the body is enabled to remedy defects, and to prepare for accidents.]
Rickets is most common among children who have inherited a feeble
constitution and who are ill fed, or who live in damp, ill-ventilated
houses. "Rickety" children should have plenty of fresh air and sunlight,
nourishing food, comfortable clothing, and, in short, the best of hygienic
care.

2. _A Felon_ is a swelling of the finger or thumb, usually of the
last joint. It is marked by an accumulation beneath the periosteum and
next the bone. The physician will merely cut through the periosteum, and
let out the effete matter.

3. _Bowlegs_ are caused by children standing on their feet before the
bones of the lower limbs are strong enough to bear their weight. The
custom of encouraging young children to stand by means of a chair or the
support of the hand, while the bones are yet soft and pliable, is a cruel
one, and liable to produce permanent deformity. Nature will set the child
on its feet when the proper time comes.

4. _Curvature of the Spine_.--When the spine is bent, the packing
between the vertebre becomes compressed on one side into a wedge-like
shape. After a time, it will lose its elasticity, and the spine will
become distorted. This often occurs in the case of students who bend
forward to bring their eyes nearer their books, instead of lifting their
books nearer their eyes, or who raise their right shoulder above their
left when writing at a desk which is too high. Round shoulders, small,
weak lungs, and, frequently, diseases of the spine are the consequences.
An erect posture in reading or writing conduces not alone to beauty of
form, but also to health of body. We shall learn hereafter that the action
of the muscles bears an important part in preserving the symmetry of the