this conduct. Mere
indolence seems sometimes to be the chief reason for it, oftener vanity;
the sense of importance in finding everything in the household arranged
with exclusive reference to itself appears to be the motive for it; and
this may sometimes be observed to be very powerful even at an
exceedingly early age. In many instances a morbid craving for sympathy
is mingled with the love of importance, and both these sentiments are
not infrequently exaggerated by the conduct of a foolishly fond mother.
Real illness, however, in almost all these cases exists at the
commencement, though the child persists in complaining of its old
symptoms long after their cause has disappeared.

The great difficulty which the doctor meets with in the management of
these cases arises from the incredulity with which his opinion is
received. Candour is looked upon as so eminently characteristic of
childhood, that deceit seems impossible; the case is thought by the
parents to be an obscure one which the doctor does not understand; and
therefore it is said, he, with want of straightforwardness and of
kindness, throws doubts on the existence of disease, and on the
truthfulness of a most loving, most suffering child. The vagaries of a
hysterical girl, the fits, the palsy, the half-unconsciousness have all
been assumed within my own observation by children from ten to fifteen
years old, and I have more than once had to give place to the ignorant
and impudent pretender who traded successfully on the feelings of the
parents. Sometimes, one knows not why, except that the child has got
tired of the part he was playing, the symptoms that had caused so much
anxiety suddenly disappear, but even then the habit of mind left behind
is anything but healthy. Indeed in all cases of this kind it is much
less the state of the body than that of the mind which excites my
apprehension. The constant watching its own sensations, the habit of
constantly gratifying every wayward wish and temper under the plea of
illness, and the constant indulgence which it too often meets with in
this from the over-kindness of its parents, exert a most injurious
influence on its character, and it grows up a juvenile hypochondriac.

A doctor is very unlikely to throw doubt recklessly on the reality of a
child's illness. His hesitation should certainly not be attributed to
unworthy motives; the parents should co-operate with him heartily in any
course of observation which he desi