The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-09-27
Case of the Mother Who Studied Medicine the Magazine
and Applied the knowledge to
Her Child

safety pin. In the pregnant silence that
followed paid the doctor a compliment
for his faithful attendance, placed the
cooling baby In her crib and started to
tuck her in when-would you believe it
they went at 1t again as eagerly as
ever, TINS time trying to decide whether
the ciloric or the percentage method of
feeding was preferable after weaving,
and must say Blanche was right there
| with her data Before they finished
that morning she made the doctor con-
fcss he couldn't tell Just what a Caloric
wls-and suspect Blanche didn't know
either, only the doctor hadn't the cour-
age to challenge her FOR definition.
one would naturally suppose that the
ncishbors would be a bit chary of maxi
ing diagnoses or prescribing for a doc
tors own children. Chary? Not a bit
of it. Noighbors do not discriminate in
! that way. They just ignore the fact
that there's a doctor in your family and
tell you to try SO and So that old Or.
/ 50 and So gave it to Mrs. So and Sos
baby and it worked like a charm.
Whenever any Of our friends dropped
IN and the baby happened to be a bit
cross or poevish they always wondered
! If it might not be her teeth. They would
! have guessed worms only they hadn't
| the flcc for that. So they contented
themselves with teethng. But Blanche
! always laughed at the idea. Her train
| ing came in fine here
why, my dear" she would reply,
"tccthlng Is a physiological process. is it
| not, So Why should 1t cause illness or
discomfort? NO I'm quite sure it's the
excess Of protein. I shall have to re-
! duCe to per cent mixture again"
And the visitor would look mystlfed
and change the subject.
! When Dorothy attained the age Of II
months without cutting her second in
cisors Blanche became worried. She
searched the literature on dentition and
came To- the conclusion that the baby
was developing rickcts. In ricketts,. It
seemed. there is a lack Of lime In the
system. Plainly Dorothy was shy on
| line You could just tell it to feel her
soft flesh. So We had the doctor up
next day.
Blanche gave him the latest bulletins
about calcium tarvatIon-mineral STAR
walton. she called II. 1t was a commonly
overlooked factor Of malnutrition she
explained. The human race suffered
untold Illnesses by reason of mineral
starvation; there We're various ailments
attributable to insufficient mineral mat
ter in food. such as anWmia. neuras-
thenla, dyspepsia and ricketts,.
The doctor pulled rcncctively at his
beard-it was a dandy beard to pull at
I'VE often wan,ed to take a pull at 1t
myself As a suggestion to help him out
Of his quandary Blanche mentioned the
use Of lime water as a dlluent in place
Of the barley water she had forced him
to prescribe month before.
The doctor acted rather uneasy |
know what would have said to her if
had been in his place. Blu; the doctor
was soft spoken man.
Docs Dorothy have head sweats"
he finally managed to inquire. He was
feeling her wrists and running his hands
over her ribs.
| "Why, no-that is. not notlceably,"
Blanche reluctantly admitted But she
is growing SO fat, doctor. That's quite
characteristic of ricketts,, you know.
She's three pounds over normal weight
for baby of her age"
1.-THE head seems to be well formed
commented the doctor evaslvely, feeling
the fontanele "Fron'a em.nences ar"
not particularly prominent. No indica-
tons Of ricketts, as far as I can see
But her teeth-she has only two
Blanche persisted.
well, well, and how many should
she havc?" asked the doctor frankly
She doesn't need any more as yet, per-
haps. They'll come along when she has
need Of them, never fear
Mrs. HGll,r's baby Is only eight
months old and he has six teeth per-
sisted Blanche. Dorothy ought to have
six at least. doctor"
The doctor cog.tated this problem
soberly for a moment. ITO tell the
truth, | don't recall when the different
teeth are supposed to arrive he con-
fcssed without the slightest trace of
embarrassment. ITS thing I've never
been able to keep in my mind. used
To know when | began practice