Keep everything in its place, so that in an instant you can put your hand on it when required; have hot water, clean cups, spoons, and glasses, and well-aired body and bed linen always handy; let the air of the room be changed frequently; avoid all bad smells, or remove them as soon as possible; pay strict attention to the temperature of the chamber, and keep it as even as may be; and regulate the light with equal care. All food offered to invalids should be daintily prepared, and presented in the most careful manner. How often, when we have been longing for food, have we turned from it with disgust, because we had seen the nurse cool it with her breath, or taste it, and then drop the spoon back into it, and present it to us! Nor is it well to inquire of invalids what shall be got for them. If they express a wish for some particular thing, well and good, let it be got for them, if reasonable; but a trifling delicacy unexpectedly brought, will often tempt the appetite; besides, a sick person, or even a convalescent, is often too languid to be at the trouble of thinking about eating, and would sooner go without; or, if he or she chooses something, it may be the very thing which would be improper or prejudicial, and then comes disappointment, and a species of disgust of all else, for in illness the appetite is ever capricious. Nowhere is cleanliness of such paramount importance as in the sick-room. Do not let us be misunderstood here. We do not mean that an immensity of sweeping, scouring, and dusting is to be done, but simply that the chamber must be kept clean and ventilated, that the bed and body linen must be changed often enough to refresh without fatiguing the patient, and that the air must be purified by means of vinegar, or other disinfectants. As there are so many kinds of illness, no general rules can be laid down, and our friend, common sense, must be allowed to be the special adviser. In one case body and mind may be paralysed by weakness or languor; in another the body may be agonised, and yet the mind clear and active; while in a third the body may be sane, the mind insane. Hence no one who is a mere machine, guided by certain rules, can be a good and efficient nurse; no one who does not study how to minister to the mind as well as the body, who will not endeavour, to a certain extent, to identify herself with the tastes, feelings, and even prejudices of the patient, can be really useful. What we have hitherto said applies chiefly to adult patients; to nurse a sick child may seem a far easier task, but is not so. What gentleness, firmness, playfulness, and, above all, what patience is needed in the sick chamber of a child!—for in time of illness, a child is doubly a child, almost a baby again.