BOWKER, RICHARD ROGERS American editor and bibliographer, was born in Salem, Mass., on Sept. 4, 1848. He graduated at the College of the City of New York in 1868 and then became literary editor of the New York Evening Mail. He was associated in an executive capacity with various business houses and founded the R. R. Bowker Company, pub lishers. His interests extended to politics as well as bibliography and sociology and he was a leader in the Independent Republican, or "mugwump," movement of 1879. As a publisher of biblio graphical material he established The Library Journal in 1876 and thereafter conducted it as editor for more than 5o years. The Annual Library Index, Publishers' Weekly and American Cata logue are other bibliographical periodicals which were conducted under his supervision.
His books, which cover a wide range of subjects, include: Work and Wealth (1883) , Economies for the People (1886) , Copyright—Its Law and Its Literature (1886), Primer for Political Education (1886), Civil Service Examinations (1886) , Electoral Reform (1889) , The Arts of Life (190o), Of Business (Igoe), Of Politics (19o1), Of Educa tion (19o3), Of Religion (19o3), Copyright—Its History, and its Law (1912) , and Economic Peace (1923) .
(Genu Varum), characterized by separation of the knees when the ankles are in contact. Usually there is an outward curvature of both femur and tibia, with at times an interior bend of the latter bone. At birth all children are more or less bandy legged. But in a normal child by the time it begins to walk the lower limbs are prepared, by their general direction and the rigidity of the bones, to support the weight of the body. If the child is rachitic or suffering from any ailment which prevents the due ossification of the bones, or is improperly fed, the bandy condition may persist and be intensified. Thus the chief cause of this deformity is rickets (q.v.). The remaining causes are occupation, especially that of a jockey, and traumatism, the condition being very likely to supervene after accidents involving the condyles of the femur. In the rickety form the most im portant thing is to treat the constitutional disease, at the same time instructing the mother never to place the child on its feet. In many cases this is sufficient to effect a cure, but matters can be hastened somewhat by applying splints.
A far commoner deformity is knock-knee (or Genu Valgum). Here, there is approximation of the knees with separation of the feet when standing. Occasionally only one limb may be affected, but the double form is the more common. There are two varieties: (I) that due to rickets and occurring in young children, and (2) that met with in adolescents. In young chil dren cod-liver oil is to be avoided, since it increases the body weight and so may do harm rather than good. The child if quite young must be kept in bed, and the limbs manipulated several times a day. Where he is a little older and it is more difficult to keep him off his feet, long splints should be applied from the axilla or waist to a point several inches below the level of the foot. It is only thus that a naturally active child can be kept at rest. The little patient should live in the open air as much as possible.
The other form of Genu Valgurn usually occurs in young people who have outgrown their strength, yet have to carry heavy weights. Normally in the erect posture the weight of the body is passed through the outer condyle of the femur rather than the inner, and this latter is lengthened to keep the plane of the knee-joint horizontal. This throws considerable strain on the internal lateral ligament of the knee-joint, and of ter standing of long duration or with undue weight the muscles of the inner side of the limb also become over-fatigued. Thus the ligament gradually stretches, giving the knee undue mobility from side to side. If the condition be not attended to, the outer condyle grad ually atrophies, owing to the increased weight transmitted through it, and the inner condyle lengthens. Flat-foot (see CLUB-FOOT) and lateral curvature of the spine (scoliosis) are often associated with this form of Genu Valgum. In the early stages attention to general health, massage and change of air, will of ten effect a cure. But in the more aggravated forms an apparatus is needed. If the patient has reached such an age that the deformity is fixed, the only remedy is operation.