Ryde Social Heritage Group research the social history of the citizens of Ryde, Isle of Wight. Documenting their lives, businesses and burial transcriptions.
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Beware the Dangers of Paddling!

Paddling
Paddling

A physician, practising at a well-known watering place, calls attention in the British Medical Journal to the dangers and evils of the amusement called “paddling.”

A common result is a condition resembling heatstroke, but peritonitis might be brought about by this dangerous practice. The symptoms, however, in many cases may not be so severe, and numbers of children are languid and poorly, suffering from headache and malaise from this cause, while the parents account for the disturbance by the theory that “the climate is too strong for them.” or that “sea air does not agree with their livers,” or some such inscrutable explanation.

If “paddling” must be allowed, a degree of safety is insured by making the child leave the water frequently and run about on the shore. The limbs thus become warm again, and some danger is avoided at the expense of the skin, which is apt to become inflamed and blistered by the sun. This, however, is a minor evil.

 

Source: Isle of Wight Journal and Newport Times 28  July 1888
Image from www.workshops-for-schools.co.uk