Page:HealtBeautyMadameCaplin - 18.png

children be treated in a similarly sensible manner? This would cer­tainly be the case if parents would abandon the habit of considering those things trifles which do not produce immediate deformity, forgetful that "trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle." In most cases of spinal deviation it will be found that the column yields on the right side, and the cause of this may be traced to a very early period. In infancy the child is taught to use the right hand in preference to the left; and when it can sit at table and use a knife and fork and spoon, it is corrected should it attempt to cut its meat with the left hand, or to employ it in raising the food to its lips. Now, in order to produce equilibrium of the body the muscles of both sides should receive an equal amount of exercise, and this can be accomplished by teaching the child to use both hands indiscriminately, which it would soon do with perfect facility. As the child grows up the right foot will always accompany the right hand, as may be seen by watching it pick a pin from the ground. The right foot will be advanced, the right arm stretched forward, and in stooping the body will be twisted, and the whole of its weight thrown upon the right leg. When fatigued with long standing it naturally rests itself on this side, the weight falling on the right foot, which loses its arched form and becomes elongated, while the length of the limb is sensibly diminished. I have seen cases in which the right leg has become much shorter than the left, entirely from persistence in this inelegant habit. A short time ago a child was brought to me whose foot was quite flattened, every vestige of its arches having been destroyed; and although not strictly ­within the sphere of my practice, I consented, at the entreaty of the mother, who is one of my patronesses, to try if the foot could be re­stored to its proper shape. A shoemaker was sent for to measure it for a pair of boots, and we purposely let him take the length of the left foot first. On proposing that he should try the right also, he said it was unnecessary, as one measure would do for both; but we persisted, and he found, to his surprise, that the right foot was fully half an inch longer than the other. On placing my finger under the sale of the foot, and pressing upwards, the arched form was restored, and the foot reduced to the same length as its fellow. Proper means were adopted, the child is now rapidly improving, and, I have no doubt, will ultimately recover. So much for the good that may be effected by the study of a simple law of mechanics.