WHEN AND BY WHOM WAS THE WORD PEDIATRIC FIRST USED?

The magnificent, A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles, usually known as the Oxford English Dictionary (O.E.D.), is rarely in error. But, it is in regard to the chronology of the word paediatric (pediatric). The editors of the O.E.D. traced each of the 414,825 words contained in the dictionary from their earliest known appearance in English. The O.E.D. claims that the word paediatrlc first appeared on page 1065 of the November 3, 1894, issue of the Lancet as follows: "Professor Bokai, the well-known paediatric physician...."1 In January 1884, however, a monthly journal with the title, The Archives of Pediatrics, was begun in New York City under the editorship of Dr. William Perry Watson. Three years later, on September 9, 1887, after the adjournment of the Ninth International Medical Congress, a number of physicians interested in child health organized a new society which they named the American Pediatric Society.2 I have not been able to find the words pediatric, pediatrics, or pediatrician used in the literature prior to the year 1884, at least in this country. If any reader knows of an earlier appearance of these words, the Editorial Office of Pediatrics would be delighted to receive such information.