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The proper management of Infancy and younger years
is of the utmost consequence to the health or persons for the
rest of life. Being now therefore informed of the particular
state and constitution of Mr children I shall here offer
my advice for the conduct of their health. This advice is to
be directed to two purposes, the one is to strengthen their weakly
constitution and the other is to mend some faults which seem
to be in their blood.

For strengthening their constitution I would trust es¬
pecially to the application of cold and particularly to cold
bathing. If they are already accustomed to this I have only
to advise the diligent continuance of it ↑in winter as well as summer↑ but if they have not
yet begun, this practice I shall here direct the safe manage¬
ment of it. Let four parts of cold water be mixed with one
part of boiling water and with this let the child be washed
all over. This tempered water will hardly feel cold to the
children and indeed they are commonly rather pleased with
it, but if it should happen from the coldness of the water
from the cistern or from the children's being totally

unaccustomed to any thing of this kind, that they shrink
and shew aversion to washing with the above, let the tem¬
pered water be of one part of boiling water to three of the cold.
This they certainly will bear or without any harshness may
be forced to bear. Let the continue to be washed with it
for three four or five days or till they are perfectly recon¬
ciled to it but then withdraw or keep out one eight part
of the boiling water and do this every second or third day
after till the whole is withdrawn and the cold water alone
is employed which they will then bear as well as they did
the tempered water at first: provided always that the method
advised is exactly followed and exact measures always em¬
ployed. The condition of the water being thus settled
let the children as soon as they come out of bed in the
morning be washed all over, beginning with their face
head and neck and going down to their feet very quickly
at first but more leisurely afterwards. As soon as the
washing is finished let them ↑be↑ dried again as quickly as
possible with a towel not very fine and let them imme¬
diately also have their ordinary cloathes put on. All

this may be done in winter in a chamber where there
is a fire but the whole business should be done as far
from the fire as conveniency and season will allow.

This washing will in a great measure answer
the purpose of cold bathing but after some time when
they are well reconciled to bear the cold water it will
be still better than washing to have their bodies dipt
entirely in cold water for a few seconds taking care only
that their heads are first washed with cold water before
they are set into the bathing vessel.

This practice of washing and bathing will certainly
in the manner I have proposed may be applied to the
youngest & weakest children and will certainly strength¬
en their constitution. It should be daily employed
for the first two or perhaps three years but after that
tho it may be proper will they are five or six it is not
necessary to use it so frequently as they advance in years.

The application however of cold water will not be
enough unless they are in general kept otherwise

cool. Their bedcloaths in the night time should be light
and after a year or two they should not be laid with
maids who require many bedcloaths. In the day time
the childrens cloathing should be as thin & light as the
season will allow. While very young their neck &
breast should be naked and in boys their legs. They
may have shoes as soon as their feet are set to the
ground but they should not have stockings till they
are also to have breeches. With all this children
should be as much in the open air as possible and as
little in warm chambers as they can conveniently be.
These measures may to mothers appear hazardous and
harsh but let ever change of habits be done by degrees
and by habit gradually induced children may be brought
to bear any thing. The air of great towns is
pernicious to children and they should at least pass the
summer in the country and if it can be conveniently
done the whole year for the first five of six years of
their life.

These are the measures I propose for strengthening
the constitution and for mending the blood I hope it
may be done by a proper management of diet as follows

Let them have always sparingly of animal food
Every day at dinner they may have some weak broth
with bread and two or three times a week they may
have a bit of boiled chicken or fowl, boiled rabbit or
a little tripe and sometimes a little boiled mutton
or veal. They may sometimes tho very rarely have
a bit of these meats roasted but on no account should
they have ↑at any time↑ any thing baked or fried. They may taste
a little of light white fish but no kind of fish is safe
for them. When they are allowed animal food it
must always be sparingly and they must never make
a full meal of it but some part of this must be left to be
filled up with pudding pancake or a little potatoe.
These directions with respect to animal food are to be
observed in the strictest manner with children under
three years old but may be a little less so gradually

as they advance in years. The children I advise for
at present should live almost entirely on milk and grain
as wheaten bread, Rice, Barley, Sago, Millet, or Oatmeal
and these kinds of grain with or without milk may be
prepared in different ways so as to be taken for all their
meals. In some preparations of these either in pudding
or simply boiled a few raisins or currants may be taken
along with them. At breakfast they may have tea
but it should be a very weak bohea and taken with a
good deal of milk. They may also at the same time
and at some other times have bread and butter but it
should be dry toast only and with very little butter.
In the summer season both at dinner and supper
they may have some garden things especially when
they first come in and are still young & tender but
I hold much garden things to be very unfit for these
children and in winter they should hardly have any
thing the garden or field affords except it is a little po¬
tatoe of a dry mealy kind, but even this is sparingly.

The greatest care is to be taken to keep these children
from sweetmeats of all kinds and with their food to
give them sugar as sparingly as possible.

For drink these children should have nothing but
water commonly quite cold but in very cold weather the
extreme coldness may be put off with a toast or with a
small quantity of warm water mixed with the cold.

I hold all fermented liquors whether wines or malt
liquors to be bad for them except in one case & that is
if they happen to be disposed to costiveness in which case
they may have a little clear well brewed small beer
either to drink or with their victuals. If the contrary
happens they may have a little milk with the water
for their drink.

Besides this management of diet there are some
medicines I would propose for mending their blood but
as these are not to be used till spring I shall mind
to advise them in due time