Clippings. HOW TO GROW.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume III, Issue 80, 4 December 1900, Page 4

Clippings. HOW TO GROW.

Dr Springer, a prominent member off the Faoulty of Medicine, in Paris, hag recently cast some doubt on the accuracy of the old proverb " that no man, by taking thought, can add one 'cubit to his stature." He experimented, first .with dogs, going to work partly on the prinoipal adopted by some horticuituraltsts when they wish to raise a sturdy plant. They feed it, without forcing it. He proved that with special food and hygienic treatment puppies oould be made to grow altogether beyond, their customary iimensions. He found, too, that s alt used with the cereals that were being prepared for food had a ! )ow«rf ul effect on the bony system. Sis experiments also showed thai cereals used for food should be always fresh and that food should be eaten as soon- as possible after it is cooked. After this, Dr Springer >egaa experimenting on children, and in 1 this he has again been successful. His observations lead him to insist specially upon child) cen receiving plenty of fresh air, Which is absolutely essential to aonaai growth, not only during the day outdoors, but in the bedroom at night. Sunlight is another potent strength-producer. But Dr Springer's researches have shown him that oneof the most frequent causes of . stunted growth is the neglect of the breathing organs qf children. He declared thafc a child absorbs and requires much more fresh oxygen than a fuU-gr6wn man, and that the smallest obstruction in the breathing apparatus produces a most injurious effeot. Children from whose throats and chests obstructions were removed began to grow at once. The increase in height during the three months following the operation, was at least four times as great as that during the preceding three months. Dr Springer's stastitics, it may be mencroned, show that while the average height of men and women in most countries is gradually decreasing it has appreciably increased in Bussia during the past fifty years.