On the Diseases of Children.

IT may, probably, be considered presumption in me, to treat on the diseases of children, as this more properly belongs to the faculty; but let it be observed, that my object is not to pretend to cure the diseases that children are subject to, but only to prevent those which are infectious from spreading. I have found that children between the ages of two and seven years, are subject to the measles, hoopingcough, fever, ophthalmia, and the small-pox; this last is very rare, owing to the great encouragement given to vaccination, and were it not for the obstinacy of many of the poor, I believe this disease would be totally extirpated. Since the opening of this school, I have only heard of three children dying of it, and those had never been vaccinated. I always make a point of inquiring, on the admission of a child, whether this operation has been performed, and if not, I strongly recommend that it should. If the parents speak the truth, I have but few children in the school who have not been vaccinated : this accounts, therefore, for having lost but three children through that disease.

The measles, however, I consider as a very dangerous disorder, and we have lost a great many children by this disease, besides

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two of my own. The symptoms I have generally found are as follow; it is preceded with a violent cough, and the child's eyes will appear watery; the child will also be sick. As soon as we perceive these symptoms, we immediately send the child home, and desire the parents to keep him at home for a few days, in order to ascertain if the child has the measles, and if so, the child must be prohibited from coming to school until well. This caution is absolutely necessary, as some parents are so careless, that they will send their children when the measles are thick out upon them.

The same may be said with respect to other diseases, for unless the persons who have charge of the school attend to these things, the parents will be glad to get their children out of the way, and will send them with various diseases upon them, without considering the ill effects that may be produced in the school. Whether such conduct in the parents proceeds from ignorance or not, I am not able to say, but this I know, that I have had many parents offer children, for admission, with all the diseases I have mentioned, and who manifested no disposition whatever to inform me of it. The number of children who may be sick, from time to time, may be averaged at from twenty to thirty-five. Out of two hundred and twenty, we have never

had less than twenty absent on account of illness, and once or twice, we had as many as fifty.

Soon after we first took charge of the school, we found that there were five or six children in the school who had the measles the consequence was, that it contaminated the whole school, and about eight children died, one of my own being of that number. This induced me to be very cautious in future, and I make a point of walking round the school twice every day, in order to inspect the children; and since the adoption of this plan, we have not had the measles in the school.

The hooping-cough is known, of course, by the child hooping; but I consider it the safest plan to send all children home that have any kind of cough; this will cause the mother to come and inquire the reason why the child is sent home; I then can ascertain from her whether the child has had the hooping-cough or not.

With respect to fever, I generally find the child appear chilly and cold, and who not unfrequently vomits. I do not, however, feel myself competent to describe the early symptoms of this disorder, but the best way to prevent its gaining ground in the school is to send all the children home who appear the least indisposed, and this will be the

most likely way to prevent a fever from getting into the school. As to the ophthalmia, I can describe the symptoms of that disease, having had it myself, together with the whole of my family. It generally comes in the left eye first, and causes a sensation as if something was in the eye, which pricks and shoots, and causes great pain: the white of the eye will appear red, which is usually called bloodshot; this, if not speedily attended to, will cause blindness; I have had several children that have been blind with it for several days. In the morning the patients are unable to unclose their eyes, for they will be gummed up, and it will be some time after they are awake before they will be able to disengage the eye-lids. As soon as I observe these appearances, I immediately send the child home, for I have ascertained, beyond a doubt, that the disease is contagious, and if a child is suffered to remain with it in the school, the infection will speedily be spread among all the children.

As children are frequently apt to burn or scald themselves, I will here insert a method for the cure of both; it is very simple, and yet infallible; at least, I have never known it to fail. It is no other than common writing ink; one of my own children burnt its hand dreadfully, and .it was cured by washing it all over with ink immediately. Several

children have burnt their hands against the pipe, that is connected with the stove in the school-room, and have all been cured by the same means. One boy, in particular, laid hold of a hot cinder that fell from the fire, and it quite singed his hand; I applied ink to it, and it was cured in a very short time. Let any one, therefore, who may happen to receive a burn, apply ink to it immediately, and he will soon witness the good effects of the application. This is mentioned with no other end than to do good; the author has found it cure himself and numbers around him, and therefore is desirous that it should be generally known.

Plan to prevent Accidents at School.

AS children are very apt to get into danger, even when at school, it becomes expedient to exercise the utmost vigilance, in order to prevent the possibility of an accident; for where two hundred children are assembled together, and all at play, the eldest not exceeding seven years of age, it is most certain, that if there be any danger, some will get into it.

All the doors on the premises should be so secured, that the children cannot swing