Page:The physical training of children (IA 39002011126464.med.yale.edu).pdf/246

 they only increase the flow of blood to the head, and consequently do harm.

It is often a good sign when a child, who is seriously ill, suddenly becomes cross. It is then he begins to feel his weakness, and to give vent to his feelings. "Children are almost always cross when recovering from an illness, however patient they may have been during its severest moments, and the phenomenon is not by any means confined to children."

A sick child must not be stuffed with much food at a time. He will take either a tablespoonful of new milk or a tablespoonful of chicken-broth every half hour, with greater advantage than a teacupful of either the one or the other every four hours, which large quantity would very probably be rejected from his stomach, and may cause the unfortunately treated child to die of starvation!

If a sick child be peevish, attract his attention either by a toy or by an ornament; if he be cross, win him over to good humor by love, affection, and caresses, but let it be done gently and without noise. Do not let visitors see him; they will only excite, distract, and irritate him, and help to consume the oxygen of the atmosphere, and thus rob the air of its exhilarating health-giving qualities and purity; a sick-room, therefore, is not a proper place either for visitors or for gossips.

In selecting a sick-nurse, let her be gentle, patient, cheerful, quiet, and kind, but firm withal; she ought to be neither old nor young; if she be old, she is often garrulous and prejudiced, and thinks too much of her trouble; if she be young, she is frequently thoughtless and noisy; therefore choose a middle-aged women. Do not let there be in the sick-room more than, besides the mother, one efficient nurse; a great number can be of no