CHILDKEN.

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be somewhat abated ; and it is to be hoped the world will, intime, become wise enough to know that the human shapedoes not solely depend upon whalebone and bend-leather.*

We shall only add, with respect to the clothes of children,that they ought to be kept very clean. Children perspiremore than adults, and if their clothes be not frequentlychanged, they become very hurtful. Dirty clothes not onlygall and fret the tender skins of infants, but likewise occasionill smells, and, what is worse, tend to produce vermin andcutaneous diseases.

Cleanliness is not only agreeable to the eye, but tendsgreatly to preserve the health of children. It promotes theperspiration, and by that means frees the body from superflu-ous humors, which, if retained, could not fail to occasion dis-eases. No mother or nurse can have any excuse for allow-ing a child to be dirty. Poverty may oblige her to give itcoarse clothes, but if she does not keep them clean it mustbe her own fault.

Nature not only points out the food proper for an infant,but actually prepares it. This, however, is not sufficient toprevent some, who think themselves wiser than nature, fromattempting to bring up their children without her provision.Nothing can show the disposition which mankind have todepart from nature more than their endeavoring to bring upchildren without the breast. The mother's milk, or that of ahealthy nurse, is unquestionably the best food for an infant.Neither art or nature can afford a proper substitute for it.Children may seem to thrive for a few months without thebreast ; but when teething, the small-pox, and other diseasesincident to childhood, come on, they generally perish.

A child, soon after the birth, shows an inclination to suck ;and there is no reason why it should not be gratified. It istrue, the mother's milk does not always come immediatelyafter the birth ; but this is the way to bring it. Besides, thefirst milk that the child can squeeze out of the breast answersthe purpose of cleansing better than all the drugs in theapothecary's shop, and at the same time prevents inflamma-tions of the breast, fevers, and other diseases incident tomothers.

It is strange how people came to think that the first thing

* Stays made of bend-leather are worn by all the women oí' lowerstation in many parts of England.