The New-Born Child
The article Infancy (Vol. 14, p. 513), by Dr. Harriet Hennessy, is devoted to the care of the child during its first year. The first bath, care of the eyes, clothing, increase of weight, etc., are thoroughly discussed, and the directions for artificial feeding contain tables of milk-dilution and of the amounts to be given. In Child (Vol. 6, p. 136) will be found a valuable table of average heights and weights of children from the ages of one to fifteen, and a full bibliography of works relating to child-study.
The main points to be considered for each sex in the difficult period between childhood and maturity are concisely set forth in Adolescence (Vol. 1, p. 210). An ideal system of child raising is outlined, dealing with hygiene, clothing, and moral and physical training. See also Gymnastics and Gymnasium (Vol. 12, p. 752), by R. J. McNeill.
The Vital Question of Food
Parents must have a thorough and clear understanding of the question of bodily nourishment. This is most imperative. It means sound bodies for the children, their good health in after years, their efficiency and success in life. On this point the new Britannica provides information of a character that for authoritativeness and completeness can nowhere else be matched.
The important matter of feeding a family is treated at great length in Dietetics (Vol. 8, p. 214), by the late Prof. W. O. Atwater of Wesleyan University, known the world over as an authority on this subject, and R. D. Milner, formerly assistant in the U. S. Department of Agriculture. The article gives information as to the composition and nutritive values of foods and their adaptation to the use of people in health. There are tables of food composition, of the digestibility of nutrients, of the quantities of available nutrients, etc. The hygienic and pecuniary economy of food are discussed in such a way as to be of real service. For those who desire further information on the subject of food assimilation reference may be made to Nutrition (Vol. 19, p. 920), by Dr. D. Noel Paton, professor of physiology, University of Glasgow, and Dr. E. P. Cathcart, lecturer in chemical physiology in the same institution.
Maintenance of Health
In regard to the maintenance of general health of children without reference to specific ailments there is a vast fund of information to be extracted by consulting the new Britannica. The titles of a few of the articles will sufficiently indicate information to which every parent should have constant access: Antiseptics (Vol. 2, p. 146); Disinfectants (Vol. 8, p. 312); Carbolic Acid, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, (Vol. 5, p. 305); Salicylic Acid, Medicine and Therapeutics (Vol. 24, p. 70); Emetics (Vol. 9, p. 336); Aconite, Therapeutics (Vol. 1, p. 152); Colchicum, Pharmacology (Vol. 6, p. 662); Phenacetin (Vol. 21, p. 363); Pepsin (Vol. 21, p. 130); Rhubarb (Vol. 23, p. 273); Senna (Vol. 24, p. 646); Poison, with list of poisons and antidotes (Vol. 21, p. 893); Haemorrhage, how to tell the different kinds (Vol. 12, p. 805); Wound, nature of bruises and treatment (Vol. 28, p. 837); Burns and Scalds (Vol. 4, p. 860); Sunstroke, nature of heat prostration (Vol. 26, p. 110); nature and treatment of frost-bite, Mortification (Vol. 18, p. 878); Ulcer (Vol. 27, p. 565); Chilblains (Vol. 6, p. 134); Eczema (Vol. 8 p. 920); relief from choking, Oesophagus (Vol. 20, p. 14); Bone, Fractures, special fractures in the young (Vol. 4, p. 201); Drowning and Life Saving (Vol. 8, p. 592); Sleep, amount of sleep necessary at different ages (Vol. 25, p. 238); Diseases of Vision (Vol. 28, p. 142); with its special section (p. 144) on the care of the eyesight of children; Blindness, Causes and Prevention (Vol. 4, p. 60), by Sir F. J. Campbell, principal, Royal Normal College for the Blind, London; Shock, injuries and accidents (Vol. 24, p. 991). There is a section on Action of Baths on the Human System, in Baths and Bathing (Vol. 3, p. 518), telling of the effects of cold, tepid, warm, hot, and very hot baths.
Parents will be most grateful to the Britannica for the complete descriptions of infantile diseases, dealing with symptoms and principles of cure and treatment.
Treatment of Infantile Diseases