The development of the child / by Nathan Oppenheim.

  • Nathan Oppenheim
Date:
1898
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The development of the child / by Nathan Oppenheim. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    2 77 of tales, — no matter what her language, her supersti- tions, or her unformed ideas may be, — she is consid- ered a fit and able nurse, who is doing everything that the parents can reasonably ask of her. If this seems a harsh characterization, scrutiny will show that it is not overdrawn. Indeed, the mother herself, in many ways, presents no great improvement upon it. Whatever training she may have had has not been of the kind to realize or cope with the problems which are bound to confront her. These problems are matters of physiology, psychology, hygiene, biology. And because they are called by long names does not lessen their importance. And not only is a knowledge of these subjects necessary, but also it is desirable that one should cultivate the state of mind which makes a useful consideration of them easy and natural. The method of thought which one must use in dealing with them requires no unusual power of mind ; but it does call for a fair amount of regulated thought, of discipline, of willingness to abide by a definite and logical relation of cause and effect. These are elements which, unfort- unately, the ordinary young woman, in attempting to fulfil her maternal duties, is not prepared to use. In the first place, she should have some idea of the groundwork of biology. She should be acquainted with the natural history of animal forms; she should know something of the wonderful development of cell life; she should be able to understand the rudimentary laws,