butter, cheese, and whey, of the same cow, vary according to the food with which she is nourished; that the flesh of roes, hares, rabbits, fowls, &c. though each sort preserves its specific taste, is greatly modified by the food on which the animal lives? This principle, however, is not sufficiently attended to in the physical education of children; they are commonly treated according to a general plan, while external circumstances ought to be regulated according to the individual tempera ment. In this respect, a very important question may be examined, viz. How far may external circumstances contribute to the developement of individual parts of the body? It is known that different systems of the body, such as the muscles, the nerves, the digestive organs, &c. do not possess precisely equal activity in the same individual. It would be extremely interesting to ascertain, that such or such a climate, such or such food, &c. is more or less favourable to the improvement of particular systems of the body. The same degree of excitement, whether of temperature or of food, may stimulate one sys tem, and weaken another. Great heat accelerates the circulation of the blood, and debilitates the digestive organs. As the manifestations of the mind depend on organization, it is conceivable why even talents and moral feelings depend on the influence of climate and nourishment. All observations of this kind have been made merely with respect to health and the intellect in general. But as medical men admit that some drugs act more on the nerves, others on the blood-vessels, others on the skin, others on the abdominal or urinary secretions, why should aliments, and other external influences, not be more or less favourable to individual parts of the body? In this way, nutrition, and the regulation of external circumstances, will increase in importance as they are discovered to contribute, not only to the developement and organic constitution of the body in general, but also to the improvement of single parts. In this respect, our knowledge is by no means satisfactory; yet every one will feel the importance of these considerations, and wish for positive observations. This interesting subject, indeed, deserves the attention, not only of medical men, but of all those who have the charge of education. I shall now add some ideas concerning the regulation of the vegetative functions, during the time from birth to the period of full growth, or marriage. PERIOD I. FROM BIRTH TO THE AGE OF TWO YEARS, OR INFANCY. In this age, the mortality of children is the greatest; and hence the care bestowed on their treatment must be proportionate to the dangers to which they are exposed. Let us then see what is to be done, with a view to regulating external influences upon them. I have already stated, that the most important requisite to health and prosperity, is a good innate constitution. Among the external circumstances after birth, the most essential are Temperature and Food. Temperature. It is known that without a sufficient degree of caloric, no act of vegetation or animalization can take place; and that before birth, the child is constantly exposed to the temperature of a lukewarm bath; was it then reasonable to think, that immediately after birth a low temperature should be most suited to its health? In new-born children, it frequently happens, that circulation in the external vessels of the skin is impeded by the influence of cold air, and that from this circumstance a kind of jaundice arises. In more advanced years, great changes of temperature are hurtful to health. In hot climates, tetanus is often the result of sudden refrigeration. We also see the natural instinct of birds leads them to cover their young with their wings. How, then, was it possible to fancy with J. J. ROUSSEAU, that newborn babes may receive benefit when exposed to cold, or when bathed in ice-cold water, or in snow? Such a treatment, it is true, has been defended by an appeal to the example of northern nations. But it has been overlooked, that in those cold countries the whole animal economy of the parents is different, and that the children participate in their bodily constitutions. The mothers in northern regions digest things which the delicate women of the south could not take without injury. It would, however, be as reasonable to feed a southern mother on fish-oil, as to bathe her tender offspring in ice-cold water. The bad effect of cold-bathing upon new-born children is now ascertained, and this nonsense has been given up. It is not, however, my opinion that young children ought to be brought up as in a hot-house. I grant that they are often kept too warm and too much wrapped up. Man being obliged to bear various temperatures, children should be accustomed to them by degrees. But the weaker and the more delicate children are, the more care is requisite. Food. It is scarcely imaginable how the simple proceedings of Nature should be neglected, and fantastical dreams substituted in their place. How any one, for instance, could doubt, whether, during the first days, the milk of the mother were wholesome to the suckling, whilst calves, puppies, and the young of all quadrupeds, suck immediately after birth. Why will man alone disdain the laws of Nature, who takes so much care for the preservation of the species? How was it possible to think, that honey, syrup of rhubarb, or even wine, was more wholesome to young babes than their mother's milk, which at the beginning is thin, watery, and fit to evacuate the meconium collected in the child's intestines, and which, after a few days, becomes thicker and more nutritious? Nothing but ignorance would |
