Advice to a Mother on the Management of Her Children Part 29

321. _After an attack of Rheumatic Fever, what extra clothing do you advise_?

In the case of a boy, or a girl, just recovering from a severe attack of Rheumatic Fever, flannel next the skin ought always, winter and summer, to be worn--flannel drawers as well as a flannel vest.

322. _Have you any remarks to make on boys' waistcoats_?

Fas.h.i.+on in this, as in most other instances, is at direct variance with common sense. It would seem that fas.h.i.+on was intended to make work for the doctor, and to swell the bills of mortality! It might be asked, What part of the chest, in particular, ought to be kept warm?

The upper part needs it most. It is in the _upper_ part of the lungs that tubercles (consumption) usually first make their appearance; and is it not preposterous to have such parts, in particular, kept cool?

Double-breasted waistcoats cannot be too strongly recommended for _delicate_ youths, and for all men who have _weak_ chests.

323. _Have you any directions to give respecting the shoes and the stockings_?

The shoes for winter should be moderately thick and waterproof. If boys and girls be delicate, they ought to have double soles to their shoes, with a piece of bladder between each sole, or the inner sole may be made of cork; either of the above plans will make the soles of boots and shoes completely water-proof. In wet or dirty weather India-rubber over-shoes are useful, as they keep the _upper_ as well as the _under_ leathers perfectly dry.

The socks, or stockings, for winter, ought to be either lambs-wool or worsted; it is absurd to wear _cotton_ socks or stockings all the year round. I should advise a boy to wear socks not stockings, as he will then be able to dispense with garters. Garters, as I have remarked in a previous Conversation, are injurious--they not only interfere with the circulation of the blood, but also, by pressure, injure the bones, and thus the shape of the legs.

Boys and girls cannot be too particular in keeping their feet warm and dry, as cold wet feet are one of the most frequent exciting causes of bronchitis, of sore throats, and of consumption.

324. _When should a girl begin to wear stays_?

She ought never to wear them.

325. _Do not stays strengthen the body_?

No; on the contrary, they weaken it (1.) _They, weaken the muscles_. The pressure upon them causes them to waste; so that, in the end, a girl cannot do without them, as the stays are then obliged to perform the duty of the wasted muscles. (2.) _They weaken the lungs_ by interfering with their functions. Every inspiration is accompanied by a movement of the ribs. If this movement be impeded, the functions of the lungs are impeded likewise, and, consequently, disease is likely to follow, and either difficulty of breathing, or cough, or consumption, may ensue. (3) _They weaken the heart's action_, and thus frequently produce palpitation, and, perhaps, eventually, organic or incurable disease of the heart (4) _They weaken the digestion_, by pus.h.i.+ng down the stomach and the liver, and by compressing the latter, and thus induce indigestion, flatulence, and liver-disease. [Footnote: Several years ago, while prosecuting my anatomical studies in London University College Dissecting rooms, on opening a young women, I discovered an immense indentation of the liver large enough to admit a rolling pin, produced by tight lacing!] (5) _They weaken the bowels_, by impeding their proper peristaltic (spiral) motion, and thus might produce either constipation or a rupture. Is it not presumptuous to imagine that man can improve upon G.o.d's works, and that if more support had been required, the Almighty would not have given it?--

"G.o.d never made his work for man to mend"--_Dryden._

326. _Have you any remarks to make on female dress_?

There is a perfect disregard of health in everything appertaining to fas.h.i.+on. Parts that ought to be kept warm, remain unclothed, the _upper_ portion of the chest, most p.r.o.ne to tubercles (consumption), is completely exposed, the feet, great inlets to cold, are covered with thin stockings, and with shoes as thin as paper. Parts that should have full play are cramped and hampered, the chest is cribbed in with stays, the feet with _tight_ shoes,--hence causing deformity, and preventing a free circulation of blood. The mind, that ought to be calm and unruffled, is kept in a constant state of excitement by b.a.l.l.s, and concerts, and plays. Mind and body sympathise with each other, and disease is the consequence. Night is turned into day, and a delicate girl leaves the heated ball room, decked out in her airy finery, to breathe the damp and cold air of night. She goes to bed, but, for the first few hours, she is too much excited to sleep, towards morning, when the air is pure and invigorating, and, when to breathe it, would be to inhale health and life, she falls into a feverish slumber, and wakes not until noon-day. Oh, that a mother should be so blinded and so infatuated!

327. _Have you any observations to make on a girl wearing a green dress_?

It is injurious to wear a green dress, if the colour have been imparted to it by means of _Scheele's green_, which is a.r.s.enite of copper--a deadly poison. I have known the a.r.s.enic to fly off from a _green_ dress in the form of powder, and to produce, in consequence, ill-health. Gas-light green is a lovely green, and free from all danger, and is fortunately superseding the Scheele's green both in dresses and in worsted work. I should advise my fair reader, when she selects green as her colour, always to choose the gas-light green, and to wear and to use for worsted work no other green besides, unless it be imperial green.

DIET.

328. _Which is the more wholesome, coffee or tea, where milk does not agree, for a youth's breakfast_?

Coffee, provided it be made properly, and provided the boy or the girl take a great deal of out-door exercise; if a youth be much confined within doors, black tea is preferable to coffee. The usual practice of making coffee is to boil it, to get out the strength! But the fact is, the process of boiling boils the strength away; it drives off that aromatic, grateful principle, so wholesome to the stomach, and so exhilarating to the spirits; and, in lieu of which, extracts its dregs and impurities, which are both heavy and difficult of digestion. The coffee ought, if practicable, to be _freshly_ ground every morning, in order that you may be quite sure that it be perfectly genuine, and that none of the aroma of the coffee has flown off from long exposure to the atmosphere. If a youth's bowels be inclined to be costive, coffee is preferable to tea for breakfast, as coffee tends to keep the bowels regular. Fresh milk ought always to be added to the coffee in the proportion of half coffee and half new milk. If coffee does not agree, then _black_ tea should be subst.i.tuted, which ought to be taken with plenty of fresh milk in it. Milk may be frequently given in tea, when it otherwise would disagree.

When a youth is delicate, it is an excellent plan to give him, every morning before he leaves his bed, a tumblerful of _new_ milk. The draught of milk, of course, is not in any way to interfere with his regular breakfast.

329. _Do you approve of a boy eating meat with his breakfast_?

This will depend upon the exercise he uses. If he have had a good walk or run before breakfast, or if he intend, after breakfast, to take plenty of athletic out-door exercise, meat, or a rasher or two of bacon, may, with advantage, be eaten; but not otherwise.

330. _What is the best dinner for a youth_?

Fresh mutton or beef, a variety of vegetables, and a farinaceous pudding. It is a bad practice to allow him to dine, exclusively, either on a fruit pudding, or on any other pudding, or on pastry. Unless he be ill, he must, if he is to be healthy, strong, and courageous, eat meat every day of his life. "All courageous animals are carnivorous, and greater courage is to be expected in a people, such as the English, whose food is strong and hearty, than in the half-starved commonalty of other countries."--Sir W. Temple.

Let him be debarred from rich soups and from high-seasoned dishes, which only disorder the stomach and inflame the blood. It is a mistake to give a boy or a girl broth or soup, in lieu of meat for dinner; the stomach takes such slops in a discontented way, and is not at all satisfied. It may be well, occasionally, to give a youth with his dinner, _in addition to his meat_, either good soup or good broth not highly seasoned, made of good _meat_ stock. But after all that can be said on the subject, a plain joint of meat, either roast or boiled, is far superior for health and strength than either soup or broth, let it be ever so good or so well made.

He should be desired to take plenty of time over his dinner, so that he may be able to chew his food well, and thus that it may be reduced to an impalpable ma.s.s, and be well mixed with the saliva,--which the action of the jaws will cause to be secreted--before it pa.s.ses into the stomach. If such were usually the case, the stomach would not have double duty to perform, and a boy would not so frequently lay the foundation of indigestion, etc., which may embitter, and even make miserable, his after-life. Meat, plain pudding, vegetables, bread, and hunger for sauce (which exercise will readily give), is the best, and, indeed, should be, as a rule, the only dinner he should have. A youth ought not to dine later than two o'clock.

331. _Do you consider broths and soups wholesome_?

The stomach can digest solid much more readily than it can liquid food; on which account the dinner, specified above, is far preferable to one either of broth or of soup. Fluids in large quant.i.ties too much dilute the gastric juice, and over-distend the stomach, and hence weaken it, and thus produce indigestion: indeed, it might truly be said that the stomach often takes broths and soups in a grumbling way!

332. _Do you approve of a boy drinking beer with his dinner_?

There is no objection to a little good, mild table-beer, but _strong_ ale ought never to be allowed. It is, indeed, questionable whether a boy, unless he take unusual exercise, requires anything but water with his meals.

333. _Do you approve of a youth, more especially if he be weakly, having a gla.s.s or two of wine after dinner_?

I disapprove of it: his young blood does not require to be inflamed, and his sensitive nerves excited, with wine; and, if he he delicate, I should be sorry to endeavour to strengthen him by giving him such an inflammable fluid. If he be weakly, he is more predisposed to put on either fever or inflammation of some organ; and, being thus predisposed, wine would be likely to excite either the one or the other of them into action.

"Wine and youth are fire upon fire."--_Fielding._

A parent ought on no account to allow a boy to touch spirits, however much diluted; they are, to the young, still more deadly in their effects than wine.

334. _Have you any objection to a youth drinking tea_?

Not at all, provided it be not _green_ tea, that it be not made strong, and that it have plenty of milk in it. Green tea is apt to make people nervous, and boys and girls ought not even to know what it is to be nervous.

335. _Do you object to supper for a youth_?

Meat suppers are highly prejudicial. If he be hungry (and if he have been much in the open air, he is almost sure to be), a piece of bread and cheese, or of bread and b.u.t.ter, with a draught either of new milk or of table beer, will form the best supper he can have. He ought not to sup later than eight o'clock.

336. _Do you approve of a boy having anything between meals_?

I do not; let him have four meals a day, and he will require nothing in the intervals. It is a mistaken notion that "little and often is best," The stomach requires rest as much as, or perhaps more than (for it is frequently sadly over-worked) any other part of the body. I do not mean that he is to have "_much_ and seldom:" moderation, in everything, is to be observed. Give him as much as a growing boy requires (_and that is a great deal_), but do not let him eat gluttonously, as many indulgent parents encourage their children to do. Intemperance in eating cannot be too strongly condemned.

337. _Have you any objection to a boy having pocket money_?

It is a bad practice to allow a boy _much_ pocket money; if he be so allowed, he will be loading his stomach with sweets, fruit, and pastry, and thus his stomach will become cloyed and disordered, and the keen appet.i.te, so characteristic of youth, will be blunted, and ill-health will ensue. "In a public education, boys early learn intemperance, and if the parents and friends would give them less money upon their usual visits, it would be much to their advantage, since it may justly be said that a great part of their disorders arise from surfeit, '_plus occidit gula quam gladius_' (gluttony kills more than the sword)."--_Goldsmith._

How true is the saying that "many people dig their graves with their teeth." You may depend upon it that more die from stuffing than from starvation! There would be little for doctors to do if there were not so much stuffing and imbibing of strong drinks going on in the world!

AIR AND EXERCISE.

338. _Have you any remarks to make on fresh air and exercise for boys and girls_?

Girls and boys, especially the former, are too much confined within doors. It is imperatively necessary, if you wish them to be strong and healthy, that they should have plenty of fresh air and exercise; remember, I mean fresh air--country air, not the close air of a town.

By exercise, I mean the free unrestrained use of their limbs. Girls, in this respect, are unfortunately worse off than boys, although they have similar muscles to develop, similar lungs that require fresh air, and similar nerves to be braced and strengthened. It is not considered lady-like to be natural--all then: movements must be measured by rule and compa.s.s!