CHILDHOOD FROM A MEDICAL STANDPOINT. 725 



thougli often animated, and she would sit for hours on the floor 

 and amuse herself. She rarely cried, took her daily naps as a 

 matter of course, and slept quietly all night. Teething did not 

 annoy her, and, in spite of irregular feeding, her digestion was 

 good. 



The little boy refused to creep or sit on the floor at all, but 

 ran about incessantly. His movements, except locomotion, were 

 far less complicated and precise than those of his playmate. He 

 could not put the cup on the stick, though he tried repeatedly, 

 nor throw a ball nearly so well. He was incessantly and intensely 

 interested in the things he saw, but only fixed his attention on an 

 object for an instant. He had no initiative, and, as he was unable 

 to amuse himself, he was never left alone. He talked a great deal, 

 but not plainly, and understood nearly everything that was said to 

 him ; and it pleased him to mimic the little girl's ways and prattle. 

 He was very fond of having the piano played to him, and could 

 always distinguish the tunes he had heard a few times. He was 

 bright and intelligent, and, when feeling well, very good and hap- 

 py, but was a bad sleeper, and at times cross and fretful ; in spite 

 of scrupulous attention to diet, he was a martyr to indigestion, 

 and teething caused him much suffering. 



It is noticeable that many city children are thrown more 

 among adults and less with children than is desirable, partly from 

 the custom of relegating a large part of the parental responsibil- 

 ity to a nurse, partly from the small average number of children 

 in a family, and partly from the limiting conditions of city life, 

 which are somewhat unfavorable to real sociability. The chances 

 are that unless a child runs the streets he will see more of two or 

 three or half a dozen adults than of all the rest of the world put 

 together. This is abnormal and unwholesome, as it deprives the 

 child of the kind of mental stimulus and discipline suited to his 

 age, and substitutes something wholly inappropriate and harmful 

 in its tendency. When the school years come, the children have 

 companionship, at least in school hours, but also in many instances 

 an imperfect school hygiene, with its bad air, poor light, cramped 

 positions, and other drawbacks. Dr. C. F. Folsom says of city 

 school children: "Pale faces, languid work, poor appetite, dis- 

 turbed sleep, headache, and what is vaguely called nervousness, 

 are more common among them than they should be among chil- 

 dren of their ages," and speaks of " constitutions weakened during 

 the school years, instead of strengthened, as they should be." 



On account of lack of familiarity with country life, many city 

 children of the lower school grades, as shown by President G. 

 Stanley Hall, have the most extraordinarily distorted ideas about 

 the commonest natural objects and phenomena, and much of this 

 mass of misinformation remains in adult life. On the other hand, 



