A contribution to school hygiene : a paper read at a meeting of the National Health Society, on June 12th, 1873 / by R. Liebreich.

  • Liebreich, Richard, 1830-1917.
Date:
1873
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A contribution to school hygiene : a paper read at a meeting of the National Health Society, on June 12th, 1873 / by R. Liebreich. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    left side leaning on the edge of the table and bent far over the top. With the taller boys the seat glides over the hindermost edge of the bench, so that only the legs are supported by the bench, forming a very pointed angle with the upper part of the body. This is the moment where the teacher thinks it going too far, and he calls out “ keep straightthe pupils at once assume their first position, in order to relapse gradually into the second, and finally into the third, more or less quickly according to their size and strength. When at work by themselves in their private studies, they make up for the constraint of this habitual fatigue by indulging in the most extraordinary positions, which, sometimes, are difficult enough to define, mechanically as well as anatomically. They will rest the head on ‘ one or both hands ; or crossing the arms, will lean for- ward on the table with both elbows, supporting the chin on the crossing point of the two hands; mean- while the upper part of the body is so bent, that the vertebral column is changed into a semi-circle ; the feet are drawn below the chair, or twisted round the forelegs of the latter. I once happened to observe the following characteristic position. The upper part of the left leg resting on the edge of the chair, the left foot twisted round the left foreleg of the chair, the left elbow resting on the left knee ; the left hand on the edge of the table, the head resting on the hand ; the book lying on the table perpendicularly to its edge, instead of being parallel to it; the right arm pushed forward so far, that the edge of the table was pro- jecting into the axilla. At first sight such a position might appear infinitely more hurtful than that required in the class-rooms. That is not the case, however; for as long as a position may be altered at any moment, it is comparatively innocuous, because one group of muscles being tired, another will be called into action by involuntarily assuming another position.