To the Editor:—
"A German, Heinrich Hoffmann..." deserves a better introductory paragraph (202: Dec 25, 1967, adv p 28). At least the "MD" should not have been omitted. The world-wide success of Struwwelpeter has overshadowed the medical career of its author.Heinrich Hoffmann (1809-1894) was a co-founder of the Frankfurter Ärztliche Verein (Frankfurt Medical Society), but more important for the subject under discussion, the hyperactive child, he was the founder, planner, and for 25 years the director of the Hospital for the Insane and Epileptic in Frankfurtam-Main. I personally have my doubts whether "Heinrich Kinderlieb," the name he used as a cover for the first five editions of Struwwelpeter, consciously or subconsciously was aware of a "hyperactive child syndrome," but if so, the famous pair of German boys, Max and Moritz, the creations of Wilhelm Busch, might come into the same category.