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together with the various kinds of farinaceous food, are the lightest on the stomach, as well as, generally, the most nutritious for an invalid. Milk preparations are useful when the lungs are weak. Food that the stomach can digest without distressing the patient is the kind that gives actual strength.

TO MAKE GRUEL. Mix a dessertspoonful of fine oatmeal or patent groats in two of cold water, add a pint of boiling water, and boil it ten minutes, keeping it stirred.

Or: Boil a quarter of a pint of groats in a quart of water for about two hours, and strain through a sieve.

Stir into the gruel a small piece of butter, and some sugar, nutmeg or ginger, grated; or, if it be not sweetened, add a small pinch of salt.

INDIAN MEAL GRUEL-Sift the Indian meal through a fine sieve; wet two spoonfuls of this meal with cold water, and beat it till there are no lumps; then stir it into a pint and a half of boiling water, and let it boil half an hour, stirring it all the time. Season it as liked best.

BARLEY GRUEL.-Wash four ounces of pearl barley, boil it in two quarts of water with a stick of cinnamon till reduced to a quart; strain and return it into the saucepan with sugar and three-fourths of a pint of port wine, or the same quantity of milk. Heat up, and use as wanted.

FLOUR CAUDLE.-Mix, smoothly, a tablespoonful of flour with a gill of water; set on the fire in a saucepan a gill of new milk, sweeten it, and when it boils add the flour and water; simmer and stir them together for a quarter of an hour.

WHITE CAUDLE.-Make the gruel as above, strain through a sieve, and stir it till cold. When to be used, >weeten it to taste, grate in some nutmeg, and add a little white wine; a little lemon-peel or juice is sometimes added.

The yolk of an egg, well beaten, may likewise be stirred in when the gruel is boiling.

MISCELLANEOUS.

To GLAZE OR VARNISH DRAWINGS.-One ounce of Canada balsam, two ounces of oil of turpentine, well dissolved. The drawing should be previously washed over with a solution of isinglass.

TO MAKE THE HANDS WHITE.-In order to preserve the hands soft and white, they should always be washed in warm water with fine soap, and carefully dried with a moderately coarse towel, being well rubbed every time to insure a brisk circulation, than which nothing can be more effectual in promoting a transparent and soft appearance. Almond paste is of use in preserving the delicacy of the hands. It is made thus: Blanch and beat up four ounces of bitter almonds; add to them three ounces of lemon-juice, three ounces of almond oil, and a little weak spirits of wine. The following is a serviceable pomade for rubbing the hands on retiring to rest: Take two ounces of sweet almonds, beat with three drachms of white wax, and three drachins of spermaceti; put up carefully in rose-water.

TO PRESERVE FURS.-When laying up muffs and tippets for the summer, if a tallow candle be placed on or near them, all danger of caterpillars will be obviated.

TO CHOOSE A CARPET.-Always select one the figures of which are small; for in this case the two webs in which the carpeting consists are always much closer

interwoven than in carpets where large figures upon ample grounds are represented.

HOW TO TOAST WELL.-Stir the fire until there is a clear, glowing surface, free from flame or smoke; cut the bread moderately thick, and do not hold it close to the bars, but at such a distance as to see it when it is beginning to burn; move it gently up and down until the whole surface is a clear uniform brown; when thoroughly toasted, serve it up as quickly as possible before it has time to cool.

The

To PREVENT INK FROM DAMAGING STEEL PENS.Throw, either into the inkstand or the bottle in which the ink is kept, a few nails, broken bits of steel pens (not varnished), or any piece of iron not rusted corrosive action of the acid contained in the ink is expended on the iron introduced, and which is soon covered, by the decomposition of the sulphate of copper, with the coppery hue observable on metallic pens used with common ink. The ink will not now affect the pen; or, should it still do so, it will only be necessary to add more iron, and the mischief will be entirely remedied.

TO MAKE CEMENT FOR METALS.-Take of gum mastich ten grains, rectified spirits of wine two drachms, add two ounces of strong isinglass glue made with brandy, and ten grains of true gum ammoniac. Dissolve all together, and keep it stopped in a phial. When intended to be used, set it in warm water.

MAKING VINEGAR.-To eight gallons of clear rain water, add three quarts of molasses, put it into a good cask, shake well a few times, then add two or three spoonfuls of good yeast cakes. If in summer, place the cask in the sun; if in winter, near the chimney, where it may be waim. In ten or fifteen days, add to the liquid a sheet of brown paper, torn in strips, dipped in molasses, and good vinegar will be produced. The paper will, in this way, form what is called the "mother," or life of vinegar.

BLING FOR CLOTHES.-Take one ounce of soft Prussian blue, powder it; and put it into a bottle with one quart of clear rain water, and add a quarter of an ounce of oxalic acid (powdered); a teaspoonful is sufficient for a large washing.

DELICIOUS TOASTED CHEFSE.-Cut two ounces of cheese into thin slices, put it into a saucepan, set it on the fire, and add one gill of fresh milk; simmer it till the cheese is quite dissolved, then take it from the fire and pour it into a shallow dish; when cooled a little, add the yolk of an egg well beaten. Then place it before the fire, and brown it nicely.

YELLOW BUTTER IN WINTER.-Put in yolks of eggs just before the butter comes near the termination of the churning. This has been repeatedly tried, and makes very fine, sweet butter.

FURNITURE PASTE.-Take two ounces of beeswax, two ounces of turpentine, and a quarter of an ounce of linseed oil. Melt them together in a slow oven, in a gallipot. It may be made red (if required) by steeping a little alkanet-root in the turpentine previous to melting the wax in it.

TO MAKE ROSE LOZENGES.-To a pound of finely-sifted loaf-sugar, put an ounce of powdered gum-Arabie; mix it into a stiff paste with rose-water, and grind up with the paste a little of the conserve of roses, which gives both flavor and color; punch the mass into round or oval lozenges, each containing about fifteen grains, and dry them in a stove.

Editors' Table.

THE GOOD TIME COMING: COME! Strength and honor are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.-PROVERBS, Chap. xxxi.

We began to illustrate the motto by citing examples of what women, in this Nineteenth Century, were, in Christian lands, encouraged to do, and what generous support good men were giving to the education of their daughters and sisters. We found, however, that our dissertation would be too long to allow of the familiar introduction to our readers of one of the most charming feminine writers of the day. Have you ever heard of Madame De Gasparin, a French lady of uncommon genius and true piety? A simple picture of life from her last book* (which British critics eulogize) will be the best way of showing how the development of woman's mind is showing the true strength and honor of her soul and causing her to rejoice, because her power for good is now widely diffused, and beginning to be so tenderly acknowledged and cherished by good men. Our own creed on these subjects is well known to our readers: that the BIBLE is woman's MAGNA CHARTA; the only guarantee of her rights, and the only expositor of her duties; that under its teachings men learn to honor her; that wherever its doctrines are believed and obeyed, her influence gains power; and that all human good is founded in goodness.

Perhaps, however, few would expect to find, in the work of a French lady, these sentiments so charmingly expressed and so persuasively illustrated, that the Sketches have all the fascination of an entertaining novel united with the heavenly wisdom of the Gospel. We give one glimpse of this charming book.

MARIETTA.

"So you will not come and see Marietta? She understands French, and then you would be giving her so much pleasure!"

Thus spoke Master Schimp. Master Schimp was a shoemaker, settled in the little German town held in charge by the old General, where I had gone with the Baroness. Master Schimp had brought home my shoes. He sometimes made shoes for me; when finished he brought them home, and when he brought them, he sat down, and when he sat down he never knew when to get up again! He was a hale, thick-set man of seventy, as wrinkled as an ancient banner, with a tangled shock of hair, small, clear gray eyes, a flexible mouth, a comfortable opinion of himself, and the best heart in the world.

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And who was Marietta? An invalid cousin, whom, with her sister, he had taken to live with him. And Marietta, be she who or what she might be, saved me. I blessed her, and putting on my bonnet, drew a long relieved breath and said, "We will go." Even Master Schimp, who was not easily impressed, seemed struck with my sudden energy.

A few steps brought us to his small, neat dwelling, colored with the peculiar spinach green the Germans are so fond of. Its windows shone and sparkled with cleanliness; on one side of the door was the shop where he kept his men at work. A pleasant-looking, middleaged woman, Marietta's sister, who was standing on the door-step, moved aside to let us pass. I followed him, and as he led the way through a dark passage he said"So you do not know Marietta? Well, then, you have something curious to see."

He opened the door, and as the light streamed into the passage, I saw indeed something which seemed rather to spring than rise out of a chair, and come forward to meet us. I stopped short, and but for one of Master Schimp's keen glances, I think I should have screamed. How shall I describe this something, this poor, strangely deformed creature, three feet at most in height, with a head so out of all just proportion as to recall the pasteboard monstrosities that milliners used as blocks; her hands, in the absence of arins, sticking out of her shoulders, more like fins it seemed to me than hands; without legs, almost without feet-a maillot set upright on earth! And yet this lived; it spoke; it had a soul: even now it was coloring deeply.

Master Schimp, who had meant to produce a strong effect, looked just a little remorseful at the extent of his This soon passed, and a few laughing words with Marietta set him at ease.

success.

"No fear, cousin; 'a friend,' as one says to the patrol. Come now, we are going to have a little French." And Master Schimp began to exhibit his prodigy.

He recounted how he had brought Marietta to live with him, how he had taught her first to read and write in German, then in French; how he had followed this up with arithmetic, the two grammars, geography and history; how Marietta had taught herself knitting, embroidering, and all varieties of needlework; while he showed me her copy-books, and drew a crochet collar out of the poor girl's work-basket. Marietta, at first painfully embarrassed, began to be more at her ease. She looked at her cousin with mild eyes so full of gratitude and affection, of deep respect, of implicit confidence, that they seemed able to take in no other object.

I, too, had regained my self-possession, and ventured to look again at Marietta, and again I was shocked; so

pitiable, so appalling was this malformation, that the heart knew not what to make of it. It was a contradiction, an impossibility, one's innate sense of fitness seemed outraged by such a strange freak on the part of Nature; and when I remembered that Nature was but another word for the Creator, and that this deplorable travesty had been permitted, a wherefore of fearful import arose in my mind. It came there-and was gone like a flash; another look and the dark surmise passed away forever. This poor head could boast of its abundant hair, of fine eyes, and of regular features, but these were not the charm; it was the tender, inexpressible charm of its expression; in the joy, the peace, the purity that spoke there with such sweet simplicity-the soul looking forth so clearly, that one forgot whether the body was there

or not.

After the first embarrassment of my introduction was over, Marietta talked to me without constraint; her voice had a youthful, touching toue in it that went straight to my heart. Master Schimp was called away, and the expression of her eyes changed a little; they seemed to send forth a dimmer light, as a lamp does after it has been let down.

46 My cousin is so kind," she exclaimed, with animation; "so very kind; he spoils me," she added, with a smile. "He thinks I know everything, when I scarcely know anything at all. And everything is his doing; he has been both father and mother to me."

Her eyes filled, and I saw, too, that her heart was very full. After a short silence she went on, as if in answer to my unspoken thought

"I am happy; the Lord Jesus has loved me-a poor little creature like me" (this was the only allusion she made to her infirmities); "my cousin loves me too; my sister and everybody; the day is not long, and in the evenings we read together and are very happy." "You go out sometimes?"

"Not now; my cousin had a little carriage made which he used to draw, but since a very serious illness I have not been able to bear the movement of the wheels "

"And you will sometimes wish for a sight of the country?"

Marietta colored slightly. "Once I used, but not now. I look elsewhere." Then, after a short silence and because she saw ine look sorrowful, she added: "There are flowers in Paradise!"

Yes, I thought-and a glorified body; but this I did not say to her.

She had lived, it was evident, in an atmosphere of kindness, and having never been exposed to those collisions that wound the heart, just when it is seeking to expand, she expressed her feelings artlessly, and just as they arose.

"My greatest sorrow is that I am ungrateful. Yes," she continued, not quite understanding my look of surprise, "you would not have believed it of me, and yet it is 80. There are times when I am so cast down; everything seems so dark, and my heart is so heavy. Then I could gladly cry; but this never lasts long, and God forgives me for it. He has forgiven me all."

She began to tell me how she spent her time. Her cousin had so stored her mind with knowledge, had so built up her life in the strength of practical faith, that in neither was there room left for despair; and this poor being, disinherited even of the outward semblance of humanity, had gone on her way unchallenged by any of those desolating problems which pierce through the bones and marrow, and make the knees of the strong to bow under them.

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The door burst suddenly open. Six rosy, curly little girls, basket on arm, rushed in tumultuously, and flew to Marietta, almost overwhelming her with kisses. Now it was that her face lightened up in earnest, and her smile grew heavenly.

"I teach them to read and work," she said.

It was worth something to see the happy, self-important look of the little things as they placed themselves on each side of Marietta.

I left her, and, as I went into the shop, met Master Schimp, green shade, spectacles, and snuff-box. "Well?" he said.

I could not speak, but pressed his hands within my

own.

"She is my child," he said, in a subdued tone. Master Schimp, you are a great man; and Thou, my God, art the great God of heaven and earth!

Said we not truly that the Bible is woman's Magna Charta? What would have been the fate of poor Marietta in a heathen age or heathen land? And Master Schimp, the real nobleman of the Nineteenth Century, how could he ever have become "a great man" but through and by the Gospel that has made him woman's friend and a good Christian?

YOUNG LADIES' MUTUAL IMPROVEMENT SOCIETY. An excellent plan of mental improvement has lately been originated in England. As we hope to induce many of our American young ladies to follow this good example of employing wisely their leisure time, we will give the English editor's remarks, and the Rules of the Sciety:

"Fifteen young ladies, residing in the country, having formed themselves into a society, bearing the above name, have kindly forwarded to us the rules for its regulation.

The advantages to be derived from the frequent use of the intellectual faculties are very great; and when it is considered that a woman of information makes a more agreeable companion, and is on more equal terms with her husband, as a wife, and also becomes a better instructor for her children, and when it is probable that unused faculties may perhaps be classed in the same category as the talent hidden in the napkin,' it behoves every girl to let no rust accumulate where brightness only should scintillate-to do her best to use the gifts of appreciation, discrimination, and observation, with which she is endowed, to let no talent lie idle, to know that she is sent into the world to do God's work, that the sin of idleness is the great sin of omission, and that opportunities neglected are good seeds annihilated. Once reflecting on this, she would surely do her best to become a true woman, lightening the path of duty by good sense and good counsel, shining as a bright example to those around her, and leading her children by progressive steps to a higher and higher knowledge of God's works and ways. In the hope that many other young ladies may be induced to follow the example set, the Rules of the Society are given for their guidance.

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Rule I. The number of members shall not exceed Afteen.

Rule II. Each member of the sisterhood, in her turn, is to propose a question to the other members.

Rule III. The question is to be chosen from one of the specified subjects in regular rotation. Thus, if the first member takes the subject for August, the second member must take the subject for September.

Rule IV. The questions must not be useless or controversial, but of a kind respecting which information may be obtained from books in general use.

Rule V. The manuscript must not exceed twenty-four half sheets of ordinary sized note-paper; must be written on one side of the paper only. The ink must be black, and the writing plain and legible. The sheets must be paged, also be attached together at the left hand corner with a needle and strong cotton. Two or three blank sheets are to be added, so that members may have an opportunity of writing their remarks upon the subject. The whole is to be inclosed in a thick paper cover before sending it to the members.

Rule VI. The authorities which have been consulted must be given at the end of the manuscript; also the writer's name and address in full.

Rule VII. The proposer shall, on receiving the answers to the questions, choose the one she considers the best, and forward it to the first name on the list of members, after that of the writer of the accepted article.

Rule IX. Each member shall in her turn forward the manuscript to the next in succession on the list, before the expiration of two days from the time of its receipt. When all the members have read it, the last to whom it Is sent shall return it to the author.

Rule X. Any ladies wishing to join the society, or if any members be desirous of leaving, they are requested to communicate with the secretary in writing; and, in the latter case, to return their copies of the rules."

TRUTH.

"What is Truth?" inquired Pilate.

Florence Nightingale gives it as her opinion that "to speak the truth" is a very difficult thing; probably kuowing the truth would be more difficult. She says: Courts of justice seem to think that anybody can speak the whole truth and nothing but the truth,' if he docs but intend it. It requires many faculties combined of observation and memory to speak the whole truth,' and to say nothing but the truth.'

"I knows I fibs dreadful; but believe me, Miss, I never finds out I have fibbed until they tells me so,' was a remark actually made. It is also one of more extended application than most people have the least idea of. Copeu: repce of testimony, which is often adduced as

final proof, may prove nothing more, as is well known to those accustomed to deal with the unobservant imaginative, than that one person has told his story a great many times. I have heard thirteen persons 'concur' in declaring that a fourteenth, who had never left his bed, went to a distant chapel every moruing.

"I have heard persons in perfect good faith declare, that a man came to dine every day at the house where they lived, who had never dined there at all; that a person had never taken the sacrament, by whose side Such inthey had twice, at least, knelt in communion. stances might be multiplied ad înfinitum, if necessary." OBSERVATION.-Miss Nightingale has some very pithy remarks on the deficiency of English women in ready and sound observation. She thinks their faculties are good, but need better training. As examples of the heedlessness of English women, she says

"I remember, when a child, hearing the story of an accident, related by some one who sent two girls to fetch a 'bottle of sal volatile from her room. Mary could not stir,' she said; Fanny ran and fetched a bottle that was not sal volatile, and was not in my room.'"

Now this sort of thing pursues every one through life. A woman is asked to fetch a large new bound red book, lying on the table by the window, and she fetches five small, old boarded brown books, lying on the shelf by the fire. And this perhaps though she has "put that room to rights" every day for a month, and must have observed the books every day lying in the same places for a month-if she had any observation. Miss Nightingale says truly that "these mistakes arise from 1st. A want of ready attention; only one part of the request is heard at all. 2d. A want of the habit of observation."

These two habits or faculties-attention and observation-should be early cultivated in girls as well as boys, and also careful attention to the accuracy of description.

WOMEN'S UNION MISSION SOCIETY OF AMERICA FOR HEATHEN LANDS.-We hope to have many contributions, like the one we now record, to publish during the present year. Every name sent us adds a friend to the good cause; every dollar given strengthens our plan and enlarges the limits of our charity.

From the Frankfort Baptist Juvenile Society, for the Tounghoo Mission, by the hand of Wm. L. Price, $10.

Miss S. J. HALE'S BOARDING AND DAY SCHOOL FOR YOUNG LADIES, 1826 Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia. This school is designed to give a thorough and liberal English education, to furnish the best facilities for aequiring the French language, and the best instruction in music and the other accomplishments. The moral training and the health and physical development of the scholars are carefully attended to.

References: Mrs. Emma Willard, Troy, N. Y.; Henry Vethake, LL.D., Wm. B. Stevens, D. D., Wm. H. Ashhurst, Esq., Louis A. Godey, Esq., Philadelphia; Charles Hodge, D. D., Princeton, N. J.; and others.

TO OUR CORRESPONDENTS.-These articles are accepted, and will appear as soon as we have room: "Two Sonnets". -"A little child shall lead them"-"Call me thine own"-"Illume my path, O Lord"-" Vesper" (the prose article declined)-"The Dream"-"What is Life?"— "The Glass on the Wall"-"Peace, be Still"-" Beneath the Pines"-"The Winds"-"Scarlet Poppies"-"Twilight Thoughts" (the other poem not wanted, we have a large supply)-and "Market Day to a Stranger."

We must decline the following: "National Song""There's much in the world to live for" (the other poems not wanted; the writer can do better)-" A pensive Ode"-"Little pet"-" An Indian Melody"-"Noonday Reveries"-"Watcher"-"Sabbath at Sea"-" Leviathans in Literature" (not original)-"Everybody""Songs for Summer Evenings"-"The War is over"The Quiet Woman"-"The Dawn of Hope"-" My Aunt's Lover"-" The Pestilence that walketh in darkness"-"Believe in my love"-"Self-respect"-"Song of Love"-"The Unquiet Heart”—and "Inequalities in Nature."

We have several long articles on hand to examine next month.

"My Early Home" has a few stanzas worth preserv ing; the young writer has poetic feelings, and, by earnest study and careful correction, may yet become a poetess.

My early home was mild and fair,
Its summer skies were blue,
A balmy fragrance filled the air,
And warbling music too;

A velvet lawn lay fair and bright
Before my young bewildered sight.

In winter when the fields were bare,
And little streams were still,
When frost hung on the evening air,
And all was cold and chill,
My wandering ear with rapture heard
The chirping of the sweet snow bird.
My early home! though distant still
My feet are doomed to roam,
My heart recalls each sloping hill
That peers above thy dome;
And memory fondly travels o'er

Sweet scenes mine eyes may see no more.

Health Department.

BY JNO. STAINBACK WILSON, M. D.

INFLAMMATORY CROUP.-This is one of the most formidable and dangerous diseases to which children are exposed. And yet, as it is generally amenable even to domestic treatment in its early stages, and as it is very important that it should be recognized in its first approaches, we will endeavor to give a plain and pretty full description of its nature, symptoms, and treatment. Causes. On this point we will only remark that the immediate exciting causes seem to be cold and damp, insufficient clothing, and especially exposure of the arms, legs, and feet; and changes of the weather. But there can be no doubt that there is a peculiar predisposition to this disease, either inherited or acquired, which renders some children liable to attacks from the slightest causes. This predisposition may be said to exist only in infancy and childhood; being in greatest force up to the age of five years, and ceasing in the vast majority of cases before the age of fifteen. These facts will doubtless afford great comfort to mothers who are so unfortunate as to have children who are subject to frequent attacks of such a dangerous and distressing dis

ease.

Nature and Symptoms.-True inflammatory croup is an inflammation of the mucous membrane lining the windpipe and the larynx, or funnel-shaped expansion of the windpipe which opens into the throat. The great

danger in this disease is from the formation of a false membrane over the affected parts, thus causing death by strangulation, or for want of breath.

The symptoms of croup are commonly divided into three classes, or stages; and it is important to notice these divisions, as they have much to do with the treatment. 1st. We have the premonitory stage. 2d. The confirmed. And 3d. The collapsed stage, or stage of threatened suffocation.

The premonitory symptoms are those of a common cold, such as slight fever, thirst, cough, hoarseness, wheezing, drowsiness, watery eyes, and running at the nose. In some cases the child clutches or rubs the throat, and there is slight hesitation in swallowing. On examination of the inside of the throat, no redness will be seen, unless the disease should be complicated with ordinary sore-throat. In the majority of cases, more or less of these premonitory symptoms will usher in au attack of croup. But it should be remembered that some cases come on suddenly, most commonly in the night, without any premonition sufficient to attract attention. This, however, is much oftener true of spasmodic or false croup, than of true inflammatory croup. Mothers who are on the look-out for the latter variety will generally have timely warning of its dreaded approach.

After the continuance of the premonitory symptoms for twenty-four or thirty-six hours, the second or confirmed stage sets in. The child awakes suddenly, and almost invariably at night, with a most distressing sensation of impending suffocation, attended by a peculiar sharp, dry, ringing brassy cough, as if the cough were made through a brazen or metallic tube. The breathing is hurried, he has an alarmed restless look, wants to sit up or get out of bed, his face is full and flushed, and his eyes are watery and bloodshot. Each inspiration or drawing in of the breath is accompanied by a characteristic crowing noise. The cough and breathing in croup are so very peculiar that they can always be recognized immediately when once heard; and one cough is generally sufficient to indicate the difficulty to mothers who have heard it before. The above symptoms continue through the night, unless they are relieved by medicine. But often towards morning there is a marked remission; the little sufferer sleeps and appears to be better. This state of things may continue until the next evening or night, when the disease will set in with renewed intensity. In severe cases, the morning remission is only transitory, and the distressing symptoms continue through the day, becoming more and more urgent as night approaches.

The other symptoms of the second stage may be summed up thus: High fever, a quick and hard pulse, great thirst and restlessness, clutching at the throat, whispering voice, furred tongue, dry ringing cough, and a dusky livid appearance of the face.

In the third or collapsed stage, most of these symptoms are aggravated; the cough is more difficult, the voice is lost, the noisy breathing is continuous, there is drowsiness with starting fits, the skin becomes cold and clammy, the pulse grows quick and weak, the eyes are dull and sunken, and the countenance is expressive of the greatest distress. After thus struggling in intolerable agony for about twelve or eighteen hours, the little sufferer sinks in death with convulsive movements. dies mainly for want of breath. How distressing! We have been thus particular in giving the symptoms of this dreadful disease, not because it is very difficult to distinguish, but that mothers may see the great import

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