he has not made tlie usual progress ; we must reckon him as only fouv or five months old." Here the counsel of a physician is needed. If to a feeble, ill-developed child we give the milk suited to liis age, we commit a gieat error, and shall foil in our experiment. It is indeed al« ways safer to begin with milk somewhat more diluted tlian the child's age indicates, and to increase its strength, as the case will permit. ' It is less hurtful that the food sliould be in^ sufficient than that it should be indigestible. As this is a point of great practical impor- tance, we will dwell upon it a little longer. 70 FOOD FOR BABES. IVIothers usually consider these dilutions ex- cessive, and are very impatient to put their children on stronger food. We repeat, then, that this schedule is arranged to ? iit the wants of vigorous, healthy children ; it wl'^' suit no others. If the child has progressed steadily and rapidly, without intermission from sick- ' ness or injury of any kind, the dilutions here directed will meet his case. But if from im- proper or insi^fficient food, or from sickness, or from any other cause, he has fallen behind- hand, a dilution suited to a younger child would be better for him. If the milk be too strong for him, indigestion will follow, and the child will lose instead of gaining strength. Particles of casein will pass through his bowels unaltered, irritating as they go. In such cases a yoimger quality should at once be FOOD FOR BABES. 71 substituted. A feeble child of nine montlis of age will probably require the food suited to a vigorous child of six months. SIGNS OF DEVELOPMENT. , One of the best guides in ordinary cases is the development of the teeth. We here sub- join a schedule sliowing the age at which, among vigorous children, the teeth may be fairly expected. It is nr>t, however, pretended that this order of development is, among vig- orous children, invariable. A vigorous child at or <^ niontlis of age will have 2 teeth. a (( (C (< (( <( (( (i (( 6 8 12 16 iC a It. (( (( (( 20 ii. 72 FOOD FOR BABES. Notable exceptions to this rule will some- times be observed. Children apparently lieaiihy and strong are sometimes very slow in teetliing, but in most cases, the teeth indi- cate the condition of the child. The anterior fontanelle (Y. Note B) is often closed at twelve months of age. In almost all well-developed children it is closed at or before the sixteenth month. By making these observations concerning the growth of the teeth and the size of the fontanelle, we may usually determine what dilution will suit the child. A simple rule, wdiich may be used by any careful mother, is to use weaker milk, if any curd is observed to pass through the bowels undigested. If the milk is too strong for the child, this result will soon be apparent. FOOD FOK BABES. 73 If a eliikl using this food become sick, it is well to diiiiinisli at once tlie strengtli of liis food to tliat of a child three or four, or even sometimes (in severe cases) six montlis ^ younger. In sucli cases, tlie pliysician alone can decide wisely. It is a marked advantage of this artificial lactation, that in sickness no new kind of food is required, but the same kind, of different strength. The quantity of butter may sometimes be advantageously increased. It will sometimes happen that while using milk prepared ac- cording to the foregoing directions, constipa- tion may occur. An addition of butter to the milk will here be useful. There are t^-o or three M^ays of doing this. In cold weather, (or in hot weather, if tlie milk be kept in ice), the milk may be allowed to stand one or two 74 FOOD FOR BABES. liours longer before the upper tliird is re- moved. The upper third will in this case, of course, contain a larger proportion of butter. Or the vq)]}(iY fourth may be taken instead of the upper tliird. Thus, in order to get a quart of very rich milk, use four or five instead of three quarts, and remove the upper quart. The same result may be obtained l)y taking milk from the last third of that given by the cow. This is about 25 per cent, richer than the latter half ; containing about 65 thou- sandths of butter. Thus, if a cow gives six quarts at a milking, take milk from the last two quarts instead of the last three. DILUTION AND SWEETENING. The water used in diluting milk should be as pure as j^ossible ; hard water must be un- wholesome for infants. It should not be FOOD FOR BABES. 75 heated. The sugar should be good loaf sugar; brown sugar should not be used. Tlie sugar may be added by taste. Care must be taken that the milk be made only a little sweeter than that of the cow. If too much sugar be used, the child will take less milk, being ap- parently cloyed. The milk should be prepared twice a day in w^arm weather, unless it be kept in ice. In cold weather it may be prepared once a day. If there be any doubt about the cow's being fully supplied with salt, it would be well to add a little to the infant's food. It would be much better, however, to supply the cow her- self. With a deficiency of salt we must look for an impaired digestion. 7G FOOD FOR BABES. MODE OF ADMINISTRATION. Tlie milk sliould be given by means of a bottle. Suction is the natural mode, and has several advantages. By this mode we can give it at a more uniform temperature. AVe can also tlius (l)y the efforts and movements of suction) secure a full flow of saliva, which is needed for tlie digestion of- the food. The child oan lie down while feeding, either on his bed or in his mother's arms. There is less danger of his throwing up any part of the milk ; his position need not be changed, and he will sink to sleep quietly, if his time for sleeping has come. We have said that a child after three months of age takes half a pint or eight fluid- ounces at a time. A bottle of this size will be required. Tlie kind we prefer is one of FOOD FOR BABES. 77 elliptical form, siicli as is here represented. Bottles having lettei's blown in Wie glass are cleaned with gi^eat difficirlty, and should not be used. It is well to anneal tlie bottle by putting it in cold water, heating the water gradually until it boils, letting it boil for two or three hours, and then leaving it to cool very slowly. A bottle thus prepared is not likely to crack when placed suddenly in hot water when cold, or in cold water Avhen hot. A goose-quill of moderate size, and If inches long, rolled up in a "^trip of Swiss muslin, makes the best artificial nipple with whicli we are acquainted. The muslin should be moderately fine. A piece fifteen inches long and six wide is re- quired for the bottles here represented. It should be folded so as to be 15 inches long 78 FOOD FOR BABES. and 1 1 wide. The (|uill slioiild be rolled in it so as to form a tiglitly-fitting stopper for the bottle. One end of the quill should be near, (but not quite at) the outer edge of the muslin. The frayed edges of the torn muslin must be turned in so that the threads may not get into the child's mouth. The stopper thus prepared must be forced into the bottle tightly, leaving two-thirds or three-fourths of an inch projecting from the neck. The bottle, quill, and muslin should be fre- quently washed with soap and water. With- out cleanliness there can be no success. The milk when prepared must be kept in a cool place, and pails, pitchers, pans, and cups must be clean and sweet. The milk should be given at regular inter- vals. Many nursing mothers are in the habit FOOD FOR BABES. , 7!) of putting ail infant to tlie breast whenever it cries. Where the supply of milk is insuffici- ent and the child consequently always hun- gry, this may be necessary, but in artificial feeding there is no excuse for such conduct. The child should have at each time as much as he w^ants. He will then need no more for 3 or 3 1 hours. The stomach will thus be left at leisaire to accomplish the work of digestion. There is no rule more important than this in the artificial rearing of children. Success is impossible on any other plan. The child should be early trained to pass six or eight hours at night without being fed. This habit may be formed frequently before the age of two months. Care should be taken that the child should not be bathed soon after being fed. The bet- 80 r(")oi) I'oK DAr.Ks. ter plan is to bathe liim 21 or 3 liours after the Last meah The temperature of the milk when given to the child should he about 100°, or about the temperature of the human I orly. The mother can soon train herself to recognize this temperature by feeling. By applying the bottle to the cheek, the heat can be most easily determined. The use of a thermometer may be at first advisable. The best mode of heating the milk is by putting it, when cold, into the bottle and placing the bottle in a bowl or cup of hot w\ater. A little practice and care will soon enable the mother to man- age this department very satisfactorily. It is important that the temperature of the milk be regulated w4th exactness. It will not do to depart much from the temj)erature prescribed. FOOL) FOK HADES. 81 The milk should be taken sh)\vly ; ten minutes should he given to each meal. By a proper arrangement of the quill and muslin, the flow of the milk may he controlled. The stomach will not then he too much distended, as the liquid part v.ill be quickly absorbed. LENGTH OF ARTIFICIAL LACTATION. One of the advantages of artificial lactation is that it may ordinarily be continued as long as necessary. Mothers are frequently com- pelled to wean their infants long before the infants shoidd be weaned, and in such cases we advise them to adopt this food. They may thus promote the vigorous and healthful development of children, likely otherwise to suffer for want of proper nourishment. We have said that children should depend princi- 82 FOOD FOR BABES. pally, if not solely, upon milk until the age of Uvo years, or until tliey obtain tlieir first set of teeth. Some feeble children will need milk up to the ^.ge of 2| or 3 years. Such children often suffer for want of suitable food. Wliat, in all probability, can be better for them than this food of nature so wonderfully adapted to their wants ? We advise, then, that children should rely exclusively on milk until they have sixteen teeth fairly developed. From that time on, food of other kinds, eggs, bread, puddings, may be given in small q ..antities^ and of the best quality possible. The i)roportion of this food may be slowly increased, until, when the child has twenty teeth fully formed, the milk- diet may be safely abandoned. In the coun- try, however, where good milk may be readily FOOD FOR BABES. / 83 obtained, there is no doubt that it should con- stitute an important article of food through childhood. In cities this is often impracticable. OBJECTIONS TO THIS MODE OF FEEDING. But doubtless the objection will be made that this proposed mode of artificial lactation involves much care and expense. This is not denied. The excellence of our plan is not that it costs nothing, but that it well repays thi . cnt for all the labor and money expended. The plan is proposed to those who wish to rear healthy and vigorous children to be the stay and solace of their declining years ; and it is believed that no other plan will insure this result. And in rightly estimating the labor and expense in- volved in this plan, we must not forget the 84 FOOD FOR BABES. labor and expense which it saves. Is it no labor to watch day after day, and night after night, at the bed-side of a sick and dying in- fant ? Ts there any heavier labor, any sadder care, any greater weariness, than are involved in the months and years of painful watching over a succession of infants that languish, pine and starve, from birth to death ? How many mothers feel the full force of this appeal How many, now childless, have two, three, four, or even more, infants in little graves ! And how many more mothers are there, who, with constant assiduity and care, have nursed their little ones through the many diseases of infancy, to find them growing up feeble and suffering, to languish through childliood, and to die in the very flower of tlieir age ? And how much money is yearly expended in secur- FOOD FOR BABES. 85 iiio- medical aid for cliildren wlio need not medicine but food ? How often does the kind physician mournfully confess that he can do nothing for the child, that the suffering and weakness are the cons'equences of insufficient nourishment, and can be relieved only by such food as will strengthen the body and promote its natural and liealthful develop- ment. To those, then, who desire the welfare of their children, we propose this mode of feeding, confident that, if fairly tried, it will not disap- point their hope. Wherever it has been em- ployed with care and the observance of the directions given, it has been successful. But let no one suppose that any of this care is ex- cessive, that any of these directions may be safely disregarded. If full success is desired) 86 / FOOD FOR BABES. , all tliese precautions are requisite. The milk must be of the prescribed quality ; the dilu- tion and sweetening must be accurately and carefully performed ; the hours of feeding must be regular, and the most scrupulous cleanliness observed. With these precautions, a good result may be fairly expected. If Cie child be not diseased, he will thrive and pros- per. His teeth will show themselves in due season and without suffering. His growth will be regular and symmetrical; his functions will develop themselves according to the es- tablished order, and his infancy will be a season of high enj oy ment. Believing this to be the ordinary and na- tural result of this food, we most earnestly commend it to mothers whose infants are in- sufficiently or improperly fed. The results of FOOD FOR BABES. 87 this artificial lactation, proi^erly aclniinistered, will gladden tlie hearts of parents and friends. If food is needed, and can be supplied, why- should a child be allowed to starve ? h ] fc :• SHOULD MOTHERS NURSE THEIR CHILDREN? We can not close this little work without furnishing a reply to the question wdiich arises in the minds of many of our readers : '' If all this be true, should mothers nurse their children from their own breasts, or should they use this artificial food ?" We can not answer this question without ranging mothers in several classes, according to their milk-producing powers. In the first class w^e wdll place those healthy and vigorous women who can fidly supply 55 FOOD FOK BADES. tlieir infants from their own breasts. Would that tliey were multiplied a hundred-fold. To them we would say : " Be thankful that you can furnish to your little ones this divinely-apj)ointed food, and do all that you can to preserve this precious privilege. By constant regard to all the ^ules of health, seek to maintain unimpaired your present vigor. And be not weary of your work. Do not, from self-indulgence or from any improper motive, withhold from your cliildren this food, before it is best for them that it sliould be withdrawn. Let not the allurements of pleasure nor the demands of society seduce you from your proper work, your manifest duty. And do • not, by remissness in the care of your children in other respects, incur the risk of neutrali- zing or destroying wholly or in part the good FOOD FOR BABES. 81) effects of this abundant supply of wholesome food. Be thankful for the blessing, and let it be well improved." [Note C] '- In the second class we would place those mothers apparently vigorous and healthy, whose supply of milk is entirely inadequate to the proper nourishment of their children. To this class we scarcely know Avhat to say. If it could be known that their milk, though scanty, was good, it would be well for them t(> give it to their children, and to make up the deficiency by using the food we have recommended. We confess that we ha-^^e some doubts as to the quality of this sea Cj secretion, and we are not sure that it is safe to give it to an infant. It is to be hoped that further researches will throw some light on this subject. / : . L : 90 FOOD rOR BABES. Our lliird, and unfortunately by lar tlie largest class, is composed of tliose mothers who, either from actual disease or from general debility, furnish very little milk or none at all. To them we would say : — " Why should you attempt to perform impossibilities, in which yoii must fail, when you know that the failure will bring such sad results upon your wretched children ? Give to your little ones this food we liave presented to you, that ' they may live and not die.' They have received but scanty nourishment from you while yet in the womb, they can not prosper on any thing that your weak bodies can furnish. Give them now an opportunity to repair the in- juries already receive^:, and to obtain health and vigor from better sources." .. ; - A serious objection at once presents itself, FOOD FOR BABES. 91 and we must consider it before we go further. It comes from those who fear that if the flow of milk shall cease, a second pregnancy will soon follow. Now, this is an objection — one worthy of serious consideration. There can be no doubt that to a feeble woman, tlie birth of a child every year is a serious matter. For her own sake and for tliat of lier children, it would be better that the interval between successive births should be at least two years. It ^5 difficult to take care of a young infant and at the same time of an infant only one year older. Let us first consider the probable influence of the milk of this diseased or feeble mother upon her child. If this milk were harmless * and only deficient in quantity, we might ad- vise her to give it to her infant, and to use at 92 FOOD FOR BABES. the same time enougli of our ortificial human milk to make up the full amount required. But we are satisfied that good milh is not fur- nislied hy diseased or feehle women. Dys- pepsia, in every foi'm, is fatal to tlie produc- tion of harmless milk. If, therefore, such a mother nurses her child, the child must suffer. Even in cases where the mother furnishes only one-fourth of the quantity taken by the child, and Avhere the other three-foiu'ths are of excellent quality, \\q lielieve that the child will suffer. That is to say, we believe that sucli mothers give hurtful milk, and that it is better for the child not to have it. Let us proceed a little further. Suppose that this mother, in opposition to our advice, persists in nimsing her child. She will give milk for nine months perhaps, and then the FOOD FOK BABES. 93 ♦ flow will cease, and another pregnancy will succeed. The second year of the child's life will probably be one of almost constant sick- ness. " Teething," with its intestinal irrita- tions, its diarrhoea, fever and convulsions, will bring pain, and languor, and restlessness to the child, and anxious and weary watchings to the motlier. In a large number of cases, the death of the child will take place during this year. And if this sad result be averted, it will be only after much labor and anxiety, and well-grounded fear. • And liow fares the second child amid these scenes of suffering? The feeble mother, worn out by anxiety and constant, sleepless care, is scarcely able to sustain her own indi- vidual life, and utterly unable to nourisli fully tliis little one in the womb. His growth