well be prepared to forward the curative intention. I once had a child very ill with the dysentery, who eat very little else for several days, and recovered surprisingly fast. When we have succeeded in procuring. ease fo our little patient, and the distressing tenesmus and excruciating pain are gone, we must not think all danger over, and our attentions no longer necessary. The utmost care is still requisite to perfect a cure, as children once affected with this disorder are very subject to a relapse, which too often proves fatal. Therefore the most scrupulous attention to the diet must be observed, letting it still consist altogether of milk, fruits, broth and jellies, with plain light bread and puddings; and also that they have constant exercise in the open air, either in a carriage or on horseback. This, and the tender attentions of a fond mother, can scarcely fail to restore the little invalid to health. Worms. These vexatious vermin are often the source of innumerable complaints in children, from the time they are weaned, and sometimes before, until the age of puberty. Those infants who have been indulged in promiscuous feeding from the birth, are most apt to be afflicted by them, which should be an additional inducement to mothers not to permit the pernicious practice. I recollect visiting a poor woman in my neigbourhood, some years ago, who sent for me to comfort her beneath one of the greatest afflictions the human heart can sustain, a lovely and beloved child lay expiring in the cradle, totally insensible to all around, in which distressing condition it had continued for seve-` ral days, and now all hope was over. The physicians judged its disorder to proceed from worms, and a vast number had been evacuated, but without producing any good effect. I asked the disconsolate mother if the child had always been subject to them; she replied in the affirmative, but added, "She has always been a very hearty child, and wanted to eat every thing ever since she was two months old." I asked her if she did not think it hurtful for infants to eat every thing; she replied "she did not know but it was, but she could never deny the dear little creature any thing she had; and now, added she, while her eyes streamed with tears, now, I have the comfort of reflecting, she always had every thing she wanted!" What mistaken fondness! I recollected to have seen the child when in health, and noticed its uncommon florid countenance; I was no longer at a loss to account for this, or its sudden and fatal illness. Butter, and all fat and oily aliments, are said to be very injurious to children who are predisposed to worms. But as my family have been remarkably free from them, I shall not pretend to direct from my own experience, but furnish my readers with advice from the rich stores of learning and skill. from which I have already made large drafts. Dr. Buchan thus describes the different kinds, causes, and modes of cure: R "These are chiefly of three kinds viz. the tania or tape-worm; the teres, or round and long worm; and the ascarides, or round and short worm. The long round worms occasion squeamishness, vomiting and dis agreeable breath, gripes, looseness, swelling of the belly, swooning, loathing of food, and, at other times, a voracious appetite, a dry cough, convulsions, epileptic fits, and sometimes a privation of speech. These worms have been known to perforate the intestines, and get into the cavity of the belly. The effects of the tape worm are the same as the long and round, but rather more violent. "The round worms called ascarides, besides an itching, cause swooning and te nesmus. "Andry says the following symptoms particularly attend the solium, which is a species of the tape worm, viz. swoonings, privation of speech, and a voracious appetite. "Causes. Worms may proceed from various causes; but they are seldom found except in weak and relaxed stomachs, where the digestion is bad. Sedentary persons are more liable to them, than the active and laborious. Those who eat great quantities of unripe fruit, or who live much on raw herbs and roots, are generally subject to worms. They are often a symptom of fevers and other acute diseases. There seems to be a hereditary disposition in some persons to this disease. I have often seen all the children of a family subject to worms of a particular kind. They seem likewise frequently owing to the nurse. Children of the same family nursed by one woman have often worms, when those nursed by another have none. Children are more liable to this disease than adults; though infants on the breast are seldom troubled with it. To this, however, there are several exceptions. I have seen a child who passed worms before it was three months old. They were indeed of a very particular kind, being real caterpillars: some of them were above an inch long; they had red heads, and were so brisk as to jump about; they lived several days after the child had passed them. Another child, suckled by the same woman, passed the same |