1877 INFANT STARVATION--NOW A GLOBAL CRISIS. Clinique des Nouveau-Nes: L'Athrepsie

Paris: G. Masson, 1877. First edition.

EARLY FRENCH MONOGRAPH ON ETIOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT OF MARASMUS ILLUSTRATED WITH COLOR PLATES.

14.5x22.5 cm hardcover, marbled paper-covered boards, brown leather spine with raised bands, gilt title, marbled endpapers, inscribed and signed on half-title, "A Madam Alli.../ Hommage affeactueux/ Parrot", i-viii, 450 pp, Contents, Errata, 13 plates with facing descriptive text (4 colored). Small dent to edge of front cover, wear to cover edges, top and bottom spine ends rubbed, light foxing to first and last pages, very good in custom archival mylar cover. CONTENTS: anatomy and physiology of the newborn; symptomatology, pathologic anatomy, etiology, pathogenesis, and treatment of athrepsia. 4 color lithographic plates of anatomic pathology, 6 uncolored lithographic plates of histopathology, and 2 plates of graphs documenting body weight and vital signs of patients.

JOSEPH MARIE JULES PARROT (1829-1883) was a French physician to children. In 1877, he was Chief Medical Officer of the Children's Hospice and Professor of Infant Clinic, and in 1880 a member of the Academy of Medicine. He is remembered for Parrot syndrome - failure to thrive, emaciation, edema, dry skin, with subcutaneous fat loss, abdomen flat or distended, hypothermia, slow pulse, decreased metabolic rate. Synonyms: marasmus; infantile atrophy; inanition; athrepsia. With Paul Broca (1824-1880), Parrot observed characteristic features of syphilis on bones from medieval European cemeteries, which called into question the hypothesis of the American origin of syphilis. In newborns and infants, he described numerous stigmata of congenital syphilis. He also investigated childhood tuberculosis at the Children's Assistance hospice, identifying the primary infection in pulmonary tuberculosis. With Armand Trousseau (1801-1867), he developed a definitive clinical description of childhood asthma. Parrot was elected to the Academy of Medicine, section of pathological anatomy (1878), and appointed Officer of the Legion of Honor (1882).