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ONE TO TWELVE YEARS.
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are free. The weight of the clothes is not supported on the clavicle, but upon the upper part of the arm itself, pinioning it to the side, and render­ing it impossible to lift the hands above the head; and this inconvenience is increased by the dress not being sufficiently long in the side seam from the arm-pit to the waist. The sleeves are also invariably made too long on the shoulder and too tight in the arm-holes, causing the shoulders to become unnaturally large and heavy, while the arms and hands are prevented from receiving their proper nutriment. As the child grows the bones increase in size and weight, their nutrition being independent of motion; not so, however, with the muscles, which must be constantly kept in action to secure their due development. As will be at once seen, this action cannot be attained under the process of pinioning; the muscles will not grow in proportion to the bones, and will therefore soon become incapable of sustaining their weight. The girl, of course, stoops forward, the clavicles are bent, the scapulæ stick out, and the tops of the dress and the whole of the under-clothing coming underneath their points, lift them up and retain them in their unnatural position. Many parents have their children's dresses made so loose as to permit of the passage of the hand round the waist, between the body and the clothing, not remembering that without some point of support the clothes would fall off; but if the clothing were so con­structed as to take the outline of the body, and the material suited to the age of the child, the weight of the upper part bearing on the shoul­der, and the skirt on the hip, we should have the weight of the clothing distributed over the whole of the body, and not upon points only, while the bones and muscles would grow together in equal proportion. The following evils are occasioned by neglect of these precautions: Crane neck; round, protruding, and raised shoulders—one higher than the other; head twisted to one side to preserve the centre of gravity; double lateral curvature of the spine and distortion of pelvis; compres­sion of the chest, with its concomitants, difficult breathing, constipated bowels, flushings of the face, red nose, and cutaneous eruptions. Strange that due allowance is not made by parents in estimating the relative muscular power of themselves and their children! It cannot be from ignorance, as nobody would start a two-year old colt for a race with a weight on his back equal to that carried by a full-grown horse, but would apportion the burden to his size and strength. Why should not