** ."i.** r oV" DELICATE, BACKWARD, PUNY, AND STUNTED CHILDREN: Their Developmental Defects, and Physical, Mental, and Moral Peculiarities considered as Ailments Amenable to Treatment by Medicines, J. COMPTON BURNETT, M. D. PHILi 5 BOERICKE & TAFEL. 1896, \ k> 4e Copyrighted by boericke & tafel. PRINTED BY T. B. & H. B. COCHRAN, LANCASTER, PA. FOREWORD. In his daily work the practical phy- sician meets with a number of abnormal states that are not readily classified: I refer more particularly to those ab- normal conditions of children that I have attempted to indicate in the long title of this little treatise. We say of certain children that they are delicate, backward, peculiar, odd, stunted, puny, and the like, without being able exactly to state what disease they are suffering from. The development of a given child receives a shock from a fall or fright; or its further growth is arrested by some acute disease, such as measles or influenza; or a child is glum, taciturn, excitable, or what not, and yet people hardly know what is wrong or how to set iv Foreword. about putting the wrong right. Again, some children do not see, hear, or speak properly; or they are unclean in their habits, wet their clothes or their beds, and cannot be taught nice, sweet ways like their fellows. This little work is intended to show that such abnormalities depend upon physical conditions that can be put right by properly chosen remedies, and in no other way so well. J. COMPTON BURNETT. 86 W1MP01.B Street, Cavendish Square, W., Midsummer 1895. Delicate, Backward, Puny, and Stunted Children. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 'T^HE best treatment of the back- wardness of children which one usually encounters consists in gymnastic, climatic, hygienic, and dietetic advantages, together with special methods of instruction, all of which proceedings may be more or less sound and laudable, but in many cases they are not sufficient. The treatment which I here advocate does not exclude any of 2 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and the before-mentioned measures, but is something quite different, viz., the use of specific homoeopathic, organopathic, and various other constitutional remedies systemati- cally administered, so as to rectify the wrong underlying the said back- wardnesses, to cure the diseased organs or parts, to rouse them medi- cinally from torpidity, or to cure the diseases of the individual as an entirety, or to get rid of the per- verted or other morbid conditions due to hereditary diseases and taints, or to shocks, falls, blows, fits, or other previously overcome acci- dents and diseases. The ordinary treatment of delicate and backward children may be compared to sow- ing the seed in unprepared ground Stunted Children. which is not scientific, and is also inadequate ; whereas I advocate the plan of preparing the ground, of first putting the actual wrong right at the very start, so that the par- ticular state which causes us to affirm of a given child that he or she is delicate or backward, glum or excited, may disappear, and give place to the normal, so far as that may be possible in any given case. I regard mental backwardnesses as of physical cause and origin, and I say that the first step to be taken is to alter this physical cause of the abnormality, and then to go on to the teaching; whereas the poor delicate or backward ones either lie hopelessly fallow, or are worried and crammed with what little they 4 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and can take in, resulting often in but a poor return for all the trouble taken in their behalf. If a child have, say, an irritable brain remaining from some child's disease, or from a tendency to tuberculosis, or from outgrown water on the brain, or inherited constitutional taints, the common plan is to let the sufferers remain educationally fallow, so that no 'harm be done, and in order that they may grow out of their con- stitutional weaknesses. That is good, as far as it goes. Or they are sent to the seaside or other specially healthy neighbourhood. This is also good, as far as it goes. Or they are sent to special schools for delicate and backward children, Stunted Children. where every advantage is given them. This is also good, — aye, very good; but it is not enough. None of these suffice in them- selves, — the actual wrong is very apt to remain; the little ones may, indeed, mend more or less, but the results thus obtained are not the best obtainable, and the great bulk of such grow up unfit for the work of the world, and unfit pro- spective parents : though such very many of them will, in their turns, certainly become, abstract preach- ings to the contrary notwithstand- ing. To inveigh against the mark- ing of the delicate and of the diseased is futile: we might as well preach to the storm. But if we set about really curing the 6 Delicate ^ Backward, Puny, and delicate and the diseased while quite young, and then let them finish their growth, say at the sea- side, we shall in the end get sound adults fit for the work of the world, and for all the duties of the State and of the family. How do I know? Simply be- cause I have done it myself many times during the past twenty years, and these pages are intended to call attention to the possibilities of cura- tive medicine in the various con- stitutional delicacies of childhood, whether inherited or acquired, or both. And the point which I would specially lay stress upon is this: Cure the constitutional wrong as soon as possible, as thus growth comes AFTER the cure, and then Stunted Children, natural growth may result in com- plete normality. For when in the case of arrested or retarded develop- ment the hindrance is medicinally removed before growth is over, we get results veritably marvellous, as some of my herein narrated cases will show. The point bears reiterating. A given individual does not thrive because of a constitutional disease or taint blocking the way; now, remove the block by the right constitutional remedies, and then normal developmental power is restored, and said individual starts off growing, and the backward- nesses disappear. INRUBBINGS OF Oil, IN CHILDREN OF PUNY GROWTH. A yf Y very earliest efforts in en- deavouring to better the puniness of tiny children dates back to my student years, when I knew very little about any medical sub- ject whatever, but I somewhere heard or read that puny children were much helped in their growth by being rubbed with fine oil. I think the late Sir James Y. Simpson often recommended this proceed- ing. Many have lauded the benefits to be derived from rubbing in cod- liver oil, which I have myself at Stunted Children. times made use of, but have long since given up as having no ad- vantage over the use of fine salad oil, which is much less nasty, — the smell from the cod oil being very objectionable. Rubbing in even sweet oil is a rather grimy affair; but if properly carried out the griminess is very bearable, and there is no evil smell. Hence I have long since discarded the external* use of cod-liver oil, all the advantages being derivable from common salad oil. As I have mostly used homoeopathic remedies as well as the inrubbings of sweet oil, it is not * Internally it is not the same, for cod- liver oil is not only a nutrient, but also a homoeopathic (hepatic and pancreatic) •remedy. io Delicate, Backward, Puny, and easy for me to prove that any good is derivable from such inrubbings ; but I affirm from experience, that children of puny growth are much helped and improved in their development thereby. In the case of twins it is very well known that one of the twain is apt to be by much the smaller, and this wee one's hold of life is not great. It was once my lot to be called in to advise in regard to such a tiny mite, the stronger of the two being a fine specimen, and, in the opinion of the family doctor, fit to take its chance on the bottle, — the babies' bottle, — a bottle, by the way, that claims more victims than that other bottle we know of. Well, I had a wet nurse for my Stunted Children. n almost infinitesimal charge, and had him rubbed* with warm salad oil, and kept for long in old oiled flannel, and now he is a fine young man, — so I am informed by his mother, though I have never since seen him, — at present serving in the Cape Mounted Police. His strong twin brother died in infancy of marasm, as I am told on the same authority. , Here I can only affirm — I cannot prove — that the wee mite's life was saved by the inrubbings of oil, though at first he was too weak to take the breast. But I can almost prove my pre- * At first it was really more dabbing than nibbing. 12 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and sent proposition in the following narration : — There is a family of five children, now ranging from ten to two years of age, all of whom have been nnder my professional care all their little lives, and all five have been treated individually and otherwise in pre- cisely the same manner, with one exception, — that is to say, four out of the five were more or less puny at birth, and these four puny ones were oiled daily during the first year of their lives, and the fourth — the third in the series of five- — was so strong and robust at birth that it was thought needless to bother about the oil. He was not rubbed with oil during the first year of his life, and now? this robust one is Stunted Children, 13 now by far the least fine and strong of the series, and this notwithstand- ing his having been at birth the strongest and most robust, on which very account the oilings were omitted. In all other respects the five have been reared in precisely the same manner. HOW TO RUB IN THE OIL. My plan is as follows: — The mother, or nurse, in charge of the babe to have a large pinafore of flannel, which is not to be too frequently washed, but allowed to remain oily. She is to be seated in front of a good fire, an ample screen to be placed at her back to keep off the draught. A large soup-plate full of fine salad oil to 14 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and be slightly warmed and standing near at hand. The babe to be held naked in the lap, and the whole of the oil very gently and very slowly and playfully rnbbed into its entire body, excepting its face and hands, and then the babe is to be dressed for the night. The oily articles of apparel are not to be fresh every night, but only changed as often as cleanliness demands, since it is desirable and beneficial for the little patients to sleep in their oily things, — this, indeed, is part of the idea of the treatment. The oilings may be nsed together with snch remedial measnres as may be judged proper. Stunted Children, 15 POST-NATURAL GROWTH. In my introductory remarks I have laid great stress on the desirability of beginning the cura- tive treatment as early as possible ; . this needs no further insisting upon. But it is curious to note that in the case of blighted and arrested growth the period of growth seems pushed out rather than irretrievably gone by, — a cer- tain amount of growth being possi- ble even at middle life. This post- natural growth is presumably pent- up developmental power liberated by the treatment. Thus a patient of mine had hardly any beard on one side of his face, but a fair quantity on the other. After a 1 6 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and course of treatment by me, the failing beard grew, although patient was past forty years of age. Evi- dently the power to grow was present all the time, but was, so to speak, locked up, much as we may suppose is the case with people's wisdom teeth, which come at such different ages that it is difficult to say when they are really due. Where a portion only of a given person's body is arrested in de- velopment we see this post-natural growth very plainly. The case narrated on the following page is probably unique. Stunted Children. ij ON A CASE OF UNILATERAL ARREST OF DEVELOPMENT — LOPSIDED- NESS — ONE-BRE ASTEDNESS : Il- lustrating Post-natural Growth. On the 1 6th May, 1883, a young lady, 16 years of age, was brought to me by her father, a clergyman, then residing in Kent. He did so because I had been mentioning to him some interesting curative work I had done in the medicinal treatment of backwardnesses. The most salient point in the case was the fact that while the right half of her trunk was very nicely developed and the right breast normal and perfect in form, the left bieast was only rudiment- ary, like a boy's, the left arm not 1 8 Delicate, Backzvard, Puny, and much more than half its proper size. The roof of her moiith was very much arched, the left side of her face drawn to one side, so that her mouth was awry. Her speech very imperfect indeed, she being unable to articulate, and her sense of hear- ing bad, being clearly in a similar state of arrested development. She began to menstruate at 15, and is regular; suffers from frontal head- aches, her tongue deeply cracked (chopped, fissured). On going over this case very carefully, nothing seemed to offer any therapeutic cue: her parents are well and normal, so are her brothers and sisters, and, moreover, all well and well-bred. Vaccinated? Yes; she was vacci- nated at three months of age, but it Stunted Children. 19 did not take well, and hence she was done again At this point I mnst refer to my little book entitled "Vaccinosis and its Cure by Thuja" which I beg my readers to peruse, and then return to this narration. Jfy Thuja 30. June 13. — On the whole very much better; can certainly articu- late better, and the head is not so much out of the perpendicular. Jfc Rep. July 11.— The pain in the left side is better; she has thread- worms; frontal headache gone; seems very weak. Jfy Ceanothus Am. i x gss., five drops in water night and morn- ing. Ceanothus is a left-sided medicine, 20 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and — i.e., it acts electively more on the left side of the body, and specifically on the spleen. August 22. — Pain in the side (a dull sensation really) is gone; she is said to pass shreds from the bowels. All agree that she articu- lates distinctly better. B? Rep. September 7. — Thuja occid. C. October 17. — Although her side continues comfortable, she seems to have been ailing more generally in herself, and has had some boils. Speaks and articulates decidedly better. The lopsidedness is much less apparent, the left side hav- ing grown. Hears very much better. Ijk Psoricum 30. Stunted Children. 21 November 23. — Left side feels comfortable ; further great improve- ment in her articulation ; less lop- sidedness; breathing very rough; tonsils are of enormous size; small polypus in the left nostril. Tfy Euonymin 3** January 9, 1884. — Has run down; a crack in left angle of mouth; piles, and has passed thread-worms in great numbers. R Tc. Sanguinaria i x , and a Tetter turn snuff. • February 8. — Lopsidedness still noticeable; many seat-worms. f& Vaccinin 30. March 7. — Much backache; the medicine seems to have completely upset her; hands and feet very cold. 22 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and J$ Ceanothus i and Hepar 3*. April 1 6. — Side better; hands and feet no warmer. Has had SEVERAL LITTLE BOILS. Still some frontal headache; sick in the "back;" breathing is better; hear- ing a little better. B Psorinum 30 and Thuja 30. May 16. — On the whole better; complains again much of frontal headache; is not so straight as she was; in the night complains of a lnmp in the side, and the side is said to swell in the posterior aspect of the spleen region. Talks and hears better Tfy Lueticum CC. July 11. — Better than ever before; the nocturnal swelling gone; tonsils still very large ; is again very deaf; Stunted Children, 23 * her breathing is quite changed, and is now almost normal ; she talks away, and evinces an interest in everything; the polypus is smaller. ^ Rep. October 17. — Complains of pain in the left breast, and on examining I find shingles j ust developing in the left side, involving the left mamma. 1^ Variolin C. 29. — Cured the pain in the left mamma and blighted the shingles straightway, and she has been wonderfully well altogether. ^ Rep. November 28, 1884. — Is like one of the rest for all practical pur- poses : her left breast has grown, is well formed, and fit for its natural function. 24 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and TEN YEARS LATER. The cure holds good. I had not seen the patient during the past ten years until a few days since. It cannot be maintained that patient is absolutely normal, because there is some hesitancy and splutter in her speech, and she holds her head a little on one side, but that is all. Very close inspection shows that the left breast is a very little smaller than the right one, but so very slight that no one would notice it unless attention were specially called to the matter, and the less so as the two breasts are very rarely of exactly the same size in anybody. I call the attention of my readers to the breaking out of boils, and to Stunted Children, 25 the shingles, both of which pheno- mena I regard as constitutional strivings, due to the actions of the remedies administered. Let us remember that cow-pox is a vesiculo-pustular disease. The arrest of development in this case was due, I believe, to vaccinosic blight, latent, pent-up vaccinosis. When I speak of constitutional strivings, I mean that cutaneous eruptions are very commonly cura- tive in their tendency. 26 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and PARALYSIS OF LOWER EXTREMI- TIES. On August 15, 1881, a little bundle of yelling humanity was brought to me on a pillow, and I was told that her father was very ill of locomotor ataxy (whereof he sometime thereafter died) and that she was paralysed of her lower extremities, she being then nine months old. Her gums were livid and were greatly swelled. There was a history of a fall three months before. The child was said to have fallen on the lower part of her spine, where one sees a considerable swelling, bulging in appearance and very red. The special feature of the case lay in the fact that when- Stunted Children. 27 ever the lower limbs were moved, even in the slightest degree, the poor wee mite yelled terribly. I ordered Thuja 3* and Arsenicum 3 internally, gave the third tritura- tion of Heclce lava with its food, and applied very weak Arnica to the swelling. September 16. — Cries and yells as much as ever ; takes her food well ; ankles are puffy and swelled ; gums purple, fleshy, and swelled ; the dorsal swelling is clearly bone; perspires much in her head ; very restless at night. 1^ Calcarea carbonica 30 and Mercurius 30 internally in alterna- tion, and Liquor Calcis P.B. to be applied locally. September 29. — Continues to cr}^ 28 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and very much; the gums where the new teeth should be are bluish, and look like bags; the sternal ends of the clavicles are very much swelled, as big as large walnuts, — in fact, all her epiphyses are more or less swelled. Ify Thuja 30 and Ca/c. sul. 3*. October 10. — Mending decidedly. ^ Rep., and to be taught to eat one ripe pear every day, and to be taken to the seaside, and this be- cause I regarded the case partly as one of land scurvy. October 26. — Very great amelio- ration. No longer cries when moved ; she stretches herself com- fortably ; the swelling at the bottom of her back is diminishing, and also that of the epiphyses; the deep Stunted Children. 29 purple aspect of the gums Has gone. fy Rep. November 26. — The back is nearly well, so are the clavicles, and she has grown five teeth. Iy Pulsatilla 1, and go on also with the Calc. sulpk. December 30. — The child is well, ruddy and healthy, but its legs are still very weak. Has now seven teeth. She had during the next four months Silicea 30, Nux 6, Psorin. 30, and Lathyrus sativus 3, which last was prescribed on May 8, 1882. I saw her no more for ten years. TEN YEARS LATER. On October 24, 1892. — On this c 30 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and day a nicely-grown, normal girl, seemingly about twelve years of age, was brought to me by her mother to be treated for stuttering. It was my former paralysed baby patient ! I ought to mention that, on my advice, this child spent the ten years during which I did not see her at a very healthy seaside resort. She is now at school in London, and bears the climate quite well. Stunted Children. 31 PUNY GROWTH; MESENTERIC DIS- EASE — H YDROCEPH ALISM . A puny little boy of 9 years of age was brought to me on February 23, 1 891, by his parents, who were in a very anxious frame of mind on account of their little son, inasmuch as his next brother had just died of tuberculosis of the brain coverings. Patient was puny, old-mannish, pot-bellied, sick, sicky; bad head- aches, worse of the frontal region; head swelled, face too small-look- ing, teeth dirty ; glands everywhere feel like nuts ; he feels most sick on awakening, better as the day wears on; sleeps badly, dreams of falling. 32 Delicate, Backward, Pttny, and B? Bacill. C. March 24. — Has not been actu- ally sick since, but still feels sicky ; appetite better, yet still variable; sleeps much, better, but he starts. He had then in succession Ca/c. phos. 3 X , Trifolium pratense #, Bacill. 1000, Che lid. 1, Puis. 1, etc., till the end of the first year of treatment, when, after Levico and Calc. hypophos., he is noted in my casebook as doing well. During the year 1892 the treat- ment was steadily contined on the same lines, with very slow, gradual, and yet steady improvement. Likewise during the year 1893, in the autumn of which he had a gastric attack when he was a month under Baptisia, and after Stunted Children. 33 that lie was very weakly in his abdomen ; notably were the testicles noticed to be very small, and the boy had no go; a month under Aurum metallicum in the third centesimal trituration gave his whole economy a wonderful start. And now,nearly at the end of 1 894, he is almost a normal boy, wildly roughing it with others in a school preparatory for Eton or Harrow. That this boy's life was saved by the treatment is, humanly speaking, certain, and that his physical and mental state has been very notably ameliorated is willingly conceded by all his relatives, one of whom is the headmaster of one of our public schools, who, in consequence of the course of this case, has placed his 34 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and own very delicate children nnder my treatment. In this case three remedies acted with very striking power — viz., BacilL, Aurum, and Frag aria vesca 6. The last-named greatly improved his mesenteric glands and his digestion. Midsummer 1895. — Is now a fine lad, and quite well. I will add that Levico, in 5 to 10 drop doses, is a valnable inter- current help in grave cases where there is much debility, notably after the searching remedies such as Bacilli7ium. Stunted Children. 35 CASE OF CONSTITUTIONAL BLIGHT DUE TO vaccination; eczema AND ASTHMA. A boy of 9 was brought to me in the month of June 1892 to be treated for asthma and eczema, both of a severe type. His cough and dyspnoea were dreadful, and his eczema very distressing. "He ails every week, and has to be kept in and nursed." His teeth were rudi- mentary, imbedded in tartar; his tonsils much enlarged ; and noticing that his cervical glands on the left side were so much worse than on the right, the left side being where he had vaccination marks, I enquired how said vaccination had run its course. 36 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and " Oh, it did not seem to take, and the skin came out all over with eczema, and he has never got rid of it." The boy is bent forward, and generally ill-grown. Iy Thuja occid. 30. July 8. — Much better; cough much better; skin very rough; very moist eczema of left ring-finger. Many pips; glands of both sides of the neck now equally indurated and enlarged. ^ BacilL CC. August 8. — c ' Oh, his teeth look so much better, much of the tartar has fallen off them;* tonsils swelled." *In regard to trie accumulation of tartar on the teeth, already in my own first proving of Bacillin. , I thereafter noticed the falling-off Stunted Children- 37 Tfy Acid, nit, 30. Sept. 5. — Glands nearly well; eczema about the same ; pretty bad of both ring-fingers. And thus the treatment went on till the fall of 1893, when patient ceased attending. He had up to that date several nosodes, Thuja 30, and for months a course of Bacillin. (C, CC, and 1000). January 1895. — His half-sister informs me that the boy is quite well, and thriving beautifully. of two or three cakes of tartar from my lower incisors (never before or since); and in many of my published cases this curious influence of Bacillin. has been noticed. 38 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and BLIGHTED BY SUPPRESSED RING- WORM. Young organisms are stunted by many acute diseases : this no one denies; "he has never got over the effects of the measles." It is an often-told and ever-believed story — That vaccination very frequently blights the young organisms. I have often shown, and do now solemnly re-affirm, that the sup- pression of common ringworm fre- quently also blights the organisms of the sufferers: by suppressed I mean the ordinary external wash- and-scour method of ridding the outside of the body of the outside manifestations of the malady, the inward disease-essence remaining choked-up within. Stunted Children. 39 A stunted little maid of 12% years was brought to me on June 27, 1892, because she was under- sized and deaf. The glands under the right ear are indurated and en- larged ; her tongue pippy ; she is dusky in the neck. Patient had had ringworm for two years, and when that was cured (?) , she went deaf. She has been twice vaccinated. 1^ B acill. 30. July 25. — She has begun to grow! 1^ Rep. August 26. — Her teeth are clearing. lb. CC. September 26. — Is growing ; hearing much better; teeth getting cleaner and of a better colour. 40 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and lb. C. And thus the treatment was con- tinned till the summer of 1893, at which date I find in my case-records the following note: — " Has grown enormously; her glands are better; still deaf;" since when I have not seen her, but quite lately I heard from her mother that patient is in good health and away at school at the seaside, but she is still hard of hearing. Stunted Children, 41 PUNY GROWTH, NOCTURNAL FRIGHT AND DEAFNESS. On February 21, 1887, Edwin was brought to me for bis puny growth, deafness, and habitual alarming fright at night. In aspect Edwin was thin, very bony, flat- chested, and his skin "nothing but veins," so to speak. In both groins and in both sides of his neck very numerous hypertrophied glands were discernible ; and, as if to be quite certain of physical destruc- tion, he was the slave of a certain secret habit. He was brought to me about every month for three years, and was then discharged cured, and he has since taken, and still main- tains, a very high position iu his 42 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and chosen profession. He had from me dnring the first year — Lueticum CC, Thuja 30, and then Aurum muriaticum natronatum 3*, (Pyro- genium 6, Psorin. 30, and Bacillt- num 30; and by this time he had improved in every way, — his nights were good, the frights disappeared, he began to be less veiny and to grow, and his deafness had dis- appeared. He had fonght manfully against his evil habit with partial success. In the second year he had several months of BacilL C, Sabina 30, Platina 30, Fragaria vesca 0; and at the end of it his physique and morale were much improved, and I find in his case-record at this date the significant word, clean. Some Stunted Children. 43 of the same remedies were repeated during the third year, until he was discharged, as above stated, cured. Pyrogenium 6, three drops in water night and morning, continued until a two-drachm bottle was taken, appeared to cause his nose to bleed. Edwin continues to thrive to date, but is still shy and taciturn, but so is his mother. As to the habit ot self-abuse, which was a great ob- stacle in this case, I shall refer to that later on, under a separate head- line. Here I would just remark that, according to my experience, the thing is most commonly physi- cal disease, — evil rather than vice or sinfulness. In fact, it is an aberration purely in the animal sphere rather than sin on the spiritual plane. 44 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and GLUMNESS; A TACITURN BOY. There is a certain type of child ■ — more frequently boys than girls — who hang their heads and who will not willingly answer questions put to them, and who will not talk if they can help it. The boy in ques- tion was brought to me on May 21, 1892, and although reputedly in good health, he hung his head habitually and refused to talk. In asylums this kind of individual is a familiar sight. Such people will sit for hours together bent forward and looking steadfastly at nothing, and when spoken to they vouchsafe no reply, — they are just mum ; though if irritated will fly at you. Al- though fifteen years of age he still Stunted Children. 45 had a lady to accompany him every- where, and to whom he was greatly attached. He gave no answers to my various questions, only assent- ing very decidedly to the lady's statement that he suffered greatly from headaches. At his school he was considered a dullard, and no one ever heard of his even wishing to distinguish himself or get a prize. The headaches were over his eyes ; his tongue was white, with many red pips imbeded in the thick coat- ing. He had been twice vaccinated, he tanned unduly in the sun, and his superficial inguinal glands were hypertrophied ; testicles small. 1^ Tc. Fragaria vesca i x , ten drops in water night and morning. This was given on account of the D 46 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and state of the tongue, and with such a tongue the Fragaria is a very notable stomachic, the headache being evidently from the state of the abdominal glands. Under its influence the boy visibly improved in every way: his headaches be- came much less severe, and he looked brighter ; moreover, he held himself better, and would answer questions sometimes. This was followed b}^ Thuja occid. 30, and after this he had no more headaches at all. After that he had BacilL CC, Puis. 1, and finally, on account of his poor testicular development, he was a month under Aurum metallicum, third trituration, which effectively righted that wrong and Stunted Children, 47 he forthwith took a proper position in his school, and at the next prize distribution he greatly astonished those who had known him by carrying off several prizes. He afterwards called to say good-bye to me, and gleefully told me of his triumphs. He had ceased to be mum or peculiar. A year later his father accosted me at London Bridge Railway Station, and expressed his great satisfaction at Tom's capital con- dition. 48 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and SPINAL CURVATURE; STUNTED GROWTH. In the spring of 1894 a boy of ten years and a half of age, of fairly good weight, viz., 4 st. 8 lb., but in height only 4 feet 3 inches, was brought to me by his mother (her- self for many years a sufferer from spinal disease), on account of slight spinal curvature and stunted growth, or, perhaps, I should rather say backward growth. He had the too-wide and too-stodgy aspect of such a condition. An examination revealed indurated and hypertro- phied glands in both sides of the neck and in both groins, and very small testes indeed. This boy had a somewhat pleasing but peculiar Stunted Children. 49 aspect and manner that I have occasionally seen in boys whose testicular development is backward. I first noticed it in such a boy in a Continental hospital many years ago, and have never forgotten it : once seen always remembered, but very difficult to describe. I would say that there is an unusual open- ness and frankness in their gaze and approach, too much empresse- ment, a full-of-confidence, jump- down -your- throat, meaningless, laughing unconsciousness that is very striking, and not entirely pleasant. This boy had from me, in a six months' course of treatment, Tub. /est.C] BacilL 30; Thuja 30; and Aurum metallicum, third tritura- 50 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and tion; and during that time he had taken to growing, and the following letter from his mother tells the rest: " Sept. 5th. "Dear Dr. Burnett, — My little boy's school opens on Sept. 25. I suppose he is now well enough to return to his w^ork ? He continues to grow and look well, and the difference in the appearance of his back is perfectly magical to me, to whom this weakness has always been a trouble. You certainly have given him exactly the help needed, and I am truly grateful. The other two boys are both benefiting, the younger more especially. The neck gland is not visible to me now. I say to me, because I seem to notice these things more than the others, Stunted Children. 51 and realize their importance. — Be- lieve me, with many thanks." And, again, in June 25, 1895, the mother writes me : — " I was at Eastbourne for a school festivity, and saw L., who looks splendid, so much so, that I think you need scarcely see him before his holidays; but he has no more powders, and I wondered if you would kindly send him another box to go on with. I do not want him to stand still, but to an ordi- nary eye he is in perfect health. "I shall see G. at Harrow on the 3rd July. " I remain, with many grateful thanks." 52 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and puny growth; spinal curva- ture; ACNE. A young lady, 22 years of age, was brought by her mother to me on May 6, 1890, for her spine, and what might be termed general puniness, and for which there seemed no assignable reason. In her face we saw a large spider nsevus,* and the skin of her shoulders was the seat of a fair crop of acne pustules. Her spine was curved, but it was that kind which ought, I think, to be called lopsidedness, and which is in reality an undue preponderance of the * Spider naevi generally disappear under Thuja 30, long used and ^frequently re- peated. Stunted Children. 53 right half of the body over the left; and the spinal cnrvatnre is due to the pulling over of the muscles of the stronger side. It is not really a spine affection at all : the great bulk of the "spines" of young ladies are of this nature. Patient stoops a good deal, and squints a very little. This case is the type of very many, and they arise from malnutrition of the (commonly) left half of the body. In observing the mode of growth of children, I have often remarked that their strong parts, so to speak, grab the nourishment first, and thus, if too little is absorbed and assimilated, the weaker parts go short.. I will narrate a case that bears this out by-and-by. 54 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and As this young lady's left side was at fault, and as she had been vaccinated on the left side, and was suffering from squint and acne, and her spleen being, moreover, swelled, I began with Thuja 30, and then continued with Be His perennis 0, of which latter she took altogether an ounce. She was under these two remedies for about a year. Then followed, in the order named, Viscum album 1, Fragaria vesca 0, Bryonia alba 0, Saw Palmetto (with vast benefit), and I shortly afterwards heard that she was engaged to be married. Stunted Children, 55 STUNTED GIRL. " An anaemic, dusky, undersized mite of a girl was brought by her mother to me on August 29, 1888, for debility. She had had hepatitis; her incisors were markedly notched, she suffered much from toothache and croup, and her superficial glands were greatly hypertrophied, and, finally, she was much plagued with oxyures. During the first nine months she had Lueticum CC, Bacillinum C. Condurango 1, Sabina 3, and Thuja 30, and during that period gained 7 lbs. in weight, and she looked much better and was notably brighter. Then followed Pulsatilla 1, 56 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and Ferrum picricum 3*, Psorin. 30, Nux vomica 1, when a further increase of a pound in weight was noted, and the seat-worms had ceased from troubling. Some other remedies were then given, notably Rubia tinctoria and Hydrastis Canadensis #, and my last note of her case is dated February 26, 1890, and runs thus: "Vastly improved, and now weighs 4 st. 6 lbs." By the way, Rubia tinctoria is an excellent remedy in splenic anaemia. I usually give 10 drops of the strong tincture three times a day. Stunted Children. 57 ARRESTED GROWTH ; CHRONIC SWELLING OF THE SPLEEN ; PERITONITIS AND DROPSY. An extremely freckled , dusky, dropsical lad of 16 years of age was brought by his father to me on October 7, 1881, to be treated for . . . . " He is in a very bad way, and has dropsy in his stomach." As a babe he nearly died from the bottle, his mother being unable to suckle him, when a good wet nurse was obtained, and he grew fatter and stronger than his brothers and sisters, and was doing well until two years ago, when he was at school at the sea- side, and there one day was caught in a storm, and ran home a distance 58 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and of two miles, thereby hurting his left side, from which he has never really recovered ; it has pained him ever since. He has ascites, his micturition is painful, there is a kind of chronic diarrhoea, and although sixteen years of age there is not the faintest sign of pubescence. His spleen and liver notably enlarged, his face thin, his chest bony and very veiny, teeth notched, tongue thin and cracked, abdomen distended with water, the skin dirty-looking and earthy, glands in the groins enlarged, and legs thin, almost like long sticks. Clearly his abdominal glands were diseased, and the outlook was very gloomy. Stunted Children. 59 In such a case one hardly knows where to begin. What struck me was the enormous number of freckles on his face, and as I had a few times succeeded in ameliorating that condition with Badiaga, I put patient on that remedy for two months (1 and 3 X each for one ilionth), with the result that his freckled state lessened, and patient who had weighed 6 st. 9^ lbs., came down to 6 st. 4 lbs.; but whether this diminution was a good sign or a bad one we could not readily deter- mine, because it might have been from loss of flesh or from less water within the abdominal cavity. Damp weather made his diarrhoea worse, and he had now taken to 60 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and wetting his bed. As lie was dis- tinctly worse in the wet and damp, I gave him the fourth trituration of Nat. suL, and of that 6 grains three times a day. After this, on January 4, 1882, his weight was 6 st. 3 lbs , and he had ceased wetting his bed. Still very distinct ascites. Iy Ceanothus 1. January 12. — Weight, 6 st. 1 lb. ^ Thuja 30. January 20. — He is worse; the drospy is increased, and the whole of the belly is very tender. Iy Psorinum 30. February 1. — The diarrhoea has ceased; weight, 5 st. 13 lbs.; belly so very tender that he can no longer bear the jolting of the carriage. During this month he Stunted Children. 6 1 had Calc. carb. 30, Colocynth 6, and the second trituration of the Iodide of Arsenic, and at its end weighed just 6 stones. He went on all March, April, and May under Berberis vulgaris 3 X , Ammon. carb. 3, Dioscorin 3 X , Dioscorea 3% Argentum nitricum /, Nux vomica 3 X , and then Merc, iod. cum Kali tod.) 3 X trit., and on June 5 the body- weight was 5 st. 6 lbs., and patient was still almost as ill as ever. And what rendered it so very difficult to really gauge our patient was the diminution in his weight, viz., whether was that less flesh or less dropsy. 1^ Lueticum CC. was at last determined upon, and straightway improvement set in. 62 Delicate \ Backward, Puny, and June 26. — Much better all round. Weight, 5 st. 5^ lbs. ; measures 24 in. round the belly; sleeps better. tyRep, July 12. — Weight, 5 st. 5 lbs. He looks cleaner, whiter, (less brown) . The change in the colora- tion of his abdomen is marvellous ; it is now not very much too dusky, and the belly is very much less tender; glands less prominent. Jfy Rep., et Hepar suL 3*. He was discharged as being in a normal condition on February 8, 1883. On September 12, 1883, he saw the late Dr. Dunn, formerly of Doncaster, who was then acting for me during my holiday, for " Enlarged inguinal glands, painful; Stunted Children, 63 Hepar sulph." which words I see in my case-book in dear old Dunn's handwriting. ELEVEN YEARS LATER. Patient is now a busy city man in good health and condition, and just on the point of getting married: u As soon as business gets a bit better," in his own words. This young man's mother had water on the brain as a child, whereof the shape of her head still bears eloquent testimony. 64 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and puny growth; ringworm of shoulder, and chronic in- SOMNIA. A little lassie of 8 years of age was brought by her mother to me on November 21, 1892, because she was weedy, pale, non-thriving, sleepless and restless at night, grinding her teeth, etc. The delicacy appeared to date from chronic diarrhoea from which she suffered a good deal as a baby. Her teeth were not growing pro- perly, and her lymphatic glands were indurated and feelable in neck and groins. B acillinumQsQ,., C, and 30, Thuja 30, and Tub. test. C, were the principal remedies I employed in the case, and after a few months Stunted Children. 65 much improvement set in. Patient sleeps well. After two years the young patient was quite a fine girl, although in my j udgment still too pale, which I ascribe to the state of the air of the neighbour- hood in greater London, where she resides. What the child now really requires is a few years' resi- dence at the seaside, by preference the first year or so at Worthing, the second at Brighton, and then a year or two at Eastbourne or Folkestone. The grandest results in the treat- ment of backward children are obtainable when the constitutional bars to physical and mental com- pletion are medicinally removed, and THEN the full effects of food 66 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and and air crown the edifice. I do not mean that food and fresh air are at any time unimportant, but what I do maintain is that disease taints in children are NOT curable by any air or any DIET whatever. The power of the organism to resist them may, however, be much in- creased. I will, later on, exemplify what I mean by narrating the case of a toothless boy at Eastbourne. When I name certain places as suitable for delicate children, it is to be borne in mind that I am writing in London, whence said places are readily accessible. Stunted Children, 6 J TOOTHLESSNESS, RICKETS, RING- WORM, PUNY GROWTH, AND UGLI- NESS. By toothlessness I mean that the patient, a little girl of 7 years of age, who was brought to me in the winter of 1893, had only very rudimentary bits of something im- bedded in tartar where the teeth ought to have been. Her hair, too, was very, very weak, thin, dry, and she had patches of ringworm, with areas of " Diffuse Ringworm" (Alder Smith) here and there on her scalp, worse on the left side. Numerous superficial glands, indurated and enlarged. In general aspect the child was puny and very ugly. I put her on the treatment set forth in my little work on "Ringworm," 68 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and and a year later (she was on tlie remedy a full year, and on no other, but at longish intervals be- tween the doses, and all of the thirtieth centesimal potency) her mouth was full of teeth, her hair had grown, and the little maid looked positively pretty, as one would expect from her young and good-looking parents. Her teeth are not yet white, and only poorly covered with dentine, but still she has a mouthful of teeth, and they will certainly go on improving in quality. No trace of ringworm or scrofula left, but the hair is still lacking in gloss. Midsummer 1895. — Continues very thriving. Stunted Children. 69 RUDIMENTARY TEETH IN A BOY OF ELEVEN YEARS OF AGE; DIURNAL AND NOCTURNAL ENURESIS, AND PIGEON-BREASTEDNESS. A rather fine-grown boy of 1 1 years of age was brought to me on October 3, 1893, because of his teeth, and for life-long enuresis. "The dentist says he can do nothing, as his teeth have not properly grown, and what little of the teeth is above the gums is almost all covered with tartar." So it was; moreover, the nose and naso-pharynx were crammed full of adenoids, and his tonsils were large, hence no one will be surprised to learn that he was also slightly pigeon-breasted. 70 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and This kind of rudimentary teeth, one meets with pretty commonly in delicate children. The teeth have really not grown properly, and the little tips of teeth do not look like proper teeth at all, but like little spikes of tartar; they do not appear to have any enamel at all. I have already related cases of cure of this miserable state, so I need not unduly dwell upon this one. I last saw patient in April 1894, when he could breathe comfortably through his nose, the pigeon-breastedness was almost a thing of the past, the tonsils had gone down a good deal, and his mouth was full of teeth — perfectly good? No, not perfectly good, but still very passable. The young man had Thuja 30, BacilL Stunted Children. 71 30, Tub. test. C, and then two others. I may see him again before this goes to press, and if I do I will add a note of any further progress he may have made since from the effects of the stock of medicines which I ordered for him when they went abroad in the summer. But probably I shall not see him further unless he goes back in his health in someway. I should have stated that the patient no longer wets his bed or his clothes, — which he had been in the habit of doing all his life to his own intense mortification. By the way, some parents chastise or scold their children for wetting their garments and bed . . . why not scold and chastise them for getting the measles? There was 72 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and another point in this case that was very dreadful — viz., the boy's motions stank horribly : this soon disappeared under the treatment which I have just detailed. I will now narrate another case similar in some respects to the foregoing, and yet quite different, and which clearly shows that fresh air and ample feeding are not of them- selves capable of curing disease or disease-taints which bar develop- ment: Fresh air cannot cure DISEASE. Stimted Children. 73 CASE OF TOTAL ABSENCE OF FRONT UPPER INCISOR TEETH. On July 27, 1893, a small, thin, narrow-chested, drum-bellied, stunted boy of 8}4 years of age, son of a staff officer, was brought to me for his pining delicate state; he had no upper incisors at all, though one could see them shaped in the gums; his lips peeled very readily and constantly (so did the lips in the just narrated case !) ; his motions stank dreadfully; he wet his clothes by day and his bed by night, and he was a ravenous eater. At the moment at which I am writing he has been just eighteen months under my care, and he is now the happy possessor of good teeth ; and he is in all respects 74 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and about normal, except that lie still wets himself, and the glands in his groins are still feelably indurated and enlarged. The treatment was the same as the last, except that he was also two months under MaL 30 and C. His teeth are now very good, and of an excellent colour. The foul-smelling motions of delicate children are so distressing for those in charge of them that this alone urgently needs curing; but the cure must be vital and constitutional : using deodorants and disinfectants to the dejecta does not cure the unfortunate patients. This boy had been sent to East- bourne to reside, but his teeth did not grow till the disease-taint had been cured by medicines. Stunted Children. 75 IMPERFECT SENSE OF SMELL, DAN- GEROUS PERIODICAL NOSE-BLEED IN AN UNDERSIZED GIRL OF ELEVEN YEARS OF AGE. A stumpy, undersized girl of 11 years of age, of good parentage, was brought to me on June 19, 1889, for periodical epistaxis of three years' duration , that had latterly become alarming in extent, necessitating nose-plugging. " She loses a great deal of blood, and the doctor says that her life is in danger, and that an operation on the nose -is the only hope of a cure." The child had had diarrhoea, varicella, measles, whooping-cough, and sore throats, and had been 76 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and once vaccinated. She resides with lier parents in a notedly healthy country place. Patient was naturally anaemic from the haemorrhages, her nose ached ; incisors slightly notched ; there is pretty severe nasal catarrh, and she gets rid of a good deal of " thick yellow stuff" from the nostrils. ^ Thuja occid. 30. July 15. — Less bleeding; bad croupy cough. A slight " shew." ^ BacilL C. August 21. — No bleeding at all, and patient is very well. ^ Rep. September 16. — No bleeding; but has a taste of blood in her mouth, particularly when she sneezes. No Stunted Children. J J cough. Her teeth are ot a bad colour. ^ Z«*/. CC. October 25. — Epis taxis twice, but much less profuse than formerly; her tongue is very long and very pippy. ^ Bacill. CC. November 22.— Noepistaxis, but a prickling in the nose, as if it were going to come on. A bad cough. Iy Calc. phos. 3 X . February 12, 1890. — She has grown and spread out in size; no cough ; no nose bleed. Practically well, but still rather stunted. ty Pulsatilla 2. October 29. — Has greatly grown; one or two attacks of bleeding ; right nostril very sore. 78 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and December 17. — Well. Feb7'uary 29, 1892. — Well. The medical men who treated this case before I did, and who very loudly pro- claimed the impossibility of its cure by any means whatsoever except an operation on the nose of a rather severe nature, and who, moreover, ridiculed any attempt to cure the same with medicines — these medi- cal men have not been converted to homoeopathy by my success, but many of their neighbours have. Allopathy is in an advanced stage of senile decay, from which there is no recovery, and the sooner the general break-up comes the better for mankind. Thus, here is a young girl with dangerous nose-bleed of long standing slowly getting worse Stunted Children. 79 till lier very life is threatened; allopathy plugs the nares, and afterwards administers tonics, and finally , in the despair of the debility of senile decay, gives the case over to the surgeons, who propose waging war upon the poor nose according to the principles of rhinology (one of the occult sciences of modern medicine) , while all the time it is a constitutional disease that causes the haemorrhage, and it is not a nasal disease at all ! THREE YEARS LATER. Patient continues quite well. 80 Delicate, Backward, Ptmy, and MISSHAPEN HEAD; ADULT MENTAL INFANCY OF A MAN TWENTY- SEVEN YEARS OF AGE. A big-grown man, 27 years of age, was put under my tratment in May 1889 by his relatives on the strength of my opinion that he might be rendered more or less normal by medicinal treatment, notwithstanding the fact that he was 27 years of age and still men- tally infantile. Looking at him full in the face, one noticed his fore- head was very bulging; no eye- lashes; a dull expression ; general headform abnormal. The history is that of " water in the head as a child," and that he has never been "like others;" his sisters say " he Stunted Children. is soft," and call him " daft." Being unable to do any head-work, he has had none to do, but has re- mained mentally fallow, and hence, though the son of gentle folks, is quite illiterate. The skin of his head seems to him to be very tight, * whereof he complains a good deal ; also of pain both in his forehead and at the back; his skin is very dusky ; a number of his symptoms are aggravated at night. I ex- amined him very closely, and roused his interest in his own case. He was in no sense insane, but clearly had plenty of mind; but it was hidden behind a cloud. He would * Most probably a physical fact primarily due to the watery state of the encephalon. 82 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and seize his scalp in his hands and tell me impressively that it was too tight, and he complained of being such a heavy sleeper, and of not being able to do anything at figures or any u head-work." I call very special attention to this case, because it fully illustrates my contention that lying mentally fallow is not the proper treatment for juvenile cephalic invalids. This young man, being the son of gentle- folks of means, position, and intelli- gence, was allowed to lie mentally fallow all his life on medical advice, and he certainly grew up all right except for his dunderheadeduess. Not only so, but he had an outdoor life, and when a full-grown man he Stunted Children. 83 was, on advice, sent out to a colony with a very bracing, invigorating climate to rongh it, and lie carried out the thing so completely that he worked for long at heavy, rough outdoor work, quite getting his own living at felling timber and heavy farm work ; it considerably strengthened his body, but he, at the time of which I am writing, had just returned from his long absence u roughing it," as dunder- headed as he ever was. Now, note the effect of treatment. The first remedy was Luet. CC, which was followed by u an irrita- tion of hands and face that keeps him awake by nig Jit ; it burns ; does not trouble him by day." 84 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and His head is better ! Thuja 30 followed, and seemed to try him a good deal. He had been twice vaccinated. He then had Nux vomica, and after that BacilL C, and here he began to learn arithmetic, his head being so much better; and in Sep- tember the first prescription was repeated. October 23. — Getting quite strong ; pigeon-breastedness much less pronounced. He is getting on well with his learning "the three R's." Iy Morbillin, 30. November 27. — Is now enjoying his learning, principally writing and arithmetic. Tfy BacilL C, Zincum aceticum 3 X 5 Stunted Children. 85 Thuja 30, Calc.phos. 3*, etc., carried us on to the yean 891, when patient had so far progressed in his learning that he obtained a berth in a city financiers office, where he still continues earning his living at head work entirely ! The foregoing case very aptly illustrates the thesis which I am here trying to maintain, viz., that it does not suffice to leave the delicate and backward in a fallow condition, trusting to their " growing out " of their maladive conditions, for they are nearly as likely to grow into them as to grow out of them. This young man remained mentally fallow so far as learning was con- cerned, and he made no mental 86 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and progress. His muscles were used, for these were well exercised ; his brain did not improve, for it lay fallow. It was allowed to lie fallow because it was unfit to work, and no doubt it was wise not to work it in its unfit state; but that did not suffice. You cannot grow a good biceps by carrying your arm in a sling, neither can you cultivate brain- power by leaving the brain idle. Muscle-power is gained by muscular exercise; brain-power is gained by brain exercise And if the brain is in a morbid state, the malady from which it is suffering must be cured, whereafter the brain may be safely exercised and thereby strengthened. Muscle-exercise does not directly Stunted Children. 87 strengthen the brain, neither does brain-exercise strengthen the mus- cles: due exercise of each duly develops each; over-exercise of either is at the cost of the other. A given organism can produce only so much and no more. Great brain workers are not muscular; great muscle-workers are not at the same time capable of great brain work ; it is impossible, all cackle to the contrary notwithstanding. It is of prime importance to keep the foregoing lesson well in mind. I say great brain-workers cannot at the same time be great muscle- workers. It is not maintained that an individual of great muscular power may not at the same time be 88 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and a big-brained, highly-intellectual person. What I maintain is, that I never yet met a person who excelled in both. Gladstone is a great brain-worker, and can fell a tree ; but I do not believe that Gladstone would ever have taken a high position in a competition with wood - choppers or woodmen of eminence on their own lines ; and half a glance at his structure shows that he was never particularly muscular. A given organism can only pro- duce a given amount of energy and no more. Dr. Grace, the great cricketer, will not go down to posterity as a great physician, just as light-weights do not make good coal-heavers, nor do the best Stunted Children. 89 coal-heavers excel in Jight and elegant movement of body or swiftness of foot. To each his own excellence. GIRLS AND BOYS. The same thing applies to the question of the relative powers of girls and boys, and most of what is commonly said on this point is nothing but weak twaddle. Only the Almighty can make a New Woman. Put broadly, up to the . age of puberty, the girl, all other things being equal, beats the boy ; with puberty the damsel throws away every month a vast amount of fluid power in the order of Nature, Let us call this pelvic power. Assuming the girl to be . 90 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and the superior of the boy up to the pelvic power stage, — which, indeed, any one can observe for himself, in his own sphere, — but once arrived at the stage of pelvic power, and the damsel is left behind in her lessons by her brother in the natural order of things, or else the girl's brain saps the pelvis of its power, when she will also lose in the race with the boy, because he will be physically well, while she, with disordered pelvic life, must necessarily be in ill-health more or less. The whole thing is a mere question of quantity of energy. If it were otherwise, the girl would be able to buy lollypops with her penny and yet keep her penny ; while the boy, having spent his Stunted Children. 91 penny, would be penniless. You cannot spend your penny and liave it. The New Woman is only possible in a novel, not in Nature. The intellectual Sandow is also im- possible, and for the same reason : too much on one side of the scales conditions too little on the other. I have very many times watched the careers of exceedingly studious girls who spent the great mass of their power in mental work, and in every case the pelvic power decreased in even pace with the expenditure of mental power. Not one exception to this have I ever seen, and all the lady students of the higher grades whom it has been my duty to professionally advise 92 Delicate, Backward, Puny, a7id were suffering in regard to their pelvic lives and power. I have sat at the foot of Nature a good many years, and I give as my opinion that to be a mother in its best sense is the biggest thing on earth, and comes nearer the Creator's work than anything else under heaven ; to be a learned girl or woman graduate is a very good and respectable thing enough, and twelve of them make a dozen. At the same time, genius has no gender ; it can be in a female or in a male, as the case may be. Stunted Children. 93 HUNCHBACK. A lady brought her 11-year old, greatly-deformed son to me on January 29, 1886. I noted that patient was frightfully deformed; at his birth both his collar-bones were broken, and had united with- out ever having been set. His mother had taken this, her only son, to many doctors — surgeons and physicians — of the highest repute. She says 200 ! He was strapped up in a very formidable and efficient iron jacket, and he has had all the advantages of our best orthopaedic hospitals. His belly is like a bulging pot. His spine is bent from side to side, G 94 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and the left scapular region forming the hunch. Patient is very thin; liver much enlarged; macrocephalic head; skin, notably at certain points, very dusky; many indurated glands in the usual places; teeth literally rotten. ^ Luet. CC. March 12. — Has been very much relaxed in his bowels from the powders; complexion already much cleaner, and the skin of his body less dusky. Belly has gone down. fy Rep-. April 16. — Better; skin less dusky; suffers very much from hiccup , lasting at times half an hour. ^ Med. 30. July 12. — Hiccup cured; the lad Stunted Children. 95 stronger and less crooked. An- orexia. Nux vomica, 3*. October 20. — Has grown very much; the skin of his body is still very "browny," though less so than formerly. No hiccup. ty Luet. CC. December 3. — No return of the hiccup; skin very much less dusky; is growing much straighter ; but his glands are still visible, and like chains of kernels. ty Psor. 30. January 12, 1887. — Has a cold; strawberry tongue ; but generally he is thriving. ^ Puis. 3 X . February 16. — Tongue is better ; has hiccup twice a day, but has had a better appetite. 96 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and ^ Med. CC. April 4. — Still has hiccup; he is pale. ^ Luet. CC. May 20. — No hiccup; has had toothache. Strawberry tongue. Iy Tc. Fragaria vesca 0, 3ij, five drops in water night and morning. August 5. — A little hiccup; an- orexia; tongue normal in aspect; still very swarthy. ^ Luet. CC. October 2 1 . — His skin is getting quite a clear English colour; still has hiccup a little ; he is straighter, fatter, and slightly ruddy. Iy Cyclamen Europ. 1, five drops in water night and morning. December 16. — Has had an acci- dent. Stunted Children. 97 ^ Trit. 3. Aurum metallicum, four grains every morning. January 27, 1888. — During the time he was taking the Aurum he was poorly; since then he is better, and he is now clean and white- skinned. Very bad teeth. ^ Bacill. C. June 29. — He has been so much better that he has neglected to report himself. The number of feelably indurated glands in the sides of his neck is smaller, but still there are a goodish many of them. fy Luet. CC. September 5. — Greatly improved; skin still too dusky; many dark mother's marks. 98 Delicate^ Backward, Puny, and ly Tc. Condurango i x , 3iv, five drops in a little water at bedtime. March 8, 1889. — Comes and exclaims, " I am getting on finely." He has practically become like any one else in colour; though, of course, his bones are still, as they must ever remain, crooked; but though so remaining, they are fixed and strong, and the lad is above the average intellectually. I saw him infrequently in 1889, and a few times in 1890 — once for a cough, and once for a bilious attack. He is now growm up, and articled to a professional man in the city, and a bright future seems in store for him; and, more- over, if he in due course should Stunted Children. 99 marry and have offspring, there is no reason why such offspring should be other than healthy and normal in structure. Such a result from medicinal treatment must be considered eminently satisfactory, for although the individual's back continues crooked, his quality is now almost, if not quite, normal ; and it is this quality which would be propagated, and not the crookedly fixed bones of his back, which would not be transmissible. ioo Delicate, Backward, Puny, and MEDICINAL TREATMENT versus SPECTACLES IN THE EYE DEFECTS OF CHILDREN. When young children do not see normally, eye surgeons know naught but eye surgery and spectacles. Spectacles are, under circumstances, good, and often in- dispensable, but in children I think the spectacle business is much overdone and enormously overrated. No dentist can make the teeth grow; no oculist can make the eyes grow, neither of them professes or tries to do anything of the kind. And yet there is here an immense field for useful cultivation lying fallow. For years past I have regularly treated both teeth and eyes as Stunted Children. iOJ objects of medicinal cure and cultivation. Cases of the cure and cultivation of teeth I have related elsewhere, and several such cases are narrated in these pages. If we want to get good muscles, we exercise them. No one denies that; and yet when we put spectacles on young children we are in very deed denying it to a very large extent. I have over and over again cured strabismus or squint with medicines, sometimes with Gel- semium 6 alone. Myopia should not be treated with spectacles at all until all the possibilities of medi- cines, eye-exercises, and growth have been exhausted. Then, but not till then, should spectacles or folders be had recourse to. I am 102 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and in the habit of putting aside all spectacles worn by little children, and putting them instead upon a course of medicinal treatment, and the result most commonly is that such spectacles can in the end be dispensed with more or less. We must remember that spectacles have no beneficial influence upon the nutrition or health of the eye. Indeed, quite the contrary; they are a mighty boon in certain irremedi- able defects, but they mend nothing. Therapeutically they may be com- pared to crutches or a wooden leg. The eyes must be thought of and regarded as living organs of the body susceptible of organic im- provement and growth; they are not merely optic instruments. Stunted Children. 103 Some years since the younger son of the headmaster of one of our well-known public schools was sent to me; he was under an eminent oculist for his eyes, and wore spectacles for his astigmatism and headaches. The spectacles were, from the quasi-scientific standpoint, well adapted for the purpose, and they were praised by the boy as being a great comfort to him, and his mother was distinctly of opinion that he was less subject to head- aches and could see much better with his spectacles than without them. That the treatment was scientific in its adaptation I do not deny; that it was really the right treatment I absolutely deii}'; it 104 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and was only quasi-scientific because it did not take due cognisance of all the facts of the case. Let me state my thesis: — The boy was only half grown ; he was about nine years of age; the true object to be aimed at was not a palliative temporary one, but one of organic mending, to the end that his eyes might become of themselves efficient organs of sight to last during the natural life of the individual. Do spectacles effect such organic mending? No, they do not, but rather tend to prevent it. If you want to make a weak arm strong, do you order it to be carried in a sling? The boy's general nutrition was poor, his glands were indurated and enlarged, his limbs Stunted Children. 105 thin, his abdomen distended, and the state of his eyes was of a piece with that of the rest of his organism. I ordered his spectacles to be removed, and treated his entire being with remedies, and in time he improved in health, he grew stronger in all his organs and parts, and his eyes grew and improved in like manner, so that now he has no need of spectacles whatever, and I see no reason to snppose that he ever will need any. It is not enough that the means be scientifically adapted to the case ; we must be sure that the object aimed at is the right one. Artificial teeth are useful for those who have lost their natural ones, but artificial teeth do not help back- 106 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and ward teeth to grow and get strong ; a wig may usefully take the place of lost hair, but a wig does not help weak hair to grow. In like manner, weak, imperfect eyes are not mended with spectacles. The eyes are living organs of the body, and as such can be vitally improved by proper internal treat- ment. Only failing this is the aid of scientifically adapted spectacles to be invoked. Is it not a sad thought that the great army of eye-doctors are to a man nothing but mechanicians ; and what is still sadder, they do not even aim at being anything else. Stunted Children. 107 ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT OF EYES AND TEETH. A frail, undersized, almost tooth- less girl of 16 was brought to me on November 11, 1887, principally for Iter eyes. She had been at the ophthalmic hospitals, and also under the best ophthalmic surgeons, for " inflammation of the nerve of the sight," and was informed that she would probably go blind. However, she had mended under their own care till the present time so far that spectacles were of some slight service. She suffers much from headaches, which are worse in bed at night. Her teeth are indented in dots, notched, and 108 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and imbedded more or less in tartar. Much toothache. ty Luet. CC. December 9. — Headache better; toothache gone. Iy Tc. Geranium Rob ertianum if , ^iv, five drops in a table spoonful of water night and morning. January 4, 1888. — Headache much worse, also toothache. ^ Luet. CC. Febrtiary 1. — About the same; tuberculous teeth. Iv BacilL 30. March 9. — Much pain in the right side of the face; worse on getting warm in bed. 3^ Trit. 3 Aurum met., four grains dry on the tongue at bed- time. Stunted Children. 109 May 9. — Very drowsy; pains now worse after food. ty Thuja occid. 30. June 17, 1 89 1. — Been going the round of the oculists again. Typi- cally tuberculous teeth; much frontal headache. fy Bacill. CC. July 15. — Headache worse; eyes ache very much ; teeth begin- ning to clean a little. ^ Rep. (1000). And thus the treatment went on till the summer of 1893, when patient's teeth and general physique w r ere notably improved, inclusive of her eyes; but just as the teeth are still imperfect though very much improved, so are her eyes ; and I have now ordered the mechanical H no Delicate, Backward, Puny, and dentist for her teeth and the mechanical oculist for her eyes, as further organic improvement is not to be expected. Spectacles come in for the organically irremediable; but to start children in life with spectacles without first trying to mend their ocular defects vitally is hardly worthy of really scientific physi- cians. A truism? Quite so, but bespectacled chil- dren are all over the place never- theless, and pratically no one ever tries to cure eyes. Stunted Children. in CASE OF ASTHENOPIA IN A BOY OF NINE CURED BY MEDICINES. A little boy, nine years of age, born at Lucknow, came under my observation in the fall of 1891 for asthenopia. He was brought so that I might give my approval of spectacles ordered, or to be ordered, by an eminent eye sur- geon. As I thought remedies would cure the asthenopia, I forbade the spectacles. The first remedy given was Urtica urens #, for his spleen, which was enlarged, and clearly of malarial origin. This bettered the spleen, and the lad was in many respects much better. After being two months under 112 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and the Urtzca, the symptoms that remained were — i. His eyes felt cold. 2. Then they felt hot. 3. And then they watered a good deal. These symptoms seemed to me to be of a malarial nature and sequence corresponding to the cold and hot stage and the stage of sweating, and hence I ordered Natrum muriaticum, 6 trit. This was followed by so much ameliora- tion that I did not see him till the following spring, when the same remedy was repeated. In the fall of 1892 I again saw the lad, and thought I would look away from the asthenopia and photophobia altogether, and treat Stunted Children. 113 the patient. His tongue was very pippy, and his cervical glands were enlarged and indurated. After a few months of Bacillin. CC, patient was quite well of himself and of his eyes. Once in June 1893 I gave him a short course of infrequent doses of Sulphur 30, because his eyes troubled him a little in the evening, since when he has con- tinued quite well in all respects. In this case two pathological elements are distinctly traceable. 1 st, The basic hereditary tubercular tendency, evidenced by the state of his cervical glands; and, 2ndly, the acquired malarial impress on the organism. Urtica urens and Nat. mur. met the latter homceopathi- H4 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and cally, but still a really permanent cure was not attained. Then the basic constitutional taint was cured by the Bacillin., and the last faint flicker of the asthenopia was got rid of by Sulphur in dynamic dose ; and Sulphur is, as shown by Dr. Robert T. Cooper, a very notable remedy for ague, and we all know it as a classic antipsoric of almost ancient renown. Stunted Children. 115 DEFECTIVE DEVELOPMENT OF EYES AND BRAIN. A little girl, 5^ years of age, was placed under my professional care on December 11, 1884, for defec- tive development of eyes and brain, apparently from constitutional deli- cacy, and then originating from the effects of a fall. It is not easy to gauge the effects of a fall ; usually the point is really this: What is the quality of the person who falls ? In this case the patient is the coal- black variety of the strumous ; her forehead was low and projecting; she was blind from double cataract, due probably to shock in the first instance, and then the lenses gradu- ally silted up. The child was dull, n6 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and nervous, readily frightened by the least noise, and she had been vac- cinated in the usual way success- fully. I proceeded first against the vaccinosis with Thuja 30, and this seemingly caused a bout of vomiting, whereupon improvement in the vision set in. January 5, 1885. — Grinds her teeth at night. fy Luet. CC. February 1. — Pupils less dilated; decided general amelioration, and notably in the state of her nerves ; she is less irritable, and much more amenable to reason. Thuja C. then followed, but apparently did no good, when Luet. CC. was repeated. March 24. — Sight and temper Stunted Children. 117 better; sleeps well; she has, and has had for long, ill-smelling foot- sweats ; she can now see large capital letters, as well as at a greater distance ; and, for the first time in her life, her bowels act well of themselves. The treatment was continued very irregularly till June 1888, since when I have no further in- formation, and the condition then reported to me (I did not see her) was thus described by her father, — u She sees better, and walks about with increased confidence." The principal point of interest to me in this case was the very decided good effects of Platanus occidental is 0, which was given for a number of months with very evident benefit to n8 Delicate, Backzvard, Puny, and the nutrition of the child's lenses, and consequent improvement in her vision. The dose was five drops night and morning. The treatment of this case was carried on in a very irregular manner, owing to a variety of circumstances, and as patient lived at a great distance I was not able to see her. Stunted Children. 119 EMANSIONAL TROUBLES IN YOUNG GIRLS. These are many, and so readily remedied by onr medicines, that I will only shortly narrate one case. Miss E., in her seventeenth year, of fnll habit, was brought by her mother to me from Ireland on December 16, 1884, because of her inability to pass the Rubicon of young womanhood. Her skin was blotchy and pimply; leucorrhoea pretty bad; weight on the top of the head, frontal headache, and swelled feet and legs. Pulsatilla was given but failed. Then, in January 1885, I gave Bellis perennis 1, ten drops in water 120 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and night and morning, because of her tired feeling and acne. February 14. — Has duly men- struated, and is not so tired, but her feet are much swelled. ^ Trit. 3 X Helonin. March 21. — Menstruated four weeks ago ; feet well ; head well. 3^ Bellis per. 1 , as before. April 18. — Well, except that there is the least bit of swelling of the right foot,and still suffers from acne. She had been vaccin- ated, and hence I gave Thuja 30. FIVE YEARS LATER. September 1, 1890. — She has con- tinued quite well, but she is now anaemic; her feet swell again, the Stunted Children, 121 menses are very scanty, and she gets fainty attacks. ^ Trit. 3 X Trillin. October 6. — " A capital change," and she continues, I believe, well. There is no very special interest in this case, and I merely relate it to show that the delayed passage into womanhood is readily remedied by gentle innocuous medicines, and in a manner worthy of our advanced civilisation and refined culture. 122 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and INCONTINENCE OF URINE CON- SIDERED AS RETARDED DEVELOP- MENT. For some time now I have regarded wetting the bed in chil- dren who have attained a certain age as retarded or arrested de- velopment about the sphincter region of the bladder. A lad of 17 years of age was brought to me on March 28, 1890, for life-long nocturnal incontinence of urine. 3^ Thuja 30. May 26. — Very much better; has wet his bed only three times since commencing the Thuja powders. ^ Rep. June 20. — No better; and has hay-fever and some emphysema. Stunted Children. 123 ^ Lobelia acet. 0, five drops in water night and morning. July 30.— Better much all round, though the incontinence is not much better. ^ Brachyglottis repens, 3% five drops in water night and morning. October 30. — Did him so much good that his parents thought him cured; latterly he wet his bed again. ^ Tc. Jaborandi 3 X . February 11. 189 1. — He is much better than formerly, but he still wets his bed. ^ Med. CC. May 20. — Did not wet his bed at all while taking his medicine, but does it again now. ^ Rep. July 24 — Quite cured; he wet 124 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and his bed for the last time on May 26. The cure has proved permanent. The question of bed-wetting in children is very much more impor- tant than the inexperienced might imagine ; the unfortunate sufferers feel very much humiliated, and their moral tone is distinctly lowered by the habit. A few cases are very easily cured with almost any well- chosen remedy, but where the case withstands domestic allopathy, domestic homoeopathy, local allo- pathy, and local homoeopathy and consultants of all sorts (as in this case), it is best to take a wide aetiological survey of the case, and treat it as arrested or retarded development. Stunted Children, 125 AN EPILEPTIC, HOPELESSLY-DIS- EASED BABY OF TWENTY MONTHS OF AGE. There are cases which at times are brought to one that are so bad that almost blank despair takes possession of one's mind at the merest contemplation of them. Such a case was presented to me in the month of February 1885. The wee girlie had been declared by two competent physicians of Leeds to be "an incurable epileptic, and hopelessly diseased." She had always been much con- stipated, but fairly well till her double teeth began to come; with them came convulsions, " and one doctor said they were epileptic when he saw them." When she 126 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and was about eleven months old the fits first appeared, seven fits in one day, and then on some subsequent occasions, when as soon as the symptoms of a fit set in the gums were lanced, and that generally stopped them. The breath smells sour, the tongue coats, and the stomach gets out of order when these attacks come. Now the teeth are beginning to decay. She is a cheerful, sturdy-looking child, large for her age; sleepless, and immediately after food a bright red flush appears in one cheek. After two months of treatment ( Var. 30 the first month, and Luet. CC. the second), comes this note in my case record: — April 1. — Has cut a tooth with Stunted Children. 127 a fit, but no foaming at the mouth as on all previous occasions. R Var. C. May 19. — Has been a fortnight without medicine; two attempts at fits, but they passed off. ^ Rep. June 16. — No fit; has cut a double tooth ; sleeps badly. fy LueL CC. yz//j/ 16. — No fit; has cut another double tooth, — only one more to come. And now for the kernel of the homoeopathic nut — the child's father wrote: — . . . July 15, 1885. — "A rash appeared in the bend of the right arm about three weeks ago that looked almost like ringworm, but it certainly is not that; the rash has appeared also 128 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and under the chin, and lately on one leg; sometimes it is much inflamed and irritated, at other times there are only a number of very small dark spots, which seem to be drying up." ^ Luet. CC. The appearance of an eruption in the course of truly constitutional treatment is, in my judgment, a sure sign of a thoroughly radical constitutional cure ; and so it proved here: the eruption gradually died away, and that child never looked back. Two years later I felt curious to know whether the cure held good, for we cannot ever reckon upon a case of epilepsy being cured, unless after years of waiting, and the Stunted Children. 129 reply came — u These powders quite cured her, aud she is still quite well, although the two doctors gave her up to die as ' hopelessly diseased.'" The explanation of the cure is merely that the case was one of pent-up syphilitic taint (possibly in the second generation), which the child's nature was battling with, and when this was cast out on to the external surface of the body in the form of a rash, the bar to the child's growth was removed. And this case, therefore, beautifully il- lustrates and amply justifies my contention. 130 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and A PARTIALLY DEAF AND DUMB CHILD. On October 25, 1882, a lady brought her 7^ year-old daughter to me because she could neither hear nor talk properly ; she hears a little, and j abbers something, but it is not articulate. The child is almost mindless, incapable of thinking ; she does not know her own name. On my asking her where the fire is, she . . . puts out her tongue ! Presumably she had an idea that I was a doctor, and that such a person looks at tongues. Then she repeated the word "fire." She is described as dreadfully passionate and irritable. Had abscesses as a baby, and has ringworm for years ; has it on her Stunted Children. 131 head now. The mother's idea of the origin of the child's life-long delicacy is that it started when the mother was carrying her in utero, when she on a certain occasion was severely chilled in cold water. Patient's right pnpilis smaller than the left; right side of her chest is sunken; she has thread-worms; lids of left eye apt to be contracted, especially in the morning. I ordered the child to be oiled night and morning in the manner I have already fully described and prescribed Bellis perennzs 1, five drops in water night and morning. November 23. — The mother fan- cies patient is a wee bit sharper. ^ Psorin. 30. December 29. — Is thought by her 132 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and friends to be a little quicker, and, cried the mother, the ringworm on her head is gone! And she had had it for two years. ty Thuja 30. January 30, 1883. — She is be- ginning to speak better, but her temper is described as violent. ^ Psor. C. February 26. — Speaks a little better; she makes greater effort to articulate; there is no sign of ring- worm. 3^ Thuja C. April 7. — She is bright; there is improvement all round; she is better tempered and less irritable. ^ Luet. CC. May 2. — Is better altogether. Iy Trit. 3 Cuprum sul. Stunted Children. 133 June 15. — Still improving; less cross; less excitable; talks more; hears better. ty Rep. July 13. — Great improvement; articulates a little; thinks better. ^ Be His per. 1. October 8. — Talks, and her in- tellect is developing. Iy Silica 6. I have not since heard of the case, but up to this point the child had very greatly improved in every way. 134 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and BACKWARD GROWTH; MESENTERIC DISEASE AND EVIL HABITS. I am very strongly of opinion that evil habits in the young are of physical origin and nature, and that they can be cured by medicines, if physicians will take the trouble. The subject of this narration was brought to me on November 8, 1883, because he was small for his age {lt% years) ; had a drum-belly, very tender; indurated mesenteric and other glands; "and I am sorry to say he has a very wicked habit, and constantly plays with his private parts;" "he also has constant diarrhoea." Is he a naughty boy in any other respects ? Stunted Children. 135 Oh, no, lie is a dear, good boy; but for that one dirty, wicked habit his father vows he will kill him if he does not leave it off. Does his father consider that the diarrhoea is also sinful? Of course not, what do you mean ? What I mean is simply this — Your sou is diseased, and his diarrhoea, his drum-belly, his dirty habit of masturbation are all of a piece, and all from his diseased glands ; cure his disease, get him well and healthy, and he will leave off his dirty habit of masturbation, just as he will cease to have the diarrhoea. So it happened ; in a very few months the boy was cured, and got 136 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and healthy in body, healthy in mind, and healthy in habits ! When he was vaccinated he had a very bad arm. On December 8 his body-weight being 4 st. 5 lbs., he was ordered to be rnbbed with oil night and morning, and to have 6 grains of Ars. tod., 4 trit, fonr times a day. December 13. — Weight, 4 st. * 8 lbs., so he has put on 3 lbs. in weight, and his diarrhoea is rather better. His feet are ill-smelling and sweaty. ^ Silicea C. January 13, 1883. — Weight, 4 st. 8j4 lbs. Bowels better; belly less tender, but there is still tenderness at the sides. The boy is very Stunted Children. 137 much improved all round ; feet sweat as much as ever. 1^ Thuja 30. February 16. — Weighty st. 9^ lbs. Feet dry, bowels regular, but he has pain in his abdomen pretty badly when he gets warm in bed at night. ty Luet. CC. This practically completed the cure, for after it was finished in March Psor. 30 was ordered for a month, and then no further treat- ment was needed, and the lad was physically and morally healthy and clean ; his evil practice was entirely given up, and apparently forgotten. 138 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and BLIGHTED BY AGUE. A stunted, forward-bent, asth- matic girl, 17 years of age, was brought over from the United States of America and placed under my professional care in the month of April 1886. The unfortunate child had had ague on and off ever since she was eleven months old, and in addition to that she had had pneu- monia three times, as well as measles, whooping-cough, chicken- pox, and German measles. Her mother is under me for asthma, and twx> of her cousins for acne and comedones, and her mother's mother died of phthisis. Patient's skin was very dry, she perspired but very little, made waiter very frequently, Stunted Children, 139* had moderately bad leucorrhcea, and suffered much from dysmenorrhoea. Had also a good deal of anginal pain down the sternum ; spleen very large; apex of right lung dull on percussion. She remained under my care nearly three years, and then re- turned home practically well. The remedies that cured the spleen were Oleum succini non rectificatum #, which she took in five-drop doses twice a day for three months, and Med. CC, Bacill. 30, and Bellis perennis, and also Ceanothus Am. i x , and Nux vomica. Two or three months of Luct. CC. wrought a great change in her constitution, and after three or four 140 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and months under the influence of Psoricum 30, her asthma was so far well that she could lie down in bed and sleep all night like other people. The special point in her case is the very remarkable improvement in her bodily development and carriage, quite apart from the cure of her asthma and of the chronic enlargement of her spleen. Her father, a well-known public man in America, was greatly pleased with the remarkable change in his daughter. Stunted Children. 141 MORAL OBLIQUITY IN CHILDREN. We are all too much disposed to regard moral deviations in children (and in adults, too, for the matter of that) as something separate and apart from any physical basis. What can minister to a mind diseased? Remedies homceopathically adapted to each inividual case can. How do I know? Because I have done it myself any time and oft during the last twenty years. And it is not even difficult, given a knowledge of homoeopathy and of pharmacodynamics, with a little knowledge of diagnostics and phy- siology. Of course, the more one 142 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and knows the more one can do, as in all other branches of applied know- ledge. Most people one meets with in daily life can play at whist more or less — mostly less. There is whist and whist ; likewise there is homoe- opathy and homoeopathy. The mental and moral balance in children when disturbed is so dis- turbed materially and physicially, and if we keep this well before our minds, we can restore such dis- turbed balance just as readily as we can cure any other disease. A child that habitually wets its bed is not dirty, but disturbed in the health of the parts involved. A child that masturbates, or is Stunted Children. 143 guilty of any other moral obliquity, is disturbed in the health of the part or parts involved in the several functions. I was sent for some fourteen years ago into Surrey to see a girl of 9 years of age, who was guilty of self-sexual gratifica- tion to a dreadful degree, occupying herself hours at a time thereat till she was quite exhausted. Her parents were in a sad state of mind, and communicated the fact to me with much embarrassment, and then volubly anathematizing the poor child as vile, and given over to sinful depravity. Due investigation into the case showed that she had enlarged indurated glands in her groins and pelvis generally — the ovaries, no doubt, 144 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and being in a like morbid state. The child also suffered from spells of diarrhoea, and I explained to the distressed parents that the sup- posedly wicked habit of the patient was as a matter of fact not wicked- ness at all any more than her diarrhoea, both being due to the state of the various glands respec- tively involved. This took a great load off the parents' minds, and I set about proving the correctness of my diagnosis by curing both the naughty habit and the diarrhoea, and the morbid state of the glands, and in less than two years the girl's glands were normal, her diarrhoea had quite disappeared, and the habit in question had also been quite given up, and apparently for- Stunted Children. 145 gotten ! That little girl is now a grown woman, and as sweet and pnre as any parents could wish, and has seemingly not even any recollection of the past at all. The chief remedies used in this case were Thuja, Sabina, BacilL, and Platina, all in the higher dilu- tions, and infrequently repeated. Several years since a greatly distressed mother brought her four- year-old boy to me, telling me, after much hesitation, that he was hopelessly given over to self-pollu- tion, from which he would not desist, notwithstanding the most severe chastisements administered by both father and mother, the father often declaring in extreme 146 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and anger that lie would kill him if lie did not leave off; but leave off lie would not, and whenever he could hide or creep under the table un- observed, he would give himself over to furious masturbation. I explained to the mother my views of the true nature of the case, which greatly relieved her mind, for she had become fully persuaded that she was the mother of a moral monster. Due examination showed that his abdomen was greatly distended, and his inguinal glands were en- larged and indurated, After a few months' treatment, the mother ceased to bring him, and when she subsequently came on another matter concerning her Stunted Children. 147 own health, and I enquired about little Jack, she exclaimed, u Oh, he has quite given that up, and seems to have forgotten all about it." A few months later she brought little Jack again : ' ' He has begun with his old habit again, but noth- ing like so badly as before." I put him under a further course of treatment, and then lost sight of him. Quite lately his father came to me on his own account for a cough, when I enquired about Jack: u Oh, he's quite well, and I don't think he remembers anything about it/, I can't understand a child at that age, etc." I had very great difficulty in con- vincing this gentleman that poor 148 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and little Jack's " dirty trick" was physical disease merely and only, and in no sense moral obliqnity ; indeed, I did not quite succeed, for he shook his head and said, " I hope it is so, for I would have killed him if he had not left off." This, subject is of vast import- ance to mankind, and I trust most sincerely that the time is dawning for us to thoroughly grip the true nature of things, and not imagine that we can whip away this habit when due — as it mostly is at the start to physical disease. For it were quite as rational to whip or otherwise chastise our children because they get diarrhoea or the measles. A little girl of 3^ years of age Stunted Children. 149 was brought to me some time since for this same thing, — the wee mite would " work with crossed legs" in a manner I will stop short of describing. Notwithstanding her tender age, the habit had become inveterate, and she would continue at it almost by the hour. Eminent medical men had declared the case to be one of disease of the spinal marrow that was incurable, and would end in paralysis. The aspect of the child was peculiar, inasmuch as there was, for her age, notable enlargement of the breasts. There were no indurated glands anywhere to be found, and the child was fat and well formed, excepting that the mammary enlargement gave her the aspect almost of a wee pigmy 150 Delicate, Backward, Puny, and woman. Not finding anything whatever in her physical state to account for the said naughty habit, I enquired closely into her historj^ and found that she had been vac- cinated on the leg in lieu of the arm, and that not long after the vac- cination — done when the child was about a year old — she began to work about with her legs, and gradually formed the habit in question. Those who care to learn my views in regard to the effects of vaccination will find them ex- pressed in my small work entitled "Vaccinosis and its Cure by Thuja" I used in this case not only Thuja, but almost all our great antisycotics before a cure was per- manently effected ; in the end I did, Stunted Children. 151 however, succeed.* Vaccinosis is in the very deed a very real disease. I have here, in regard to moral obliquities, purposely chosen very youthful cases, in order the more certainly to convey my opinion of the true nature of the greater part of cases of self-pollution in either sex, and at the various ages. These cases are very common in the fully developed as well as in the quite young; and my matured opinion is that they are physical DISEASE, and not sin in the sense of morality and religion. That this physical disease slowly infects the moral nature is unfortunately but * Since this was written there has been a slight relapse, for which patient is again under treatment. 152 Delicate and Puny Children. too true, but even here the physical cure must precede the moral cure, i. e. trom the standpoint of the merely earthly physician. It is not possible for any merely human beings to cure physical dis- ease by faith or other spiritual means; in the natural world we know only naturall&ws, and natural law in the spiritual world is, to my mind, rank nonsence. I never could understand why almost everything connected with generation seems to suggest sin to almost all of us. Surely we are not entirely right here; however, I am not dealing with dogma, but with problems in practical medicine, and I regard the task I had set myself as finished. INDEX. Acid nit., 37. Acne, 52. Ague, case of girl blighted by, 138. Air, fresh, cannot cure disease, 66, 72. Allopathy in an advanced stage of senile decay, 78. Ammonium carbonicum, 61. Argentum nitricum, 61. Arnica, 27. Arsenic, iodide of, 61, 136. Arsenicum, 27. Asthenopia, case of, in boy, in. Asthma, 35. Aurummetallicum,33, 34, 46, 49, 97, 108. Aurum muriaticum natronatum, 42. Baby, epileptic diseased, case of, 125. 154 Index. Bacillinum, 32, 34, 36, 37, 39, 42, 46, 49, 55, 64, 70, 76, 77, 84, 97, 108, 109, 113, 114, 139, 145. Backward children, treatment of, 1. Backward growth, 134. Badiaga ameliorates freckles, 59. Baptisia, 32. Bed-wetting, 71, 73, 122, 124, 142. Bellisperennis, 54, 119, 120, 131, 133,139. Berberis vulgaris, 61. Blight, constitutional, due to vaccination, 35- Boils, breaking out of, 24. Boy, hunchback, of 1 1 years of age, case of, 93- Boy of 4 years of age, case of, 145. Boy of 8^ years of age, case of, 73. Boy of 9 years of age, asthenopia in, in. Boy of n years of age, case of, 69. Boy of ~ii% years of age, case of, 134. Boy under eminent oculist, case of, 103. Boys and girls, relative powers of, 89. Brachy glottis repens, 123. Index. 155 Brain and eyes, defective development of, 115. Brain, irritable, treatment of, 4. Brain-power is gained by brain exercise, 86. Breastedness, One, case of, 17. Bryonia alba, 54. Burnett, Dr., letters to, 50, 51. Burnett, Dr. , ' ' Vaccinosis and its cure by Thuja," 19. Calcarea carbonica, 27, 61. Calcarea hypophosphoricum, 32. Calcarea phosphoricum, 32, 77, 85. Calcarea sulphuricum, 28, 29. Cape Mounted Police, 11. Ceanothus Americanus, 19, 22, 60, 139. Cephalic invalids should not lie mentally fallow, 82. Chelidonium, 32. Child partially deaf and dumb, case of, [30. Childhood, constitutional delicacies of, 6. 156 Index. Children, backwardness of, treatment of, 1. Children, delicate, treatment of, 2. Children, family of five, effects of rubbing in oil on, 12. Children of puny growth, inrubbings of oil in, 8. Chiidren, mental backwardnesses of, 3. Children, moral obliquity in, 141. Children's disease taints not curable by air or diet, 66. Cod-liver oil, rubbing in of, 8. Colocynthis, 61. Condurango, 55, 98. Cooper, Dr. Robert T. , his remedy for ague, ii 4. Cow-pox is a vesiculo-pustular disease, 25- Cuprum sulphuricum, 132. Cyclamen Europoeum, 96. Deaf and dumb child, partially, case of, 130. Index. 157 Deafness, 41. Delicate children, treatment of, 1. Development, unilateral arrest of, 17. Dioscorea, 61. Dioscorin, 61. Disease taints in children not curable by air or diet, 66. Dropsy, 57. Dunn, late Dr., formerly of Doncaster, 62. E., Miss, 17 years of age, case of, 119. Eczema, 35. Edwin, case of, 41. Emansional troubles in young girls, 119. Enuresis, diurnal and nocturnal, 69. Epileptic diseased baby, 125. Euonymin, 21. Evil habit, case of boy addicted to, 134. Eye defects of children, 100. Eye-doctors are nothing but mechani- cians, 106. Eyes and brain, defective development of, "5- Eyes and teeth, arrested development of, 107. 158 Index. - Fall, effects of a, 115. Fallow condition not sufficient for cure, 82, 85. Ferrum picricum, 56. Fragaria vesca, 34, 42, 45, 46, 54, 96. Freckled, dusky, dropsical lad, case of, 57, Freckles ameliorated by badiaga, 59. Fright, nocturnal, 41. Gelsemium cures squint, 10 1. Geranium Robertianum, 108. Girl, frail, almost toothless, case of, 107, Girl of 2)H years of age, case of, 149. Girl of 5^ years of age, case of, 115. Girl of 7 years of age, case of, 67. Girl of 9 years of age, case of. 143. Girl of 11 years of age, case of, 75. Girl of 17 years of age, case of, 138. Girl, stunted, case of, 55. Girls and boys, relative powers of, 89. Girls, young, emansional troubles in 119. Gladstone a great brain-worker, but not particularly muscular, 88. Glumness: a taciturn boy, 44. Grace, Dr., the great cricketer, not a great physician, 88. Index. 159 Growth, arrested, 57. Growth, backward, 134. Growth, post-natural, 15. Growth, puny, 31, 41, 52, 64, 67. Growth, stunted, 48. Headmaster's son, case of, for eyes 103. Head, misshapen, 80. Heclae lava, 27. Helonin, 120. Hepar sulphuris calcareum, 22, 62, 63. Hunchback boy, 93. Hydrastis Canadensis, 56. Hydrocephalism, 31. Insomnia, chronic, 64. Iodide of arsenic, 61. Jaborandi Tc. , 123. L,ad of 17 years of age, incontinence of urine in, 122. Lady students of the higher grades, 91. I/uly, young, case of spinal curvature, 52. I y ady, young, of Kent, case of, 17. L,athyrus sativus, 29. Levico, 32, 34. 160 Index. 9 . — „_ __ Liquor calcis, 27. Little lassie of 8 years old, case of, 64. Lobelia acetum, 123. Locomotor ataxy, 26. Lopsidedness, case of arrest of develop- ment, 17, 20, 21. Lueticum, 22, 42, 55, 61, 77, 83, 94, 95, 96, 97, 108, 116, 126, 127, 128, 132, i37> 139. Malandrin, 74. Man 27 years of age, case of, 80. Masturbation, 135, 142, 145, 149. Medorrhin, 94, 96, 123, 139. Medicinal treatment in the eye defects of children, 100. Mental infancy in man 27 years of age 7 80. Mercurius iod. cum Kali iod., 61. Mercurius, 27. Mesenteric disease, 31, 134, Moral obliquity in children, 141. Morbillin., 84. Motions, foul-smelling, 73, 74. Myopia should first be treated medically, 101. Index, 1 6 r Natrum sulphuricum, 60. Natrum muriaticum, 112,113. Nocturnal fright, 41. Nose-bleed in girl of 11 years of age, 75, Nux vomica, 29, 56, 61, 84, 95, 139. Obliquity, moral, in children, 141. Oil, cod-liver, rubbing in of, 8. Oil, how to rub in, 13. Oil, inrubbings of, in children of puny growth, 8. Oil, salad, rubbing in of, 9. Oil, sweet, rubbing in of , 9. Oleum succini non rectificatum, 139. One-breastedness, case of, 17. Paralysis of lower extremities, 26, 30. Pelvic power, 89. Peritonitis, 57. Pigeon-breastedness, 69. Platanus occidentalis, 117. Platina, 42, 145. Psoricum, 20, 95, 140. Psoriuum, 22, 29, 42, 56, 60, 131, 132, 137- Pulsatilla, 29, 32, 46, 55, 77, 95, 119, 1 62 Index. Puny children, i. Puny growth, 31, 41, 52, 64, 67. Puny little boy, case of, 31. Pyrogenium, 42, 43. Rickets, 67. Ringworm, diffuse, 67. Ringworm of shoulder, 64. Ringworm, suppressed, blights organ- isms, 38. Rubia tinctoria, 56. Sabina, 42, 55, 145. Salad oil, rubbing in of, 9, 11. Sandow, intellectual, impossible, 91. Sanguinaria, 21. Saw palmetto, 54. Shingles, 23, 25. Shoulder, ringworm of, 64. Silica, 133. Silicea, 29, 136. Simpson, Sir James. Y., 8. Smell, imperfect sense of, 75. Spectacles are for the organically irreme- diable, no. Index. 163 Spectacles in the eye defects of children , 100. Spider nsevi, 52. Spinal curvature, 48, 52. Spleen, chronic swelling of, 57. Strabismus or squint curable by medicine, 101. Stunted children, treatment of, 1. Stunted girl, case of, 55. Stunted growth, 48. Stunted little maid, case of, 39. Stuttering, 30. Sulphur, 113, 114. Sweet oil, rubbing in of, 9. Taciturn boy, case of, 44. Teeth and eyes, arrested development of, 107. Teeth, case of total absence of front upper incisors, 73. Teeth, rudimentary, in boy of 11 years of age, 69. Teucrium, 21. Thuja, 19, 20, 22, 27, 28, 36, 37, 42, 46, 49, 52, 54, 55) 60, 64, 70, 76, 84, 164 Ivdex. 85, 109, 116, 120, 122, 132, 137, H5, 150. Toothlessness, 67. Trifolium pratense, 32, Trillin, 121. Tub. test., 49, 64, 71. Ugliness, 67. Urine, incontinence of, 122. Urtica urens, in, 112, 113. Vaccination causing constitutional blight, 35- Vaccinin, 21. 1 ' Vaccinosis and its cure by Thuja," by Dr. Burnett, 19, 150. Vaccinosis is a very real disease, 151. Vaccinosis, pent up, 25. Variolin, 23, 126, 127. Viscum album, 54. Wetting of bed, 71, 73, 122, 124, 142. Woman, new, 89, 91. Zincum aceticum, 84. " ' ' ~? <*\ ^.^.V > W •>o* «*°«* » ^ 9* »!,••'- ^ v % ^L%/^ c w ... •* y <* •^ ^ o'JL**"^ JUN83 N. MANCHESTER, INDIANA 46962 <> *'7YV* <0 40 A