Toast and water, or, if he prefer it, plain spring water. Let him have as much as he likes. If you give him water to drink, there is no fear of his taking too much; Nature will tell him when he has had enough. Be careful of the quality of the water, and the source from which you procure it. If the water be _hard_--provided it be free from organic matter--so much the better. [Footnote: See the _third_ edition of _Counsel to a Mother_, under the head of "Hard or soft water as a beverage!"] Spring water from a moderately deep well is the best. If it come from a land spring, it is apt, indeed, is almost sure to be contaminated by drains, &c.; which is a frequent cause of fevers, of diphtheria, of Asiatic cholera, and of other blood poisons. Guard against the drinking water being contaminated with lead; never, therefore, allow the water to be collected in leaden cisterns, as it sometimes is if the water be obtained from Water-works companies. Lead pumps, for the same reason, ought never to be used for drinking purposes. Paralysis, constipation, lead colic, dropping of the wrist, wasting of the ball of the thumb, loss of memory, and broken and ruined health, might result from neglect of this advice. The drinking fountains are a great boon to poor children, as water and plenty of it, is one of the chief necessaries of their existence; and, unfortunately, at their own homes they are not, oftentimes, able to obtain a sufficient supply. Moreover, drinking fountains are the best advocates for Temperance. Some parents are in the habit of giving their children beer with their dinners--making them live as they live themselves! This practice is truly absurd, and fraught with great danger! not only so, but it is inducing a child to be fond of that which in after life might be his bane and curse! No good end can be obtained by it; it will _not_ strengthen so young a child; it will on the contrary, create fever, and will thereby weaken him; it will act injuriously upon his delicate, nervous, and vascular systems, and by means of producing inflammation either of the brain or of its membranes, might thus cause water on the brain (a disease to which young children are subject), or it might induce inflammation of the lungs. 155. _What ought a child who has cut his teeth to have for his supper_? The same that he has for breakfast. He should sup at six o'clock. 156. _Have you any general remarks to make on a child's meals_? I recommended a great sameness in an _infant's_ diet; but a _child's_ meals, his dinners especially, ought to be much varied. For instance, do not let him have day after day mutton; but ring the changes on mutton, beef, poultry, game, and even occasionally fish--sole or cod.