Demoine courier., 1854-11-02
For the Demoine C0urie7
THE SCIENCE OF MEDICINE.

For the Demoine Courier.
THE SCIENCE OF MEDICINE.
1t is needless to multiply quotations to prove
the lamentable want of success which marks
the allopathic practice. The great Magendic
says: "There is scarcely a sound philosophical
principle among us.' Another Of the same
fraternity says: "If it was absolutely abol' shed
mankind would be infinitely the gainer;' and
DR.. Coggswell-himself an allopath-declarei
that the practice is ~"utterly ansoand In root,
trunk and branch.o Such is the direct testi-
mony of the most eminent teachers and practi-
TONERS of this self-styled Irregular Medical
Faculty." and if this is all they have to recon-
mend them TO public confidence, is it not right
that the public should know it, SO that they
may be no longer duped by the chicanery Of
those whose principles are 10 bewilder the
mil d, dazzle the eye, undermine the c~onstitu-
ton, destroy life and then rob the living by ex-
orbitant charges? One more extract and | have
done on this point. 1t will be found in the
Dissertation read by Theodore Still, NJ. D., at
the annual meeting of the Connecticut Medical
Society, May 18th, 1916. In that paper he
says: "The methods of treatment pursued by
my respected medical brethren, are as different
as light from darkness, and I confess it is not a
matter Of surprise that mankind should lose
their confidence in medical men, when it is so
well known that there is such entire discrepan-
cy among them" In the name Of common
sense, | ask, where is the safety of that sys-
tenn? A system that ought to be built upon a
well-determined data is as different in its unit as
light is to darkness. Heaven defend us from
midnight assassns and cold-blooded butchersl
We have seen that the blazing stars and strong
est pillars Of this mighty enchantment have
themselves confessed the fraud, and yet, like
sworn misanthropists, continued to pursue the
murderous principles which they first espoused.
1t would be a hard task to give a philosophical
solution, by which the generic quality Of those
antagonisical forces could be satisfactorily ey-
planned, and the principle on which they turn
fully developed-so glaringly irrational do they
appear and so opposed to common sense. But
charity compels us to weave a cloak of COM
miseration from the wool of human frailty, to
screen from execration the dust Of the departed
dead; for the living who persistantly walk in the
steps of well marked error, we have respect
presuming they are honest and candid; bat we
pity and deplore their delusion and short-sight-
edness. They, like a ship without a compass
Or chart, are tossed upon the boisterouso ocean of
wild Notwithstanding on every rock
shoaling on every bar, and now their frail bark
is about 10 be submerged in the whirlpool of
reproach, and universal indignation. This GER
tainly must have been their expected fate, for
they themselves confess TO be sailing in the
dark. having neither light, reason, philosophy,
nor common sense to guide them, and that in this
reckless voyage they have annually murdered
their thousands. They say they have destroyed
more lives with their laundering art, cathartics.
end diaphoretics than the grim monster death
has done by war, pest.lence and famine COM
bined.
The people, who alone are interested in this
mysterious jargon, ought to be made fully ac-
quainted with its highest pretensions, and know
the secret misg.vings harbored in the breasts of
its advocates, who in the closet, hall and lecture
rooms, pronounce il a dangerous, base and mur-
derous profession.
But murder will out, and so will truth
Truth will not be buried. 1t will burst forth in
spite of all The accumulated rubbish that GEN.
turtles of falsehood and misrepresentation. may
heap upon it. Like the false philosophy of the
mighty Stagyrite, whose erroneous system
swayed the minds of the whole civilized world
for nearly 200 years, it shook to its basis and
crumbled into dust when the dawn of mental
agitation began TO ferment, and worked the
stagnant pools of Romish corruption into the
transparent liquid that now, unso.led, flows
from the throne Of God.
In a sincere desire to arrive at the true solu-
ton of any important and interesting subject,
we should lay aside all theories and divest our
selves of the prejudices which early education
interposes to darken the way Of candid inquiry.
And instead of transcending the skies on rain
bow hues, or straddle the clouds to chase the
winds of 'inconsistant opinions we ought
first condescend to select a well-known and
well-tried basis before we take our erial fight,
and set this a cornerstone on which to build
immutable and universal truths of logical infer
ences, and experimental deductions; truths that
will not only stand the test of ages, but grow in
beauty and symmetry as they become more de.
veloped and advanced in years. These are the
grounds on which medical science ought, mus
and will be established-apart from these il
cannot stand. Allopathy has no relation tc
them, so therefore it cannot stand. The com.
bination of drugs administered by an allopatf
is not at all homogeneous to the morbid de.
rangement of the immaterial principle which
alone is disorganized, but has, from its crudity
and Heterogeneous admixture a tendency to ex.
cite inflammation and dangerous internal affec.
tons. C. w. BENSON.
FRO BE Continued.
The Arctic---C0nduct of the officer.