The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1897-07-03
EXERCISE FOR BABY.
A PHYSICIANS VIEWS ON THIS VERY
IMPORTANT QUESTION.

Freedom OF Movement.
"%Infautilc Athletics wa the subject
Of o paper read at a meeting Of the sec
ton On pedia.rics of the New York
Academy of Medicine by DR.. Hear-T
Ling Taylor.
when one considers the important
physiological effects Of muscular activ-
ity,' said DR.. Taylor, sit is apparent
that the human organism is imperfeetly
adapted to q sluggish or seGentary ex-
istencr. Medical practice, at least IL
the cities. is largely Elade up of disor-
ders which arc distinctly traceable to
the neglect CT proper exercise. Print
tive man, being obliged to hunt and
fight in order to exist, vas OF necessity
athletic, and now that the struggle has
III q measure been shifted from Drawn
to brain, mel still find it advantageous
to train their muscles in sports and
games. When the important relation of
muscular activity to nutrition, rcspira-
ton, circulation and elimination is re-
called, this wholesome instinct easily
1iAtAo ltS s1iltBiNINitu. LfSIy Hsti1UI
mass is in an important sense a supple
mentsry heart and a supplementary
kidney. The lungs are never thorough
" ventilated, except through vigorous
exercise. Moreover, the nervous and
muscular elements are so intimately
related rs to form practically but one
system. Education and progress come
through motor and seDsory experience
that is, largely through muscular activ-
ity. Growth itself is Influenced by exer-
else.
"Dr. Ell. g. Boyer Of the United States
Naval academy has shown that not only
do those cadets who take systematic
gymnastic 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 Is to Fl
years, and 1t is probable that ~approp1i-
ate exercise would have similar if not
greater effect IL chiluren.
1T is even moro true Of the infant
than of the adult that the kind and &C.
gree of habitual muscular activity VIII
largely determine the structure Of the
body and the tone of the mind and char
acter. 1t is more true because the in
FAINT is more incomplete and more plas.
tic. The newborn babe is, as it 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. 1t is not without significance
that exercise is begun five months or
more before birth, and that the infant
appears upon the scene with a kick ard
a cry. Though among the most helpless
of natures children, the infant comes
with considerable training and some re-
markable muscular endowments, as, for
instance, the well known ability to sup
port itself by grasping a horizontal rod.
In waking hours the small limbs prac-
tice constant and vigorous movements,
specifically aimed, but important in
producing tissue changes fundamental
to nutrition, as we'll as in furnishing
sensory and motor experience necessary
to mental and bodily growth, develop
ment and power.
AT 3 moatks Of age the baby finds
its hands and begins to reach out for
and hold objects; at s or 9 months it
creeps; at 10 OF Il it walks, and so
progresses from simple to complex par-
posive movements and to such adjust
ments as put it 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 to avoid undue
interference or repression. 1t is interest
ing to observe what pains some uncivi-
LIKED 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 a mistaken notion
that the child is kept up all the
time. Every day the baby is bathed
and placed Gu a robe or blanket to kick
and crow to its hearts content, but
when the family cares call the mother
away he is put into the cradle, with his
arms free to 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 u overdraped,
o~vercoddled youngsters. Still, rough ex-
ercises are not required for civilized ba-
bies. They will attend to their own
gymnastics, if not prevented. It is evi-
dent that the movements of the trunk
and limbs should not be imipeded with
wrappings. Baby's activity should have
free play. At the start we are confront