38 Memoirs of Erasmus Darwin, M.D. 



shoe or patten on the lame foot, so as to support that side 

 on the same level with the other, and thus to prevent a 

 greater deformity. 



I have this day seen a young lady, about twelve, who does 

 not limp or waddle in warking; but nevertheless, when 

 she stands or sits, she sinks down towards her right side, 

 and turns out that toe more than the other. Hence, 

 both as she sits and stands, she bends her body to the right; 

 whence her head would hang a little over her right shoulder: 

 but to replace this perpendicularly, she lifts up her left 

 shoulder and contracts the muscles on that side of the neck ; 

 which are therefore become thicker and stronger by their 

 continued action ; but there is not yet any very perceptible 

 distortion of the spine. 



As her right toe is turned outward rather more than na- 

 tural, this shows the disease to be in the hip -joint 3 because, 

 when the limb is stretched out, the toe cannot turn hori- 

 zontally in the least without moving the end of the thigh 

 bone ; although when the knee is bent, the toe can be turn- 

 ed through one third or half of a circle by the rotation of 

 the tibia and fibula of the leg round each other. Hence if 

 children are set in stocks with their heels touching each 

 other as they sit, and are then made to rise up, till they 

 stand erect, the socket or head of the thigh bone becomes 

 injured, especially in those children whose bones are soft ; 

 and a shortness of that limb succeeds, either by the bend- 

 ing of the neck of the thigh bone, or by its getting out of 

 the acetabulum ; and a consequent rising of one shoulder 

 and a curvature of the spine is produced from so distant a 

 cause. 



M. M. An elastic cushion made of curled hair should be 

 placed under the affected hip, whenever she sits; or should 

 be fitted to the part by means of drawers, so that she cannot 

 avoid sitting on it. A neck-swing, and lying down in the 

 day, should be occasionally used to prevent or remove any 

 curvature of the spine. 



Spifia proluherans. Protuberant spine. One of the bones 

 •f the spine swells, and rises above the rest. This is not an 

 wncommon disease, and belongs to the innutrition of the 



bones. 



