Causes and cures of the common variety of backache were discussed in a public lecture at the Medical School yesterday afternoon by Frank R. Ober, John B. and Buckminster Brown Clinical Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery.

"As constructed, the spinal column was not supposed to be that of a man walking erect. Therefore, it is considerable strain for human beings to stand as they do, and any further deviation from the posture which is now considered normal is likely to produce backache," he said.

Causes for backache include occupations which keep the worker in strained positions for long periods, persistent standing and sitting in slouched attitudes, infections of the spine which eat away bone material, and acute infection in other parts of the body which produce pain in the hollow of the back.

Correction of bad posture, according to Ober, will do much to relieve a common backache, and proper attention to other diseases may even prevent a pain in the back. Chronic cases, however, must be treated with rest in bed; the patient is told to lie in a comfortable position and to avoid motions which would increase his pain.

After the painful symptoms of the backache have disappeared, the patient should take exercises to restore the power of the back muscles. The object of these exercises is to restore the natural function of the back.