The best known American pediatrician of his time with the single exception of Abraham Jacobi was Job Lewis Smith.1 In continuous practice of pediatrics in New York City for nearly 50 years, as well as the clinical professor of pediatrics at Bellevue Hospital Medical College for a large part of these years, Dr. Smith exerted an enormous influence on American pediatrics. His textbook of the diseases of children, based entirely on his own clinical experience, is still esteemed as a solid reliable work. In the second edition of this book, Smith wrote:
It is the popular belief, and the belief of many physicians, that vivid mental impressions sometimes have a direct effect on the development of the foetus (sic). Many cases are on record in which infants were born with marks or deformities, corresponding in character with the objects which had been seen and had made a strong impression on the maternal mind at some period of gestation. . . . The multitude of facts which have accumulated justify the belief that deformity . . . is due to the emotions of the mother. . . . I have met the following cases. An Irish woman of strong emotions and superstitions was passing along a street in the first months of her gestation, when she was accosted by a beggar, who raised her hand, destitute of thumb and fingers, and in "God's name" asked for alms. The woman passed on: but reflecting in whose name money was asked, felt that she had committed a great sin in refusing assistance.
Gustave Courbet, Jo, the Irish Woman, ca. 1866–1868
