The maternal management of children, in health and diseaseBull, Thomas
Science
The maternal management of children, in health and disease
Bull, Thomas
Child care
It would seem almost unnecessary to say a word upon so self-evident a
truth, and yet perhaps the full extent of this statement is not
generally appreciated. It has not, perhaps, occurred to the minds of
all, that upon the right position and arrangement of the teeth the
beauty and expression of the countenance much depends. But so it is;
for however regular and perfect the general features, if the teeth are
irregular or deficient, an unpleasing expression, proportionate to the
extent of the displacement, is inevitably produced. Now every mother
should be alive to this fact, that she may early apply to the dentist
to have any error of the above nature rectified, before it is too late.
On their complete and entire state also depends the perfection of
utterance and articulation. The child, for instance, makes no attempt
at articulation until it has acquired several teeth; this faculty
becomes also exceedingly imperfect during the process of changing them;
from this time it continues to improve, until again it is permanently
impaired in old age, when they are finally lost. And so again, if a
child lose merely a single tooth from the front of its mouth, lisping
will result; or if a supernumerary or irregular tooth be present, the
articulation will be abrupt and imperfect:--the former plainly showing
the importance of the entireness of the series, and the latter, the
necessity of regularity in their arrangement and position.
The teeth, however, are chiefly important in relation to the part they
sustain in connection with digestion, viz. the mastication of the food.
By this act the food, after being received into the mouth, is mixed
with the saliva and broken down, till it becomes of an uniform pulpy
consistence, fit for being easily swallowed, and acted upon by the
gastric juice on its arrival in the stomach. That due mastication of
the food is essential to healthy digestion, which will be promoted or
retarded in exact proportion as it approaches or falls short of this
point, is a fact so generally known as scarcely to need comment.
Suffice it to add, that, if food be introduced into the stomach
unmasticated, the gastric juice will only act upon its surface; and
after a number of hours it will be either rejected by vomiting, or pass
on into the intestine, to give rise to cholic, bowel complaints, or
flatulence, and very frequently in children to a serious attack of
convulsions.
THEIR MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account