The Washington herald., 1915-12-06
fAVORS Death Of
DETECTIVE BABES
Philadelphia Specialist Up
holds Chicasoan, but Says
He Wouldn't Do Same.
OSTEOPATHS ADDRESSED
Dr.. Ira W. Drew Tells of Means Of
Treating Mentally Deficient
Children.

! mo doubt many children are born thai
should be allowed to die. I think the
Chicago doctor was right IN refusing e
save the life Of the Bollinger baby. yei
personally I would not assume tho re-
sponsibility Of not doing everything In
my power to save such q child"
This was the opinion expressed on the
case Of the defective Chicago baby BY
DIR. Ira w. Drew. professor Of children'i
diseases In the Philadelphia College Of
Osteopathy. who spoke Saturday night In
the home of DIR. Helen F. Perkins. Col
umria road, on the treatment OF mental
IL defective children. DIR. Drew said he
had no personal knowledge Of the case OF
the Boliinger child. but be presumed the
child was afflicted with some specific dis
ease.
In addressing a gathering Of a score OF
the leading osteopathic practitioners OF
the city, DR.. Drew said that the work
being done in the children's clinic Of the
Philadelphia Osteopathic Hospital had
proved that mentally defective children
could be made into useful citizens by
osteopathic methods. In connection with
the plan of the osteopaths to establish
free clinics for mentally defective chill
dren all over the country. he said such .
clinic would eventually be established IN
WASHINGTON and that clinics were al
ready established In Providence. Balti-
more, Rochester. Minneapolis and Bos-
ton.
I'm treating mentally deficient children
we are confirmed in our belief through the
work done in the children's clinic that
lack Of brain development IL the cause
Brain development Is dependent largely
upon the secretions supplied by the duct
less glands. and particularly the thymus
gland. or thyroid. a gland which supplies
a. n.
up the brain and nervous tissue.
Respond to Treatment.
I'm every case Of mental deficiency in
children coming to our attention we have
found lesions In the upper or cervical
part of the neck. This lesion causes
direct interference with the functioning
of the ductless glands that supply the
necessary secretions for the upbuilding OF
the brain. When this interference is re-
moved through treatment. in every case
the children have shown great Improve
ment. and this is not only true Of pro-
nounced idiots. but also Of the milder
types. the hhbitually bad boy who plays
truant. gets into police court and does bad
things without actually committing crime.
In every case where We restore child
to normal physical condition We have
found that a normal mental condition
follows. The removal Of the lesion in
the neck Of a child is parallel to the op-
Grafton for the removal surgically Of
pressure on the brain. only In the for
mer case II is the spinal cord instead of
the brain.
"Where heads OF children are mis-
shapen 1t is impossible to overcome this
type OF deformity. but II Is possible to
cause the brain to develop so that the
child will eventually become a respec-
table and self-supportins citizen. This
is a direct gain to posterity, for 1t re-
suits in their children being mentally
better at birth than the parents. We
are attempting to establish free clinics
to carry on this work In all parts of the
country In every town OF 5000 inhabi-
tants. and in Philadelphia one church
has been turned over to US as a chill
dren's clinic.