STAMMERING. 55 



It is one of those disorders which is engendered by imitation and example, and it is 

 therefore of the greatest consequence to remove children away from any chance of 

 their picking up so dangerous a habit (for it is more a habit than a disease), and one 

 which it is so difficult to shake off when acquired. Stammering is rarely congenital, 

 it is almost always acquired, and very often comes on while the child's general 

 health is weakened by some of the common diseases of childhood. It is not necessary 

 to describe so common a complaint. It is due to unsteady action a sort of chorea 

 of some of the muscles used in vocalisation or articulation (more often the latter, 

 however), and it is generally found that while mere sound is produced without 

 difficulty, articulate speech is impeded to a greater or less extent. Careful examina- 

 tion may enable one to determine where the failing exists, and by making the child 

 repeat elowly the letters of the alphabet, we may find that some letters occasion a 

 greater difficulty than others. These are generally the labial sounds, such as P and 

 B, but occasionally the fault is greatest with other sounds. Stammering in many 

 cases is a mere passing trouble, and exists only during some temporary impairment 

 of health, and when the child gets strong, its stammering disappears. These children 

 are sometimes nervous and shy, and their trouble is often much aggravated if general 

 attention be directed to them. To cure stammering, the first thing is to gain the 

 child's confidence. One must appear not to notice the trouble, treat the child with 

 great kindness, descend to its intellectual level, and encourage it in a friendly way to 

 talk. Very much may be done by exercising the voice, and if the child can sing, or 

 has any taste for music, it should be encouraged in every way, for stammerers can 

 always sing without hesitation, and if this fact becomes plain to the child, the moral 

 effect of such a discovery cannot be over-estimated. Not only can stammerers sing, 

 but they can invariably talk if they alter the pitch or the rhythm of the voice, and 

 they should be encouraged to learn by heart pieces of poetry, which they should recite 

 with great care. Never allow a child to " haggle " over a word. If its utterance is 

 checked, bid it stop at once, give up all effort, and begin again at the beginning. 

 Recitation ought to be part of the education of every child. A proper command of 

 the voice is only acquired by practice, even by those who have great natural aptitude 

 for oratory, and the systematic rhythmical exercise of the voice of stammerers must 

 be regularly persevered in for months. Perse veraiice will be rewarded by success in 

 a very large number of cases. If the child fail with some sounds more than others, it 

 should practise those sounds with diligence. If, for example, P be its stumbling- 

 block, it should be encouraged, by a small reward, to repeat, very slowly, very 

 distinctly, and without faltering, some lines in which this letter recurs often, as 

 in the well-known nursery adage 



" Peter Piper picked a peck of pepper," &c. 



Strophulus. (See Red Gum.) 

 Teeth. (See Dentition.) 



Thrush. This is a very common disease, especially among the poor, with whom 

 every child is expected to pass through its attack of thrush almost as a matter of 

 course. The disease is due to inflammation of the lining membrane of the mouth, 



