moreover, just of the right degree of consistence for the purpose in view, while they afford abundant exercise for the tongue; ivory, coral, and the like are, on the other hand, too hard and unyielding, and lack, moreover, the attractiveness belonging to sapidity. By thus providing the maxillary apparatus with suitable exercise we shall do much to facilitate the eruption of the teeth and to favour the growth of the jaws and their appendages, including the salivary glands, and so to prepare the mouth for the reception of vegetable food. This should, of course, not be given till the teeth appear. The order in which these make their appearance gives some indication as to the order in which vegetable food should be administered to the child. The first teeth to penetrate the gums are the lower incisors which appear from the seventh to the eighth month; then follow the upper incisors from the seventh to the tenth month. These teeth enable the child to _bite_, but not, be it observed, to _masticate_, for which function the molars are necessary. Now the first molars do not appear till the twelfth or fourteenth month; the second molars not till between the fourteenth and the twentieth month; and it seems to me certain that our primitive ancestors could not have obtained starch in any quantity until they reached this age; at the best, pre-cooking man was but scantily supplied with starch, and such slender supply as he had could only be rendered accessible to the digestive juices by vigorous mastication, which broke up the indigestible cellulose framework in which all vegetable starch is contained; hence, until the young human cut his molars, he had little opportunity of securing any starch. These considerations strongly suggest the desirability of giving but small quantities of starch before the twelfth month, and though the facts, that ptyaline appears in the saliva about the time the first incisors are cut, and that pancreatic juice develops its amylolytic ferment at the same time, show that the digestive organs are ready for the reception of some starch at the seventh or eighth month, yet I believe the quantity should be strictly limited. I am ready to admit that the modern child may have, indeed probably has, a greater power of digesting starch than his remote pre-agricultural ancestor; but even so, I am convinced that we should be on our guard not to over-gorge infants with this substance. Only a small quantity should be given before the twelfth month, and it should be gradually increased up to the twentieth month.