Contribution to the etiology of rickets / by John H. Morgan.

  • Morgan, John H. (John Hammond)
Date:
[1882]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Contribution to the etiology of rickets / by John H. Morgan. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    CONTRIBUTION TO THE ETIOLOGY OE RICKETS By JOHN H. MORGAN, F.R.C.S. [Reprinted, from Medical Times and Gazette, June 24, 1882.] In the debate which took place at the Pathological Society last year on Rickets, it was regretted by the President, Mr. Jonathan Hutchinson, that more pathological evidence had not been produced, and he proceeded to inquire why rickets should not be included with gout, etc., among the diet diatheses/* In a very able speech which followed. Dr. Baxter related the results of an investigation of upwards of a hundred cases of rickets, with especial reference to the age and health of the parents, the number of previous children, and their health, the hygienic surroundings, and the nature and quantity of food administered since birth. I need not prolong this paper by quoting the results of Dr. Baxter’s investigation, which are fully reported in the recent volume of the Pathological Society’s Transactions, but will state the result of an independent inquiry which was conducted at about the same time. Between July, 1878, and April, 1879, I investigated 150 consecutive cases of rickets which were brought to my out¬ patient room at the Hospital for Sick Children. The first question inquired into was the age at which the patients were brought under notice, and although this failed to prove anything definite as to the onset of the disease, it showed the period at which those manifestations of the disease which are most evidenced by the condition of the bones became so evident to the parents as to induce them to bring the child under the notice of a surgeon. An analysis of the ages of these 150 cases shows that the average date of their being brought to me was 33’8 months. The youngest of them was nine months, the eldest eleven years. Inquiry was next made as to the place which the patient took in the number of the family, and my statistics on this point are curiously coincident with those of Dr. Baxter. In reckoning this table a miscarriage was counted as a previous child. 2P5 per 17-7 cent, were yy . firstborn. . second children. 17 yy . third yy 14 yy . fourth yy 3-7 yy . fifth yy 8*8 yy • • . sixth y y 4-8 yy * . seventh, yy 3-7 yy eighth yy 2 yy . ninth yy 29 yy V . tenth yy 1-5 yy . eleven', h yy 2 yy . twelfth yy