The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1867-10-09
EeIestIei.m IN Medicine.

the part OF many oil L1e ClLlLEus Oh THIS
city and vicinity to learn something
sect called eclectic" that / am in
duced, by your permission, TO ublish
in your valuable paper letter written
in answer 10 an invitation to attend tie
Eclectic Reunion, which WAS read be-
fore that Society. At some future time
/ may give the causes which gave birth
TO the Eclectic System OF medicine, its
history and progress.
geatLeBgeH Of he Eclectic Reunion, 10
be held IN Cincinnati, OHIO: when FRO
lessor Scudder frst announced that a
union was 10 take place in your city.
in this month, / WAS highly delighted
at the prospect Of an opportunity OF
meeting with many OF the old true and
tried friends Of our cause who have
battIsd long against the errors OF the
regular school; and although the yicto-
~ Is not won, they are still deter
mined to fight on in the cause Of
medical reform; and when each
one now engaged in this glorious
work shall have hlled bis time on earth
and passed 70 his long home, may they
have 80 lived and Ia bored that posterity
shall say Of them, they did their duty.
Then will the names OF all such, ike
that Oft. v. Morrow, NJ. D., live for all
time. to be honorea and blessed by gen.
erHtions yet unborn
While / am deprived of the pleasure
of meeting you, allow me 10 say that /
wish to be considered a co-laborer in
the cause OF EclecticiEm as long as
health will permit. In view OF this,
take the liberty of offering a few
thoughts upon the subject ofthe onward
move OF medicine.
When Patamon, the founder of Eclsc-
tic philosophy, WIS asked IL he Intended
to renounce his old teacher Plato, and
establish q new sect, he replied: No; i
~ a
and hold with arm grasp all that il
true, rejecting only what am con-
WINGED by thorough investigation Ii
fAlse-and 50 lar from creating a new
sect, only propose to correct and i'm
prove the old. Plato WAS not the only
philosopher Of his day. nor did his sys-
tenn, IL It might be called such, exhaust
the truth in the wide range ofphilOsoPh-
zeal inquiry. There were philosophers
before MIN and contemporary with him
whose systems, like his own, embraced
more or less of the truth with admiX-
lures oil errors II was from these
sources Of Information connected with
Independent thought and criticism that
his own system was founded, 50 that
Plato himself, the pupil Of Socrates,
was as much of an Eclectic as his dis
cipIe, and as fully entitled to the name.
Indeed, every progress made in the
various departments of science, litera-
AuEbf TIC aAA1t NAGCAOSyt ~ anu A-NAA-
cine, Is, from the very necessity OF the
case. Eclectic, and may very properly
be ranked under the head of EcIecti-
cism. The science and literature of the
present day are but the outgrowth and
development OF the science and lltera-
tuTe of the early ages, and just as the
tree and plant select their proper eli
mate from the soils Of the air, the water
and the light, so have science and lit
erature, by It's great Eclectic law, adj
yanced to the present state. What Is
the science of definite proportion but
the great Eclectic law peryAding TIE
universe Of matters. We find the same
law pervading the theological world.
What Is the origin or seCts, but the
struggles of the human mind in It's in
vestigation of the truth TO throw aside
error, or In apostolic words, ito prove
all things and hold fast that which Is
good - When its great teacher hurled
his anathemHs against the Jewish
Church, it was not 10 abolish the law OF
religion upon which that church was
founded, but to abolish the errors, and
correct and reform the church. "H e
came not to destroy but to fulfill the
law"
when Luther, after he had visited
Rome, found the muddy fountains Of
Popery, and nailed his teneIs of refor-
nation upon the doors OF the church, II
WAS not 10 destroy the Roman Catholic
Church, but to reform its errors and
correct its abuses. There was good to
censure; there was evil to reject. He
WIS convinced most thoroughly that
antiquity on the one hand, or univer-
salty on the other, could not give
sanctity and authority TO that which
was wrong. Minds like Luther, CAL
win, Wesley, and others, will ever tind
errors to correct and changes to be
made. What is reformation but the
nHaaN ERlapHfp tho
agsI The triumph of truth over error,
the emancipation OF faith from iilYuiSi.
tOridL domination, and the herald oil pro-
reEs 10 the world. EcEecticiSm IN Medi-
clue, eclecticism in science, literature,
theology, and all other departments OF
knowledge, is cOHseTUdtO. progressive
1t is all-embracing in it's sweep, like
the gospel net cast into the sea, and
tohiIe II saves The good IL casts the bad
dDdy.
DR.. Tucker, in his Lights of Nature,
says: 1.-The tree is very valuable for
its fruit. II becomes the proudest gar
dener TO check the luxuriance of its
branches, To engrait, TO prune, to dis.
tribute and nail the twIgs, and in gen
eTal to cultivate u in such a manner
that II may yield plentiful and good
liest produce; or to cnange the meta
pbOr, We may consider the philosopher
as a wholesale trader, importing the
principles ofreason and conduct from
all quarters OF nature where he can set
tie "A correspondence" This is iden
tically the position occupied by AnleTi-
can EeiecticiSm in medicine. we find
that the tree OF medical science has
been planted and growing for many
centuries, and Notwithstanding it has
been cultivated by SO many bad garden
ers there are evidences OF vigorous life,
which indicate that The soil Is good,
even true science Itself. AllOpatby,
since the days of Paracelsus, has been
OF medical science, having by Burrep-
titious means captured from its orig
inal planters and cultivAtors the RegiI-
Tar Eclectic system OF medicine. In the
departments OF physiology, pathology,
anatomy, chemistry and surgery, much
has been done. But in the department
HlateTid 1lediea ana the practice of
medicine, they were in withered con-
dillon. To improve these departments,
Eclsoticism came in ~ n gardener and
cut of the dead twIgs which were de-
stroyiug the beauty aud utility OF the
tree, so as to produce more and better
jeCting the heroic remedies, such AS
colonel, anthony, tartar emetic,
arsenic and blood-letting, and the sub
stitution of n class of remedies, pecu-
liRrly Eclectic, which mplfSheS
Without injury TO The system, all the OBJ
jects claimed by the use of the old rem
edles. What excuse can we offer, then,
for using remedies which produce
lasting Injurious effect upon the human
oEganismg NoNE.
THos. J. KIsxER, NJ. d.
MARRIED.