motions a young infant ought to have a day, their colour, consistence,
and smell. Well, then, he should have from three to six motions in
the twenty four hours, the colour ought to be a bright yellow,
inclining to orange, the consistence should be that of thick gruel;
indeed, his motion, if healthy, ought to be somewhat of the colour
(but a little more orange-tinted) and of the consistence of mustard
made for the table; it should be nearly, if not quite, devoid of
smell; it ought to have a faint and peculiar, but not a strong
disagreeable odour. If it have a strong and disagreeable smell, the
child is not well, and the case should be investigated, more
especially if there be either curds or lumps in the motions; these
latter symptoms denote that the food has not been properly digested.

Now, suppose a child should have a slight bowel complaint--that is to
say, that he has six or eight motions during the twenty-four
hours,--and that the stools are of a thinner consistence than what I
have described,--provided, at the same time, that he be not griped,
that he have no pain, and have not lost his desire for the
breast:--What ought to be done?_Nothing_. A slight looseness of the
bowels should _never_ be interfered with,--it is often an effort of
nature to relieve itself of some vitiated motion that wanted a
vent--or to act as a diversion, by relieving the irritation of the
gums. Even if he be not cutting his teeth, he may be "breeding"
them--that is to say, the teeth may be forming in his gums, and may
cause almost as much, irritation as though he were actually cutting
them. Hence, you see the immense good a slight "looseness of the
bowels" may cause. I think that I have now proved to you the danger of
interfering in such a case, and that I have shown you, the folly and
the mischief of at once giving astringents--such as Godfrey's Cordial,
Dalby's Carminative, &c.--to relieve a _slight_ relaxation.