in flatulence, it acts as a fomentation to the bowels. But after all,
a dose of mild aperient medicine, when the babe is suffering severely,
is often the best remedy for "wind."

Remember, at all times, prevention, whenever it be--and how frequently
it is--possible, is better than cure.

_What NOT to do_--"Godfrey's Cordial," "Infants' Preservative," and
"Dalby's Carminative," are sometimes given in flatulence, but as most
of these quack medicines contain, in one form or another, either opium
or poppy, and as opium and poppy are both dangerous remedies for
children, ALL quack medicines must be banished the nursery.

Syrup of poppies is another remedy which is often given by a nurse to
afford relief for flatulence; but let me urge upon you the importance
for banishing it from the nursery. It has (when given by
unprofessional persons) caused the untimely end of thousands of
children. The medical journals and the newspapers teem with cases of
deaths from mothers incautiously giving syrup of poppies to ease pain
and to procure sleep.

98. _What are the symptoms, the causes, and the treatment of
"Gripings" of an infant_?

_The symptoms._--The child draws up his legs; screams violently; if
put to the nipple to comfort him, he turns away from it and cries
bitterly; he strains, as though he were having a stool; if he have a
motion, it will be slimy, curdled, and perhaps green. If, in addition
to the above symptoms, he pass a large quantity of watery fluid from
his bowels, the case becomes one of _watery gripes_, and requires the