For nine months he has existed under ideal conditions; he has been safeguarded from injury; kept at the temperature which was best for him, and above all, has been furnished with exactly the proper amount and character of nourishment necessary for his growth and development. Suddenly he emerges from this completely protecting environment into a more or less hostile world, where he must assume the task of living, with a frail little body that in many respects is only imperfectly developed. And yet the baby must not only continue the bodily functions and activities that were begun during his intra-uterine life, but must develop certain functions which were imperfect and even establish others which were performed for him. You will recall that while within the uterus, the baby received his nourishment and oxygen and gave up waste material through the placenta. Accordingly, his organs of digestion, respiration and excretion are imperfectly developed at birth and are capable of functioning only within very narrow limits at first. His respirations are usually established immediately after birth, when he cries vigorously, for his lungs are thereby filled with air. The other functions are established more gradually and the care of the baby must be such that the immature, unused organs will have their development promoted through activity and yet not be overtaxed. =The Baby’s Condition at Birth.= The newborn baby boy weighs from seven and a quarter to seven and a half pounds and is about twenty inches long, girl babies being perhaps a little smaller. His body is well rounded and his flesh firm. The skin is a deep pink, or even red, and is covered with the cheesy substance called vernix caseosa, which is likely to be thickly deposited over the back and in folds of the skin and creases, as in the thighs and under the arms. Some babies still have, when born, the fine downy hair on parts or all of the body, that they had before birth. The head and abdomen are relatively large, the chest narrow and the limbs short. The legs are so markedly bowed that the soles of the baby’s feet may nearly or quite face each other, but they finally assume a normal position. The bones are still soft and the entire body is, therefore, very flexible. Some of the bones which unite later in life and make the adult skeleton firm and rigid, are separate at birth. Most newborn babies have faded blue eyes, the permanent color appearing gradually, but the amount and color of the hair varies greatly, some babies being bald, while others have abundant hair from the beginning.