620 PRACTICE OF PHYSIC. 



Capitones, Frontones, Gibbosi, Tuberones, See., taken from defor- 

 mities, which, in the present age, are, in nine cases out often, the 

 effects of rickets ; and it may be presumed that the disease exist- 

 ed among the Romans, and is not new. I hardly know any in- 

 stance of a new disease appearing in certain countries without 

 a contagion, propagated accidentally or by a new commerce; but 

 we know of nothing contagious in the nature of this disease. 



" I have very little regard to the argument against the an- 

 tiquity of the disease taken from the silence of physicians. I 

 think we have very few writings on physic from the ancients 

 which are complete : indeed they are in many respects imper- 

 fectly transmitted to us ; and there is nothing more easy to 

 prove than that innumerable circumstances have escaped the 

 notice of former physicians, although we are sure of their exist- 

 ence in those times." 



MDCCXXI. In delivering the history of the Rickets, I 

 must, in the first place, observe, that with respect to the ante- 

 cedents of the disease, every thing to be found in authors upon 

 this subject, appears to me to rest upon a very uncertain foun- 

 dation. In particular, with respect to the state of the parents 

 whose offspring become affected with this disease, I have met 

 with many instances of it in children from seemingly healthy 

 parents ; and have met likewise with many instances of children 

 who never became affected with it, although born of parents 

 who, according to the common accounts, should have produced 

 a rickety offspring ; so that, even making allowance for the un- 

 certainty of fathers, I do not find the general opinion of authors 

 upon this subject to be properly supported. 



MDCCXXII. The disease, however, may be justly con- 

 sidered as proceeding from parents ; for it often appears in a 

 great number of the same family; and my observation leads me to 

 judge, that it originates more frequently from mothers than from 

 fathers. So far as I can refer the disease of the children to the 

 state of the parents, it has appeared to me most commonly to 

 arise from some weakness, and pretty frequently from a scro- 

 fulous habit in the mother. To conclude the subject I must 

 remark, that in many cases I have not been able to discern the 

 condition of the parents, to which I could refer it. 



When nurses, other than the mothers, have been employed 



