A bed-patient is a person who lies and thinks. What, and how, does he think? First, negatively; nearly all his thought is of a negative type. He thinks perhaps that he is not any good, never will be any good. Other people do not understand how sick he is. He is not getting the right treatment. He might have been up before this had not such and such things been insisted upon.

The very first thing to do for this patient is to throw the switch over to the positive. Give positive proof that he is some good; that he can increase this measure of good from day to day. What indications can be given to a patient which show that others do understand how sick he is? First, personal attention, devoting time to him. Introduce occupation as a treatment.

The first aim in occupational treatment is to direct thought into wholesome channels.

A group of four young boys were chafing in a hospital ward. One had a badly burned back, which hurt. Another had a septic hand, entirely out of commission. Another was a hernia case, and the last dismally awaiting operation. Boys, will you stuff an elephant for the show?" "Sure, we'll stuff an elephant, bring him on!" A gray plush elephant, cut out and stitched, four pieces of dowel to brace his legs, a bunch of Red Cross pillows (rejected of men) filled with nice, clean white clippings prepared by zealous women, were turned over to the boys. Not only an elephant but a big, tawny camel, a fine black, curly dog and a little brown, trick spaniel, went to this group. The black dog was pinned to the robe of the onehand patient and the boys all fell to work

"I'll

with a will. When the class period was over four boys had done a good two hour's work. The animals were nearly done but needed a little more stuffing. leave you enough to finish them with. Keep it all on a newspaper. Don't let it get spilled. We'll put on the ears and tails tomorrow," said the instructor. She left the ward and then, after doing a good half day's work, these four patients. rose supremely to the normal. They seized that nice clean stuffing and pelted one another with it. another with it. Nothing slow about a hospital that day. Next period found four fine animals standing above the boys' heads and an irate head-nurse. "This ward looks like a hen-house," she snapped. "We had to sweep twice." Surely, her neat, morgue-like row of patients had suffered change. Far more living, she found it hard to rejoice in their resurrection.

A few words. now regarding this questionable" occupation for bed-patients. tients. It requires a good deal of time to prepare the animals. They will usually have to be cut, basted, and stitched before being given the patient. Few can be trusted to cut, very few could baste, and no bed-patient could stitch unless provided with a hand-sewing machine and taught carefully. Now it is a fact that grown men are greatly attracted by this work. The flattest and weakest can stuff a rabbit. It is usually necessary to line all animals given to men to stuff for they develop terrific "punch" in the doing. The products, being first the man, and next his beast, can be said to be truly gratifying. As far as market value goes these toy-animals rank high. Anywhere from fifty cents to ten dollars.

This has been a year of riots. Many desperate rioters have been brought into our hospital wards. These men are splendid stuffers. For example, a husky man with his hip shot to pieces by a State Guardsman, while attempting burglary, turned out an expert. Guarded by police he spent his time stuffing all manner of animals. He was a desperado and at first his whole thought lay on murdering his antagonist. This thought was suddenly switched over to stuffing monkeys; and such monkeys! He was charmed, eager as a child. His work was worth much money. It turned out that an illegitimate child was in his mind, and the best of his products were spirited away to this child. Entering the long ward late one afternoon the instructor saw a veritable old Sinbad, all tatoo and wrinkles, sitting and wrinkles, sitting dejectedly on the side of his bed, wrapped

in a blanket. "Want a job?" No

ma'am, I ain't feelin' well in my mind. I am goin' to be operated on pretty soon now." Being herself a surgical nurse, the teacher knew fairly well that no operation would be done at that late hour; that soon a tray would come up for the famished and worried man, and that the miserable preparation would be in line for another day. A sailor, she thought, possibly a bit superstitious. "Did you know it was good luck to have a cat come to you before an operation?" "Is that so," he cried, "bring her in, I'll try her!" A gray velvet cat was produced and the old salt fell to work. "Algiers," he muttered,

man

seen plenty o' these there, and in Malta too." Next period found the old after operation, smiling, with the Maltese cat on his bed. "She brought me luck!" he called. 'Nobody can't never get her away from me. away from me. Wherever I go, she goes too!" When he was discharged he went rolling down the ward carrying his cat in triumph.

A group of children convalescing from pneumonia and empyema were set to weave baskets. The work bothered them. Too many sticks, too much counting, things got mixed. One child was sensible enough to rebel and pitch the whole thing on the floor. The baskets were put away and white flannel ducks substituted. Joy radiated from the faces of the children as they received these peace-bringing birds. No more fussing. To stuff a lovely, fluffy duck, to see its eyes and legs and wings go on and its yellow bill! What treatment can compare with this? None of these children of from four to thirteen years of age had ever heard the story of

Noah's Ark." This can never be said again for each has had a part in the building and stocking thereof.

Is stuffing toy-animals a manly occupation for grown men? It is play; wholesome play. Is it not just as manly as ballplaying? It can readily be made a contest. It stimulates a study of living models; it gives large scope for either light or heavy muscle exercise. It directs man's thought to the pleasing of a little child: an altogether normal re-action.

a

Dance, dance, baby,

All the world is ours!

We may gaze at all the stars,

Smile at all the flowers:

All the birds are ours to feed,

And the sun's behind the showers

Dance, dance, baby,

All the world is ours!

O the nurse who loves children and who has trained her powers of imagination at all, the period of convalescence in a child patient is one to be welcomed. We have heard of and have met nurses who said they felt like a fish out of water when the acute illness was passed. They wanted to get away then and there to a fresh case where they felt there was real nursing to be done. They were fine at keeping a child from dying, but failures at making his life more enjoyable-better worth living for, him after they had saved it.

When the child must be kept in bed for sometimes weeks, and though weak, clamors for amusement constantly, the ingenuity of the best equipped nurse is apt to be taxed. No ordinary gift which a nurse can cultivate will find greater opportunities for its use than that of story-telling. The mother of the child may have quite decided ideas as to the kind of stories she does not want her child to hear, but barring all possible objections, there is a wide range from which story material may be gathered. The children's section of the public library will probably afford some help. One of the best volumes for this purpose is Journeys in Bookland. I have forgotten the author, but the book, I believe, is issued in two or three volumes, each having a collection of good stories which will delight the heart of a child. Fairy stories are often objected to by parents because they lead the child into an unreal world, but if pains are taken to impress on the child that these are not really truly happenings, but that fairies are makebelieve people, the child will not miss any of the real pleasure of the story.

The daily newspapers quite often carry short stories-good, bad and indifferentlabelled Bedtime Tales," or some such title. Some of them are the poorest sort

of drivel, but some of them are very good indeed. In this class, stories about animals predominate, and the characters of Johnny Chuck, Peter Rabbit, Sammy Jay, Mrs. Quack, Reddy Fox, Peter Cottontail, Buster Bear, Jerry Muskrat and a host of other inhabitants in the Green Forest, as described by Thornton Burgess, have not only afforded hours of pleasure to many thousands of children, but they have also served to give the child a very real knowledge of the habits of the animals, how they live, how they get their food, etc. The Old Mother West Wind series by the same author bring the child into the world in which all the familiar wood animals live, and also the frogs; fishes and birds, and few children tire of this kind of story. These stories also have the advantage of being written in conversational style, so that even if a nurse is not an expert story-teller she can get very satisfactory results by reading the story, interjecting her own comments as she goes along.

In convalescence, after the acute contagious diseases, only those inexpensive toys should be used which can be destroyed, and fortunately the cost of a toy tells nothing as to the pleasure it will give a child. A toy costing ten cents will often yield more pleasure to a child and be more appreciated than one that cost ten dollars.

If these puzzle pictures are not readily found, take a picture page from a dilapidated picture book, paste it on the cardboard procured from an old box, cut the picture into a variety of shaped bits, and you have the same idea. Old Christmas cards or pictures from calendars can be used in the same way, and children take to these puzzle games readily day after day.

When the child is able to sit up in a chair a long shallow pan filled with clean sand-an ordinary baking pan will do is one of the best playthings that can be readily found. Both small and large children will enjoy the sand games. Help the child to lay out a farm, using toothpicks for fences or small bits of wood. If the pan. is deep enough small clothespins may be used to make a zig zag fence. With some cedar or hemlock twigs a hedge or orchard is easily obtained, while from a few old artificial flowers from a last year's bonnet, a flower garden that will delight any small child can quickly be made to blossom out. A bit of old looking-glass or tinfoil makes a splendid pond for the animals to drink from, and the old Noah's ark will usually furnish enough farm animals to stock the place. Larger children can use the sand pan to lay out the city he lives in or a park which he is familiar with, marking the spots on which important buildings are located.

The instinct to impersonate different kinds of people seems to be born with every child. The child who does not want to be a farmer one day, a policeman the next, a fireman, a doctor, a florist, etc., is unusual. All these characters can be developed from ordinary materials. From small potatoes, too small to be cooked, a few toothpicks and a bit of colored chalk, a great variety of interesting things can be made and stories woven around them. From an old seed catalogue it is easy to cut out enough flowers. to start the young florist up in business. A policeman's outfit-cap made of cardboard, club, belt, etc., can be bought at the tencent store or a paper cap can be evolved at

home. A row of medicine bottles will either start a doctor up in business or furnish the children for a school. A doll made of a black stocking or a white one, stuffed, and named, can be made to develop all sorts of ailments and perform a very varied role before at the end of the sickness he is consigned to the fire. Almost any child likes the excitement of going travelling-getting ready to visit some far off friend, buying tickets, planning what to take, picturing the interesting folk he will meet on the way, buying presents for his friends at home, hurrying to catch the boat or train which is to bring him back, etc. He is pretty sure to be sleepy by the time he gets back home. A cigar box or a shoe box divided into compartments makes a good trunk.

Building a story scrap-book is worth trying. Get an old scribbling book for the foundation and decide who you are going to have the story about. A little boy and girl who start out to visit their aunt or grandmother can have all sorts of interesting adventures on the way. They may want to carry a basket of fruit and the first page will show their home, the basket of fruit, the little dog who goes with them and the boy and girl starting off. The next page they may meet some cows or sheep or a man in a motor may nearly run over them. In the following pages they may be shown wading in a brook, buying candy at a store along the way. Cats, squirrels, birds, etc., may be seen as they go along. They may stop to gather wild flowers, until finally in the last picture they find Grandma herself.

Getting medicine taken is often one of the difficult tasks for young nurses. Quite often it is a help to keep the child supplied with imaginary money under his pillow and make him pay for each dose as he gets it. Tablets may be bullets fired at an imaginary enemy. Germs that make children sick may be used as the enemy and the dose of medicine sent to drown him out. Rewards of one sort or another at the end of the day when medicine is taken without protest are

often a help. Almost any device that prevents an issue and the forcing of the child is useful. The likes and dislikes of the child are the best guide in such matters. Mr. Medicine may be made to perform a very varied role once he gets started.

A bowl of goldfish which the child is allowed to feed helps to brighten the days and the monotony. Such a convalescence, when a nurse is

vary

shut in for monotonous weeks with a child convalescing from scarlet fever, or with a tedious convalescence from any disease, is not a thing to be dreaded if a nurse has learned the art of improvising games and stories. She should leave such a case not worn out as after the excitement of the most acute stage, but rested in body and mind because for a time she shared the life and increased the joys of a little child.

My Dear Mother-O:

You wonder what we do all day. Well, here's Tuesday at the San. It is 40 below in this man's climate, but I am well enough to be out most of the time. Why not? An electric pad and hot pig keep a fellow as warm as toast. First thing in the morning, one hears old Dick lumbering around, closing windows, doctoring sick radiators, and warming up for breakfast. Brrrrrrr-, the morning air is good and crispy. One takes a hasty squint at our glorious hills and peaceful valleys, and hustles into a warm. dressing room. Morning toilet at this san begins with a cold chest bath, and very special attention to the mouth. Somehow, one is finally in trim for tray or dining room.

And

For breakfast this morning, fruit, cereal with real cream, sausage and toast. served HOT. Not like the old base hospital, I am here to tell you. This is all pretty soft, Mother-O-Mine. We have the best eats and the nicest nurses I ever saw. No offense meant in mentioning eats first. Soldiers always think of them first. Comes a half hour of rest while Friend Nurse picks up the trays. They have quite a system here. These folks know, to a crumb, what a fellow likes and

dislikes, and they watch the come backs, only mostly there aren't any. A wheeled cart stacks up the dishes and trays enroute, so none need be done in the serving room. Paper napkins go in one newspaper bag, and scraps in another, and are burned at once. They say that the waste is weighed and recorded every day, and that even the superintendent pokes around to see how things are eaten or wasted.

After the ceremony of the trays come temperatures, and a change of sputum cups. Newspaper squares are passed, and cups are wrapped within, so that the nurse need not touch the cup. Then the metal frame is dropped in some kind of disinfectant solution. At the head of our beds are hung paper napkins on a hook, and we place the soiled ones in another newspaper bag, pinned to the bed. These nurses are sharks. They can tell by the sound whether a fellow is covering his cough with a napkin. Every thing is so clean and so carefully planned, that no one is in danger of infection.

These nurses know a lot about Tb. There are some pretty sick old tops here, sick for months, and they will never be any better. They are so fussy and faultfinding, and the nurses are as patient with them as