A probationary essay, on the causes and treatment of lateral curvature of the human spine; submitted ... to ... the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh / [Robert Knox].

  • Knox, Robert, 1791-1862.
Date:
1825
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A probationary essay, on the causes and treatment of lateral curvature of the human spine; submitted ... to ... the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh / [Robert Knox]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    It is indeed true, that, in numerous cases of lateral curvature, the eye of the common observer may readily he deceived by the forms of modern dress, and by the various mechanical contrivances applied to the human frame; but these defor¬ mities never escape the observation of the ana¬ tomist or of the artist. He perceives them, how¬ ever masked, by the unequal elevation of the shoul¬ ders,—by the shuffling unsteady gait,—by the awk¬ ward and ungraceful motions of the feet; in a word, no art can conceal from him a deviation from the natural perpendicularity of the human spine. Lateral curvatures of the spine are the direct re¬ sults of civilization : they flow from an abuse of se¬ dentary employments, an excessive manufacturing population, and a total neglect of the physical edu¬ cation of youth. From the slight projection of the right shoulder and clavicle, to the absolute distor¬ tion of the whole trunk, every possible variety may be found amidst the crowded population of large European cities, and in such numbers, that of twen¬ ty persons, male or female, we shall not find one whose spine is perfectly erect, or formed on that model which Nature originally bestowed on man, and Grecian art transmitted to admiring posterity. This deviation from the naturally erect form was very early observed and treated of, more particu-