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CHAP, V.]
The Binder.
63
Fig. 2.

enough pressure to prevent protrusion of the bowels, but not enough to be injurious. Either of these garments may be worn until the infant is three or four months old. It may be left off after four months, unless the child is very weakly; but it should be gradually thinned, lest a chill may result from the sudden abandonment of its use.

Here, while counselling all mothers who use rollers for their infants to give up that most harmful practice, I warn them to be careful how they make the change. A piece of the roller should be cut off every day, so that its loss being gradual, it shall not be missed. Here, as elsewhere, it is of the greatest importance to remember that all sudden change is dangerous.

Too tight clothing may press upon and irritate the breasts of young infants and produce enlargement of the mammary glands, which may even go on to abscess. This is often caused by a binder which is too broad, or slips up, or by a string of the dress tied too tightly across the chest. In case of such enlargement occurring, the cause should be at once removed, and a pad of medicated wool placed over each breast to protect it.

The nervous system in infants is extremely unstable, and liable to be injured by disturbances which to us would appear slight. Thus fatal convulsions have been produced by cold, exposure to the night air, excessive heat, or even by a badly