Fluid Magnesia--Solution of Carbonate of Magnesia--is a good aperient for a child; and, as it has very little taste, is readily given, more especially if made palatable by the addition either of a little syrup or of brown sugar. The advantages which it has over the old solid form are, that it is colourless and nearly tasteless, and never forms concretions in the bowels, as the _solid_ magnesia, if persevered in for any length of time, sometimes does. A child of two or three years old may take one or two table-spoonfuls of the fluid; either by itself or in his food, repeating it every four hours until the bowels be open. When the child is old enough to drink the draught off _immediately_, the addition of one or two tea-spoonfuls of Lemon Juice to each dose of the Fluid Magnesia, makes a pleasant effervescing draught, and increases its efficacy as an aperient. Bran-bread [Footnote: One-part of bran to three parts of flour, mixed together and made into bread.] and _treacle_ will frequently open the bowels; and as treacle is wholesome, it may be substituted for butter when the bowels are inclined to be costive. A roasted apple, eaten with _raw_ sugar, is another excellent mild aperient for a child. Milk gruel--that is to say, milk thickened with oatmeal--forms an excellent food for him, and often keeps his bowels regular, and thus (_which is a very important consideration_) supersedes the necessity of giving him an aperient. An orange (taking care he does not eat the peel or the pulp), or a fig after dinner, or a few Muscatel raisins, will frequently regulate the bowels. Stewed prunes is another admirable remedy for the costiveness of a child. The manner of stewing them is as follows:--Put a pound of prunes in a brown jar, add two table-spoonfuls of _raw_ sugar, then cover the prunes and the sugar with cold water; place them in the oven, and let them stew for four hours. A child should every morning eat half a dozen or a dozen of them, until the bowels be relieved, taking care that he does not swallow the stones. Stewed prunes may be given in treacle--treacle increasing the aperient properties of the prunes. A suppository is a mild and ready way of opening the bowels of a child. When he is two or three years old and upwards, a _Candle_ suppository is better than a _Soap_ suppository. The way of preparing it is as follows:--Cut a piece of dip-tallow candle--the length of three inches--and insert it as you would a clyster pipe, about two inches up the fundament, allowing the remaining inch to be in sight, and there let the suppository remain until the bowels be opened.