RAISING A CHILD BY HAND.
Whenever human milk cannot be procured, or, by rea- son of its disagreeing with the child, it cannot be used, some proper method of feeding must be adopted for the preservation of its life.
This is a subject of great importance, — one which re- quires all the attention of the mother and the physician; for statistics show that the mortality of infants is much greater among those who are raised by hand than among those who are raised at the human breast.
In different countries, and even among the mothers of the same country, different means are adopted to feed children artificially. And as each of these methods has its adherents, and each is, by turn, pronounced successful and unsuccessful, it becomes of great moment to investigate the merits and demerits of each before deciding upon one on which your infant is to be raised.
Cow's, goat's, ass's, and ewe's milk are used. "Solidi- fied," "condensed" milk, farinaceous and cracker and pre- pared foods, and broths, are used.
A young mother, making inquiries among her lady- friends of how her child should be fed, will hear one or the other of these extolled or condemned, until she will be at a loss which to select.
Milk is unquestionably the best food for an infant. When woman's is not to be used, that of animals must be substituted. But, as each varies from the others in its con- stituents, an analysis has been made of the principal ones, in order to learn the proportions of the constituents as they exist in each, to enable us to supply the deficiencies, or reduce the superabundance. In this way, the milk of animals may be rendered of the same quality as that of the human female.
