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CHAP. VI.] side, so that the muscles of that side are contracted, while those of the other side are lengthened, and this is a not unfrequent cause of the hideous deformity known as wry neck. The head hanging over the arm impedes the breathing, and a still further danger is incurred by this position in the risk of the neck being dislocated by a chance knock or push from a passer-by. A case of death from a sudden jerk to one side of an infant's head is mentioned by Hufeland. A tendency to squint is often encouraged by the custom of carrying a child always on the same side, or of suckling it always from one breast.

The nurse, too, finding the child heavy, and that she gets tired, curtails its outings, and instead of spending several hours in the air, as it ought, the time dwindles down. Then, again, if the child is carried, it may inhale the exhalations of the nurse's body, which are not always of the sweetest, and of her clothes, which are not always of the cleanest.

If it is decided that a baby must be carried, care must be taken to avoid these dangers. It should lie as straight as possible along the nurse's arm, and her elbow should project beyond its head to protect it from accident. It must not be carried in a sitting posture until it is about five months old. As, if it is carried so too early, the spine is overtaxed, and the pressure on the chest caused by the hand supporting it is likely to be injurious. It must be borne in mind that the bones of a young infant are little more than gristle, and are liable to bend, and so become deformed. After