" HOW TO STUDY THE CHILD.—NO. 2.

BY MRS.  S. M. I. HENRY.

To illustrate how much may result from a little well-directed knowledge of the child's internal organism, as well as of food combinations, I will give a case which I knew personally. A certain baby cried almost constantly from her

birth, until she had worn everybody out. Resort was had to many expedients to make rest possible to those who had the care of her. She circulated like a bad penny. She would be" sent from home with her nurse for a few days, and

back again as soon as possible; no one could keep her long at a time. Only when asleep could she be endured, and sleep was uncertain.

At night she had a large chamber to herself, father, mother, and nurse taking turns in occupying a smaller one which opened from it, in this

way giving each two nights in which to rest as best they could with the voice of her screaming filling the house.

When she was about fourteen months old, her grandmother came to see what was the matter with the child. Grandma did not believe that there was any need of such a state of things, and proposed to correct it if she could have undisputed authority. She found that many things had to be considered by this time; for the habit of crying had to be broken, as well as the cause removed. I cannot go into the whole history of the case; can only show how the grand result turned on very simple things.

The grandmother discovered constipation, and a fine red rash just under the skin, which, while not very noticeable, was enough to produce irritation.

As soon as the little body became warm, this would redden and burn ; but on exposure to the air would fade out so as to be scarcely perceptible,

and so had escaped notice. The food had been malted milk, cow's milk, mutton broth, and a soft curdled egg once a day. She was fed every three hours. The first change in her program was as follows: At 6 A. M. she was given all the water she would drink, and an hour later a ripe pear, sometimes two, peaches and apples in their season, all scraped to a pulp, with a graham cracker or two moistened with the fruit. At eleven o'clock she was given bread, crackers,

and sterilized milk mixed with lime-water. She was then hung in a hammock on the back porch, so covered that neither light nor air would disturb

her, and left to go to sleep. She was kept comfortable as to clothing, etc. Talcom powder was applied to prevent the irritation from the rash, and then if she cried, she was left to cry alone. At no time was any crying to be noticed.

As soon as it began, she was apparently forsaken. At 3 p. m. she had fruit, with graham crackers; and at seven o'clock, with her bottle of milk and lime-water, she went to bed. In less than two weeks the difficulty was so far overcome that the house became habitable and the nights restful. Before a month passed, she had almost ceased to cry at all, and began to develop the sweetest baby ways that could be imagined. She seemed herself to realize that a great pressure was removed from her little soul, and to appreciate the change. It was such a reaction as can hardly be understood by those who have not passed through a similar experience. Those who saw her can never forget how she so suddenly developed into health and happy life that it appeared almost miraculous.

The study of the child's body from head to foot should be the mother's daily practice. Every organ should have the most careful notice. Many a child has been misunderstood all his life because his vision was defective, and no

one suspected the fact. He has become deaf because his ears were not properly cared for; the accumulation of wax has closed up the passage,

even pressing against the ear-drum, and has been the cause of a lifelong trouble. The nasal passages, for the lack of a little delicate attention,

have become clogged, and catarrh has resulted from simple disregard of ordinary cleansing.  Injury has been wrought by harsh means in endeavors

to secure this cleanliness. A pin-head is a dangerous instrument to insert into a baby's nostril; a soft little roll of linen is sufficient. How many children in the average home are ever taught to brush their teeth after each meal and

on rising in the morning? while the more ''uncomely parts" are treated not only with neglect but dishonor.

The food which is served to children in the majority of homes, as well as neglect in care, will produce irritation of the groin, and of the anus itself, if not actual prolapse of the bowel; and any child suffering from any one of these causes cannot be expected to behave in any sense of the word. He will be "possessed of the devil" of discomfort, not to say distress, such as he cannot understand, and will be very "hard to manage."

Many children are born with a tendency to irritation of the sexual organs, which will lead to impure, unclean thinking and action, unless the evil is nipped in the bud. This will require a study of the parts affected, and the most delicate and intelligent treatment of them, such as can only be given by a mother who fully appreciates her office, and is so fully taught by the word and Spirit of God that she will see the safe course to follow in all these things. The terrible scourge of impurity, and the plague of secret vice, which have destroyed the beauty of so many childish faces, have resulted more from the ignorance of mothers than from any other cause. Satan has his stronghold here at the fountain of life, because it is here that God would most intimately associate himself in sacred relations with the race; and the enemy of all purity can only be prevented from perfecting his deadly work in the growing child by the most constant vigilance from infancy on through childhood and youth.

You have seen children whose hands were continually dropping downward, simply because they were in a state of constant physical irritation, for which they were not responsible. No child will habitually put his hands on any part of his body which is in a normal condition. This irritation is sometimes caused by tight and badly shaped clothing. Too many folds of the napkin on the baby will produce heat, as will also drawers that are too short, or are so made as to chafe the parts. If he rubs or handles any part of his body, it needs examination, treatment, and cure. The greatest care should be taken in the child's bath, and among the earliest lessons which he should learn is that he must not handle any of these organs. The mother does not fail to teach him that if anything happens to irritate the eye, ear, nose, or throat, he is to come to her at once, as sight and hearing, are at stake: this same carefulness should extend to the more important parts, upon the health of which depends the very life of soul as well as body. Impurity of thought takes root here in practice and habit, and from hence branches out into every avenue of the entire being, and destroys for two worlds. The habit of secret vice, once formed, is terrible in its tenacious hold; and yet it can be cured. I know a man, now great and pure, filled with good works for the world, who at seventeen was a wreck from evil practices, of which neither father nor mother had ever so much as dreamed. A sister of about twenty-three years, who was a teacher, and who had had her eyes opened to much sad truth, suspected the cause of her brother's condition. She consulted the family physician, and gained the confidence of her brother, and inspired him to efforts which she aided by watching beside him during the nights, taking her sleep by day, until the terrible grip of habit was broken, and he, by the grace of God, was saved. This man does not hesitate to say that all that he is, and all he is able to do in the work of God, is the result of the efforts of this sister.

The child should be taught by his mother that it is the office of the sexual  organ, more than anything else, to bring him into co-partnership with God as the Creator; and for this reason it is especially sacred, and should be under the mother's care until the child is old enough to understand these things himself.

(To be continued.)

Adventist Review and Sabbath Herald  March 30, 1897  Vol. 74 No. 13

(Written from the Sanitarium in Battle Creek, MI)