Title
Principles of Pediatrics and Pediatric Nursing (Revised Edition, 1947)
Author
Cecilia M. Knox, B.S., R.N.
Director, Boston City Hospital School of Nursing and Nursing Service; formerly Assistant Director in charge of Pediatric Department, Boston City Hospital School of Nursing; Instructor and Supervisor in Pediatrics, Cook County Hospital School of Nursing, Chicago, Illinois.
Published by F. A. Davis Company, Philadelphia, 1947.
Image
Description
This revised edition of Principles of Pediatrics and Pediatric Nursing reflects the mid-20th century effort to professionalize pediatric nursing education. Written by Cecilia M. Knox, a leading nursing educator, it was designed as both a training text and a clinical reference. The book emphasizes child development, disease prevention, and the nurse’s role in pediatric wards, offering systematic instruction on motor coordination, respiratory illness, and childhood diseases.
Condition
Green cloth hardcover with gilt lettering to front and spine. Moderate scuffing and edge wear with some fraying at spine ends. Binding intact, pages clean and legible with illustrations preserved. Overall good condition for a working nursing text of the 1940s.
Gallery
Historical context
By the late 1940s, pediatric nursing was recognized as a distinct specialty requiring formal education. Knox’s book reflects both the advances in pediatrics after World War II and the emphasis on preventive care and developmental observation. It served as a bridge between medical pediatrics and the bedside responsibilities of nurses, helping to standardize pediatric nursing instruction in hospital schools.
Curious Facts, Ephemera, and Trivia
Published by F. A. Davis Company, a leader in medical and nursing texts.
Cecilia Knox held senior positions at major hospitals in both Boston and Chicago, influencing two major centers of American nursing education.
Chapters cover both everyday conditions (colds, tonsillitis, asthma) and serious diseases such as tuberculosis, which remained a major pediatric concern in the 1940s.
Excerpt
“Motor coordination is the result of a balance between the contractions and relaxations of the muscles. The development of muscle control in the child depends upon the degree of maturation of nerve and muscle structure, and to some extent upon the practice the muscles receive through exercise and use.” (Chapter IV, p. 52)
Why it is in the Cabinet
This book captures the evolution of pediatric nursing as a professional discipline in postwar America. It is preserved both for its historical significance in nursing education and for its practical, human-centered approach to caring for children.
Support Dr. Bebout’s Cabinet of Medical Curiosities
If you enjoy the history, the oddities, and the effort, help keep this cabinet open. Every little bit helps preserve and share the strange wonders of medicine's past.
Buy Me a Ko-fi ☕ Buy Me a Coffee ☕ Tip via PayPal 💵