WAS MATTHEW ARNOLDS CROOKED LEG CAUSED BY RICKETS?
T. E. C. Jr MD Matthew Arnold (1822-1888), poet and critic, the second child (of nine) and oldest son of Thomas and Mary Arnold, had a crooked leg and spent two years of his childhood in heavy iron braces the family nicknamed him “Crabby” for his shuffling gait. Park Homan1 in his recently published biography of Matthew Arnold describes the treatment Arnold received for his crooked leg as follows: Instructing his infants in oarsmanship, the father now took them out on the Trent in the Frolic…. Within a day or two of this time, she [Mrs. Arnold] noticed that something was wrong with Matthew’s leg…. But within ten days of leaving the River Trent, the Arnolds consulted Mr. Tothill, back at home, and then a London specialist with the result that a frightening iron apparatus arrived … to be fitted to his limbs. His father was not deeply worried: We have had some anxiety about Matt, Thomas Arnold wrote to a friend … from the Effects of a bad habit of crawling before he could walk, an
