Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Erica Pfister-Altschul and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net THE MOTHER'S MANUAL OF CHILDREN'S DISEASES. BY CHARLES WEST, M.D. FELLOW, AND LATE SENIOR CENSOR, OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS: FOUNDER OF, AND FORMERLY PHYSICIAN TO, THE HOSPITAL FOR SICK CHILDREN: FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF MEDICINE OF PARIS: ETC. AUTHOR OF 'LECTURES ON THE DISEASES OF INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD.' NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. 1885. ADVERTISEMENT. I have often asked myself whether it would not be possible to give in a small compass, and avoiding all technical detail, such an account of the diseases of infancy and childhood, as might be of use and comfort to the intelligent mother. Returning now, with health perfectly restored, to practise my profession for the rest of my life exclusively in my own country, I have brought with me this little book, in which the comparative leisure of my enforced sojourn at Nice has enabled me to realise my purpose. The book is not intended as a handbook for the nursery; many such exist, and many of them are of great merit. Neither has it the worse than idle pretence of telling people how to treat their children's illnesses, without the help of a doctor. Its object is to give a description of the diseases of early life, such as may help a mother to understand something of their nature and symptoms, to save her from needless anxiety as to their issue, and to enable her wisely to second the doctor in his endeavours for their cure. CHARLES WEST. 55 HARLEY STREET, CAVENDISH SQUARE. _August 1, 1885._ CONTENTS. PAGE ADVERTISEMENT v _PART I._ INTRODUCTORY 1 CHAPTER I. 1 Mortality of children and its causes -- Causes fourfold: Intermarriage -- Hereditary taint -- Unhealthy dwellings -- Unwholesome food CHAPTER II. 5 General signs of disease -- Shown by the cry, the temperature, the pulse and breathing -- Rules for examination as to these points -- Signs of absence of disease of the brain