“There is no greater error in the management of children than that of giving them animal diet too early in life. To feed an infant with animal food before it has teeth for masticating it, shews a total disregard to the plain indications of Nature in withholding such teeth till the system requires their assistance in masticating solid food. Before that period, milk, farinaceous food, and broth, afford that kind of sustenance which is best suited to the digestive organs, and to the nourishment of the system. The method of grating and pounding meat as a substitute for chewing, may be well suited to the toothless octogenarian, whose stomach is capable of digesting it; but the stomach of the young child is not adapted to the digestion of such food, and will be disordered by it. When the child has the means of masticating, a little animal food may be allowed, but it should be of the lightest quality, and given on alternate days only; and even then its effects should be watched, for all changes in the regimen of children should be gradual. “The frequent origin of scrofulous disease in defective nourishment has led to the opposite extreme, and children who are disposed to tuberculous disease are too often subjected to a system of over-feeding which induces the disease it is intended to prevent. By persevering in the use of an overstimulating diet, the digestive organs become irritated, and the various secretions immediately connected with digestion are diminished, especially the biliary secretion; at least the sensible qualities of the bile enable us to observe it best. Constipation of the bowels soon follows; congestion of the hepatic and abdominal veins succeeds, and is followed by the train of consequences which have already been detailed. It would be well if the advocates of the system of high feeding, would bear in mind the salutary adage, _corpora impura quo plus nutries, eo magis lædis_.”[48] In proportion as the organization becomes developed, and strength, activity, and aptitude for abundant exercise increase, a larger allowance of plain animal food becomes essential to health. The instruments of mastication are now fully adequate to their office, and the stomach is no longer oppressed by the effort of digesting it. To make it safe, however, even at that age, ample exercise and exposure to the open air are indispensable. By undue confinement to the house or to school, and deficient exposure to the air, a degree of general delicacy is kept up which is incompatible with the daily use of a stimulant animal diet. The waste occasioned by the bodily action is too limited to require the copious supply of any very nutritious substances, and if these be freely allowed, they serve only to oppress the digestive functions and impair the health.