Bernard Roth: ‘Dress: its Sanitary Aspects, a paper read before the Brighton Social Union; with additions and 8 full-page illustrations.’ London. 1880. 2s.
T. Frederick Pearse: ‘Modern Dress and Clothing in its relation to Health and Disease.’ London. 1882. 2s.
Henry Carr: ‘Poisons in Domestic Fabrics.’ London. 1880. 6d.
Ardern Holt: ‘Fancy Dresses described; or what to wear at Fancy Balls.’ London. 1882. 5s.
[THE NURSERY.]
The Room.—The English nursery should have, wherever possible, a southern aspect, for the sake of catching the sun’s rays to the fullest extent. The prospect from the windows should be cheerful, and there should not be large trees in the immediate vicinity. The sanitary conditions necessary for the house demand extra attention in the nursery, as the young inmates are more prone to suffer from evil influences, and have not the change of air and scene which their elders enjoy. Hence a change of room is very beneficial during the day, and the day room should not be the sleeping room if it can be avoided. A few hours daily in the morning room or drawing room with the parents are productive of both material and moral good. Plenty of houseroom is an excellent rule, too often forgotten in taking seaside lodgings, in the expectation that the children will be out all day, which the state of the weather turns into disappointment. The nursery should be at the top of the house, but not, of course, just under the roof, as such a position is the coldest in winter and hottest in summer. The temperature of both day and night nurseries should be kept as nearly as possible at 60° F., and thermometers should be placed in the rooms for guidance. The height of the room should not exceed 10 ft., or it will be more difficult to keep at an equable temperature. A well ventilated room measuring 15 ft. square and 9 ft. high should suffice for sleeping a nurse and infant and 2 young children. No double-bedded nursery should be less than 15 ft. square. Children between 7 and 10 years may sleep out of the nursery, and above that age the sexes should be separated. A bedroom 14 ft. long and 8 ft. wide will admit a bedstead 4 ft. wide between the wall and door. The fireplace, never absent, should be in the opposite wall beyond the foot of the bedstead. The door should be hung so that when opened it does not admit an indraught of cold air upon the bed. The windows, never quite closed at the top in summer, should have shutters, linen or jute (not woollen) curtains for winter use, and green roller blinds for summer use. The walls are best painted or washed with distemper; if papered, bold patterns and bright colours (especially green) must be avoided, and a coat of varnish should be applied. The ceiling should be tinted sufficiently to destroy glare from the sun or gas. The floor should be stained all over, and varnished under the beds and carpets; the latter, best being Dutch or Kidderminster, should not cover the whole floor, especially under the beds. All furniture and fittings should be free from sharp edges and corners.
Clothing.—This is exceedingly important in very young children from their being especially sensitive to cold. They feel changes from warm to cold, and from cold to warm, much more severely than older persons do. The cold of winter and the east winds of spring are very apt to bring on colds and coughs which may end in serious disease; on the other hand, very great heat is equally bad for them, diarrhœa and convulsions always increase as the weather gets hotter. It is a very serious mistake to think that children have great power of resisting cold, and that they are strengthened and hardened by exposure to it; no error is attended with more fatal results. A child’s clothing should keep it warm at all seasons; the extra winter clothing should be put on early in the autumn and continued until late in the spring. The most trying and dangerous time is when the wind is high, particularly when it blows from the north and east. Flannel is the best material for inner garments, which should be made to cover the upper part of the chest and neck, so as not to leave these most delicate parts exposed to cold blasts. Neglect of this leads to bronchitis and croup, and sows the seeds of consumption. With any tendency to diarrhœa, a flannel binder should be worn round the bowels. The clothes should fit loosely and easily, and put no restraint upon free movement of limbs and body; and allow room for constant and rapid growth. Use a needle and thread or a button instead of pins. Unusual skin irritation may arise from damp under clothing, especially when soda has been used in washing the linen, and only imperfectly removed in rinsing.
The summer outfit for a young baby would include a binder, small cambric shirt, long flannel petticoat, which, being double over the chest and back, is a great protection from the cold, and keeps the legs very warm; a white washing petticoat and robe, not heavily trimmed, and of fine light material; this is quite sufficient. In winter add a knitted woollen spencer, or, what is prettier, a high long-sleeved merino vest, with a fine white cambric guimpe over, prettily tucked and trimmed, with very narrow lace at neck and sleeves. A short-coated baby requires a merino vest, high in winter, low in summer, cambric shirt, small stays, either quilted or made of jean, on to which the flannel petticoat is sewn, white washing petticoat and frock. In the winter there should be in addition a warm white woollen knitted petticoat and bodice in one, not skimpy, but long and full, and knitted with fine soft wool, not the common heavy sorts. The little stays should also be lined with flannel in the winter, and a high white guimpe worn over the vest, unless the white frocks happen to have been made high. Flannel or merino frocks can of course be substituted for washing ones; but, as long as the child dribbles, the latter are much more suitable, as, even when old, they always look well, and to keep a little child sweet, plenty of clean things are essential.