“Soothing Sirups” for Babies
THE dire effect of the so-called “soothing sirups” upon thousands of little innocent babies can scarcely be imagined. The awful crime of Herod, who slew the little children of Bethlehem, shrinks into insignificance when compared with the evil wrought by these drugs upon the infants of our land in every single year. The essential ingredient of these sirups is some form of opium, to which children are especially susceptible. “Soothing sirups” do indeed soothe the restless, suffering babe; not by removing the cause of pain and healing the disease, but simply and solely by deadening the nerves and benumbing the delicate cells of the brain. Harm is done to the stomach and other digestive organs, and not infrequently permanent injury results. Sometimes the helpless babe is soothed into the stillness of death, as happened in a case some time ago, when a mother unwittingly poisoned her child with “soothing sirup.”—Selected.