Page:The physical training of children (IA 39002011126464.med.yale.edu).pdf/33

 Directly after the infant is dried, all the parts that are at all likely to be chafed ought to be well powdered. After he is well dried and powdered, the chest, the back, the bowels, and the limbs should be gently rubbed, taking care not to expose him unnecessarily during such friction.

He ought to be partially washed every evening; indeed it may be necessary to use a sponge and a little warm water frequently during the day, namely, each time after the bowels have been relieved. Cleanliness is one of the grand incentives to health, and therefore cannot be too strongly insisted upon. If more attention were paid to this subject, children would be more exempt from chafings, "breakings-out," and consequent suffering, than they at present are. After the second month, if the babe be delicate, the addition of two handfuls of table-salt to the water he is washed with in the morning will tend to brace and strengthen him. With regard to the best powder to dust an infant with, there is nothing better for general use than starch—the old-fashioned starch made of wheaten-flour—reduced by means of a pestle and mortar to a fine powder; or Violet Powder, which is nothing more than finely powdered starch scented, and which may be procured of any respectable chemist. Some mothers are in the habit of using white lead; but as this is a poison, it ought on no account to be resorted to. In one case related by Koop (Journ. de Pharm., xx. 603), a child was destroyed by it. 9. If the parts about the groin and fundament be excoriated, what is then the best application?

After sponging the parts with tepid rain water, holding him over his tub, and allowing the water from a well-filled sponge to stream over the parts, and then drying them with a soft napkin (not rubbing, but gently dabbing with the napkin), there is nothing better than dusting the parts frequently with finely powdered Native Carbonate of