Science.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 356, 5 March 1903, Page 2

Science.

SOOTHING SYRUP. IfgMHE army of soothing syrups', corfjMo dials, mothers' friends, and gripe medicines have much to answer for, and we write this article to let mothers know the contents of some of them, that at at least they may 'look before they lei p.' Many innocent babes rave been drugged to death, many have grown up to Buffer from an enfeebled constitution and a decayed frame, and some have. lived to be hopeless, mindless idiots, because of the pernicious stuffs mothers have used to quiet their babies, that tbey themselves might rest, or to make them sleep soundly, if not healthfully, whilst they were at work from which they were loth to be taken. G'b cord : al ia really a mixture of opium, which shou'd be called a stupefactive rather than a cordial, and yet mothers tend round to the chemist for their three pennyworths of 'GV for the baby, and either ignorantly or recklessly r rug away its little life, whilst feeling horror and disgust at the man who takes an excess of alcohol, and regarding an opium eater as a lost soul. G'a cordial contains treacle, water, alcohol, opium, aniseed, and caraway. The strength varies, some chemis's making it contain five, and some eighteen drops of laudanum to each ounce. Very many deaths resulted from the use of this preparation, so that the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy published a standard formula by which each ounce was made to contain rather more than one grain of opium, cr sixteen drops of laudanum; but thiß regulation, which only applied to the chemists of the United States, did n't alter the deplorable fact than G's cordial was simply a disguised name for opium mixture, with which babies were silenced by a most cruel and unnatural process. Mothers often act in ignorance rather ttian by vice, for some 'soothers' are advertised to be ' free from opium,' whilst rfally containing its deadly active principle, lrorphia. We once visited a manufactory where we saw twelve grains of morphia added to a large quantity of water, sweetened and

flavoured with aniseed, ready to bejsold'as bo many bottlea of poison under a name which would lead purchasers belieye .they were buying a and harmless medicine. /• When your baby cries sea if you cannot discover a cause; perhaps a pin is tearing his tender skin, perhaps his little stomach is over-loaded, or is flatulent.'in whichlatter case you may give him a little dill' water or aniseed water, but as you love your babe, and as you wish to sea him grow up to sturdy manhood and healthy vigonr, avoid all pernicious medicants and baneful stupefying drugs. . % The delicate organisation of a child is not to be trifled with by the administration of medicines that are not at least of known purity and innooency. Unless a mother knows that the medicine is quite Jree .from .dangerous ingredients beware what she does with it.

HIVE CONFIDENCE IN BOYS. There is something wrong in the Home training when a boy goes entirely outside his own family for counsel. A mother need not compel him to come to her with all his little affairs, because if she is always ready to listen to and sympathise with him, he will do this of his own accord. A very common cause of withholding of a child's" confidence is the desire on the part of the parent to dictate in matters that are of no importance except to the child himself. All children, end boys especially, like to plan their own affairs, and where there .is. no question of right or wrong involved, should be allowed and encouraged to do so. . ■■ With children who have Btroag will power the constant directing of all their little plans and ideas is exasperating, and opposition, with ill-humour, is often the result. With a child of a sensitive nature, or with weak will power, the child's own individuality is perhaps crushed out of him, or «slse he retires within himself and shuts his lips tightly against the confidence which every parent craves from a child. Let a boy feel that you are always interested in his plans, no matter how absurd they may be; the time is coming when you can no longer command him, and this will be the strongest hold you can have upon him. Take him into . your counsels ; ask his advice about family matters. His selfrespect and judgment will grow because he has been looked up to by older people. If he prefers to spend all his leisure time with his companions at their homes rather tban his own, look for the reason in yourself rather than in the boy, and never twit or 'nag him because of it. , Bather let him feel that the household is not complete without him, and let your love and trust in him shine through your welcome upon every return.

HOW TO AVOID COLD. That 'prevention is better than cure* i* an oft-quoted truism, and paiticularly applicable to this subject. The great thing is to avoid a cold, as, although often only a simple complaint, is not always easy. An almost infallible preventive of a cold is a daily morning bath, cold if possible, though few can take this. There are some people who cannot endure the shock of a cold; and it certainly takes a strong constitution to get out of bed and take a cold bath in a cold room, A warm bath shomld only be taken at nigbt, or when one can avoid exposure to the open air for an hour or two afterwards. A young friend of ours laid the foundation of a cold from which she never recovered by taking a warm bath and going out immediately afterwards on a cold d-*y. Another cause of colds is over-clothing. If driving on a cold day, there is not much danger of this; but, in exercising or walking, depend on the exercise to keep the body warm and wear few wraps. It is bad to accustom oneself to the use of numerous wadded and fur-trimmed garments, as the least exposure without is sure to be followed by a sore throat or other disorder. It iB not only in really-cold weather that the severest colds are taken. It is during the treacherous days of the seasons which intervene between summer and winter, which open so brightly with a warm sun shining "until the middle afternoon, when a chill, raw wind arises, which we never prepare for. t « Cold feet are among the serious causes of promoting colds, among children especially. Babies are young, and most children too thoughtless, to know why they are uncomfortable, and so ualess some "wiser head orders *n occasional toasting of the little feet, colds are the result. It is always well to see that children go to bed with warm feet.