By E.R. Parker

It is frequently a matter of surprise to foreigners that in the average American home, which is otherwise so well equipped, little or no attention is given to the nursery, and it is to this neglect they trace many of the shortcomings of our little ones.

It may be that the busy mother, who has to perform the duties of nursemaid and perhaps look after her household at the same time, sees little reason for having a room specially dedicated to the use of the children; but when one considers the necessity of regularity in the feeding, bathing, sleeping, and every other particular of the infant's daily life, such a need becomes apparent, with the arrival of the first baby. Select a room in a secluded part of the house, and one which receives all the sunshine possible, for the nursery. Fresh air should be admitted at all times, but in such a manner as to avoid drafts. For the use of the young infant, limit the furnishings to bare necessities, and have the floor and walls hard finished. It is not well to have plumbing of any kind in the room, nor should it be directly connected with the bathroom. Regulate the temperature carefully, letting it range between 75 and 80 degrees Fahr. during the first week; after that it may be kept at 75 degrees until the child is three months old, and then gradually lowered to 70 degrees or even 65, at night. Needless to say the metal crib is the most important furnishing; it should be fitted with a soft hair mattress and a thin pillow, though some persons prefer to use no pillow at all. Under no circumstances should the baby sleep with its mother, and eminent physicians now agree that it is more or less injurious for a child to sleep in the room with an adult. Dr. Cotton, the distinguished specialist for children, recommends, as additional furnishings for the infant's room, a flexible rubber bathtub, a bath thermometer, wall thermometer, scales and a double ewer and soap dish on a low table surrounded by a high folding screen.

As the child grows older it will require the addition of low chairs, tables, etc., in the nursery; these should be simple and substantial. Do not fit up the nursery with broken or cast-off articles of furniture from other parts of the house. Few mothers realize what a deep impression these early surroundings make upon the child, and how nervous, sensitive children may be made to endure positive suffering from contact with unsightly objects.

A window seat, that will also serve as a convenient receptacle for toys, may be made by having the top hinged on a low wooden box, and covering the box with some suitable dark material. Do not make the mistake of giving children a quantity of toys at one time; such a practice has the bad effect of dulling their sense of enjoyment and making them tire easily of their playthings. If fond relations insist upon trying to shower all the dolls and books and drums in town on them for one Christmas or birthday celebration, try putting some of them away and keeping them for rainy days or the trying period of convalescence. Toys which will excite the imagination and leave something to their own ingenuity are to be preferred to those that are complete in themselves. Among the former are paints, brushes and outline pictures, games, dolls with patterns and material for clothing, stone building blocks, which come in different sizes and shapes with designs for building.

Decorate the walls with stencil designs or a few good pictures, which should be chosen with reference to the child's age. Few persons are aware that until a child is three years old he cannot distinguish clearly between green, gray and blue, hence decorations containing these colors are lost upon him, and the reason for his love of red and yellow is apparent. The Perkins pictures, issued by the Prang Educational Company, are justly popular for nursery walls, and photographs of the masterpieces can be purchased quite reasonably. A small bookcase should also be given an honored place in the nursery, for older children, and nothing but books of the very best from a literary standpoint, well printed on good paper and substantially bound, should find their way to its shelves. Cheap toy books from the five and ten cent counters, many of which are poorly bound, grotesquely illustrated and insipid in contents, had better be kept away from the children. I would rather give them one good book a year than an armful of poor ones. Some children do not enjoy being read to, but all of them love a story, and, with a little tact on the part of the mother, it is but a step from the story she tells to the one she reads, and she can easily cultivate a taste for good reading, for, after all, she is the genius that shapes and molds, and without whom the most ideal nursery is but a dreary place. We are told that even the songs she sings to the babe at her breast have an occult influence over its future life. What a power and privilege, then, are hers to guide the little groping hands and watch the unfolding mind; and surely she should spare neither time nor trouble in the accomplishment of such a task!