THE FIRST FEEDING BOTTLE

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 231, 1 December 1916, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE FIRST FEEDING BOTTLE

IT PROBABLY ORIGINATED IN A HOLLOW GOURD. Possibly a hollow gourd constituted the first baby's feeding-bottle. Torn from its parent tree, its edible interior would have found its way to the stomach of its adult pliwker, after iwhich the hollow shell would be filled with milk, or other liquid refreshment for the satisfaction of the infant. In tropical countries, again, the coconut would constitute a natural feeding-bottle, already filled with tho necessary nourishment. Without, however, indulging 'n speculation of this kind, it may be noted that the archaic vase-room at tho British Museum contains specimens of feeding-bottles—'tetina' archaeologists call them —dating back to between six and seven hundred years before Christ. These very early babies' bottles ire usually globular in shape, are elaborately decorated, and are covered' with small knobs which it is conjectur"! were u«ed to bang tiny bells upon. Tn short, the feeding-bottle of those days was also a rattle and a picturebook combined. Roumania has a fairly large flying corps, nnd her army is famous for it = number of sharpshooters.