Infancy and infant-rearing : an introductory manual / by John Benjamin Hellier.

  • Hellier, John Benjamin.
Date:
1895
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Infancy and infant-rearing : an introductory manual / by John Benjamin Hellier. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by University of Bristol Library. The original may be consulted at University of Bristol Library.

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    room and the bed-rooms in many houses is as much as 20 or 30 degrees. This is why some adults cough for an hour after retiring to bed, and explains the onset of many cases of infantile bronchitis. The nursery is best heated by an open coal fire, burned on the slow combustion principle.* The following is a plan by which an ordinary grate can be made so to act:— Fig. 18 shows an ordinary grate. A plate of iron, A B, which ia movable, is made to cover in front the space between the lowest bar of the grate and the hearthstone. When this is in its place, no draught comes up between the bars at the bottom of the grate. In consequence of this the coal burns more slowly, less heat is lost up the chimney, and fuel is economised.t The nursery then must be a healthy room in a liealthy house. Children will not thrive in an atmosphere contaminated with sewer gas. They are likely to be ])ale and sallow, to suffer from vomiting and diarrhcea and sore throat; but the symptoms may be vague and ill-defined, amounting to little more than general sickliness and malnutrition, and may be easily ascribed to any- thing but the right cause. No householder should take it for granted that the drains are sound because they have once been certified to be so, but should have them periodically inspected ; for traps may run dry, become choked, pipes may be damaged or obstructed, and joints may give way. This inspection should, however, be done before the birth of the child. No confinement should be allowed to take place in an insanitary house.; The nursery should have ample cubic space. This should not be less than 500 cubic feet per infant, and may with advantage be 800, or as much more as possible. Its aspect should, by preference, be south so as to get the maximum of sunlight. Warmth and ventilation must be attended to. If there be a bath or lavatory basin, or sink, near the nursery it is of special importance that they should be diily disconnected from the drains. Cleanliness must be maintained, and all excreta and stale food, &c., must be promptly removed from the room. Curtains and hangings are to be avoided as much as possible. * See T7te Economy of Coal in House-fires, by T. Pridsin Teale, F.E.S. (Churchill). J > y B > t Grates oq thia principle are supplied by Messrs. Teale & Somers, of Leeds. X We can recommend as a good practical guide for a householder a book entitled Is my Home Healthy ?—Hoiv lo find out, by Dr. Spottiswoode Cameron, Medical Officer of Health for Leeds. Also, Practical Sanitation, by Dr. Geo. Reid, D.P.H., Medical Officer to the StafiFs. County Council, may be recommended to all who wish to go further into the subject.