On the wasting diseases of infants and children / by Eustace Smith.

  • Smith, Eustace, 1835-1914.
Date:
1870
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the wasting diseases of infants and children / by Eustace Smith. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

    35/342 (page 7)
    CAUSES OF ABDOMINAL ENLARGEMENT. Y seen in certain parts of the face in inherited sy])hilis; and there is an earthy tinge of the face and whole body in many cases of chronic bowel complaint. Exhaustion is indicated by coolness and pallor of the face, by lividity of the eyelids and mouth, and, in extreme cases, by a half-o.losure of the eyes, so as to leave the lower parts of the whites exposed, while at the same time the fontanelle is deeply depressed. The state of the fontanelle should be always examined, for it forms a very important guide to treatment : if much depressed, stimulants should never be withheld. j The breathing must be watched. If rapid, and accom- panied by movement of the nares, there is usually bronchitis or pneumonia, and a careful examination of the chest should always be made. Unequal movement of the two sides of the chest in respiration generally indicates a serious lesion on the side at- which the movement is least. If the respiratory action of the abdominal muscles be increased, attention is at once directed to the chest. If the belly be motionless, it is often the seat of an inflammatory com- plication. _ The cry of the infant varies very much in character. In cerebral affections it is sharp, short, and sudden. In lesions of the abdomen, exciting pain, it is prolonged. In in- herited syphilis, it is high-pitched and hoarse. In inflam- matory diseases of the larynx, it is hoarse, and may be whispering. In inflammatory diseases of the lungs, and in severe rickets, the child is usually quiet, and unwilling to cry on account of the action interfering with the respiratory functions. The infant should always be completely stripped for examination. We can then at once observe the form and play of the chest, the state of the abdomen, the condition of the skin, whether hot or cool, diy or moist, and the conformation of his limbs. Besides, any eruption upon the skin is at once detected by this means. The large size of the belly in weakly children often