The various theories that have been advanced with a view to reducing the size of the child are impracticable; some of them, rigidly carried out, would actually jeopardize the health of both beings. All of them are designed to make the infant's bones soft and to diminish the fat in its body. To this end, generally about two months before the expected date of birth, the mother's diet is arranged to consist chiefly of meat; and as far as possible she is denied candy, sweet desserts, soup, bread, cereals, vegetables, and water. Such a diet overlooks, among other things, the tremendous importance of liquids to the woman who is pregnant. Certainly its indiscriminate use would result in far more harm than good; and no one should adopt it without minute directions from a physician. Attempts to make the infant's bones soft by limiting the mother to food containing extremely small amounts of lime and other minerals are also unnatural, for we have learned that whenever the mother's food fails to contain the material the fetus requires the mother's tissues are called upon to supply it. Under these conditions, therefore, her bones will give up their lime. It is of the very first importance that the mother's nourishment be correct from the standpoint of her own requirements, and such treatment will also redound most beneficially to the child. She should never fall, however, into the error of over-eating, which will not benefit her and will cause unnecessary growth of the fetus. On the other hand, there can be no justification for measures that tend to weaken her. She may be careful, in other words, to avoid over- growth of the fetus, but should not adopt a diet so restricted as to interfere with normal development. So long as her health is successfully maintained, she may give herself no concern as to what the size of the child is likely to be. That is a detail which concerns her physician, and which will be observed by him several weeks before the expected date of birth. CHAPTER V THE CARE OF THE BODY The Bowels--The Kidneys--The Skin--Bathing--Douches--Clothing-- Corsets--The Breasts. If we stop to think it is only too apparent that the human body is a machine. We seize energy in one form and convert it into another, just as truly as do the windmill, the locomotive, and the dynamo. In the case of the human machine, the latent energy of the food is turned into the various activities of everyday life. Our bodies utilize their fuel more perfectly than any machine that man has invented; but they fail, nevertheless, to do so completely. And just as the efficiency of an engine cannot be maintained unless the smoke escapes and the ashes are raked away, so no human being can enjoy health unless his waste products are promptly removed. The task of removal, as most of us know, is assumed by our excretory organs, which include the bowels, the kidneys, the skin, and the lungs.