Remember it is absolutely necessary to every child from his earliest babyhood to have a bath, to be immersed every morning of his life in the water. This advice, unless in cases of severe illness, admits of no exception. Water to the body—to the whole body—is a necessity of life, of health, and of happiness; it wards off disease, it braces the nerves, it hardens the frame, it is the finest tonic in the world. Oh, if every mother would follow to the very letter this advice, how much misery, how much ill health, might then be averted! MANAGEMENT OF THE NAVEL. 13. _Should the navel-string be wrapped in_ SINGED _rag_? There is nothing better than a piece of fine old linen rag, _unsinged_; when singed, it frequently irritates the infant’s skin. 14. _How ought the navel-string to be wrapped in the rag?_ Take a piece of soft linen rag, about three inches wide and four inches long, and wrap it neatly round the navel-string, in the same manner you would around a cut finger, and then, to keep on the rag, tie it with a few rounds of whity-brown thread. The navel-string thus covered should, pointing upward, be placed on the belly of the child, and must be secured in its place by means of a flannel belly-band. 15. _If, after the navel-string has been secured, bleeding should (in the absence of the medical man) occur, how must it be restrained?_ The nurse or the attendant ought immediately to take off the rag, and tightly, with a ligature composed of four or five whity-brown threads, retie the navel-string; and to make assurance doubly sure, after once tying it, she should pass the threads a second time around the navel-string and tie it again; and after carefully ascertaining that it no longer bleeds, fasten it up in the rag as before. Bleeding of the navel-string rarely occurs, yet if it should do so—the medical man not being at hand—the child’s after-health, or even his life, may, if the above directions be not adopted, be endangered. 16. _When does the navel-string separate from the child?_ From five days to a week after birth; in some cases not until ten days or a fortnight, or even, in rare cases, not until three weeks. 17. _If the navel-string does not at the end of a week come away, ought any means to be used to cause the separation?_ Certainly not; it ought always to be allowed to drop off, which, when in a fit state, it will readily do. Meddling with the navel-string has frequently cost the babe a great deal of suffering, and in some cases even his life. 18. _The navel is sometimes a little sore after the navel-string comes away; what ought then to be done?_ A little simple cerate should be spread on lint, and be applied every morning to the part affected; and a white-bread poultice, every night, until it be quite healed. 19. _What are the causes of a rupture of the navel? What ought to be done? Can it be cured?_