Page:Linda Hazzard - Fasting for the cure of disease.djvu/221

 for the maintenance of the child-body until the maternal supply is ready to be utilized. Haste in cutting the cord starts the infant badly, and hunger is asserted much earlier in these circumstances.

When departure is made from the laws of nature, abnormal physical conditions are produced, and penalties are exacted. The normal food and the only food that is designed for infant use is mother's milk. At birth delay in its appearance is often noted, and perhaps for two or three days its secretion is absent. Reference to the function performed by the umbilical cord directly after birth offers explanation why, in this event, excessive haste need not occur in attempt at artificial feeding. If, as unfortunately is too often the case in modern life, the mother finds herself incapable of furnishing food for her child, a substitute can then be obtained. The ideal method makes use of the wet-nurse, and, if this cannot be done, waterdiluted top-milk from a healthy cow, with sugar of milk or honey added sufficient to supply as nearly as possible the constituents of mother's milk is the nearest and best alternative. Prepared foods are doubtful in effect, and they agree with the child, or