If he cannot eat well, depend upon it, there is something wrong about the system. If he be teething, let a mother look well to his gums, and satisfy herself that they do not require lancing. If they be red, hot, and swollen, send for a medical man, that he may scarify them. If his gums be not inflamed, and no tooth appears near, let her look well to the state of his bowels; let her ascertain that they be sufficiently opened, and that the stools be of a proper consistence, colour, and smell. If they be neither the one nor the other, give a dose of aperient medicine, which will generally put all to rights. If the gums be cool, and the bowels be right, and his appetite continue bad, call in medical aid. A child asking for something to eat, is frequently, in a severe illness, the first favourable symptom; we may generally then prognosticate that all will soon be well again. If a child refuse his food, neither coax nor tempt him to eat: as food without an appetite will do him more harm than it will do him good; it may produce either sickness, bowel-complaint, or fever. Depend upon it, there is always a cause for a want of appetite;--perhaps his stomach has been over-worked, and requires repose; or his bowels are loaded, and Nature wishes to take time to use up the old material;--there might be fever lurking in his system; Nature stops the supplies, and thus endeavours, by not giving it food to work with, to nip it in the bud;--there might be inflammation; food would then be improper, as it would only add fuel to the fire; let, therefore, the cause be either an overworked stomach, over-loaded bowels, fever, or inflammation, food would be injurious. Kind Nature if we will but listen to her voice, will tell us when to eat, and when to refrain. 159. _When a child is four or five years old, have you any objection to his drinking tea_? Some parents are in the habit of giving their children strong (and frequently green) tea. This practice is most hurtful. It acts injuriously upon their delicate, nervous system, and thus weakens their whole frame. If milk does not agree, a cup of very weak tea, that is to say, water with a dash of _black_ tea in it, with a table-spoonful of cream, may be substituted for milk; but a mother must never give tea where milk agrees. 160. _Have you any objection to a child occasionally having either cakes or sweetmeats_?