One of 'nature's experiments' provided an unusual opportunity to observe a burned child's hospital behavior, with the variable of pain (always a serious, often an overwhelming factor) entirely absent. The patient was a five-year-old boy with total flaccid paraplegia and absent sensation from the waist down due to myelomeningocele. Nover presents a compact and useful summary of the major articles on burned children, their coping, and the problems of hospital personnel. The concise case report follows. Strikingly absent from this boy's successful adaptation were the usual regression, depression, and most especially, overt aggressive behavior.