FASTING
freshed and re-invigorated. A fast until hunger makes its demand is mandatory in even the slightest digestive ailments of the smallest of babes; and a comparison of this method of treatment with that which requires the stomach to be dosed with drugs, and the very blood itself to be permeated and vitiated with the products of disease in lower animals in the forms of virus and serum needs no commentary.
Similarly the enema may be given to the infant, using, of course, an amount of fluid commensurate to the size of the infant bowel, and, if judiciously repeated, the colon is flushed of its poisonous contents, fever subsides, delirium, if present, ceases, and disease vanishes. The enema may be administered to even the day-old babe with beneficial results, for it serves to clear the colon from clogged and thickened secretion, and, when feeding has begun, especially if the milk of the cow or prepared foods are used, the products of their imperfect digestion are at once removed. The ease with which the fretful, colicky babe may be relieved by the careful use of the internal bath is a matter which every mother should understand, and its application at judicious intervals during in-
213
