The Placer herald., 1857-01-03
Medicine a Humbug.
WHAT A FRENCH PHYSICIAN THINKS OF I


"rhe Science of Medicine" says the Water
Cure Journal, is thus dissected by one of its
professors. The following is a remarkable
interesting letter from an American medical
student in Paris. This writer says that he
once heard Magendie, the celebrated French
physician and Psychologist, open lecture
somewhat in the following words:
"Gentemen: Medicine is a great humbug.
know it is called a science-science indeed,
1t is nothing like science. Doctors are mere
empires, when they are not charlatans. We
are as ignorant as men can be. Who knows
anything in the world about medicine? Gen
tlemen, YOU have done me the honor to
come here to attend my lectures, and must
tell you frankly now, in the beginning, that
| know nothing in the world about medi-
cine, and | don't know anybody who does
know anything about it. Don't think for
moment that | haven't read the bills adver-
Using the course of lectures at the Medical
School; | know that this man teaches anato-
my, that man teaches pathology, another
man physiology, such one therapeutics,
such another materia medica-kh bienI et
opreS2 What's known about all that! Why,
gentlemen, at the school of Montpelier, (God
knows it was famous enough in its day)
they discarded the study of anatomv and
taught nothing but the dispensary; and the
doctors educated there knew Just as much,
and were quite as successful AS any others.
| repeat it, nobody knows anything about
medicine. True enough, we are gathering
facts every day. We can produce tvphus
fever for example, by injecting certain sub
stance into the veins of dog; that's some
thing; we can alleviate diabetes, and see dis
tinctly ce are tast approaching the day whm
PhthjSis can be cured as weN as any disease
1--WE are collecting facts in the right
spirit; and dare say in a century or so the
accumulation Of facts may enable our protes-
sors to form a medical science; but | repeat
it to you, there is no such thing now as medi-
cal science Who can tell me how to cure
the headaches! or the gouC or diseases Of the
heart? Nobody. Oh. you tell me the doe,
ters cure people | grant you, people are
cured. But how are they cured| Gentle
men nature does n great deal. Imagination
does a great deal. Doctors do-deviIish
little-when they don't do harm. Let me
tell you, gentlemen, what did when was
the head physician at Hotel Dieu. Some
5000 or 1000 passed through my hands
every year. | divided the patients into two
classes; with one, followed the dispensary,
and gave them the usual medicines without
having the least idea why or wherefore to
the others | gave bread pills and colored
water, without, Of course letting them know
anything about it, and occasionally, gentle
men, would create third division, to whom
! gave nothing whatever. These last would
fret Il good dea they would feel they were
neglected, (sicll people always feel they are
neg elected, unless they are well drugged-lcs
mbeciic$.o and they would irrilatc themselves
until they got really sick, but nature invaria-
bly, came to the rescue, and all the persons
in this third class got well. There was Il
little mortality among those who received
but bread pills and water, and the mortality
was greatest among those who were care
fully drugged according to the dispensary."
This is pretty plain speaking for doctor.