Volume 1

The diseases of infants and children / by J.P. Crozer Griffith and A. Graeme Mitchell.

  • Griffith, J. P. Crozer (John Price Crozer), 1856-1941.
Date:
1927
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The diseases of infants and children / by J.P. Crozer Griffith and A. Graeme Mitchell. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    22/894 (page 2)
    The condition of development seen in infants the subject of premature birth will be considered when discussing that topic.(p. 284). The New=Born.—The first period of infancy is that in which the child is designated as New-Born. This term is applied not only to the time immediately after birth, but to a slightly longer period, regarding the exact duration of which there is some variance of opinion. Bouchut1 and Rilliet and Barthez,2 for instance, limited it to the first few days of life; while Henoch3 extended it to the age of 4 to 6 weeks, and Parrot4 to 3 months. It seems best to apply the title to the first 2 or, at longest, 3 weeks, since in this period no very distinct alterations show themselves during the process of development. The change from intra-uterine to extra-uterine life is so great that the new-born are very subject to dis¬ turbances of health, especially to those accidents and disorders caused by birth or appearing shortly after it. There are also a number of pathological conditions seen at birth which developed during fetal life (p. 283). Infancy.—This taken as a whole is a division of life to which various arbitrary and rather confusing limitations have been set. A classification common especially among French and German writers makes infancy (premiere enfance; Sauglingsalter) close with the age of 7 or 8 months, the beginning of dentition, or with the age of 1 year. Childhood (seconde enfance; Kindersalter) now begins—the first portion of it up to the age of about 36 months being called the period of the first dentition—and terminates with the age of 6 years. Youth (Knabensalter) then com¬ mences with 6 years, and forms the period of the second dentition, lasting until puberty. Popularly, however, in English-speaking countries in¬ fancy is generally considered as lasting until the age of 2 years and this seems the most convenient and best definition, since during this period the important epoch of the first dentition is nearly closed, and features are exhibited, especially in the earlier part of it, which differ in many respects from those seen in the later years of child-life. Children in the first year may be called nurslings. Development, both of the body and of the mind, during infancy is very rapid, except that for the first few months there is little discoverable gain in intellectual power. Infants, especially those of an early age, are extremely susceptible to external depressing influences, such as cold and fatigue, often easily affected by drugs, and rapidly exhausted by disease. On the other hand they exhibit remarkable recuperative power when recovery begins. Childhood.—Following the classification adopted here the term childhood is best used to cover the period from the close of infancy to the development of puberty. It may conveniently be divided into Early Childhood from the age of 2 to that of 6 years, the latter marking the be¬ ginning of the second dentition, and Later Childhood (Knabensalter) from the age of 6 years to puberty. During childhood growth continues with a rapidity which, though great, is less than in infancy. The mental and physical differences be¬ tween the sexes become constantly more apparent. The nervous system is still much in evidence although to a less extent than in infancy. The incidence of diseases at different periods of infancy and childhood will be discussed later (p. 235). 1 Maladies des nouveau-n6s, 1885, 1. 2 Sanne, Maladies des enfants, 1884, I, 5. 3 Vorlesungen iiber Kinderkrankheiten, 1895, 21. 4 Clinique des nouveau-nes, 1877, 4.