ent--grows only in an
atmosphere of unrest and apprehension. Parents and nurses anxiously
watch their development. They are distressed beyond measure to note
their steady growth in spite of every attempt which they make to
control or forbid them. And of all this unrest and unhappiness the
child is acutely conscious. The whole household may become obsessed
with the misfortune which has befallen it, and the mother, losing all
sense of proportion, feels that she cannot regain her peace of mind
until it has been overcome. The child is in need of mental and moral
support from those around him, and all that he finds is an openly
expressed apprehension and sense of impotence. Even grown-up people,
when their nerves are on edge, are apt to be obsessed by
uncontrollable impulses or by vague and nameless apprehensions, and
surely all have learnt the support they gain from contact and
conversation with some one strong and sane, who treats their worries
in such a matter-of-fact way that immediately they lose their power
and become of no account. The child with habit spasm cannot control
these movements. The more he is reproved or entreated, the less able
does he find himself to hold them in check. He does not wish them to
continue. He has lost control of what he once controlled, and the
realisation of this is not pleasant, and may be alarming to him. Yet
when unconsciously he looks to his mother for support, he finds in her
open dismay that which serves only to increase his uneasiness. She
must subdue her own feelings and give the child strength. If she
treats the whole thing in a matter-of-fact way, as a temporary
disturbance which is of no importance in itself, and only has meaning
because it implies that the brain has been over-stimulated, she will
no longer exercise a prejudicial effect on the child. If the bad habit
is taken as a matter of course, if too much is not made of it, if the
child is encouraged to think that nobody cares much about it at all,
then recovery will soon take place. It goes without saying that habit
spasms and tics of all sorts are made worse by excessive emotional
display and by nervous fatigue. On the other hand, if the child
becomes absorbed in some interesting occupation, the movements will
disappear for the time being.

AIR SWALLOWING, THIGH RUBBING, THUMB SUCKING

At a somewhat earlier age than that in which habit spasms become
common, and before bed wetting appears as a formidable difficulty, w