246 On the Means generally used 



wrong ; — when a delicately formed girl is supposed to be sitting 

 erect, she is generally sitting crooked : to a superficial observer 

 she may appear quite straight ; but any one who will sit on a 

 music stool, and endeavour to keep his body in a perpendicular 

 line for ten minutes, will be convinced that it is difficult for 

 even a strong man to sit as long as a delicate girl is expected 

 to do, without allowing the spine to sink to one side or to fall 

 forwards. 



The attempt to sit erect beyond a certain time is injurious, 

 for although bending the spine occasionally is useful rather 

 than hurtful, yet when it is done involuntarily, and when the 

 bend is attempted to be concealed by an endeavour to keep the 

 head straight, there is danger of the spine becoming twisted. 

 Indeed, a double curve is generally the consequence ; there is 

 first a bend to one side, to give ease to the fatigued muscles ; 

 and then, to conceal this, there is a second curve that is neces- 

 sarily accompanied by a slight twist in the vertical line of the 

 whole column. 



The proposal to allow children to sit in a crooked or lounging 

 position seems to have been founded on the idea that all the 

 muscles are more relaxed in this way than even when the child 

 lies at full length on its back. This notion is certainly incor- 

 rect, and such a mode of sitting is injurious ; for even were the 

 muscles more relaxed by it, the bones and ligaments acquire 

 such a shape as necessarily produces distortion. 



It may naturally be asked how a girl should sit, since it 

 would appear, that whether she is in an erect or stooping pos- 

 ture, she is equally in danger of becoming crooked. As sitting, 

 in the manner generally recommended, afibrds little or no sup- 

 port to one who is weak, the safest answer would be, that a 

 delicate girl should not sit for even more than five or ten mi- 

 nutes without having some support to her back, and when she 

 is fatigued, that she should lie down or recline on a couch. 

 But as it would be very annoying to a girl not to be allowed to 

 sit up except for so short a time, and as a couch is not always 

 at hand, we must endeavour to show how a delicate girl may 

 remain in an upright posture for a reasonable time without 

 incurring any risk of becoming crooked. This leads to an 

 inquiry into the merits of the chairs which are at present gene- 

 rally used by children. 



