A practical treatise on the management and diseases of children / by R.T. Evanson and H. Maunsell.

  • Evanson, Richard Tonson, 1799?-
Date:
1847
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A practical treatise on the management and diseases of children / by R.T. Evanson and H. Maunsell. 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.

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    as to render it liiglily important that non-medical persons should be acquainted with their signs—not^ indeed, with a view to their meddling in the treatment, but that they may be aware of the necessity for an early recourse to medical assistance. These affec- tions are treated of in the sixth, seventh, and eighth sections of the tenth chapter, where a description of their marked characters may be perused. As a general rule, however, it may be laid down, that danger is to be apprehended whenever any sudden or marked altera- tion is observed in the cry of a child, especially if attended with difFiculty of breathing, either permanent or occurring at intervals. If the cry should be dry and husky, or hoarse, or the breathing be ac- companied by a crowing sound, apprehensions of approaching mischief sliould always be entertained. AVhen the seat of disease lies in the belly, and engages the diges- tive organs of the cliild, another set of indications may be observ- ed. The expression of the countenance is markedly different from wliat it is in affections either of the head or chest; but it is very indicative of inward distress. The face is pale, or sallow and swol- len, the lips apart, and sometimes drawn so as to show the gums or teeth, the eyes sunk and dim, and the skin under them, it may be, dark-coloured. The child seems to dread motion; it lies upon its back, with the knees drawn up; the belly may be full and puffed, or empty and retracted, but it is usually tender to the touch. The skin may be hot and dry, or, in the latter stages, cold and clammy. There is thirst, and a desire for cold drinks. The presence of these signs, in various degrees, sufficiently proves to an experienced eye the existence of serious disorder in the belly, and they will be found to be accompanied by vomiting, or purging, or, probably, by both these symptoms. The diseases of the digestive organs are numerous, and very various in their nature, and require considerable skill for the discrimination of their exact character, and the determination of the pro])er mode of treatment apphcable to eacli : they arc fully considered in the ninth chapter. They differ from diseases of the head and chest in not being generally so rapid in their course; but their manner of attack is often so insidious as to induce parents to ])Ostpone application for medical aid until it becomes too late to pre- vent mischi(3f. The truest general marks of danger we can point out are, tenderness of the belly, sudden loss of strengtli, ajid wast- ing of the flesh. When these signs, or any of them, accompany
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