Besides these graver ailments which seldom appear until after the time of infancy has passed, there are others of a less serious nature which often show themselves within the first year of life. One of these consists in the formation beneath the skin of numerous small lumps of a rounded form, and of the size of a kidney-bean, slightly movable, and not tender. By degrees such lumps become adherent to the skin, the surface of which above them grows red, they project slightly above it, and at last open by a small circular aperture, discharge a little matter, and then subside. They collapse and disappear; a slight depression and a degree of lividity of the skin mark for a considerable time the situation they had occupied. I refer to them, because while they are a sign of a scrofulous constitution, which may require special care in diet and preparations of iron and cod-liver oil, they are best left absolutely alone--neither poulticed nor lanced. The same principle of non-intervention applies equally to the swellings which sometimes form on two or three of the fingers in infancy, not involving the joints but producing great thickening and a hard swelling around the bone. These swellings disappear by degrees as the constitutional vigour improves, and this is especially promoted by a long stay at the seaside; but they tend, if the health fails, to affect the bones themselves, and thus to occasion deformities of the hand. Glandular swelling, discharges from the ear, offensive secretion from the nose, and in female children, even of very tender age, a discharge of whites, are all common signs of a scrofulous constitution, and all tedious and troublesome. They all, however, are very much under the influence of judicious medical treatment. It must at the same time be borne in mind that none of these ailments admit of what may be called active treatment. There are no royal means of dispersing scrofulous glands, or of curing discharges from the ear, or of doing away with the offensive smell which in some cases proceeds from the nostrils. Fresh air, suitable diet, preparations of iron, residence at the seaside, and sea-bathing, measures directed to improve the general health, are of chief value, and without them local treatment is of small avail. A few words, however, may with propriety be added with reference to the local treatment of the minor ailments to which I have just referred. No local application is of use in the _scrofulous swellings of the fingers_. Tincture of iodine, indeed, may be painted over them when quite small, while at the same time the joints are kept quiet by a small gutta-percha splint. When they become considerable, iodine is useless; and even if matter forms in the swelling it is much better to let it make its way out by a small opening spontaneously than to make a puncture with a lancet, since the edges of the wound would not heal, and the risk of the disease affecting the bone would be increased.