Mentally Deficient Children Their Treatment And Training

PRINTED IN ENGLAND. TO THE MEMORY OF TUB TRULY ILLUSTRIOUS EDOUARD S GUIN, M. D. WHO FOR FORTY-TWO YEARS, BOTH IN THE OLD WORLD AND THE NEW, PRACTICALLY AND WITH HIS PEN LABOURED TO IMPROVE THE CONDITION OF MENTALLY DEFICIENT CHILDREN BY THE APPLICATION OF PHYSIOLOGY TO EDUCATION THIS BOOK IS INSCRIBED. He loved others better than himself PREFACE TO FOURTH EDITION THE Third Edition having some time ago been ex hausted, and frequent inquiries for copies continuing, the authors have gladly availed themselves of the opportunity of thoroughly revising this work in the preparation of a new edition. During the last five years increasing public attention has been given to the Mentally Defective Class, culminating in the pas sage through the Legislature of the Mental Deficiency Acts for England and Wales, and for Scotland, re spectively. An Act amending the Elementary Education Defective and Epileptic Children Act of 1899 has also been passed. Consequent administra tive and educational changes have had to be set forth, involving some condensation of matter in the last edition. Much, indeed, has been rearranged and re written. Chapter VI., dealing with the mental troubles of youth, has been added, and the illustra tions have been rearranged and supplemented by one or two fresh plates. Thanks are due to several professional friends for the loan of blocks, and to Miss Ethel Dixon for kind assistance in preparing the index. It is hoped that the present edition may enjoy a vii viii PREFACE TO FOURTH EDITION share of the favour which has been so liberally ac corded to its predecessors and it is encouraging to its authors that not only a French version of the work has been published, but that permission to trans late it into Japanese has recently been requested. G. E. S. W. A. R 1916. Les Enf ants Anormaux au point de vue mental. J. ILebdgue et C ie , Libraires-fiditeurs, 46, Rue de la Madeleine, Bmxelles. Traduite par le Docteur Ley. 1904. PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION IN offering this little Manual to the Medical Profes sion, and to the increasing number of the Public who take an interest in the special education of mentally deficient children, the author trusts that the experi ence acquired by the proverbial quarter-of-a-cen turys successive residence in two of the largest Training Institutions for Imbeciles may aid him in setting forth both the salient peculiarities of the class and the ameliorative measures found most useful. He does not profess to bring forward much that is new, but rather to collect and mould into book form various papers published by him during the last twenty years in Medical Journals and the Proceedings of Societies. In the present volume, the pathology of the subject is only touched on to supply a few practical hints which may be of service to the medical man in his diagnosis, prognosis, and recommendations, when consulted in the case of a mentally feeble or deficient child... --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.