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EN'UI COUPIN, a I reneh anthropologist.
HI who has been making an extensive study
I of the curiosities of ;hc human race, has
I gathered together a large amount of en
tertaining material concerning the different
ways that the people of savage and civilized
nations carry and clothe their babies.
He finds that In general the lot of tender
Infancy is anything but enviable among savages. Often
a child Is a prisoner from the time of his birth until he Is
turned loose nt creeping or walking age to lok after
himself. For in his early babyhood he Is fastened Into a
cradle, usually made of wood, whicn li as hard and nar
row as a coffin.
The Inhabitants of Manchuria and the American
Apaches, for Instance, have the vaguest notions about
the advantage of exercise for young babies. They crowd
the Infant into a narrow cradle wuh quantities of cloth
and tie It In with cords in such a way that 'tis a wonder
It does not become deformed. Nor la It in any better luck
to be born a Lapp baby; for this Utile one is bound into a
cradle' made of hollowed wood, cut to a point at each
end, and lined with moss. The mother carries this with
her everywhere; when she stops she hangs It to a branch,
or, If there are no trees near, she sticks it up In the snow.
The savage woman of Australia alwayB carries her tiny
baby In a basket. When the child is a little older he is
placed on his mother's shoulder, where he keeps his posi
tion by holding on to her head. Most of the Australian
women are fond of their children; sometimes, indeed, they
show their affection by eating them.
St
Civilization Cruel to Babies.
Among civilized nations the clotning of the newly born
has preoccupied the people of all times, and from their
reflections upon this subject have resulted the strangest
and most antl-hyglenlc garments Imaginable. Except
among the Spartans, who left their children naked to
develop naturally, without restraint, In order that they
might become beautiful adolescents, what seems to have
Interested the ancients most was an anxiety to furnish
a guard for the weak limbs and frul body of infancy. If
all children had been well formed, or If all peoples, like
the Spartans, had exposed upon Taygetus all the newly
born who were ill shaped, this Ide probably would not
have arisen. Unhappily badly formed infants are not a
rarity, and It is almost natural that our ancestors should
have thought of martyrizing babies In order to give.them
straight limbs and deep chests.
If this orthopedic method had been applied to the de
formed babies only. It would not have been so bad.
But this didn't happen. When they saw the effects of
rickets becoming general during the course of the second
year, deforming the thorax, the limbs, and the vertebral
column, no warning of these disasters having occurred
at birth, they became certain that such deformities were
the. result of bad methods of treatment. They declared
that the deformity could not have resulted if the child
had been dressed from birth in such a way that its body
was kept straight.
There was exhibited at the exposition of 189 a curious
statuette of terra cotta, molded in the form of a sheath.
Its head being covered with a little hood, and wearing
about its neck a small disk called a " bulla." This is a
precious document, which was fou.id at Vlterbe; It shows
an undeniable method of the Romans for the swaddling
of babies. Among them a child was plunged Into a bata as
soon as it was born. Then it was wrapped in linen cloth,
bound'on by a ribbon. Thus It was Incased tightly from
head to foot, care being taken that Its arms were Im
prisoned. Little by little these members were given free
dom, then the feet, then the legs.
Swaddling of New Born Infants.
In France 4n the middle ages children were still
swaddled after the Roman method. The baby
was first wrapped up in a piece of cloth; among the rich
this was linen but one must remember that at this time
a linen shirt was a luxury, even for the rich. More
often they swaddled the newly torn In wool. About
the swaddling clothes they wrapped bandages, sometimes
In, a way as curious as that which a fifteenth century
sculpture of Notre Dame at Paris displays.
In the eighteenth century a C'orslcan baby and, as
well, a child of Vaucluse. were bound up neatly from the
armpits to the feet, having the hands free a point which
In Itself was an evidence of progress. On the other hand,
the Bretons. Parisians, and the inhabitants of Luxem
bourg, whether poor or rich, had the baby's arms con
scientiously rolled up in all kinds of covers; and if the
swaddling In this case was less tight, the imprisonment
was not less completes for the unhappy child was reduced
to Immobility.
Under these circumstances It Is not at all astonishing
to see the considerable deformities from which children
have suffered up to our century. Today the swaddling
clothes, thanks to the doctors, who, more often than for
merly, are Interested In the dressing of the newly born,
cover and protect infants without torturing tbem. One
must also thank J. J. Rousseau, who preached strongly
ugalnst the fashion of tight swaddling clothes.
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adorned with embroideries among the rich, and with coarse
stuff among the poor, and which ..urrounded and " sus
tained " the bodies of infants, are things of the past. Yet
from time to time In the backward provinces one still finds
a kind of corset used, with or without whalebone, laced
up the back, and drawn tight to keep the baby's body
straight. But Its use Is becoming 1 ss and less frequent,
and we may hope that with the progress of education this
practice will disappear completely. Otherwise the swad
dling clothes are made much the si.me all over the world
t the present day. The child's head Is covered with a
three piece bonnet, made large enough not to sciueexe It,
end fastened by two tUs under the chin.
It is especially upon the baby's head that the slightest
compression is dangerous. After the child's birth the
bones are still soft, and the slightest pressure Is likely
to cause deformity, which may result In Idiocy. The
Caralbes, who observe the unfortunate custom of shaping
the heads of their children, are swarming with Idiots. In
1H.14 Achilles Fovllle, a specialist in Insanity, had his at
tention led Into this direction by noticing how many Idiots
had a circular depression nlxmt t.ie head. The depres
sion was caused by n bandage wnich It was customary
a the time to bind about the heads of Infants. At
Toulouse, at this same epoch, Delahaye verified this dis
covery. European Infants Emancipated.
In Europe today the child Is still swaddled, but In place
of the old fashioned bands which , kept the garments on,
safety pins are used. I'sualiy the arms are free, and the
legs, while covered, still enjoy a certain amount of free
dom. The baby of Lorraine has additional comfort, for a
little cushion Is fastened un Its back, bo that when It Is put
down by Its nurse it always has a little bed to lie on.
There are various modifications of the present Euro
pean fashion. The Swiss baby, for example, does not have
Its arms free, and the baby of lower Cliarante Is so
wrapped that only Its right arm Is free, In order that it may
not become left handed. In La Creuse a short strap Is
bound about the upper and the lower part of the body,
hindering thus every movement of the arms and legs.
In the lower Pyrenees, where mothers have to cross
fields and mountains with their babies, to the clothing of
the nursling Is added a kind of sack, furnished with thongs
which fasten to the woman's shoulders, so that she will
not be hindered in her movements by the child which
she carries.
Formerly in the Basque countries the child was placed
In a linen sack, which was hung upon the wall like a
bundle. In Ia Vlenne they were satisfied with a belt
fastened under the child's arms. In Ia Gironde, the
method was much more barbarous. A tree trunk was
hollowed out and Its bottom was fi'.Ud with straw and rags.
When the child was placed within this Instrument of tor
ture the weight of Its tody came upon Its arms and legs;
thus the shoulders were pushed up, the chest deformed.
and the legs bowed.
Ill
.1
Barbaric Treatment of French Babies.
There are In France agents who make a business of car.
rylng lnfanfs to nurses in the country, and of bringing
nurses to the towns to secure places. The profession of
these men was in years past less reputable; they carried
to the hospitals babies whose mothers did not want them,
and they did It In the most Inhuman way, either laying
the children down upon straw In boxes or panniers, or
placing them upright, crowded close to one another. In
hampers. In Le Toltou these agents carried the frail
little beings In kind of saddlebags, one In front of the
shoulder and one behind, without either protection from
the cold or any care. It has been proved that only
about 3 per cent of these foundlings were saved.
M. Coupin agrees with M. Felix Regnault that the
manner In which civilized women carry their babies in
their arms Is Inferior to that of aavage or half civilized
peoples who carry their children In such a way that t'.ielr
own activities are not Interfered with. The French
peasants, the Armenians, the Maronltes, and the Tartars
leave their babies In the cradle, tied in if necessary, while
they work In the fields. In Russia, however, the mother is
not separated from her baby. In White Russia, and among
the Ostiacks, she puts her child lr a light osier basket
and carries this cradle upon her back, well fastened by
means of thongs.
Much preferable Is the African i-ustom. The negress
carries the baby upon her back, but It Is held firm by
means of a loin cloth, and a piece ot cloth which Is fas
tened in front of her chest. She Is always able to have her
baby with her, wheth-r "he Is weed ng, grinding corn, or
carrying a pitcher home from the we'.l on her head. A
variety of this same custom obtains among the Japanese,
who have the reputation of being the people who give
the most personal attention to their children. The kimono
which they wear Is a great advantage, since It Is so ample
that by pushing aside slightly tho pieces which cross In
front of the chest there is madj at the back a funnel
shaped space. In which the child ts put; Its head sticks
out at the top, and its arms and Icks are free. This ths
French savant regards as the ld-:il method of carrying
a child, fur it keeps the baby warm and comfortable, and
does not cauHe a waste of time on the pa: t of Its nurse.
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