Care of infants and young children / [A. Dingwall Fordyce].

  • Fordyce, Alexander Dingwall
Date:
1911
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Care of infants and young children / [A. Dingwall Fordyce]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    15/192 (page 3)
    or abdomen. While his head is large, his face is comparatively small (see fig. 1, page 4). He has rather short arms and legs which are in frequent motion when he is awake. He cries a good deal, but sleeps most of his time. A good deal can be learned from a baby’s cry. If he is obviously acutely ill, a long, clear cry shews there is no serious disease in his throat or lungs. On the other hand, if his cry is very short, it is quite likely that his chest is affected. If his cry is loud and clear, comes in paroxysms, occurs sometimes with sudden waking from sleep, and always with drawing up of the legs on the abdomen, there is probably acute disturbance in the abdomen. In chronic illness and weakly babies the cry is usually weak and pitiful, but sometimes it is shrill and rather piercing. A healthy baby cries from temper, from a sense of uneasiness—such as dampness—from thirst, and from hunger. He can usually be quietened temporarily by a drink of milk, but should not be so treated unless it is meal-time. He usually weighs at birth about lbs., and measures about 19 inches in length. There are, how- ever, wide differences in the figures among healthy babies. Most of his time is spent in sleeping—lie sleeps about twenty hours out of every twenty-four.