SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF THE CHILD. 



767 



2. How to clothe it, having regard to chmate. 



3. What amount of sleep does it require at different periods ? 



4. How to form correct habits in the child, what tendencies to 



check, and what to encourage. 



5. What is the nature of the mental and physical growth of 



the child 1 



6. At what age should it go to school? 



7. What should the child be taught, and what methods should 



be employed? 



8. What are the periods in the development of the child, and 



what should be the treatment of it by the parent and 

 educator during these periods ? 



9. How is its moral character best developed? — What are the 



characteristic differences between girls and boys, and in 

 what respects should their education differ? 



These problems ai'e capable of indefinite subdivision, and an 

 exhaustive study of the child must necessarily be difficult and pro- 

 longed. 



The relation of food to health is but imperfectly understood. I 

 suppose years will elapse before we have satisfactory knowledge on 

 the subject. Nature leads the doctors here until they get more 

 definite results from researches in physiological chemistry. We shall 

 have to go on as we have been going for some time to come, but the 

 question is worth watching by the student of the child, for the 

 importance of proper nutrition cannot be over-estimated. Want of 

 nutrition checks growth both in weight and height. 



The physical development of the child is a matter of like moment. 

 The muscular system comprises about 43 per cent, of the average 

 adult male body. All muscular movements are controlled by nerve 

 processes, so that there is an intimate connection between nerves and 

 muscles. Every nerve impulse results in muscular movement. Even 

 the mental states play upon the muscles, and the effects are seen in 

 the twitch of a muscle in the face or finger, or simply in a change of 

 muscular tension. 



There are two systems of muscles controlled by the central 

 nervous system. They are the visceral muscles controlling the 

 functions of the viscera, the heart, lungs, intestines, &c. ; and the 

 skeletal muscles, producing the movements of the limbs, trunk, head, 

 and organ of speech. The latter are under the control of the will — 

 the former are not. When we speak of physical development, we 

 refer to the development of these muscles. These muscles are the 

 organs of will. Character, habits, dispositions, all we know of our 

 fellow men, are inferred from the results of their muscular activity. 

 Conduct, as muscular activity, is more than three-fourths of life. 

 These skeletal muscles are classed as fundamental and accessory. The 

 fundamental ones man possesses in common with animals : they are 

 the muscles of the trunk, large joints, neck, back, hips, shoulders, 

 knees, and elbows. The accessory muscles are those of the hands, 

 face, tongue, speech organ, and eye. In the course of evolution these 

 muscles are later acquired, and many of them are peculiar to the 

 individual. They are associated with mental activity. Mental 

 disorder shows itself in these movements, and they are liable to 



