The Management of Infancy and Childhood in Health and Disease.
By Howard Barrett, M.R.C.S. (Routledge.)—Mr. Barrett's book may be taken as containing the latest ideas on the subject with which he deals, and is undoubtedly an improvement on the manuals which have preceded it. As to the main point of the nursing of children by the mother, he is emphatic on the advantage to be gained for both by the practice. A statistical table which he appends to his observations on this subject gives very remarkable results. Out of one hundred chil- dren fed on breast-milk, 62.6 reached a good development of frame, and 14 only a bad. In the case of another hundred brought up entirely by hand, these proportions were more than reversed, 10 per cent, only reaching a good development. As to the feeding of older chilt dren, we are inclined to hold, on the authority of a com- petent adviser, that his diet- list, though excellent on the whole, is somewhat unduly contracted. Bacon, so that it be "mild," is desirable for a child, who often finds in it the only kind of fat that is attractive to the palate, and fat is important as one of the preventives against diseases of the skin. Suet-pudding, again, he puts under the ban, and yet, if it be well made, it is surely a wholesome and nutritious food. And then as to onions, what of the proverb, "An onion a day keeps the doctor away ?" Mr. Barrett very properly de- nounces the use of alcoholic stimulants, but is he right in allow'- lag the use of tea and coffee ? True, he orders that these should be taken weak, but as a matter of fact the children will commonly -
have them as their nurses or governesses have them,—that is, in
many cases, most injuriously strong. There can be nothing better than milk, though, indeed, at fivepence a quart, milk is an expensive article of diet. To the poor, the rustic poor - 'especially, it is almost an impossibility. It may seem presumptuous to question professional authority, but in matters of diet lay opinion, especially when it is the result of continuous observation, may be allowed to have a value. On snob topics as air, exercise, clothing, &c., Mr. Barrett's hints are exceedingly valuable. A very useful appendix gives the analysis of many popular medicines.
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