(A non fando, from its inability to talk). An infant or child. Fred. Hoffman limits the period of infancy to the time when children begin to talk, and that of childhood to the age of puberty.

During infancy the parts are disproportioned, and the organs, from weakness, incapable of those functions which, in future life, they are designed to perform. The head, the liver, and pancreas, are much larger, in proportion, than in advanced periods; and their secretions more copious. The bile is very inert; the heart is stronger and larger than in future life; the arteries fuller and more active; the quantity of blood sent through the heart of an infant, in a given time, is also more in proportion than that in adults. Though these circumstances are not without utility and subservient to the growing state, yet the imperfection attending them subjects this period of life to many injuries and dangers, from which a more perfect state is exempted.

Infants are more acutely sensible and more irritable than adults; and the diognostics of diseases are consequently more uncertain. However, no very great embarrassment arises from these circumstances; for the disorders of infants are usually acute, less complicated than those of adults, and are more easily discovered than is generally apprehended.

The vigour of children's constitutions depends greatly on that of their mothers. Healthy women, who accustom themselves to exercise and air, and whose diet is firm and invigorating, alone bring forth children perfectly healthy.

As soon as a child is born, the mucus with which its body is covered is best washed off with soap and water. But the anxiety to render the infant perfectly clean pro-duces inflammation, and considerable uneasiness; moderate cleanliness is at the first sufficient: and the next dressing will easily and safely complete the whole.

Alter examining the new born infants with a view-to discover any accidental injury, or natural imperfection, wrap the navel string in a rag, sufficiently folded, to prevent its coldness from producing inconvenience. The heads of infants should be dressed loosely, and their future formation left to nature.

It was usual after dressing to give oil of almonds, with syrup of violets; sugar with butter, or other slight laxatives, to discharge the meconium. These are at least useless. A little gruel with milk will alone bring it off; and the first milk of the mother will complete the necessary discharges. For this purpose the child is put early to the breast, usually within twelve hours, which solicits the secretion, and prevents its too violent current.

The general management of the infant state is directed too frequently by fashion, or rather by caprice. Modes and medicines used for centuries, handed clown in successive generations, cannot always be combated by reason, but are sometimes wholly exploded by a fashionable physician, who aims at distinction by total overthrow of what has been long held sacred. Common sense must at last decide, and without engaging in controversy, wc shall pursue its dictates the little being, when first introduced to this world, is brought from a temperature of at least 96°, and should therefore be cautiously guarded against sudden exposure to the air. His clothing should be light and easy; and, at first, warm. The tender skin would be chafed with flannel, and therefore old linen is preferred. Calico would be still better; but the whole must be covered with flannel, and fastened as much as possible by strings. For along time cold excites uneasy sensations, and he is properly placed close to the mother; by her side, or that of a healthy nurse, he should lie till at least he has lived twelve months; but modern refinement, or modern apprehensions, place him alone in a crib by the side of the bed. On this subject we can only observe, that we have known infants, thus separated from the warm bosom, cry nearly a whole night; and, in general, they increase slowly, are weak and delicate, while those with a nurse, if not the mother, have appeared thriving and happy. But, though the child should be kept warm, the" air around should circulate freely. A curtain against its head may prevent the current passing over him, but no other curtain should be drawn, and the room should be high, large, and airy.

On the food of children we cannot add to what we have said in the article Ablactatio; but may here remark, in opposition to a common and most ridiculous practice, that a child should not be accustomed to take its food at distant intervals. Digestion in children is rapid; and, if food is delayed, the child is uneasy; and, when brought, takes it greedily and too copiously.

A healthy child scarcely ever cries. This position will, we know, be disputed; and a child is said to be peevish, fretful, and uneasy, when the nurse is careless and inattentive. Dispositions undoubtedly differ; but the parent, who finds a child constantly crying, should suspect her nurse, and even herself. One cause of this fretfulness is the opinion that the nurse knows when the child should sleep, or eat, better than itself. It is forced to feed when not hungry, and to sleep when eager for play or amusement. We have often cured this disease, by correcting the attendant. It indeed happens that some children will not sleep by night, but even this may be conquered by management; for the healthy child may be amused during the day, and his amusements may be gradually protracted till night approaches. Disposition and fancies show themselves very early to the attentive observer; and, when reason has not yet attained its power, to correct them with violence, irritates without amending. Even at an early age, children may be soothed into regularity and obedience: they cannot be forced. If a child screams suddenly, he is undoubtedly ill, and should be carefully attended to.

A healthy infant is fond of exercise. He should be moved gently up' and down, but without any shocks. On this account the modern cot is preferable to the cradle, for the child may be shook by the latter into a stupor, which a nurse will take care to do, as it saves her the trouble of attending to the infant's play. In dandling the child, great inconveniences arise from compressing the breast. The child sits on the left hand, and, to prevent accidents, leans forward against the right placed on its breast. If the nurse is timid, or if the child starts, the only security is to clasp the breast, by which the ribs are often compressed. If, however, the right hand is placed under the arm, with the thumb over the shoulder, an active child may even start from the other hand without danger. The right hand will support it, or convey it gently to the ground. Swinging seems to give children an uneasy feeling, and even being carried quickly down stairs will make them shrink to the nurse's breast. This is almost the only instinctive feeling that, after much observation of children, has occurred to us. Gentle friction is an excellent addition to exercise, and peculiarly grateful to infants.

The pathology of the infant state is slight and simple. From the disproportioned size of the head, accumulations in this organ are frequent, and almost every fever is attended with a considerable load in the brain. The only peculiar disease of the head is hydrocephalus, though apoplexy and palsy have, at times, attended the infant state. A great difficulty arises in distinguishing the accumulation of water from fever. This is not, indeed, easy, but often unnecessary, since the treatment does not greatly differ; free evacuations from the bowels being equally indispensable in both. Accumulations in the stomach and intestines are the great source of children's complaints. A considerable quantity of mucus is a part almost of their constitution, and it is this accumulation which occasions worms, diarrhoeas, and convulsions. Emetics and cathartics are, therefore, the chief remedies, and the most active drastics are borne with ease, and even advantage. A child may more safely take five grains of calomel than an adult; and often two or three grains of gutta gamba will not produce a considerable discharge. Suffocation, considered as the disease of children, is, we fear, always the creature of art, the effect of indulgence arising from too great warmth, and more frequently from fulness.

The prophylactic management of children is not a very abstruse subject. Early hours, moderate warmth, exercise in the open air, to as great a degree as their strength admits, with a proper attention to their diet (see Diaeta), and the due regulation of the alvine discharges, comprise the whole. The medicines for children should be few and simple. Their stomachs abound with acids, which change the bile to a green colour, and thus tinges the stools with the same hue. The anxious parent, on this appearance, flies to absorbents; but, while the child continues lively and cheerful, and the stools are neither too copious nor too few, no remedy is necessary. In early infancy a child has generally from three to five motions in twenty-four hours. This number lessens; and, at the age of two years, there are seldom more than two daily. Constitutions differ in this respect, and we have known an infant continue in perfect health with one motion only in twenty-four hours.

See Percival's Essays, Medical and Experimental, ed. 2. p. 363 - 367; Armstrong on the Management and Diseases of Children. Cadogan's Essay on the Management of Children. Harris on the Diseases of Children, translated by Martin. Clark's Directions for the Management of Children. Moss on Nursing.