THE BIOGRAPHY OF A BABY BY MILICENT WASHBURN SHINN [Illustration] BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY The Riverside Press Cambridge COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY MILICENT WASHBURN SHINN ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PRINTED IN THE U. S. A. CONTENTS PAGE I. BABY BIOGRAPHIES IN GENERAL 1 II. THE NEW-BORN BABY: STRUCTURE AND MOVEMENTS 20 III. THE NEW-BORN BABY: SENSATIONS AND CONSCIOUSNESS 39 IV. THE EARLIEST DEVELOPMENTS 58 V. BEGINNINGS OF EMOTION AND PROGRESS IN SENSE POWERS 78 VI. PROGRESS TOWARD GRASPING 99 VII. SHE LEARNS TO GRASP, AND DISCOVERS THE WORLD OF THINGS 118 VIII. THE ERA OF HANDLING THINGS 141 IX. THE DAWN OF INTELLIGENCE 161 X. BEGINNINGS OF LOCOMOTION 182 XI. CREEPING AND STANDING 203 XII. RUDIMENTS OF SPEECH; CLIMBING AND PROGRESS TOWARD WALKING 224 XIII. WALKING ALONE; DEVELOPING INTELLIGENCE 238 THE BIOGRAPHY OF A BABY I BABY BIOGRAPHIES IN GENERAL “It is a well recognized fact in the history of science that the very subjects which concern our dearest interests, which lie nearest our hearts, are exactly those which are the last to submit to scientific methods, to be reduced to scientific law. Thus it has come to pass that while babies are born and grow up in every household, and while the gradual unfolding of their faculties has been watched with the keenest interest and intensest joy by intelligent and even scientific fathers and mothers from time immemorial, yet very little has yet been done in the scientific study of this most important of all possible subjects--the ontogenetic evolution of the faculties of the human mind. “Only in the last few years has scientific attention been drawn to the subject at all. Its transcendent importance has already enlisted many observers, but on account of the great complexity of the phenomena, and still more the intrinsic difficulty of their interpretation, scientific progress has scarcely yet commenced. “What is wanted most of all in this, as in every science, is _a body of carefully observed facts_. But to be an accomplished investigator in this field requires a rare combination of qualities. There must be a wide intelligence combined with patience in observing and honesty in recording. There must be also an earnest scientific spirit, a loving sympathy with the subject of investigation, yet under watchful restraint, lest it cloud the judgment; keenness of intuitive perception, yet soberness of judgment in interpretation.”