Page:American Medical Biographies - Kelly, Burrage.djvu/1026

NAME ROTCH 1004 ROTHROCK University established a chair of pediatrics in 1888 and Dr. Rotch was the first incumbent with a seat in the faculty and the title of as- sistant professor, the first position of the sort in the countrj'. He was appointed full pro- fessor in 1893, filling the chair at the time of his death. Under his guidance and as the result of his untiring energy, the depart- ment of pediatrics became one of the most important in the school. It was undoubtedly the best organized department of pediatrics in America and for many years served as a model for those in other medical schools. Dr. Rotch was perhaps most widely known for his work in connection with the feeding of infants. He did more than anyone else in America to put infant feeding on a rational basis, and was without question the founder of modern scientific infant feeding. In con- nection with his efforts in this direction he conceived the idea of the milk laboratory. The first laboratory for the modification of milk for babies was established in Boston in 1891 under his direction. His experimental work in relation to the diagnosis and treatment of pericardial eflfusion in connection with the fifth right inter-space, which was done early in his medical career, attracted considerable notice as an original investigation and has stood the test of time. Dr. Rotch also made a study of the develop- ment of the bones, as shown by the Roentgen ray, in relation to the grading of children in schools and elsewhere. He also did a large amount of work in developing the use of the Roentgen ray in connection with the diseases of children and babies, and puiblished, in 1910, a book of considerable size and largely illustrated, entitled: "The Roentgen Ray in Pediatrics." Dr. Rotch contributed largely to the periodi- cal literature of pediatrics and in addition published, in 1895, a large textbook on the dis- eases of children, entitled: "Pediatrics." This work has been through many editions and is still one of the standard works on the sub- ject. From the beginning he consistently em- phasized in all his teaching the importance of the knowledge of the normal infant and child in order to appreciate and properly treat the sick child, and always laid great stress on the prevention as contrasted with the relief of disease. He was a leader in the campaign for the reduction of infant mortality, for the improvement of the milk supply and the in- troduction of rational methods of infant feed- ing and was more fortunate than most men in that he lived to see his methods, which were at first derided and for a long time strenuous- ly opposed, generally adopted throughout the United States. Unbeknown even to his own family he had had a valvular defect of the heart for a num- ber of years. His heart eventually yielded to the strain of overwork and worry and, in February, 1914, dilatation took place. He con- tinued bravely at his work, however, in spite of his handicap, but finally collapsed and died of a terminal pneumonia, March 9, 1914. John Lovett Morse. Boston Med. and Surg. Jour., 1914, vol. clxx, p. 596. Archives of Pediatrics, 1914, vol. xxxi, p. 161. Trans. Amer. Pediatric Soc, 1914, vol. xxvi, p. 349. Rothrock, Abram (1806-1894). Abram Rothrock was born on April 19, 1806, in Derry Township, Mifflin County, Pennsyl- vania, in what was then a heavily wooded and wild part of the state. He was accustomed from his early childhood to the hard work of an outdoor life, being well acquainted not only with farm work, but also the duties in his father's tannery. One winter's morning at three a. m.. Dr. Edmund Burke Patterson, of Lewistown, was returning from a long call and noting the light in a farm house stopped in to warm himself. He found the young lad lying on the floor in front of the huge old fire place and studying by its light an English grammar. The doctor asked him if he understood it, and receiving an affirmative, gave him a sentence to parse, and being pleased with his ability to do so, he questioned him further concerning his work. The outcome was that he asked him to come and make his home with him in Lewistown and become his office boy. After a consultation with his parents the offer was accepted and he worked for the doctor and went to school. In 1826 he studied under Dr. Patterson, remaining with him until his death, when he continued hi^ medical work under Dr. James Culbertson. In the winter of 1828-29 he attended a course of lectures at the University of Pennsylvania and then, owing to a lack of the necessary funds, returned to Miffin County. At this time the canal, which for many years served as the great artery of traffic till the railroad rendered it obsolete, was in process of con- struction and the young student served for a couple of years as a sort of contract sur- geon for the workmen, earning in this way the money for the continuance of his medical education. He then re-entered the University of Pennsylvania and in 1835 graduated and