fever and vomiting, all milk should be stopped at once, and only
broth, barley water, or some thin gruel given. Some cathartic, usually
castor oil, is required with a severe attack.

If the patient is an infant, the milk should be diluted and especially
should the fat be reduced (see page 76). In severe attacks with
vomiting or frequent foul stools, all food should be stopped for at
least twelve hours and all milk for a longer time, and the bowels
freely moved by a cathartic.

_Why is a cathartic necessary if the movements are already frequent?_

Such movements are nearly always due to an irritation in the bowel,
set up by the fermenting food which has not been digested. The
diarrhoea is Nature's effort to get rid of the irritant. Nothing to
stop the movements should be given until the bowels have been
thoroughly cleared by the treatment mentioned.


BAD HABITS

_What are the most common bad habits of young children?_

Sucking, nail-biting, dirt-eating, bed-wetting, and masturbation.

_What do children suck?_

Most frequently the thumbs or fingers, sometimes the clothing or
blanket; often the "pacifier" or rubber nipple.