Strange that due allowance is not made by parents in estimating the relative muscular power of themselves and their children! It cannot be from ignorance, as nobody would start a two-year old colt for a race with a weight on his back equal to that carried by a full-grown horse, but would apportion the burden to his size and strength. Why should not 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
