New-York tribune., 1905-08-13


and slower rate. and the
brain never weighs more
than an two
more than it does the tenth birthday The arms and
especially the legs relatively TO the length OF the
trunk much shorter than they viii be The legs are
bent up at the thigh little like those of quadrupeds
There is special tendency TO bow-leggedness, and
to turn the soIes of the feet inward climbers have
to do The toes are flexible. and the creases on the
foot, too, suggest prehension The baby grasps
its cup by putting all the fingers into il and shutting
them upon the palm just as an ape does, and only
after the lapse OF months learns to oppose the
thumb to the fingers.
Altogether it is a curious little homunculus that
IS cast by angry waves upon the shores OF life and
only fond maternal love sees in the squlnt-eyed,
bow-legged, dear little monster all its intrIns.-
lOvencss and sometimes even II IS shocked 10
first and in morbid cases the first instinct OF the
mother is only one of dislson and aversion. There
is at first little but promise and potency, but the
gladness Of it all is of the chief JOYS Of life
The first teeth mark epoch. The new infant
of a few weeks Graves something hard 70 bite and
thus help along the process OF dentition- The
front teeth cutters or biters and suggest
certain diet and, therefore, mode OF life They
are serviceable in biting OF, but not in chewing.
and the whole intestinal tract is curlOuslv adapted
to swallowing things whole. | know mother vE1
recorded button, two bugs, a caterpillar. o.
small bullet and lump of coal as swallowed ~ her
child in a single day but all without injury. L.---
when the grinders come and food is maSticatri,
the digestive apparatus rapidly grows intoleranr
food that IS uncrushed. So here we have a remark
able adjustment of developmenta1 stages Taste and
smell are hard 10 study, but they develop slowly
Touch, the most extensive of all the senses
marks the skin the boundary between the ego
Id the non-ego Nj within it is a part OF the me
all without it belongs to the mot me" Al the
thousands of tact1le bodies that more widely
distributed the whole body later are present
in the newborn child, that its skin IS eXtrere.
sensitive. And vet strange to say. infants be--
some kinds OF invasion of the body with apparent.
no suffering, that would cause great pain to adults.
1t is singular how helpless the human infant Is
The chick the first hour of its life, walks. pcc.s
accurately at food and the young OF other anul..s
have high endowment at birth. The infant
soul, whatever that may be, seems AT first E,tle
more than a tabnlI rdSa. white piece OF paper
to be written on by experience. No creature Is
so helpless, and vet OF course none has such q lor
career OF development. Most high animals nee
only sixth, an eighth, perhaps a tenth. OF the
average life TO attain maturity. The infant rev+-
a third, or at least fourth. This proIongation
infancy has helped to develop parental sympa-.-
and love, and constitutes the unique possibility
educ@t1on. As man evolves this plastic stage E..
probably grow longer instead OF slortcr.
Then comes the marvel of learning to walls
Babies have many modes of creeping hitchiu-
rolling. 1t IS an epoch when the child first todd
step or two from its mothers knee TO a chair. TT.
IS often unconscious and ends in a tumble # -a.
child becomes conscious of what it Is do,--
To get on end and balance along from foot
to foot IS a far more difficult art than walk.-L
- on tall st1tS. or balancing a tight-rorc
When the child begins TO cruise about there