838. _Food._--The proper food for children is a subject of more importance. That which nature has provided is the milk of its parent; but, when this is lacking, a preparation formed of cow's milk and water, with a little loaf sugar, in the following proportions, supplies the desideratum:--Take of fresh cow's milk, one table-spoonful; hot water, two table-spoonfuls; loaf sugar, as much as may be agreeable. Such nourishment will alone be sufficient for its support, until the end of the first three months. At this period, it may require a small portion of light animal food, of which, how to select the most nutritious, to regulate the quantity, and to administer it, after proper intervals, must depend on the experience of the nurse. Experience is often superseded by convenience: if the child cries, the nurse attributes it to a want of food, and, by her agency, it is fed almost every hour, both night and day. It is seldom that a child cries from abstinence, if it be healthy and free from pain. In the infantile state, the powers of the digestive organs are much weaker than at a more advanced period of life; and therefore, although the food is more simple, it requires an interval of some hours to convert it into chyle: if this process be interrupted by frequent feeding, the chyle will be crude, and pass off without affording due nourishment to the child. Sickness in children arises from the quality or quantity of their food, unduly administered. The food for children should be light and simple--gruel alone, or mixed with cow's milk; mutton broth, or beef tea; stale bread, rusks, or biscuits, boiled in water to a proper consistence, and a little sugar added. The great mortality of children in large towns, may be attributed to the poverty of their parents, who cannot purchase the necessary food or clothing, nor find leisure to attend to cleanliness, air, and exercise, so indispensably necessary to the well-being of their offspring. In the wealthy ranks of society, these means are easily obtained; and in the management of their children, we have only to dread the abuse of these advantages. Happy would it be both for rich and poor, if the superfluities of the one could be transferred for the benefit of the other. When six months old, a child may be fed every four hours, when awake. Nothing can be more injurious to health than too frequent or irregular meals. Children, if left to themselves, soon acquire the habit of passing through the night without being fed.