losing his activity and appetite, looking serious and pensive, without being able to assign any reason for it; when days pass over in the same condition without his complaining of any pains, but getting more sullen or morose, looking pale and languid, anxiety appearing on his face, seeking for rest, leaning on the objects around him, taking all sorts of awkward positions, and seeming to crawl rather than to walk, you have the forerunners of deformity. If, then, immediate means are not adopted you soon see what is called a shoulder growing out—the head projecting forward, stooping of the body, standing on one leg, &c. When this second set of symptoms appears, depend upon it that the spine is already crooked. It generally happens that the first stage of deformity is only detected some years after its origin, and when the curve has attained a certain degree. Then the pressure which takes place causes the deformity to increase with great rapidity, the organs are in danger of injury, and unless immediate measures are adopted the consequences may be fatal."[1]
Another injurious result of the poking forward of the head, is the contraction of the trachea or
- ↑ "Dr. Caplin's Lectures on Deformities of the Spine," 1849.
