The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1897-08-04
EXERCISE FOR BABY.
ApHYsicIAN's VIEWS ON THIS VERY
IMPORTANT QUESTION.

A PHYSICIANS VIEWS ON THIS VERY
IMPORTANT QUESTION.
Influence of Repressed Activity on fhe
Growth and Development of Infants
T1,,. Authority Declares Positively For
Freedom Of Movement.
"Iufantile Athletics" was the subject
If PAPER read at meeting OF the sec
tion ON pediasrics of the New York
Academy Of Medicine by DIR. Henry
Ling Taylor.
when one considers the important
physiological effects Of muscular actlv-
itv +" said DIR. Taylor, lit is apparent
that the human organism is imperfectly
adapted % a sluggish or sedentaIy ex-
istonoe Medical practice, at least III
the cities. is largely made up of disor-
ders which are distinctly traceable TO
the neglect of proper exercise. Primi-
tive man, being obliged 10 hunt and
fight in order TO exist, was Of necessity
athletic. and now that the struggle has
I'm a measure been shifted from Drawn
10 brain, men still find it advantageous
10 train their muscles in sports and
games. When the important relation Of
muscular activity 20 nutrition, resplra-
tion. circulation and elimination Is re-
called, this wholesome instinct easily
finds its yindication. Every muscular
mass is in an important sense a supple
mentary heart and a supplementary
kidney. The lungs are never thorough
ly ventilated, except through vigorous
exercise. Moreover, the nervous and
muscular elements are so intimately
related as to form practically but one
system. Education and progress come
through motor and sensory experience
that is. largely through muscular activ-
itv Growth itself Is influenced by exer-
else
DIR. Il q. Beyer of the United States
Naval academy has shown that not only
do those cadets who take systematic
Cvmnastic training largely exceed those
who do not in average gain IN weight
lung capacity and strength, but that
their average gain in height during the
four years is greater by over an inch
The cadets range IN age from 10 10 q
years, and 1t Is probable that approprl-
ate exercise would have similar If not
greater effect in children.
1T is even more true of the infant
than Of the adult that the kind and de-
gree of habitual muscular activity viii
largely determine the structure of the
body and the tone of the mind and char
acter II is more true because the in
FAINT is moro incomplete and more plas-
tic. The newborn babe is, as 1t were.
but half made. Its organs are imma-
ture, its activities restricted, and they
will never attain full and harmonious
development except under the stimulus
Of use IL is not without significance
that exercise is begun five months or
more before birth, and that the infant
appears upon the scene with kick and
CRY. Though among the most helpless
Of NATURES children, the infant comes
with considerable training and some re-
markablo muscular endowments, as, for
instance, the well known ability 10 sup
port itself ~ gTasping horizontal rod
In waking hours the small limbs prac-
tice constant and vigorous movements,
superfcially aimed, but important IN
producing tissue changes fundamental
20 nutrition, as well as in furnishing
sensary and motor experience necessary
20 mental and bodily growth, develop
ment and power.
AT months of age the baby finds
it, hands and begins 10 reach out for
and hold objects; at or months IT
creeps; at l2 or Il il walks, and so
progresses from simple 10 complex pur-
posive movements and TO such adjust
ments as put 1t in more comfortable and
intimate relation with its surroundings
''Since the infant has such ample en-
dowments and spontaneous impulses to
wholesome activity, our first and most
important care must be 70 avoid undue
interference or repression. 1t is interest
ing TO observe what pains some uncivi-
lized mothers take that the wrappings
and appliances needful TO protect the
baby shall not prevent freedom of move
ment In describing Indian infancy and
the use Of the portable cradle Mrs.
Fletcher SAYS: 1t is mistaken notion
that the child is kept up all the
time Every day the baby is bathed
and placed on a robe or blanket 10 kick
and crow to its hearts content, but
when the family cares call the mother
away he is pat into the cradle, with his
arms free 70 play with the many bright
beads that hang from the hook which
encircles the head of this little portable
bed.
What a refreshing contrast TO the
insipid experiences of our oyerdraped,
overcoddled youngsters Still, rough ex-
ercises are not required for civilized ba-
bies They will attend to their own
gymnastics, f not prevented. Ii is evi-
dent that the movements Of the trunk
and limbs should not be impeded with
wrappings Baby's activity should have
free play. Al the start we are confront
ed with the conventional bellyband; if
tightly adjusted, it must exert injuri
ons pressure; if too loosely adjusted, il
gets displaced and rolls into a contract
ing string. When adjusted with prop
er degree of snugness, it may be innocu-
Gus, but do its benefits outweigh its dis
advantages? The clothing should be
loose and simple. fitting in successive
layers. so that all can be put ON at once
when it comes 20 artificial exercises
for the baby, there ara few prevalent
among Us that seem calculated 10 help
him Monotonous jarring, shaking and
tpotting are undesirable, if not harmful
When the idea is once grasped that a
good, hearty cry is an admirable chest
expander, there is less temptation to
this form of parental indulgence. for il
viii usually be found tina; the baby is
iroited for the sake of the trotter rather
than for its owE Peevishness is of
course Undesirable. If due 70 indigestion
or other physical ailments, the baby
should be treated, if complicated by
overindulgence, the treatment should
be tempered with discipline which
should not stop with the child
Two Prom One Leaves One
Two boys Were sitting Oh their door
Itep, with their states and pencils in
their hands. One said 70 the other:
Two from one leaves one, doesn't
it?''
Yes" T" replied the other.
A gentleman passing by heard them
n<d said.