The laws of health / [David Nunes Nabarro].

  • Nabarro, David Nunes, 1874-
Date:
[1905?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The laws of health / [David Nunes Nabarro]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    muscles, leading to the painful conditions called muscular rheumatism and ‘ wry-neck.’ 42. The muscles of the hand, which are used in carrying out fine movements, such as writing, piano- playing, sewing, etc., and of the eyes, which are used in looking at near objects, as in reading, writing, sewing, etc., should not be constantly overtaxed, especially in young children. It may lead to ‘ cramp ’ or * spasm ’ in the different muscles, and to want of control over them. For this reason children should be taught to hold the pen properly. The pen in writing must not be held too tightly nor pressed too heavily upon the paper. The hand should be moved from the elbow or just below it, and not from the wrist. Overstrain of the eye muscles in children is avoided by not allowing any book or work to be brought nearer than 10 inches to the eyes. The effects of overstrain of the eye muscles we shall see later (see Chapter XI., p. 182). 43. Two kinds of food are required by the muscles : (1) Flesh-forming or nitrogenous food, which builds up the muscle substance and repairs the waste; (2) force- producing or carbonaceous food. The first may be called the building material, and is provided in milk, meat, fish, eggs, etc. The second is the fuel for the muscles and is contained in bread, sugar, potatoes, fat, etc. Exactly the same thing is seen in the steam- engine. When any part of the engine gets worn out from long use, it is replaced by a similar part made of steel. That corresponds to the nitrogenous food which repairs the broken-down parts of the muscle substance. The fuel which enables the engine to do work is coal. In the same way, the fuel which enables the muscles to
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