One of the most important subjects included in a domestic science course of study is the feeding and care of infants. A subject requiring special intelligence and consideration; one which embodies the condensed information of the preceding chapters, and is the foundation upon which the future physical structure is built.

It is not upon the mother alone that the baby depends for care and attention. Many young girls, especially elder sisters and nurse-maids, have this responsibility placed upon them when they are little more than children themselves. To these, as well as to young mothers, the following suggestions may prove helpful.

The first demand of an infant is for food, and upon the quality and quantity of the article provided depends the health of the child, as well as the comfort of the household.

Milk is the only food required by an infant until it is, at least, seven or eight months old, or until sufficient saliva is secreted to assist digestion; some authorities say one year, others until the child has sufficient teeth with which to masticate food. If nature's supply is not available, or sufficient, the best substitute is cow's milk. As cow's milk contains less sugar of milk, and fat (cream), than human milk, these must be supplied. Being more acid than alkaline, this must be corrected by the use of lime water.

There is more casein (curd) in cow's milk than in mother's milk, therefore water must be added to reduce this. The following proportions have been submitted as a digestible form of preparing cow's milk for young infants (Dr. Meigs):—

• Cream, 2 tbsps.
• Milk, 1 tbsp.
• Lime water, 2 tbsps.
• Milk-sugar water, 3 tbsps.

One quarter of this amount to be given every two hours during the day, and once or twice at night.

After the baby is a week old, the quantity may be increased to one-half at each meal; at two months the whole amount prepared may be given at once.

The proportion of milk should be gradually increased, and the water and cream decreased, until at two months old the proportion should be:—

• 3 tbsps. milk.
• 1 tbsp. cream.
• 1 tbsp. lime water.
• 3 tbsps. sugar water.

When six months old the quantity of milk is doubled. It should be increased every day until ten tablespoonfuls are given at a feeding.

• 2 tbsps. pearl barley.
• 1 pt. boiling water.

Wash the barley carefully. Pour over it the boiling water. Let it simmer for two hours. Strain and sweeten with a pinch of sugar of milk.

• 1/2 oz. sugar of milk.
• 1/2 pt. boiling water.

Dissolve, and keep closely covered. It will not keep long, so should be made when required to use.

Take a lump of lime weighing about one ounce. Put in a bottle with a quart of cold water (which has been boiled). Shake the bottle well until the lime is dissolved, and let it stand for 12 hours. Pour the clear liquid into another bottle, being careful not to disturb the sediment. Keep carefully corked. Water will only absorb a certain quantity of lime, so there is no danger of its being too strong.

As cow's milk is more difficult to digest than mother's milk, it is sometimes necessary to substitute barley water in place of the lime water and milk, using the same amount of cream as given in recipe.

• 2 oz. wheat flour or barley meal.
• 1-3/4 qts. water.
• 1 tsp. extract of malt.

Mix the flour to a paste with a little water, gradually add a quart of the water; put it in a double boiler and boil 10 minutes. Dissolve the malt extract in 4 tbsps. of the water (cold). Lift out the inner vessel and add the malt and remainder of the cold water. Let it stand 15 minutes, replace, and boil again for 15 minutes. Strain through a wire gauze strainer. (Half this quantity may be made.)

This preparation is used when both barley water and lime-water disagree. It must always be given with milk. It prevents the large tough curds forming, which is such an objectionable feature in using cow's milk.

In cases of especially weak digestion it may be necessary to peptonize the milk, which may be done as follows: Add 5 grains of extract of pancreas and 15 grains of baking soda to 1 pint of milk. (Tablets of pancreatin and soda may be used.)

After adding the peptonizing material put the milk in a double boiler or in a vessel which may be set in a larger one, holding water, as hot as the hand can bear being dipped into quickly, or about 115° Fah. Leave the milk in the hot water about 20 minutes, then place on the ice. If heated too long the milk will taste bitter.

The preparation given in recipe No. 1, or with the barley water added, may be peptonized.

Put the amount of milk required for a meal into pint or half pint bottles, allowing for the number of times the child is to be fed in 24 hours. Use cotton batting as a stopper. Place a wire frame, or invert a perforated tin pie plate, in the bottom of a saucepan; stand the bottles on this, pour around them enough water to come well above the milk, cover the saucepan or kettle, and when the water boils lift the saucepan from the fire and allow the bottles to remain in the hot water for 1 hour. Keep in the ice box or stand them in cold water until needed. If milk is to be used during a long journey it will be necessary to repeat the above operation three times, letting the milk cool between each time.

Unless the milk is perfectly fresh, and has been handled with great care, it is safer to sterilize or pasteurize it. The former, if any doubt is entertained as to the quality of the milk, the latter in every case.

Food should be "milk warm," or about 99° Fah., when given to a baby. Hot food is very injurious.

Have two plain bottles with rubber tops, without tubes. Bottles with ounces and tablespoonfuls marked on them can be purchased, and are a great convenience in measuring the amount of food required.

After using the bottle, empty the remaining milk; rinse in cold water, then in scalding water.

If particles of milk adhere to the bottle use coarse salt or raw potato cut in small pieces. If the glass looks cloudy, add a little ammonia to the water. Turn the rubber tops inside out and scrub with a stiff brush; boil them every alternate day for 10 minutes.

Absolute cleanliness is a necessity in the care of a baby's food, bottles and rubber tops.

The bottle should be held, while the baby is feeding, in such a position that the top is full of milk. If air is sucked in with the milk stomach-ache will likely result.

Starchy food should not be given to a child until it is able to masticate. (See digestion of starch, Chap. VIII.)

Arrowroot, cornstarch, rice, etc., must not be given to infants.

Put a bowlful of flour into a strong cloth, tie it up like a pudding, and place it in a kettle of boiling water. Boil for 10 or 12 hours. When boiled turn it out of the cloth and cut away the soft outside coating. When cool, grate the hard inside portion and use a teaspoonful at each feeding, for a baby 8 months old, increasing the amount for an older child. This may be prepared in the same manner as cornstarch or flour. The long boiling converts the starch into dextrine, which is more easily digested than starch. This is especially valuable in cases of diarrhoea, and may be used instead of barley gruel as a food.

Pound a cupful of oatmeal in a pestle or on a bread board. Put in a bowl and pour over it 1 pint of cold water. Stir it up, then let the mixture settle for a few minutes. Pour off the milky fluid, repeat this process. Boil this water for an hour, adding a pinch of salt, and use it to dilute the milk instead of water.

A thicker gruel may be made from oatmeal by allowing 1 tablespoonful to a cup of boiling water. Let it boil 1 hour, then strain through a wire strainer.

• 1 tbsp. farina.
• 2 cups boiling water.
• A spk. of salt.

Cook for 20 minutes; use as directed for oatmeal.

Beef juice is sometimes ordered for delicate babies. For a child 9 months old, 1 or 2 tablespoonfuls may be given once a day.

When milk cannot be taken, albuminized food proves an excellent substitute.

Shake the white of 1 egg with 1/2 a pint of water (filtered or boiled and cooled) in a glass jar until they are thoroughly mixed. Add a few grains of salt.

Children do not require a great variety in their food. Give one article of diet at a time and see how it agrees before trying another.

After a child is a year old the various cereals may be given as porridge instead of gruel, with the addition of a little sugar.

Remember, all cereals should be thoroughly cooked (see page 83).

Gluten, soda, oatmeal or Graham biscuits may be soaked in milk or given alone. Do not give the fancy or sweet biscuits to young children.

A properly boiled egg (see page 69) may be given every alternate day to a child 1 year old.

Junket is much better for young children than custards or puddings, and sometimes agrees well with babies.

Take 1 pint of milk, heat it to 98° Fah., or milk warm. Add 1 teaspoonful of rennet and 1 teaspoonful of sugar. Stir all together and let it stand in a warm place until it becomes as thick as jelly. Remove at once to a cool place or whey will appear.

Potatoes should not be given to a child under 2 years old in any other form than baked. The potash salts are the most valuable constituent, and are lost when they are peeled and boiled. They should be dry and mealy. A little salt, butter or cream should be added.

Macaroni is an excellent food for young children.

Baked apples and the juice of an orange are the only fruits which should be given to children under two years of age.

Rice is an excellent food for young children, but not for infants.

Foul air is injurious to grown persons, but it is infinitely more dangerous to the sensitive organization of a child. Therefore special attention should be given to the ventilation of rooms occupied by a baby (see page 132).

Fresh air, wholesome food, regular bathing, and plenty of sleep will insure the normal growth of the average baby, and are within reach of every one who has the care of young children.

The writer is indebted to Miss Scovil, Superintendent of Newport Hospital, and one of the associate editors of the Ladies' Home Journal, for many of the above hints concerning the diet of infants.

As frequent accidents occur during the performance of household duties, a few suggestions as to how slight injuries should be treated may prove useful to the young housekeeper.

Cuts.—A cut should be washed with cold water, covered with a small pad of cotton, bound up, and left alone. Should matter form, the bandage must be taken off, the wound bathed with carbolized water, 1-80, and a little carbolized vaseline spread on a bit of linen and laid over it. The washing and dressing should be repeated two or three times a day if there is much discharge.

Bruises.—A flannel wrung out of very hot water, and laid on a bruise, relieves the soreness.

For bruises on the face, apply ice. Brown paper wet in vinegar is an old-fashioned remedy. If the skin is broken, treat as a wound, with carbolized water and carbolized vaseline.

Sprains.—Both hot and cold treatment is recommended. Immerse the joint in water as hot as can be borne. Keep up the temperature by gradually adding more hot water. Let it soak for an hour or more. Then wrap in warm flannel, and surround with hot water bags or bottles.

Stings.—Bathe the part in ammonia, or baking soda and water; wet a cloth in the same, and bind over it.

Burns.—The best household remedies for burns are baking soda and carbolized vaseline. For slight burns mix the soda to a paste with water, and spread thickly over the part; cover with linen or old cotton. This may be kept wet by squeezing water over it. If shreds of clothing adhere to a burn, they should be soaked with oil, and not pulled off until softened. If the skin is gone, spread carbolized vaseline on linen, and bind on the part until the doctor arrives.

In burns caused by acids, water should not be applied to the parts. Cover with dry baking soda.

If caused by an alkali, such as lye, ammonia, or quick-lime, use an acid, as vinegar or lemon juice, diluted.

Poisoning.—For poison ivy, saturate a cloth in a solution of baking soda, or ammonia and water, and lay over the part.

When poison has been swallowed, the first thing to do is to get it out of the stomach. Secondly, to prevent what remains from doing more mischief. Give an emetic at once. One tbsp. of salt in a glass of tepid water; 1 tsp. of mustard, or 1 tsp. of powdered alum in a glass of tepid water. A tsp. of wine of ipecac, followed by warm water. Repeat any of these three or four times if necessary. The quantities given are for children; larger doses may be given to adults. It is well to give a dose of castor oil after the danger is over, to carry off any remnants of the poison that may have lodged in the intestines.

After a poison has burned the mouth and throat, plenty of milk may be given, also flour, arrowroot, or cornstarch gruel.

For drowning and other serious accidents, see Public School Physiology.

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The furnishing of a class-room should be so complete that each pupil should be able to attend to the appointed task without delay. The furniture should consist of a stove, or range, gas stove if more convenient, a hot water tank or boiler, sink, table (side), towel rack, 2 dozen chairs, or seats with tablet arms, a cupboard or kitchen "dresser" for table ware, a large cupboard or arrangement for lockers, in which caps, aprons, etc., should be kept, a large table—horseshoe shape is the most satisfactory—with drawers, and space for rolling pin, bread board, etc., underneath. The table should be large enough to allow at least 2 ft. 6 in. for each pupil. Twenty pupils is the limit of a practice class. On the table should be placed at regular intervals, 10 gas burners with frame. The teacher's table should stand in the opening at the end of the table so that she may see each pupil while at work, and when demonstrating may be seen by each pupil.

The following list of utensils will be found sufficient for practice work for a class of 20 pupils.

• 1 dinner set.
• 2 quart pitchers.
• 2 pint pitchers.
• 2 small oval baking dishes.
• 2 small round baking dishes.
• 4 4-quart bowls, with lips.
• 6 2-quart bowls, with lips.
• 4 1-quart bowls.
• 12 baking cups.
• 6 kitchen cups.
• 2 small platters.
• 2 medium size platters.
• 2 deep pie plates.
• 6 shallow pie plates.
• 2 jelly moulds.
• 1 teapot.
• 1 dozen quart gem jars.
• 1 dozen pint gem jars.
• 6 4-quart stone jars or crocks.
• 1 dozen fancy plates, and glass dishes for serving.

While this may seem a formidable list, it will not be found expensive. Some of the above articles may be omitted and others substituted. It must be remembered that the utensils will be well cared for, consequently will last for many years. In country schools, or where gas is not available, oil stoves may be used. In some schools, where space is limited, one small table is used, two or more pupils demonstrating the lesson under the supervision of the teacher, the pupils taking this duty in alternation. The remainder of the class observe and take notes.

The cost of material is trifling. It should not average more than fifty cents per pupil per annum, and for a large number should average less than this amount.

The Boston school kitchens are, many of them, furnished at a cost of from $200 to $300. A fair average cost for Ontario should be about $175.

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