A COMMON ABUSE OF CHILDREN.
Let those who have used baby's arm as a handle, and who do not believe that they have sinned, listen to what some of New York's eminent surgeons have to say on the subject: "It is not a question of possible injury to the child," said one, "but of certain injury. As well lift a baby by the ears as by the arm. The most common danger is of dislocating the shoulder. A child's arm is very easily dislocated, and unless properly set the entire arm may grow out of shape. Children do not always know enough to tell when they are hurt, and a dislocation may not be noticed until it is too late to remedy the injury. An arm that has been dislocated may go back accidentally, or it may be set so that the child has proper use of it, but without regaining the proper shape. If not15properly set, there is danger of irritation in the shoulder, with the possibility of necrosis of the bone." "Even if dislocation is not caused by this unnatural use, there is danger of twisting the arm out of shape. The cartilage in a child's body does not become bone until the seventh year. With a very young child it is soft enough to change shape if jerked the wrong way, and it is mere chance when a crooked cartilage straightens before it hardens to bone."—Good Housekeeping.