PHYSICAL EXERCISE. 



179 



The bones and ligaments of the young are soft and pliable. 

 They readily grow into false positions by constant habits of 

 stooping or bending to one side. The spinal column is kept 

 in position by a well-balanced action of the muscles supplied 

 to it, and if these are unevenly exercised they become stronger 

 on one side than the other, and draw the spine to that side, 

 producing a lateral curve (Fig. 52), which, if allowed to exist 

 for some time, may 

 cause a permanent de- 

 formity. Children 

 whose constitutions are 

 naturally weak are more 

 apt to grow into false 

 positions than the 

 healthy and robust, and 

 hence require more care- 

 ful attention. Fig. 53 

 is an illustration of how 

 curvature of the spine 

 is brought about, and 

 shows the marked con- 

 trast between this posi- 

 tion, which is productive 

 of so much deformity, 



and the natural position, FlCK 53 -~ A school-girl at her desk in a position 



. _. _ . often resulting in curvature of the spine, 



as shown in -fig. 54. 



But there is another element which enters largely into the 

 child's life. The training of the mind is as important as the 

 training of the body. The child must be sent to school, and 

 remain more or less inactive for several hours a day. As it 

 grows older, tasks will be given that involve close application 

 to books at home as well as during school-hours, and so it 

 becomes necessary for the teacher, in regulating the various 



