Before concluding this chapter, let me advise that the change from winter to spring or summer clothing be not made at any fixed date, under the supposition that it is the time to change, and the weather should be warm, whether it is or not. In our Eastern climate it is unusual to have settled,

warm weather until June. May has a certain number of warm days, but they are quickly followed by cooler ones. Consequently the safe plan is to keep on the heavy winter flannels until hot weather surely sets in, changing, in the meanwhile, the outer clothing to suit each day.

CHAPTER V.

EXERCISE AND AMUSEMENTS.

Healthful exercise, especially when taken in the open air and sunshine, invigorates the nerves; secures an active performance of such vital functions as circulation, respiration and digestion; maintains a hearty appetite and regular movement of the bowels, and develops the muscles.

Symmetry of development is essential, and on this account any exercise or play that brings but one or a few sets of muscles into action, must be discountenanced. The muscles control the bones, and should one set be comparatively feeble, the bones they move are dragged out of form by stronger opposing sets. Probably the most important groups of muscles to render strong are those of the back which hold the spine in proper position. When these are weak—the greatest weight of the trunk being toward the front-the backbone has a tendency to be drawn forward in such a way that the movements of the chest are crippled, and respiration so interfered with that the blood is imperfectly aerated, nutrition fails, and the child becomes a weak, puny invalid.

Curvature of the spine-the deformity here re ferred to may also interfere with other functions; for instance, digestion, elimination of urine and the motion of the legs. Bone deformities are more apt to occur in children than in adults, because, in the former, the bones, not being thoroughly set and hardened, are more readily influenced by irregular muscular action.

Marking, then, the necessity for equal muscular development, the subject of exercise may be taken up in detail.

The first exercise the infant gets will be in the nurse's arms. Shortly (three or four days) after birth the babe may be taken from its crib two or three times a day, and, being placed upon its back on a pillow, carried about the room for ten or fifteen minutes. In the second month, longer walks may be taken, the pillow being discarded and the infant carried in a reclining position in the arms, with the head and body thoroughly supported.

By the fourth month the child will have gained sufficient muscular strength to maintain a sitting posture for a short time, provided the head and shoulders be supported by the nurse's hand, and in this way it may be carried about on the right or left arm-and it is most important not to use one arm constantly—for its daily training.

At the end of the eighth month a healthy child

ceases to require support to the head and back when carried, but not before.

After the infant ceases to be merely a sleeping and eating animal, and begins to show signs of humanity, at about the fourth month, for example, he should be laid upon a soft mattress or sofa several times each day and allowed to do as he pleases.

Under these circumstances, he rolls about and kicks his legs, clasps and unclasps his fists, moves his arms, and crows or cries. All of these movements serve a purpose; the legs gain strength for future walking; the hands, for grasping; the arms, for carrying, and the vocal organs, for speaking.

A certain class of nurses seem unable to comprehend that a baby is a tender creature; tender not only in age, but in the texture of all its tissues. They support a young infant upright upon their knees and violently jolt it up and down, under the supposition that it gives pleasure, and should the child cry they add to its torment by a peculiar "song." Gentle movement is as pleasant to the child as riding in an easily running carriage on a smooth road to an adult; knee-jolting as unpleasant and harmful as a journey over the worst corduroy road. The so-called singing must cause only pain.

The question of out-door exercise arises soon after birth. Daily airings are requisite for perfect

health so soon as the child has arrived at the proper age, and providing always that the weather be favorable. The fifth month is the proper age for children born in the early fall and winter, and the second month, for those born in summer. In cool weather they should be taken out in a baby carriage or in the nurse's arms, for an hour in the morning and half an hour in the afternoon, while the sun is shining. In summer, they may pass the greater part of their waking hours in the open air. In damp and rainy weather, when there is a strong east or north wind blowing, or when the mercury stands below 20° F., young children are better off in the nursery. The hardening process, in our climate, so far from being successful, usually results in an attack of bronchitis or something worse, which may house the child for a long time, and thus deprive him of the advantage of subsequent favorable weather.

How shall the baby be taken out? The answer to this question involves the consideration of two points, namely, the clothing and the means of conveyance. The former has already been referred to.

As to the method of conveyance, the arm is to be preferred for very young infants, especially in cold weather, because they are apt to be uncomfortable in a baby carriage, and because as they must, when carried, be held close to the nurse's body,