The Croup is a complaint somewhat similar to the hooping-cough, and to which children _only_ are subject. There are two species of it, the one acute, the other chronic: neither of them often attack children so late as ten or twelve years of age; while they may seize infants newly weaned, and are then the most severe. The cause of this disease is a morbid secretion of thick mucus in the trachea (windpipe), adhering so firmly to its sides as to impede respiration. The quantity and thickness of mucus increasing, gradually lessens the diameter of the part, and if it effects this to a considerable degree, the disease must of necessity prove fatal. The symptoms by which croup is manifested, even to the most uninitiated in the duties of the sick-room, is the peculiar croaking noise made in respiration (from whence it takes its name); and when the disorder is light, there is but little apparent indisposition between the paroxysms, save a certain dulness, and a sense of fear in children of an age to express it. The fits frequently terminate by sneezing, coughing, or vomiting, and return without any regularity. It is attended with a sharp and shrill voice, and a flushed countenance, which grows livid during the paroxysms. A warm bath should immediately be administered, and an emetic given as soon as possible; say, ten drops of antimonial wine for a child three years of age, and repeated every quarter of an hour until effectual, and according to the age and strength of the patient; a blister should be applied across the throat, the sufferer being made to inhale the vapour of warm water with vinegar in it, and kept nearly upright in bed. A doctor should be procured as soon as possible; and, until his arrival, the foregoing directions may, in most cases, materially influence the physician’s proceedings, and often save life. Children liable to this disease should be warmly clad, wearing flannel next the skin, and an emetic given upon the earliest appearance of the attack; for remember, this disease requires prompt attention to save life. With care, children usually grow out of it; that is, the constitution will repel the attacks after the tenth or twelfth year. NETTLE RASH. This disease takes its name from its being attended by an eruption similar to what is produced by the stinging of nettles. The causes of this complaint are by no means obvious; but it seems to proceed either from the perspiration being checked, or from some irritating matter in the stomach. In all cases, there prevails considerable itching and some heat in the parts affected; and, in some constitutions, a slight degree of fever either precedes or attends the eruption. Its duration seldom exceeds three or four days. In some cases, Nettle Rash is accompanied with large wheals or bumps, which appear of a solid nature, without any cavity or head, containing either water or other fluid.