OUR BABIES.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2354, 21 November 1908, Page 1 (Supplement)

OUR BABIES.

(By Hygeia.)

Published under the auspices of tlie Society for tho Promotion of the Health of "Women and Children. '

PREVENTING CONSUMPTION. At the close of last week’s article dealing with a mother’s inquiry as to the suitability of Dunedin for a baby who might inherit some tendency to weakness of the lungs, it was pointed out that the main desideratum was fresh air, with due attention to every other factor making for general health and vigor. The fact is wo have in the Dominion no centre of population which is not reasonably healthy, though it would be possible to select anywhere a particular situation or house which would not be desirable. The main points are the avoidance of low-lying damp situations, or one unduly shaded by a steep bdl-sido or b,\ buildings or trees, etc. On the other hand, excessive exposure to prevailing winds, without readily available shelter, is for babied, because it limits the lime they can spend in. the open air. Favor a site with the ground trending more or less northwards,-not southwards. A free, open porous soil is certainly best, but clay need not be feared if there is ample drainage and the roads are good. In an 'ordinary house, where servants are not kep. the health of small children depends very much upon whether the r-oom in which most of the indoor life lias to be spent looks towards the midday sun or directly away from it, as is commonly the case. The baby should be out of doors as much as possible, and when indoors during daytime it should be in the lightest, brightest room in the house- In most cottage the reverse is the case. Mother and baby live in the kitchen, which j:. small, overheated, and looks southwards. An ample living room, with a verandah looking north for the baby to play on, is best. The range or stove can be recessed. The mother who wants her baby to be healthy and to grow up to a vigorous maturity should give it as much fresh, and sunshine as possible. To further emphasise the paramount importance of exposure and perfect purity of air, I cannot do better than quote the following admirable introduction to a book, “Problems of Babyhood,” recently written by Dr Mtz, a professor of hygiene at Harvard, and his wife. The book is dedicated — To Those Parents who Deem the Training of Their Children Tlieir Supreme Privilege and Duty. BUILDING A CONSTITUTION

FRESH AIR. One of the most important recent 'changes in medical practice is due to the recognition of fresh, cold an*, the modern treatment of consumption has proved most brilliantly that such air has the power of so far increasing the vi"or and r existence of even the more sluggish tissues of the body -as to ena-„ ble them to combat and overcome (lis* ease already. established in the system, when dll other curative measures i riTt . fidlcd. Persons in then weakness had dreaded every change of temperature,, had protected themselves religiously against every current of fresh air, had anxiously com 'suited the thermometer before> ti nesting themselves out of doms, and had mothered themselves m heavy veils, lest they, false a full breath of un*