"Outgrowing Disease"

The last paper of Dr. L. Emmett Holt, famed pediatrician* who died a few months ago (TIME, Jan. 28), appears in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. "The body," he said, "possesses a wonderful capacity for growth." It doubles in weight and practically in size in the first six months of life; doubles again by the end of the third year; again by the end of the tenth year and usually by the age of 16 has doubled for the fourth time. In children the tendency to growth added to natural tendency to recover hastens recovery from conditions that are handled with great difficulty in the adult. Provided proper treatment for these patients can be secured and the nutrition of the child maintained at its best, there seems to be almost no limit to which recovery may take place from even the most severe conditions. "To secure the maximum benefit that is furnished by growth," said Dr. Holt, "proper treatment must obviously be given; exercises to develop the lungs in cases of deformity of the chest; prolonged rest after acute attacks of heart disease; intelligent feeding, abdominal support, and relief of constipation in dilation of the bowels, but most important of all, the closest attention given to the nutrition of the patient through the entire period of growth."

* It was Dr. Holt who wrote the well-known CARE AND FEEDING OF CHILDREN, Appleton ($1.25).