The volatile oils play an important part in accidental poisoning in childhood, as can be seen from the figures quoted in a recent review (Craig and Fraser, 1953). The purpose of the present paper is to draw attention to the dangers of this form of poisoning, on which the recent literature is scanty, to suggest measures for its treatment and control, and to consider any points which may be applicable to the wider field of poisoning as a whole.Craig and Fraser showed that, of 502 cases of accidental poisoning in childhood which had occurred in Edinburgh and Aberdeen between 1931 and 1951, the common toxic agents were volatile oils in 74 cases, household disinfectants in 39, barbiturates in 36, kerosene in 31 and iron in 24. The group of acids and alkalies caused only 11 cases. Of 454 deaths from accidental poisoning in childhood which had occurred in Britain during a similar period, 54 were caused by the volatile oils, the next commonest being strychnine in 41, acids and alkalies in 39, iron in 31 and disinfectants in 28. Only 10 deaths were due to barbiturate poisoning. That the volatile oils should top both the morbidity and mortality figures is surprising, considering the relatively slight attention which has been paid to this group.AThe 74 cases seen in hospital were made up of cam-phor 29, turpentine 25, sassafras 5, eucalyptus 4, methyl salicylate (oil of wintergreen) 3, others 8. The 54 deaths were due to methyl salicylate 36, camphor 12. turpentine 2, eucalyptus 1, others 3. MaterialThe present paper is based on the 74 cases of poisoning mentioned above. In 24 of these the records are either missing or so exiguous that analysis is unwarranted. The remaining 50 cases are otherwise unselected. Many of them are mild, but even these can contribute information on such points as the mode of ingestion and the first aid that was carried out.

The purpose of this study was to examine the infant bed-sharing practices of mothers from the birth of the infant to three months of age. The study was a longitudinal descriptive design using a self-report instrument immediately after delivery with follow-up phone interviews at one and three months after discharge. While no mothers intended to bed-share with their infants immediately after delivery, 60 percent reported bed-sharing at some time at one month after discharge and 9 percent at three months. Only 19 percent of mothers reported receiving information about infant sleeping practices from their physician and 22 percent from their nurse. One month post discharge was identified as a high-risk period for infant bed-sharing. Interventions aimed at teaching new mothers about responding to infant cues and ways to manage a fussy infant may minimize the rate of bed-sharing.

Holliday (1958). Winters (1959) has made a particular study of the metabolic changes, and Tschetter (1963) has written a valuable review of the whole subject. Aspirin deaths continue. What is more, they are increasing.The unheeded warnings of the past have appeared mainly in specialist journals, and the present mortality justifies a paper available to the profession as a whole and particularly to general practitioners and, through them, to parents and pharmacists.The present paper attempts to discover why aspirin deaths occur. The clinical manifestations of aspirin-poisoning areconsidered in detail, but the treatment in hospital is given only in outline. Material and MethodIn studying the national mortality the Returns of the Registrars-General for England and Wales, and for Scotland, were used up to the year 1962, the latest year available.Continuity was maintained and the clinical element introduced by a study of cases admitted with aspirin-poisoning to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Glasgow, from January 1963 to April 1965, and

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