The British Medical Journal commenting on the nature of the medical section of the new Britannica has said that it is “an admirable example of the kind of exposition which will enable the head of a family, without embarrassing him with technical details, to deal with a situation with which he may be confronted at any moment.” Realizing the great necessity for a popular yet authentic discussion of diseases, the editors have produced a work which has received the highest approval of the medical world for its quality of practical usefulness.
In the first place, parents should devote much study to Sir T. Lauder Brunton’s most clear and able discussion of Therapeutics (Vol. 26, p. 793), dealing in a general manner with the means employed to treat disease. Here we learn about the action of microbes, the nature of inflammation and fever (which are protective processes calculated to defend the organism against the attacks of microbes but which often become injurious), about defensive measures and principles of cure, proper nutrition and elimination, flatulence, constipation, etc. It is also important to know something about the action of drugs, and this is fully explained in Pharmacology (Vol. 21, p. 350), by Dr. Ralph Stockman, of Glasgow University, while Dr. H. L. Hennessy in the same article (p. 352) explains the terms used in the classification of drugs.
Before describing the material devoted to the special diseases of children, it is well to remind parents of a valuable illustrated article on Parasitic Diseases (Vol. 20, p. 770), by Dr. G. Sims Woodhead, professor of pathology in Cambridge University. It is about the length of 52 pages in this Guide. The information as to the origin of various diseases, of those which are due to vegetable and those due to animal parasites, of the infective diseases in which no organism yet discovered has surely been connected with the malady (as is the case with scarlet fever), and of infective diseases, such as measles, mumps, and whooping-cough, not yet traced to microorganisms, will prove of the highest interest because the facts related have a most important influence upon present methods of treatment.
Diseases most Common to Childhood
Croup (Vol. 7, p. 511) is a concise account of spasmodic croup—so terrifying to all parents. The treatment is carefully described. The same is true of Tonsillitis (Vol. 27, p. 11). For other common throat diseases see Bronchitis (Vol. 4, p. 634); Respiratory System, Pathology of (Vol. 23, p. 195) by Dr. Thomas Harris, a noted authority, and Dr. Harriet Hennessy, and Laryngitis (Vol. 16, p. 228), which fully describes the paroxysmal laryngitis so peculiarly fatal to infants. In all these articles reference is made to adenoids as a contributing cause of the maladies described. There is a separate account of these recently discovered troublesome growths, Adenoids (Vol. 1, p. 191), and of the comparatively simple operation for their removal, by Dr. Edmund Owen, consulting surgeon to the Children’s Hospital, London.
The great attention which, in recent years, has been paid to Diphtheria (Vol. 8, p. 290) has produced most striking results. We know its cause and nature, we understand the conditions which influence its prevalence; and a “specific” cure in an antitoxin has been found. Specialists now trace to diphtheria many of the serious cases which would formerly have been thought due to other diseases, and especially to croup.
Whooping Cough (Vol. 28, p. 616) is one of the most common diseases of infancy, but, except in the most extreme cases, does not require the regular attendance of a physician. The malady has three recognized stages, in the second of which complications are apt to arise which may become a source of danger greater than the malady itself. Parents should also understand the curious structural changes in the lungs which sometimes remain after the disease has run its course.
Of all the diseases of earlier childhood, Measles (Vol. 17, p. 947) is the most prevalent, and its spread is largely due to the fact that its initial symptoms are slight and not easily recognizable. The proper understanding of these is, therefore, most necessary, as well as a thorough appreciation of possible complications and their consequences. The best mode of treatment is also indicated in this article. There are several well-marked varieties of Scarlet Fever (Vol. 24, p. 303) of which the chief are simple scarlatina, septic scarlatina, and malignant scarlatina; and the complications and effects of the disease are among the most important features which should be understood. The list of infantile diseases is too long for specific description, but parents can appreciate the value and significance of this valuable department of the work by referring to such articles as Mumps (Vol. 18, p. 968); Dysentery (Vol. 8, p. 785); Cholera (Vol. 6, p. 262), with a special section on children’s simple cholera; see also Digestive Organs, General and Local Diseases (Vol. 8, p. 262) by Dr. A. L. Gillespie, lecturer on modern gastric methods, Edinburgh Post-Graduate School, and Meningitis, Cerebro-Spinal (Vol. 18, p. 130), with an account of the new and successful serum treatment.
Mental Training
In planning the groundwork of education, parents should have a clear idea of the principles of modern instruction. Here the Britannica again comes to their assistance. The biographies of Pestalozzi (Vol. 21, p. 284) and of Froebel (Vol. 11, p. 238) describe the insistence of these leaders on the need of educating a child through his own activity, and the results they obtained by this method. Further elaboration of the subject is given in Education, Theory (Vol. 8, p. 951), by James Welton, professor of education in the University of Leeds, to which article there are added detailed accounts of national systems of education. An interesting supplementary article is Schools (Vol. 24, p. 359), by A. F. Leach, describing the stages of experiment by which our modern idea of a school has been developed. There is an admirably instructive article, Technical Education (Vol. 26, p. 487), by Sir Philip Magnus, formerly member of the Royal Commission of Technical Instruction.