THE DIARRHEA PROBLEM IN PRIVATE PRACTICE

To the Editor:—I wonder how many practicing pediatricians, or for that matter, how many teachers of pediatrics, are familiar with what appears in the textbooks from which students get much of their information? I wonder how many students read more than one textbook? If not, do they go through their professional lives believing as Gospel what they have read in one book? Since different books advance conflicting theories on the treatment of such a common, and potentially serious disease, as diarrhea, perhaps this is the reason why one encounters such a wide variation in the methods in common use. To realize that these differences do occur, only one with a large experience in private practice can judge; he sees many patients who have been treated by other pediatricians, from many different communities. Consultations add to this information. Workers in hospitals see mostly acute or rare cases of disease and