THE HOME.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11771, 28 September 1901, Page 6 (Supplement)

THE HOME.

' HINTS ON SICK NURSING. Professional nurses should always be called in any dangerous case. In such cases tba nurse should be the autocrat of the sickroom ; her orders promptly obeyed, and— which many ignore—her comforts studied, as far as the resources; of the establishment will permit. But many patients are confined to their beds for days at a time by indisposition which hardly calls for trained nursing, and it is here that the sister, wife, or mother can do so much to alleviate pain and hasten convalescence, if—and the "if" is an important one— only knows how to do it. Ventilation of the sickroom is of primary importance; keep up a moderate tire, which will constantly draw fresh air into the room, and twice or" three times a day open the window an inch or two at the top, taking care to protect the patient from the temporary current, of cool air. Take care that the bed is placed in a sheltered positionneither between door and window, nor window and fireplace; at the same time, let the head be against a wall so that access to the patient may be easy on both sides. Great care should be taken to keep the room "sweet"— very expressive word, the full import of which cannot be undervalued. There should be no such thing as a slop-pail in the apartment all water from the washhand basin, etc., should at once be taken away and emptied in the proper place. Uneaten, food should be immediately removed, and both food and drink should only be brought in in small quantities, just enough for the demands of the moment. Where cooling drinks are required, or medicine has to be frequently administered, it is a good plan to have a small table outside the sickroom door, on which such articles can be placed—anything is better than keeping them in the room.

Keep the invalid cheerful, but avoid worryrying. The constant repetition of the phrase — How are. you now, dear? Do you feel any better?" 'merely fidgets the patient. Wear a dress that does not rustle, and be very careful of your own personal appearancelet the invalid's eye rest on a toilet which is neat and attractive rather than slovenly. 1 believe the success of professional nurses in soothing fractious patients has more to do with their nice attire than many people imagine. Finally, follow the doctor's orders implicitly ; and, when " the turn conies," and an improvement takes place, don't relax your care and vigilance, but rather redouble it, for a relapse is often a far more serious matter than the original attack.

HOW A HEALTHY BABY LOOKSMOTHERS often complain that their babies do not appear really ill, and yet do not grow and look as health}' as they should. The difference between a healthy and an unhealthy child is very marked. A perfectly healthy baby sleeps a, great deal of the time during the first few months of its life, and when it is asleep it wears an expression of absolute and' blissful repose. The little eyelids are completely closed, the lips very slightly parted,' and the breathing rhythmic and scarcely to be heard. There is no visible movement of the nostrils in the healthy baby while sleeping. When a young baby sleeps with the eyeIkls incompletely closed, so that the whites of the eyes show, be sure that something is wrong. When the baby's rest is broken by pain, even colic, the eyelids will twitch, and the eyes will not completely close. But the same symptoms indicate often the appearance of a severe illness, so that the mother should always be on guard. When the baby contracts its brows while asleep it is an indication of pain in the head. When there is a sharpness of the nostrils it is a sign that the baby has a pain around the regions of the chest, and when the upper lip is drawn in sleep there is pain in the abdomen.. ,

KEEPING THE CHILDREN- AT HOME. Philanthropists and teachers and moralists of all sorts never seem tired of asking the question"What shall we do with the children?" but all the same they do not seem to have worked out a very satisfactory solution of the problem. It is a matter of doubt if any means can be adopted which will secure this end until parents become a little more considerate of the feelings and wishes of their children. Youngsters must be amused, and if they cannot find amusement at home they are absolutely certain, to seek it elsewhere. Parents should therefore provide every means within their power to interest the young, and should not only do this: but should make it a, point to furnish them a place where they may enjoy their possessions to their heart's content. In building or fitting, up a house it would add but little to the cost to set apart a room or even build one where all of the toys, games, and rigging in which children uelight* could be safely housed and in nobody's way. This is much better than a continual growling because Tommie's bicycle has to be kept in the hall and Jennie's hoops and croquet set are under the tableWhen children want to play it is no trifling task for them to go upstairs or down the cellar, or into some out-of-the-way cupboard or closet, move a quantity of other things, and little by little hunt out their amusements then have to crowd somebody out of place in order to arrange them, either in the kitchen, dining, or sitting room; then be subject to constant interruption in case anyone comes in. It is easy to make the plea that a room for such things would cost too much; but when one comes to consider how much the child is worth and how much it costs later in life to get him out of the evil ways to which home neglect has driven him, the balance is not very difficult to strike. The markets are full of toys, games, amusements, and pleasures, and while they cost something in the way of cash outlay their value is in many instances above all computation ; and the few pounds expended in providing wholesome pleasures will draw more than compound interest when the boy arrives at man's estate with quiet, intelligent, studious habits, and reasonably good morals. These he rarely acquires in the street or in the more questionable, places to which in many cases he is driven by the lack of entertainment under his own roof. CATS. All who love cats should read Mrs. Winslow's interesting book " Concerning Cats," which comprehends a large amount of information on the subject of that lovable little domestic pet. According to the writer it is women, poets, and artiste chiefly who are cat lovers. However that may be, everybody likes a kitten, and certainly there is a great deal to know about kittens and cats. Prom the chapter on historic cats, for instance, one learns that Mohammed had a great af?e;tio.i for his cat; that Colbert, the French statesman, liked to have kittens playing about him; that Tasso wrote a sonnet to his cat; that Byron's house at Ravenna had five pet cats; that Professor Huxley found it a great relaxation from his scientific studies to play with his cats; > and that Swinburne, the poet, is. devoted to his. England has a National Cat Club, with its library of kennel reference, its stud-book, and its "black list." Paris has its own annual international show, and in the United States there are no fewer than three large cat clubs, with numerous shews. It is not generally known that of all animals the cat is the most difficult to paint. Only four artists have succeeded in doing so, namely, Ho-Ron-sey, a Japanese; Gottfried Mind, a Swiss—the Raphael of cats; Lambert, a Frenchman ; and Henriette Ronner, a Dutch lady, whose pictures of cats are well known and very highly prized. She has, in fact, been called the Land.seer of her art. In black and white, Louis Wain, an Englishman, stands easily first in drawing the cat, and is, moreover, answerable for the curious theory that people who keep these , animals and are in the habit of petting them do not suffer from the petty ailments of most people. Rheumatism and nervous complaints," he says, are uncommon with them, and pussy's lovers are of the sweetest temperament. I have often felt the benefit, after a long spell of mental effort, of having my cats sitting across my shoulders." People who have tried it say that after a busy day it is particularly soothing to sit with the hands buried in the soft sides of a favourite pussy.—Exchange.