Evening star., 1934-07-16
CR|PPLES TREATED
BY OLD PRINCIPLE
krchimedeS Discovered Fact
Which Aides IN Curing
Paralysis Victims.

NEW YORK New York City chill
drsn suffering from tho after effects
81 infantilc paralysis. have been re-
cciwnF hydruRymnastic treatment
in the hospital pools Of tbe city Tor
several wears The results have been
80 encouraging that thr Community
Councils. of which John Kirkland
Clark IS president and The works
division Of the Department q Public
Welfare, In charge Of Miss Grace
Gosselin deputy administrator plan
70 extend this treatment under the
same medical supervision To other
pools beginning with the one At
Christadora House
Dr. d X Hanson. IN charge Of
hydruFymnastics at the Hospital 0f
the RuptUred and Crippled and also
o. keW York Hospital In tho ncW
medical center Of Cornell University.
Ssys that the under water exercises
ere based on the Archlmedcs principle
81 buoyanCy This is the principle
that BODY submerged IN water viii
lose as much weight as the weight Of
the displaced water
But hydrogen nastiCs IS tho FIRST
practical application OF this physical
law in therapeutic II has taken
more than 1000 years To apply il.
despite the fact that people must have
noticed, through the centuries. how
much easier Il was to move about in
the water than out OF II.
Gravity Force Counteracted.
The action OF gravity on the body
also Is different IN and out OF the
water a person lying fiat on his back
on a table tout Of the water can per-
form only two types OF movements
He can get of the table OF he can
slide along the table BY overcoming
its friction Submerged in water he
can move his limbs IN all directions.
The resistance is about equal in ali
planes II one lower extremity is TO
be treated in the water. ii will en-
counter almost the same resistance
whether moved downward. upward or
kideward. This means. says DR.. Han
son, that the eXtensors, flexorS. abb
ductors, adductors and internal and
external rotators OF the hip can be
exercised and graded against an equal
resistance.
Since most movements consist Of
leverage action, some point Of hxation
Is necessary Thus. when the lower
extremitieS are exercised. the trunk
must be fixed, and when the upper
extremities are treated, the shoulder
Rirdle must be fixed. Therefore. in
all pools used for hydrogymnastics
there is a ramp or steps in the wall of
the DOol IN afford 5Xatiop
Cold water cannot be used for hy-
drogymnastics. 1t shortens the time
passed in the pool Then. children
sensitive to low temperature and
with infantile paralysis are victims
develop nephritis If the body is chilled.
Hydrogymnastics combine two of
the oldest forms OF therapeutics
water and exercise. Hippocrates, who
died in $40 BIC. and who was called
the father of European medicine, laid
stress in his teachings upon the value
Of hydrotherapy. dydrogymnaStics de-
mands, however, thorough knoWl-
edge of anatomy and modern anatomy
began with the hand drawings of
Leonardo da Vinci, who died in 1910
AID.
Must Know Muscle Functions.
The teChnician in the pools who
uses hydrogymnastics with the patients
must be master Of this science of
anatomy, must know exactly what
each muscles duty would be under
the body's normal condition and must
be able to assist the patient in bring
ing this weakened muscle back to its
normal function.
Since II is only in warm water that
the paralyzed muscles relax. the tenn
perature of these pools must be around
90 degrees Fahrenheit At the Hospi-
tai OF the Ruptured and Crippled the
pool is built high If the child is un-
able To walk he is put on stretcher
which is first placed under a shower
and then lowered into the pool. A
ramp built of tiling along the side has
steps leading to the bottom. where the
boy or girl can rest on a low table
covered with rubber, with a rubber
brick TO support the head. The
therapist sits in the pool and helps
the child exercise the muscles which
DO not work properly, Extended from
the ceiling is an iron framework over
AAAN RNbA ~ AAbAl tAlt puIltNS WHICH
the children use who are strong
enough for this kind of exercise. After
leaving the pool each child lies for
= short time under the ultro-violet
rays Of lamp
At the United Israel Zion Hospital
in Brooklyn the pool was opened for
the use of paralytics Immediately
after the epidemic OF 1881 1t has
received more than 5000 patients. in
cluding adults as well as children
At this hospital pool there are
floating baskets to hold the children
who cannot stand up in the water.
The children sit in them and kick
their legs. as they could never do
outside the water, while the tech
nlctan sits beside them to give mas
sage or help them manipulate a