Observations on distortions of the spine : with a few remarks on deformities of the legs / by Lionel J. Beale.

  • Beale, Lionel J.
Date:
1831
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations on distortions of the spine : with a few remarks on deformities of the legs / by Lionel J. Beale. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by UCL Library Services. The original may be consulted at UCL (University College London)

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    every disorder of early age begins with derangement of this organ, and these occur at the very earliest moment of its existence. Even before birth the health of the child may be injured : if the mothers mode of living has been injudicious, the child will be born weakly, and the stomach, partaking of the general debility and being the first organ to be called into action, will show signs of derangement as soon as it takes in its supply of food. Hence the fla- tulence, screaming fits, &c. of infants ; and a pretty fair conclusion can be drawn of the future health of the child from the circumstances of its earliest in- fancy ; but it is rather to the period of childhood than of infancy that I should direct my remarks. Children are often taught to stand at an earlier age than they would attempt to do so, if left entirely to their own feelings; the consequence is that, in heavy children and in those where the phosphate of lime has not rendered the bones sufficiently solid, the legs bend, and the child becomes more or less bandy. When the bones do not bend to the weight, the ligaments connecting the thigh and leg give way, and the child becomes knock-kneed ; or the liga- ments of the ankle-joint are stretched and the foot becomes unnaturally flat, so that in some instances the inner ankle rests on the ground. I am ac- quainted with several children more or less affected with deformity of the legs, in whom I could attri- bute them to no other cause than that of being in-