OUR BABIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3265, 11 October 1916, Page 55

OUR BABIES.

Bi Hygeia. Published under the auspices o! the Royal New Zealand Society tor the Health o) Women and Children. "It U wiser to put up a fenoe at the lop ol a precipice than to maintain na ambulance at tho bottom."

SPHAGNUM MOSS. The following letter was forwarded to us by one of our correspondents. It is interesting as showing how mothers in the Old Country arc helping one another to understand and carry out the teachings ot the Society, just as we find they do m New Zealand. The letter was written by a mother in Somerset, England, to a mother in Edinburgh : Letteb. You very kindly helped me with your aclvico about a year ago when I wrote about one or two points in Dr Iruoy King's book, "Feeding and Care of Baby." Since then I have lent and given the book to two or three people, and I should be most glad if you could tell mo li you were able to get sphagnum moss m this country, and if so, where? If you did not use it, did you find a satisfactory substitute? It sounds such a splendid thing, and a great saving of labour, and I remember yoa told me that you had brought up your baby entirely by that book. I do hope you will forgive me for troubling you. Judging from the references to Sphagnum Moss which have appeared recently in the Home papers, the inquirer will no longer be in doubt as to the question whether it is obtainable in Britain. SPHAGNUM DRESSINGS. A few weeks ago there was an illustration in the Graphic showing the preparing and packing of Sphagnum Moss dressings at tho Royal College of Science, Dublin. Tho picturo shows a large room where many nurses are at work cleaning the moss and putting it up in bundles. In the latest number of Land and Water to hand, there occurs tho following in an article, entitled, "Bv a Mountain Bog" : You will bo glad to hear that our bog has been turned to use this summer. Someone learned in the ancient lore of Eras and Gael pointed out that dressings from Sphagnum Moss were used centuries ago in the treatment of cuts and abrasions, and that in the remoter Highlands the remedy was still in successful use. The great demand of the casualty hospitals for cotton wool had caused a shortage. Well, here to hand, in our own mountain bogs, was a substitute, even an improvement. So a party of girl guides came up here, gathered the moss by the bagful, cleansed it' of all foreign matter, and away to the hospitals it was sent. There should be no shortage of Sphagnum dressings now, for there are scores of acres of moss among_ our fells, and it is still more common in Scotland. Use of Moss by the Inhabitants OJF Northern Asia.

About six months after our advocacy of Sphagnum Moss appeared in the Society's book, the late Mr Hamilton, then director of the Museum in Wellington, drew our attention to an article on the inhabitants of Northern Asia contained in the memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History, and the reports of the Jessup North Pacific Expedition, page 252, volume VII, which certains illustrations of the garments worn by the inhabitants at all stages of life. Referring to a picture of an infant's dress is tho following passage : THE CHUCKCHEE DIArER. A square diaper is sewed on at the back. It can be tucked between the child's legs, and its ends fastened in front by strings With small infants this diaper is filled with a mixture of reindeer moss . and hair, which absorbs the excreta, and is changed several times a day. This diaper with mo?-s has been adoptedby all the tribes of North-eastern Siberia, including the Russians, because of its practical convenience. Its Russian name, " maka," is taken from the Chuckchee. Moss Is used in much the same fashion by tho Indians in North America. Nothing seems more extraordinary than the manner in which we so-called civilised peoples have gone out of our way to cause the abstraction of the maximum- of heat from babies by compelling them to soak a napkin covering a large surface of skin, instead of ensuring direct absorption by using a porous bed such as is now being advocated in France in the form of a bran bed (see page 76 of the Society's book), or by the use of a highly-absorbent pad, which restricts the fluid to a email area, and confines it there. On grounds of heat-conservation, cleanliness, and saving in the washing of napkins, there is no reason to doubt that in the futuro methods based on tho above considerations will come to be more and more gorcrally adopted. There are other points against our present methods which I havo not touched on. Most important among these is the lack of freedom of the hips and lower rmbs while the baby is in bed. This freedom is attained in the bran bed by having no garment extending lower down than the haunch bones. Sphagnum: Moss in New Zealand. Sphagnum Moss has been used at the Karitane-Harris Hospital with most satisfactory results; and if it were more readily obtainable it would be used even more. At the Society's exhibit at the last Winter Show of the Agricultural and Pastoral Society in Dunsdin the moss was on view, and attracted a considerable amount of attention. A pad weighing loz will completely absorb and retain soz of urine— Bay. as much as would be passed in thenight. Sphagnum Mos 3 can bo gathered at almost any timo in tho year. It is found in many districts in Otngo, and there are many other park! of tho Dominion whore it can be readily gathered. In such a region we can hardly imagine a more delightful kind of outing than a picnic to the moss hag, whero tho children could collect the moss, squeeze out the moisture, and pack it in sacks ready to tako homo for the baby It must then be spread out in tho sun to dry thoroughly, and, of course, any twigs or other harsh vegetation which may havo been gathered with it must be picked out. I have myself helped to gather sacks of

Sphagnum on Mihiwaka Hill, and also in the Catlins district, and I am told there is abundance on the hills around Dunedin. The moss can be bought from the nurserymen in Dunedin. The price is 7s 6d a sack, or 6d for a bag (such as would hold 141 bof flour) full. The weight depends on tho amount of moisture in the moss —so that tho price per lb would be useless. I + , is needless to repeat that before being used for the baby it must be thoroughly dry, and, of cour.se, it must be made into a pad with gauze or butter-muslin, as shown on page 76 of tho Society's book. If the moss, has to be purchased and got from a distance, it is probably cheaper to use wood wool for pads. Wood wool can be bought at Home for Is a lb, but it is much more expensive in the colonics. It is loose in a bag, and must be teased out and made into pads with butter-muslin or gauze. If preferred, wood wool tissue at 3s 6d a lb can be used. In this the wood wool is sandwiched between layers of gauze, and all that has to bo done is to cut off a portion tho required size. For a young or delicate baby we recommend the use of wood wool, as it is softer and more comforting than the dry moss.