Those whose opportunities of observation have been extensive will agree with me in opinion, that nearly one-half of the deaths occurring during the first two years of existence are ascribable to mismanagement and to errors in diet. At birth the stomach is feeble and as yet unaccustomed to food. Its cravings are consequently easily satisfied, and frequently renewed. A healthy infant seeks the breast with avidity, but sucks little at a time. It leaves an interval for thoroughly digesting the little which it has swallowed; after which its appetite revives, and a fresh supply is demanded in language which no mother can misinterpret. During the first months, appetite ought to be the mother’s guide in offering the breast; and if she know how to read the expression of her infant aright, she will want no other. At that early age there ought to be no fixed time for giving nourishment. The stomach cannot be thus satisfied. In one child digestion may be slow, and the interval be consequently too short; in another it may be quick, and the interval too long. But the active call of the infant is a sign which needs never be mistaken, and none else ought to be listened to. Many mothers consider every expression of uneasiness as an indication of appetite, and whenever a child cries they offer it the breast again, although ten minutes may not have elapsed since its preceding repast. Nothing can be more injurious than this custom. It overloads and oppresses the stomach,--excites griping and bowel-complaints, restlessness and fever,--and not unfrequently leads to fatal disease in the brain. It does harm also by withdrawing the mother’s notice from the real source of uneasiness.