Review of Children Who Run on All Fours

Abstract

Reviews the book, Children Who Run on All Fours by Ales Hrdlicka (1931). The chance observation of an Indian child running on all fours (hands and feet) aroused Dr. Hrdlicka's interest in this phenomenon. Nearly three-quarters of the book is devoted to the publication of letters from parents and other relatives reporting such behavior and some photographs. In the analysis which occupies the first one hundred pages the content of these letters are summarized. General health, strength, sex, heredity and mentality of infants using quadrimembral locomotion are noted. As a contribution to a specific part of infant behavior it has the unique value of any pioneering work. However, its scientific value is lessened in that no attempt has been made to contrast the concomitants mentioned above with similar behavior in a control group of non-"all four" walkers. Neither has there been any systematic endeavor to discover the prevalence of this mode of locomotion. The primary argument of the author seems to be that his evidence indicates, or at least presents further facts in regard to, the phylogenetic history of man. However, the majority of instances cited in support of the relation between this form of behavior and that of animals refer to similarities to bears, cats and dogs, none of which appear in the prehuman line. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)