door.  Suddenly it is all over, and inexorable routine sends him off to bed.  The good nurse will give the child a little time to recover from the shock of her arrival, and will not hurry him.  She knows that his little mind is slow to act, and that he must be led gradually to face a new prospect.  If she hurries him, catching him up in her arms from the midst of his unfinished pursuits, resistance and tears are almost sure to follow, and the difficult task of the day—­the putting to bed—­has made the worst possible start.  When this has happened on one or two successive evenings, the habit of resistance to going to bed becomes fixed, and, like all bad habits, is difficult to break.  A nurse who has a way with children will arouse his interest in a new pursuit, in which he can play the chief part, the putting away of his picture books and toys.  If he is too small to carry his own chair or table to its allotted place in the room, at least he can show his learning by pointing out the spot.  In the waving of good-byes he is expert and takes a legitimate pride, and upstairs he has learnt that there are new delights.  He himself can turn on the taps in the bathroom, and he can set every article in the proper place ready for use.  All children love their bath, and if interest and good temper has been so far preserved, without a break, it will be ill-fortune if even the drying process is not carried off without a hitch.  Afterwards, for a little, nervous babies, whose brains still teem with all the excitements of the day, are best left to sit for a few moments by the nursery fire, while the nurse puts all the garments one by one to bed.  Each as it goes to rest will be greeted by him with cheerful farewells; and so does the force of suggestion act, till the central figure himself plays his part in the scene, of which he feels himself the controller and director, and climbs to bed.  But if there has been a hitch anywhere, if the bugbear of negativism has appeared, if he has been scolded or coaxed or repressed too much and there have been tears and struggles, then going to bed is a poor preparation for instant and quiet sleep.

With excitable, highly-strung children, the best laid plans and the most tactful nurse will not always succeed, and to place him in his cot is to provoke a storm of angry refusal and resistance.  There are mothers who believe that the best way is then to turn out the light and leave the child to cry himself to sleep.  This is a point on which no one can lay down rules which are applicable for all children.  It may sometimes succeed, and the child may reason correctly and in the way we wish him to reason, deciding that the game is not worth the candle and so give it up.  But with nervous, highly-strung children I doubt if this Spartan conduct is commonly successful.  Often if the attempt is made, the troubled mother, listening to all these heart-breaking sobs, can bear it no longer, and goes back to the side of the cot to soothe and