Second Annual Report of the State Board of Health of Ohio, for the Year ending October 31, 1887

1888 Journal of the American Medical Association  
Dr. Burcot, an expert in metals and minerals, and whose name appears in the State papers of the time. The editors are preparing some notes on the Dialogue, which, with a biographical and critical memoir of Dr. William Bullein, and copious extracts from his remaining works, will form a separate part. Lovers of the old and curious in medicine will find much in this Dialogue to interest them. England, gives in the British MedicalJournal, an account of most wonderful vitality in a young child : On
more » ... uesday, July 17, two children aged respectively 4)4 and 5 years, left their homes shortly after their dinner at 1 o'clock. They were seen during the afternoon play¬ ing together by the side of a pond, with shoes and socks off their feet, by a passing laborer, who shouted to them to leave the water, and it appears that the boys ran away frightened in different directions. The eldest boy ar¬ rived home some hours later on, and stated that he had lost his companion and knew nothing as to what had be¬ come of him. Search was made about the roads and paths where the children had been seen, but to no pur¬ pose. It was now getting dark, and, the police being in¬ formed, a large party started off in search, some with lanterns and some with St. Bernard and retriever dogs. Rain fell nearly all that night, but the search was con¬ tinued, night and day, fos several days. It rained heavily frequently during this period. All hope of finding the child was now abandoned. However, on the Sunda}' morning following (July 22) some young men and boys were having another look round the fields, when, at about 10 a.m., one of them thought he heard some groaning in a field of wheat near him, and, on going there, found the little boy sitting on the ground, not very far from the pathway. He was sit¬ ting upon his coat, with his little trousers drawn down over his feet, and crying out : " Mother, Mother ! I am so hungry !" How long he had been in that spot and in that condi¬ tion of attire we cannot make out, and he is too young to give much explanation. When found he appeared to be in a semi-conscious state, and did not seem to know those around him ; but after some hours he recognized his mother and brothers. With suitable treatment the child has completely recovered, without any subsequent illness which might be induced by starvation or exposure to wet and cold for the long period of five days and nights, counting from the dinner-hour on Tuesday until io a.m. on the Sunday following. During this time, as far as any one knows, the child had nothing to eat except the heads of growing wheat (which was in very poor condition at that time). He told me that he had eaten some, and we may presume he sucked water off the wheat and grass about him. Curi¬ ously enough the child had out with him a small tin box without any lid, and he states he tried to catch rain-water in it, but could not get any ; the wheat being very high probably prevented him doing so, and also most likely kept him fairly dry. In appearance the child did not seem much the worse for his prolonged fast, and seemed as plump as any ordinary child ; but the mother states that he was an unusually strong and fat boy. Taking all things into consideration-the child's age, no proper food or drink for over 117 hours, the exposure to the cold and wet weather prevailing at the time, the misery and the loneliness it must have endured for so long a period-it seems somewhat remarkable that life was preserved. Great Gain.-Dr. John C. M'Vail says: "If the question be asked, Where is the proof that our preventive measures-our sanitation, vaccination, and isolationhave had the results we speak of, the answer is at hand. It is given by the Registrar-General in the language of figures. He points out that, according to the newest English life-table, the children born in England in any one year have now divided among them ' nearly two million years of life '-more than would have been the case thirty-five years ago. In England and Wales the annual mortality per million of population per annum has been as follows :
doi:10.1001/jama.1888.02400630035014 fatcat:rkphvwhvu5hodm2lq6zqa7ukeq