the arms. It learns also of the harmony of colors by weaving colored papers, and gains manual dexterity at the same time. A knowledge of number and of form comes from playing with blocks. A grain of corn may be the text for a story about growth, and the child learns a song regarding this.

These instances illustrate briefly the methods of the kindergarten. Whenever a good school of the kind is. available, it should be utilized, and when it is not, the mother should herself devote some time daily to instructing her child on the lines indicated. There are now many excellent manuals on kindergarten instruction which give details of the method of teaching. But with some children even the simple instruction of the kindergarten may give too much mental work; for the learning. of songs and rhymes is, of course, a decided mental effort.

There is really no need to teach a child to read before the age of six years. Precocity is not a thing to be desired. Indeed, in delicate children it is to be discouraged strongly. It is not the slightest indication of talent or genius. Many children teach themselves their letters, as has already been mentioned; many go further, and learn to read with very little assistance if they have once been given the start; while still other children find study always a burden. If we have succeeded in getting the power of observation and attention well cultivated by the kindergarten object-lesson methods, reading will usually come readily enough.

By the time the child is six or seven years old it may be given some regular lessons and do some actual study, but not at the expense of health, and the hours should be very short. Three or four hours daily are quite enough up to the age of ten years. Throughout the

early school-life there should be no studies to prepare at home, for the confinement of the school-hours is all that, and often more than, the health can stand. The great fault of the age as regards the mental training of children. is that of over-pressure. We expect the children, with their brains still in a formative state, to do far more mental work than most of their elders do. The danger of over-study is particularly true in the case of girls, who are more disposed than boys toward a quiet, sedentary life; but both sexes must be most carefully guarded against too much brain-work. Eyes are often irreparably injured by school studies, not only as the result of insufficient or badly-placed light, but in consequence simply of too constant use. Many cases of nearsightedness are the result of the improper use of the eyes early in life, or of eyes which need correcting by glasses. Spinal curvature often results from faulty methods of sitting at school (see p. 209).

It is very important in the "one-session" school that there be a recess of sufficient length to allow the child to obtain something more to eat than doughnuts and sweets. Indeed, attendance upon the best school in the world is not worth a hastily-swallowed breakfast and a hurried, indigestible lunch. In this respect, as in all others, schooling must always be secondary to the care of the health. The value of the use of gymnastic exercises has already been referred to earlier in this chapter. Where it is possible to do so a school should be selected which provides these for the children, since they not only practise the muscles, but also make an excellent break in the tedium of the school-day and return the children refreshed to their studies.

The subject of the sending of older children to boarding-school is too many-sided for consideration here. Over

against the advantage of the increased independence and self-reliance attained must be set the lack of parental and home influences and the danger of acquiring bad habits of all sorts. From a strictly medical standpoint we have chiefly to assure ourselves, in selecting a boarding-school, that the children do not pass either sleeping or waking hours in crowded and ill-ventilated rooms, that they are well fed, and that they receive abundant opportunity for exercise and sleep.

The danger of contracting contagious diseases in either day-schools or boarding-schools must never be forgotten. Unfortunately, it is one from which there is no absolute safeguard, especially since many parents are utterly reckless of the risk to other children which arises from sending back too soon their own children who have been ill. The periods of quarantine for the different diseases, which will be found in Chapter XI., should invariably be followed. Any boarding-school in which there is an extended outbreak of diphtheria, scarlet fever, or other dangerous infectious disease ought to be closed unless there are exceptional facilities for isolation and treatment.

Any other matters connected with school-life can better be treated of when we consider the School-room in a later chapter.

CHAPTER IX.

THE BABY'S NURSES.

DURING the period of life in which the baby needs especial care it may come under the attention of four sorts of nurses: (1) the monthly nurse; (2) the wet-nurse; (3) the child's nurse or nurse-maid; and (4) the trained

nurse in case of sickness. We must briefly consider these, and the qualities to be desired in each.

I. THE MONTHLY NURSE.

Although the monthly nurse is really the nurse for the mother, yet it is upon her that the care of the baby depends during the earliest period of its life. She it is who washes and dresses the child during the time the mother is confined to bed, and who watches its condition and reports this to the attending physician.

The choice of the monthly nurse is a matter of the greatest importance for both the mother and the baby. The physician in charge of the confinement may wish to recommend some one on whom he can depend, and in this case the entire responsibility rests upon him. If, however, the selection is left to the mother, she should choose one not so much because she knows her name as the nurse of Mrs. So-and-so as because she has, if possible, some knowledge of her real ability. Many monthly nurses, and particularly the older ones or those who have not had careful school-training-and sometimes, unfortunately, even those who have and who might be expected to know better-are filled with all sorts of wrong ideas about the care of the new-born child. Not only so, but they consider their "experience" so great that they become obstinate and self-willed, and incapable of receiving advice or even of obeying orders. They will follow their own plans with the baby, on the ground that its care is their business, and not the doctor's. Every physician has seen instances of great damage done in this way. A truly well-trained nurse has not only been taught the proper care of the mother and infant, but has learned also that she is to modify her methods promptly and silently according to the directions of the physician

in charge. In such a nurse the mother may put the greatest confidence.

The nurse should be engaged some months in advance. It is a good plan to have her in the house a week or so before the confinement is expected, or, if this is not possible, then within easy reach, so that she may be sent for with the very first signs of beginning labor. She ordinarily stays for a month or more after the birth of the child, but so long a time is not always necessary.

It is the custom for the nurse to sleep in the room of the mother, or, still better, in the adjoining room. In the latter, too, she can take her meals if it is desirable. She is to take full charge of the baby, determining the hours for feeding, and preparing its food should the mother be unable to nurse it herself. She is not ordinarily expected to do any washing of the baby's clothes, except, perhaps, the diapers, nor to wash her own garments. She should be able to prepare special articles of sick-diet for the mother, in case there is need for her to do so.

2. THE WET-NURSE.

The second variety of nurse with which we sometimes have to do is the wet-nurse. The advantages and disadvantages connected with the employment of a nurse of this kind have already been spoken of when considering the Feeding of the Baby in Chapter VI. When it is found desirable to nourish a baby in this way the choice of the wet-nurse is a matter of great importance. Fortunately, this also can often be left entirely to the physician in charge. It is absolutely necessary that the wet-nurse be in good health, strong, and not too fat. A most careful examination on the part of the physician is required, since nearly any form of ill-health impairs the quality of the milk, and there are some diseases,