BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
On the Diseases of Infants and Children. By Fleetwood
Churchill, M. D., M. R. I. A., Hon. Fellow of the College of
Physicians, Ireland; Hon. Member of the Philadelphia Medical
Society, &c., &c. Philadelphia : Lea & Blanchard, 1850. pp.
613.	1 vol. 8vo.
A Practical Treatise on the Diseases of Children. By Francis
Condie, M. D., Secretary of the College of Physicians, Member
of the American Medical Association, &c., &c. Third edition,
revised and augmented. Philadelphia : Lea & Blanchard, 1850.
It is but two months since we welcomed the appearance of Dr-
West’s valuable work on the diseases of children, and we have now
to proclaim the publication of another work on the same subject,
by Dr. Fleetwood Churchill, of Dublin, the well known writer on
the Theory and Practice of Midwifery and the Diseases of Females.
We are unfeignedly pleased to find from the fact that two foreign
works of the size and cost of the above, have been issued by the
same publishing house within such short space of each other, that
the profession in this country is becoming fully aware of the impor-
tance of the diseases of children as subjects of distinct and careful
investigation.
It appears from the preface of the woik we are about to notice,
that it has been prepared especially with a view to ‘its publication
in this country. The author says : “ It is with much gratification
that I acknowledge this volume to owe its existence to the solici-
tations of my excellent American publishers.” The fact of the
publishers having solicited a work on diseases of children, we sup-
pose to be owing to the great success which has attended the
republication, in this country, of Dr. Churchill’s previous works ;
one, that upon the Diseases of Females, having reached a fourth
edition ; and the other, that upon Obstetrics, being now in the
third edition ; strong proofs, certainly, of the estimation in which
the writer is held amongst us.
There is a statement in the preface upon which we have a remark
to make. The author, in referring to the secondary diseases,
which are so apt to complicate the various maladies of early life,
states that this portion of the history of infantile diseases, “ has
hardly received the attention it deserves.” This assertion is per-
fectly true in regard to the English and American writers on these
subjects, but we are surprised that Dr. Churchill does not do more
justice in this matter to the French authors upon children’s diseases,
and especially to MM. Rilliet and Barthez, who have devoted
the most minute, careful and systematic attention to this very
point (secondary diseases),—a degree of time and attention, indeed,
much greater than Dr. Churchill himself.
Dr. Churchill’s work is a large and extensive one, consisting of
a full sized octavo of 623 pages. We regret that we are totally
unable, from want of space, to give a complete and systematic review
of the book, an attention which its intrinsic merits and the high repu-
tation of its author certainly make it deserve. But we are com-
pelled to notice it only generally, and this we shall do with as
much faithfulness and regard for its deserts as we are capable of,
after having carefully examined its contents.
The work is divided into two parts; the first of which is devoted
to a consideration of the physical management of children, and
the second to the history of the various diseases to which they are
subject.
In the first part, we have observations upon the choice of a nurse,
upon weaning, artificial feeding, dress, sleep, medicine, and the
nursery and nurses. The remarks upon these subjects are, in gene-
ral, sensible and judicious. We have but one fault to find with
them, and that is that they are scarcely copious enough. Indeed,
we doubt whether it is possible for a writer, whose professed
object is the diseases of children, to devote as much space of a sin-
gle volume to the physical management of the early period of life as
the subject really deserves. Nevertheless, what the author has said
upon this subject cannot but prove most useful to those who are
not provided with the more complete works especially devoted to
it. To those who desire the most thorough information upon this
matter, we would recommend either Dr. Andrew Combe’s able
“ Treatise on the physiological and moral management of Infancy,”
edited by Dr. John Bell of this city, or Dr. Bull’s excellent little
work on the “Maternal Management of Children in Health and
Disease,” republished last year in this city, by Messrs. Lind-
say & Blakiston.
The second part of the work treats, as has already been stated,
of the different diseases to which children are subject. The diseases
are classified according to the systems of organs which they affect;
which is the division now generally adopted, and which is the most
useful and convenient. In this part of the work, constituting, of
course, by far the greater portion of the whole, the author passes
in review, more or less fully, nearly all the diseases to which
children are subject, leaving out, in fact, only scrofula and tubercu-
losis, the diseases of the urinary organs, typhoid fever, and the
fevers of malarious origin.
We have already stated that it was impossible for us to examine
the work before us in detail. We have neither the time nor the
space. In regard to its general character, we may observe that it
shows, like Dr. Churchill’s other writings, a very great amount of
patient industry, a careful study of, and intimate acquaintance
with, the works of other authors, and an honest and conscientious
appreciation of the labors of those who have preceded him. It
is, indeed, mainly a compilation. We find but little, in pro-
portion to the whole amount of matter, that is evidently the
product of the author’s own observation and experience. But
with this we find no fault, for we are not amongst those who
value only entirely original contributions to the science. On
the contrary, we think that a careful and honest collection of the
results obtained by previous observers, is one of the most useful
books that can be offered to the medical public. Doubtless a
work like that of MM. Rilliet and Barthez, or that of Dr. West
of London, is a more important and agreeable production, as adding
much of new to the common stock, than one composed chiefly
from materials which have already been placed before the profes-
sion, and which must therefore be familiar to many. But, a work
like the one before us, when well put together, as this is, is high-
ly valuable to many, and especially to those practitioners, form-
ing unhappily the mass of the profession, who read but little, or
who have access to no large and well filled library. Those, there-
fore, who are placed in this situation, and those who are too busy
or too indolent to consult original works, will here find condensed
into short sentences and few words, the pith and marrow of many
a large and extensive dissertation.
We must beg the reader, however, not to take up the impres-
sion from us, that Dr. Churchill’s work is wholly a compilation.
Far from this. The author often refers to what he has himself
seen, and judges by his own experience of the propriety or impro-
priety of different views that may have been advanced. There is
one circumstance in regard to the author’s manner of stating his
own experiences, which has seemed to us much more liable to
serious objections, than the want of large personal contributions
to the work : we allude to the fact that when he thus refers to his
private experience, it is done in that loose and general manner,
which was so much employed in medical writings, before the
influence of the modern school of careful observation, and the
numerical method, had resulted in the introduction of the more
precise and accurate modes of statements now very commonly
made use of. This circumstance causes us often to regret, in the
work we are noticing, the absence of more minute and particular
information in regard to the data upon which the author may
have formed' his opinion. It is pleasant to a reader to have not
only the conclusions of his author, but likewise his premises, in
order that he may judge for himself as to the correctness of those
conclusions.
Dr. Churchill’S work is particularly excellent in the historical
and descriptive accounts of disease. Under the head of each dis-
order he gives a sketch of its history, and then tells us with
great faithfulness what has been learned in regard to its nature,
causes, symptoms and pathological characters, so that we have
laid before us a full and accurate picture of the malady in all its
various aspects. We can therefore strongly recommend these
portions of the work to all who are desirous of becoming acquaint-
ed with the existing state of knowledge in regard to the points
just referred to. We cannot say that we have been so well
pleased with the manner in which the treatment of the different
diseases has been discussed. It seems to us that the author has
not devoted a sufficient share of his time and attention to this part
of his subject. It is not sufficiently elaborated. The remarks
seem rather meagre, and have too much the air of a dry catalogue
of what other men have thought and done. Here it is, too, that we
we feel especially the absence of that accurate and precise method
of statement, of the general want of which in the work we have
already spoken.
After this meagre, and we know, very imperfect notice, of Dr.
Churchill’s work, we shall conclude by saying, that it is one
that cannot fail from its copiousness, extensive research, and gen-
eral accuracy, to exalt still higher the reputation of the author
in this country. The American reader will be particularly pleased
to find that Dr. Churchill has done full justice throughout his
work, to the various American authors on this subject. The
names of Dewees, Eberle, Condie, and Stewart, occur on nearly
every page, and these authors are constantly referred to by the
author in terms of the highest praise, and with the most liberal
courtesy.
The second of the works whose titles head this notice is the
popular treatise of Dr. Condie, of which a third edition, revised and
augmented by a chapter on Epidemic Meningitis, (or cerebro spinal
meningitis,) appeared simultaneously with that of Dr. Churchill.
Having already, in notices of previous editions, expressed our
favorable opinion of the doctrines of this work, we desire only to
reiterate it in this.
We regard the treatise of Dr. Condie as one of the very best of
its class, and feel a just national pride in the appreciation of
its excellence by the medical profession both at home and abroad,
as evinced by the rapid sale of the previous editions, and by the
confidence with which it is quoted on all hands. We predict for the
present edition increasing favor.