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92
The Science of Dress.
[CHAP. VI.

most dangerous. The hands should be placed on each side of the chest below the armpits to lift the little ones.

When they are just able to walk, the manner in which children are dragged along in the street by one arm is extremely reprehensible. As the grown person walking with the child is so much taller than it, even if no force is put on the arm, it is fatiguing to keep it held up; and if one arm is always held, that shoulder may become higher than the other, and lateral curvature of the spine take place. Hence every now and then the hand should be changed, which will be a relief, not only to the child, but also to the nurse or mother. A better plan still is to have a set of toy harness, and hold the child by the reins, as the arms are not then dragged upon, but it is kept from running away and getting into mischief or danger.

Children are sometimes so roughly dragged across a crowded road that the arm is dislocated at the shoulder; they should be carried across, if too young to walk properly.

When they are able to walk and run, they should be allowed to do so, and should rather be encouraged to talk and laugh and shout during exercise, than scolded for it, for their lungs, as well as their muscles, will benefit by being freely brought into action.

Parents and nurses are too apt to applaud and encourage what they consider a decorous gait in their children. They like to see them walking quietly along, holding each other by the hand,