Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 51.djvu/676

660 the strongest emotions of fear, curiosity, or excitement, and thus draining the plastic, immature brain of its vitalities! In some homes it is quite the custom to allow a little babe to be freely handled by strangers of whom it is afraid; and then we wonder why in later life our children are the victims of a vast brood of fears which sap the energies and curtail the pleasures and usefulness of life in every direction.

It is not alone the trials of meeting strangers that are extremely fatiguing to young children, but the experiences with parents and other members of the family are often as exhausting. The young child, with its fresh, innocent ways, is not infrequently regarded as a plaything for the entertainment of its elders, and so is teased and tormented in all sorts of ways because its response is so novel and interesting. Of course, parents would not call such treatment teasing, but that is precisely what it amounts to from the child's standpoint. Just recently the writer was witness to a scene which is typical of much that may be observed in one's environment if he has an occasion to look for it. A little child disliked very greatly to have anything touch its nose, and would make the liveliest efforts to dispel whatever came in contact therewith. The sweet baby movements were naturally enough very amusing to an adult who did not see anything in them but fun for himself. Frequently some mature person who knew the child's characteristic in this regard would place a finger or other object near the delicate member to see the little one strive with arms, head, and body to drive it away. On one occasion a grown woman, whose years should have taught her better, was seen to tantalize the child for two or three minutes, finally throwing it into a state of fatigue. When it grew restless and began crying it was grabbed up, tossed and thrown about, and talked to in a loud voice. This violent stimulation overcame the child's impulse to cry for the moment, but had the effect to further fatigue it, which was shown later in continual crying until it fell asleep. If one will think of such things going on day after day throughout the early life of a child, the irritable, unbalanced, disagreeable children of one's acquaintance may be accounted for at least in part.

The writer has had opportunity to study with some care the effect which a lady with high-pitched, nervous voice and intense nervous face and manner, but otherwise of most estimable characteristics, had upon a little child, H. Whenever she was near H she insisted upon taking her, and she thought the proper mode of entertainment was to shake and toss and pat her, and to make a great amount of noise and fuss over her. As a consequence, a half hour of such treatment was enough to fatigue H for a whole day, and her disposition at such times would be quite changed from a happy, good-natured child to one easily