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Croup-Catarrhal croup is one of the most alarming diseases of childhood, but it is practically never fatal. It is believed that children with enlarged tonsils and adenoids are more subject to it than others. The onset is very sudden. The child goes to bed apparently in good health and wakens a few hours later with a hoarse metallic cough most alarming to mothers and loud, difficult breathing.

The baby should be taken up and warmly wrapped. The room should be made very warm and a kettle of water set to boil.

If the house is piped with water the hot water may be turned on in the bathroom or kitchen, all the doors and windows closed and the hot, moist atmosphere will soon cause the paroxysm to relax.

If kettles of water must be used, the steam will be more effective if confined under a tent made from a large umbrella or a sheet thrown over the crib. A gas or alcohol stove may be used to keep the kettle boiling. There is a "croup kettle" on the market which is very convenient.

When the attack is over all damp clothing should be removed and the room very gradually cooled. The child being kept warmly covered. Children who show a croupy tendency should be invigorated by much out-of-door life, nutritious food, daily cold sponging over the neck and throat and should be examined for adenoids.

Cold in the Head (Coryza)-This ailment is particularly annoying to babies, because the obstruction of the nasal passages, making breathing difficult, greatly interferes with the ease of nurs. ing. Serious complications may also follow a bad cold. These include bronchitis, pneumonia, tonsilitis, and abscess of the middle ear.

A cold is a germ disease and very contagious.

As far as possible, babies should be kept away from those suffering with this trouble, as it may be conveyed by a cough or a sneeze from the person affected. When a mother has a cold she should avoid kissing the baby or breath

ing directly in his face or using her handkerchief in his care. A nursing mother who has a cold should cover her nose and mouth with a thin gauze or veil while the baby is at her breast.

Paper napkins which may be purchased for a few cents a hundred, are a great resource at such a time, as they may be freely used and then burned. If the baby becomes infected, a few drops of albolene placed in each nostril by means of a medicine dropper will relieve the baby very much.

Babies

The bowels should be kept open, and if there is fever the food should be reduced. Keep the baby in a room the temperature of which does not vary greatly during the twenty-four hours. but provide plenty of fresh air. who live out of doors, who are fed properly and not too heavily dressed, are much less liable to colds than others. It is wise to keep careful watch over a baby thus affected, as certain contagious diseases appear first as a cold in the head.

Prickly Heat-This disease is due to the heat of summer, or to unduly heavy underclothing. It manifests itself in a fine red rash which comes when the baby is overheated and fades away under cooler conditions. The rash often shows itself first on the back of the neck and spreads over the head and shoulders. It is a very annoying trouble and makes the baby fretful and restless.

If the rash appears, in cold weather, the baby is too warmly dressed. Heavy flannels are to be avoided, and a thin cotton or silk garment should be worn! next to the skin. When it is caused by summer heat, the baby should be made as cool as possible, dressed in the thinnest clothing, and frequently bathed in cool water. Soap should never be used on an inflamed skin, but a starch, bran or soda bath will help to relieve the intense itching. Ointments are not so soothing in this condition as powders. A satisfactory powder is made by mixing one ounce each of powdered starch and powdered oxide of zinc with 60 grains of boric acid. Any druggist will make this up, and it should be used freely over the inflamed spots.

(To be continued in December Issue.)