Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 3, 1802).djvu/294

272] NUR supplied with new substince : in a .similar manner, wounds heal sponLiueou-sly ; and such persorfs as are em;iciatsd or exhaasted, again t>;rov plump, p.nu even be- come lusty. — :See Digestion and Food. NURSE, a woman who pro- •fesses to rear young children, or to attend sick persons. The duties incumbent on nurses, whether intended for the manage- ment of infants, or of ptiticnts, are equally important. Hence the ut- mo.st precaution is requisite to se- lect such as are cleantif, in good health, and uncontaminated by any latent disease, especially if they be destined to suckle children : for, it is a melancholy truth, that the hopes of m:?ny families have sunk into an early grave, after they had intrusted tiieir offspring to nurses, who were tainted with the scurvy, or other fatal disorder. Such A'igi- lance, therefore, ought not to be relaxed, even though proper per- sons have been procured 3 because there arc maiT}-, who, from sellish and superstitious motives, will not hesitate to use the most hurtful means of lulling the child to sleep : thus, the innocent babe is early inured to the taste oi spirits, which it retains even at a maturer age, and insensibly becomes the most detestable of characters, a drunk- ard. To prevent these and similar abuses, we would seriously advise all parents to visit their children, not merely on Sundays, but as often as their time will permit on other days of the week ; as these unexpected calls will enable them easily to ascertain, either the pro- priety, or mal-praifices, in the ( onduA of those jjersons to whom they may have coramiLtcd the care of tiicir children. NUR With respeft to sick-?iurses, te ca:nnot omit to ol)serve, that they ought to be cleanly, and warmly clad. If they are obliged to attend their patients during the night, it would be advisable (especially in dangerous cases, and where the e.Kpences can be afforded) always to employ two nurses, so that the one may relieve the other; and the afflicted may receive that prompt attention, which many of those mercenary hirelings unwillingly bestow. Indolence ar^d slight, however, are not the only evils, to which the unresisting {xttient is of- ten doomed to submit. During tiiedestruftive plague, which de.po- pulattd this metropolis iu the reign of Chakles II. the merciless mis- creants who had the charge of the infefted, not only plundered them while expiring, but even termi- nated their existence by violence, and had the audacity to attribute their decease to the malignance of the distemper J- The mind shudders with horrdr at the recolleftion of such atrocious crimts, and is tempted to hope, for the sake of humanity, that such outcasts of society no longer exist, But, alas ! instances have repeat- edly and lately occurred, in which the cap has been removed, and a better one substituted ; nay, the rings Were torn out of the patient's ears, while in the agonies of death. The finest linen has been found on the bed, damp and uii-aired, being the nurse's perquisite, when her hapless vidiim is no more ; and other cruelties have been commit- ted, the enumeration of which would shock the feelings of the most phlegmatic reader. Although it is painful to record atrocities which degrade human nature, yet they cannot be tqa ge- nerally