Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 88.djvu/362

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{{c|{{smaller|Much of the danger of driving on snow is eliminated by the use of these skiis on the front wheels. They travel lightly over the snow, and by responding promptly to the wheel make skidding less likely}}

{{c|Motoring on Skiis}}

{{di|M}}OTORISTS who know the difficulties and dangers of piloting their cars through heavy snow, will greet with approval a new device which is claimed to make snow-driving safe, practical and comfortable.

Two kiln-dried white ash skiis are fastened securely to the front wheels, and carry them over the surface of the snow. In deep snow the full width of the skiis carries the load, while on a hard path only the steel guide runner touches the road. The guide runner also makes steering easy and prevents the skidding of the front wheels.

{{c|Does Your Child Suck It's Thumb?}}

{{di|I}}T is very seldom that we see a straight, well-formed mouth. Sometimes it is spoiled by protruding teeth, sometimes by a large overhanging upper jaw, generally we find the upper lip much larger than the lower. This is not, as might at first be supposed, a characteristic of the American people just as flat noses are a characteristic of the Negro race. It is due to one of the most unfortunate habits that can be formed in childhood—the sucking of the thumb.

The bones of a baby's jaw are extremely plastic, and subject to almost any amount of deformity by long-continued impact and strain. If even as soft an object as a thumb is placed in the mouth for any length of time, the inevitable result will be that the upper jaw and the teeth will be pushed out of place.

Many mothers are aware of the danger in making such a habit, and they resort to what they think is the next best thing—which is in reality the next worst thing—the pacifier. Imagine a bit of hard rubber and ivory in a child's mouth during of its all waking hours, and many times its sleeping ones. It is nothing more or less than an instrument which rapidly and skilfully dislocates the teeth and the jaws. A child should not be permitted to carry any object in its mouth aside from the rubber nipple of its bottle, and even here care should be taken to see that this is removed promptly after the feeding is over.

It is not easy to prevent the baby from putting its fingers into its mouth, as this is more or less of a natural inclination. In rare extreme cases it is necessary to tie the hands. Many parents put a bitter solution on the fingers which is sufficiently distasteful to break up the practice, but this is a doubtful procedure and one to resort to only by the advice of a physician.

{{di|P}}ENNSYLVANIA leads all other states in the country in the use of steam power, using twenty per cent, of all that is used in the entire United States. {{nop}}