quantity of tartaric or other acid, which effects a gradual decomposition of the enamel.' One of the commonest tooth-powders of the present day, and which is a very good form, is the following:-Prepared chalk, three ounces; orris-root, powdered, half an ounce; cuttlefish, powdered, one ounce; essential oil of cinnamon, four drops. But the best of all dentifrices is the plain camphorated tooth-powder; for while the camphor does no injury to the teeth, it instantly destroys those minute creatures which produce the tartar and green incrustation on the enamel. To promote a general cleanliness of the teeth, the fact cannot be too often repeated, that a microscopic observer, M. Mandl, has discovered that, not only the foul mucous covering of the tongue, but the tartar of the teeth, consist of the dead remains of millions of infusorial animalculæ. Leuwenhöek discovered, long ago, that the mucous secretion of the human mouth abounded in living specimens of these minute beings; but it remained for M. Mandl to make known that the tartar of the teeth consists of their dead bodies compactly united together in one mass, by chemical decomposition. When a portion of this tartar of the teeth is softened in clear water, and placed under a powerful microscope, it is found to consist of their delicate skeletons.'

The best preservative, then, against the formation of tartar, is to see that the child cleans his teeth thoroughly night and morning with a brush and water, and also that he rinses out his mouth after the dinner meal. And if the tartar should be disposed to form, then he must in addition use tooth-powder.

If the gums should be tender, irritable, and bleed (as is frequently the case when an individual gets out of health, or the tartar accumulates) the mouth may

be washed night and morning with a tumbler of tepid water, containing from ten to twenty drops of the tincture of myrrh, and the same quantity of spirits of camphor; or the following form may be used:-Borax, two drachms; tincture of myrrh, four drachms; and distilled water, eleven ounces.

The use of acids to the teeth cannot be too strongly deprecated; they decompose their substance and lead to their rapid decay. Hence the whiteness produced by acid tooth-powders and washes is not less deceitful than ruinous in its consequences. As has just been observed, they perform all that their vendors promise, causing the teeth, for a little while, to become very white and beautiful in their appearance, but at the same time injuring them irremediably; the enamel becomes gradually decomposed, the bone of the tooth exposed, and its death is the inevitable consequence. It is therefore of great importance when acid medicines are ordered for children that they should be taken through a glass tube to prevent their coming in contact with the teeth. From a want of this precaution I know a young lady (and there are many such instances) who once had a sound and fine set of teeth, but from this cause has had nearly the whole of the upper row destroyed. She was in delicate health ; was judged requisite that she should take for a considerable time (with other medicines) sulphuric acid; but the glass tube was not thought of, and the consequences followed which have been described.

it

Calomel, as it is frequently given alone, or in the little white powders, in infancy and childhood, by mothers and nurses, is productive of serious and indeed irremediable injury to the teeth. Mr. Bell says, 'The immoderate use of mercury in early infancy produces,

more perhaps than any other similar cause, that universal tendency to decay, which, in many instances, destroys almost every tooth at an early age. It is certainly not unimportant to bear this fact in mind, in the administration of this sovereign remedy, this panacea, as many appear to consider it, in infantile diseases.'

The teeth are exceedingly apt to suffer from sudden variations of temperature. Fluids, therefore, should never be taken into the mouth so hot or so cold as to produce the slightest pain; and for the same reason, the water with which the mouth is cleansed should in winter be always warm or tepid. There are many other causes which might be mentioned as tending to induce decay of the teeth, but their consideration here is purposely avoided. It is hoped enough has been said to draw the parent's attention to the subject of the teeth, to prevent their neglect, and yet at the same time to induce a cautious management.

PART II.

MANAGEMENT OF CHILDREN IN DISEASE.

CHAPTER IX.

GENERAL REMARKS ON ILLNESS.

In the previous part of this work, devoted to the general management of the child in health, I have endeavoured to teach the mother that her especial province is the prevention of disease, not its cure. To establish and carry out this principle, every word contained in the preceding pages has directly or indirectly tended. It must be remembered, however, that this is not all. The mother has a most important part to perform in the diseases of infancy and early childhood. I refer to those duties which constitute the domestic management of illness, and which embrace the period from the first moment of indisposition to its close. In the different chapters which follow I have pointed out in what these duties consist; it will be well, however, to give some hints on illness in general, which, it is believed, if acted upon, will tend to abridge the duration and abate the violence of disease when present, and consequently the danger and sufferings of the

Many mothers are continually giving medicine to their children. Some trivial derangement is supposed to exist; but whatever may be the matter, physic is the sovereign and only remedy, and dose follows dose until illness is really produced, and the medical man summoned to treat a disorder occasioned entirely by the love of drug-giving. Medicine thus unadvisedly exhibited, is a fruitful source of mischief and suffering, and the children of such mothers stand a very poor chance of struggling through childhood, and certainly are very unlikely to see a healthy and vigorous maturity.

Temporary indisposition from disorder of any of the natural functions is generally to be put to rights by domestic remedies and a spare diet for four-and-twenty hours; but, if these measures should not succeed, and the symptoms of disorder increase rather than diminish, it is as much the wisdom as the duty of the mother to send for medical aid at once, before the health is permitted to suffer, and disease of a serious nature established.

Whenever a child becomes suddenly indisposed, with or without any apparent cause, there ought to be no temporising with symptoms in the hope that nursery medicines will give relief, and that before evening or in the morning the invalid will be better; much valuable time is thus frequently lost, and the delay in sending for the medical attendant is occasionally fatal to the child.

The medical man being in attendance, his advice ought to be strictly and conscientiously followed out. His right to entire confidence and implicit obedience is implied in calling him in at all. Entering the sick chamber upon these terms, and taking upon himself,