Mother and child / Part I. Mother, by Edward P. Davis. Part II. Child, by John Keating.

Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Mother and child / Part I. Mother, by Edward P. Davis. Part II. Child, by John Keating. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    MOTHER AND CHILD. CHAPTEE I. GIRLHOOD. It has been truly said that “ the boy is father of the man,” and it is not less true that the girl is mother of the woman. The foundations then for Sound and healthy womanhood must be laid in girlhood, and the System thus begun must be eon- tinued faithfully, yet with wise modération, if it is to be of permanent usefulness. No subject is of greater importance in this connection than the hygiene of the girl’s life. For the first ten or twelve years, her capacity for physical exertion and endurance is practically that of a boy of the same âge. Although naturally inferior in muscular development later in life, during these first years she should be fully his equal in strength, endurance, and dexterity. At this time tastes should be encouraged and habits formed which may eventually prove most important in the maintenance of health. Girls should be allowed to become interested iri out-door sports during the first ten or twelve years of life, and habits of out-door ex- ercise should be fostered in every way. This plan must of course often be modified to suit individual cases, and excess of exercise is to be deprecated. Parents and teachers should watch children carefully to see that lasting injury is not done to the latter by over exertion. Tennis is a game that lends itself admirably to the vigorous and healthful use of the mus- cles, but what benefit can possibly corne to a girl of twelve who plays so many sets that she finally drops fainting on the grass? Emulation and the desire not to spoil the game for
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