The diseases of children : a short introduction to their study / by James Frederic Goodhart.
- Sir James Goodhart, 1st Baronet
- Date:
- 1891
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The diseases of children : a short introduction to their study / by James Frederic Goodhart. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.
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![simulate the onset of acute tlioracic disease. Tlie ])rohlem speedily solved itself, for, on the third nioi n- iiiiT, :in apei'ient havinix been given meanwhihg and some alkaline di-aught, the fever had subsided, and the buy was practically well. Treatment.—I had purposed to devote a cha])tcr to special points in the treatment of children, l)ut, thinking the matter over, the necessity, nay even the wisdom, of so doing may be doid)ted. Foi' after all the dosage for children, the one great dread of students, is a matter which, if stated with precision in a jioso- logical table, is never handy for reference, and is hardly reliable if it be. One rule for linding the proper dose foi- any particular age under twelve yeai's is to add twelve to the child's age, and divide by the age. Thus, for a child of two years the dose woidd he -rfr, - of that required for an adult. But with one or two exceptions every one must make his own table, and must feel his way. Herein is one of the advantages of experience, which can hardly be gained in any other manner. (Jpium has been a great bughe:ir in this respect. All powerful drugs must natin-.dly be givmi with caution to children, hut opium is perhaps the only f)ne which requires excessive care, it must he given to infants in intinitesimal pro]iortions, and tlnn-e are some practitioners who evade its use during the tirst few months of life as much as ])ossil)le. Still, for exam]ile, combined with castoi' oil, it is a useful ding in hail ca,ses of llatulent colic; in pleuibsy also it is of great value. I’erliaps one drop to a two-ounce mixture, of which a drachm may be taken, is an avei'age dose in the first six weeks of life. This (juantity may have to be lessened, but it will certainly in many cases he nece.ssary to incrca.se it, and aftm- the lii'st two or three months the extreme suscepf iliility to the drug disappears, and half a drop may then he given for a dose. At an .age of two or thi;co years two-grain doses of Dover’s powder may be givmi, if the case sliould demand as mucli, without fear.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b24990449_0035.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
