Dr. Griffith has so ably detailed the "features of disease" that we can do no better than to quote the following:[[3]]
POSITION
The position assumed in sickness is a matter of importance. A child feverish or in pain is usually very restless even when asleep. When awake it desires constantly to be taken up, put down again, or carried about. Sometimes, however, at the beginning of an acute disease it lies heavy and stupid for a long time. In prolonged illnesses and in severe acute disorders the great exhaustion is shown by the child lying upon its back, with its face turned toward the ceiling, in a condition of complete apathy. It may remain like a log, scarcely breathing for days before death takes place. Perfect immobility may also be seen in children who are entirely unconscious although not exhausted.
A constant tossing off of the covers at night occurs early in rickets, but, of course, is seen in many healthy infants, especially if they are too warmly covered. A baby shows a desire to be propped up with pillows or to sit erect or to be carried in the mother's arms with its head over her shoulder whenever breathing is much interfered with, as in diphtheria of the larynx and in affections of the heart and lungs. The constant assumption of one position or the keeping of one part of the body still, may indicate paralysis. When, however, a cry attends a forcible change of position, it shows that the child was still because movement caused pain.
Sleeping with the mouth open and the head thrown back often attends chronic enlargement of the tonsils and the presence of adenoid growths in young children, although it may be seen in other affections which make breathing difficult. In inflammation of the brain the head is often drawn far back and held stiffly so. Sometimes, too, in this disease the child lies upon one side with the back arched, the knees drawn up, and the arms crossed over the chest. A constant burying of the face in the pillow or in the mother's lap occurs in severe inflammation of the eyes.
GESTURES
The gestures are often indicative of disease. Babies frequently place the hands near the seat of pain; thus in slight inflammation of the mouth they tend to put the hand in the mouth; in earache to move it to the ear; and in headache to raise it to the head. In headache or in affections of the brain they sometimes pluck at the hair or the ears, although they may often do this when there is no such trouble. Picking at the nose or at the opening of the bowel is seen in irritation of the intestine from worms or oftener from other cause. A child with a painful disease of its chest may sometimes place its hand on its abdomen, or a hungry child try to put its fists into its mouth.
In approaching convulsions the thumbs are often drawn tightly into the palms of the hands and the toes are stiffly bent or straightened. Very young babies, however, tend to do this, although healthy. The alternate doubling up and straightening of the body, with squirming movements, making of fists, kicking, and crying, are indications of colic. This is especially true if the symptoms come on suddenly and disappear as suddenly, perhaps attended by the expulsion of gas from the bowel.
SKIN COLOR
The color of the skin is often altered in disease. It is yellow in jaundice, and is bluish, especially over the face, in congenital heart disease. There is a purplish tint around the eyes and mouth, with a prominence of the veins of the face, in weakly children or in those with disordered digestion. A pale circle around the mouth accompanies nausea. The skin frequently acquires an earthy hue in chronic diarrhea, and is pale in any condition in which the blood is impoverished, as in Bright's disease, rickets, consumption, or any exhausted state. Flushing of the face accompanies fever, but besides this there is often seen a flushing without fever in older children the subjects of chronic disorders of digestion. Sudden flushing or paling is sometimes seen in disease of the brain.