The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1869-06-29

be of real service which sacrifices the
greater to the lesser. ,o,.;.
This is what DR.. Wfsehead reasoned
to himself, when he spoke to Weaker
Brother, Nd, about the wine and beef
tea, shrewdly covering up his wisdom
by the little tonic remedy, lest he
should risk his standing with the tCoun-
ty Medical Society," and thus deprive
himself of the opportunity Of another
consultation. zscas shHr
3 The London Quarterly Review furth-
er remarks Tt may be easily seen that
a prime moving spir to great deal of
the practice, from which our medical
guides are ROW drawing back, was q
certain awful idol of the market place.
called Inflammation. With fiery limbs
spread aloft. welding weapons labeled
Tumor, Rubor, 'Calor, Dolor, Efusion,
Suppuration, Fibrinous Exudation,
Phlegmon, Fever, &C., it has made all
fall down before it: and the more it has
been sacrificed to the fiercer it has
seemed. It has been a veritable Kalee.
OF late, men of science have been pick
ing at the skin Of this hideous object1of
faith, and have seen reason to pronounce
some OF its weapons of offense mere
wind bags and tinsel. Though they can
not say but that there is a sort of life in
it, yet its destructiveness consists main.
ly in the pitfalls encountered by those
running away from the Bogy. Laying
aside metaphor, it would seem that in
fiammation consists in the phenomena
of lower degree of life. The process
of nutritive growth in the various ftis-
sues Of the body is arrested at an incom-
plete stage. For example. what should
have been the intricate meshes of skin,
elastic, sensitive muscle, or mysterious
gland, gets no further than being
thicksh liquid, which can assume no
comelys form, can only multiply itself,
and appear in the shape Of rnucus or
pus. This is suppuration. Again, the
swelling (tunor) Of indamed parts is
loss of one of the vital properties of the
small blood vessels, elasticity. Spur
them up to more life and the swelling
vanishes. And 50 on.
s.What is now principally feared by
the shrewder class is, not so much in>
fammation as the panic which it causes.
They almost prefer that those who have
to deal with it should shut their eyes
than open them and act upon their
fright. A fashion able physician, whois
also a learned psychologist and acute
Rheumatic fever OF some days duration.
In the consultation, he pointed out that
there was extensive inflammation Of the
heart, to the extreme terror OF the fam
ily doctor. sOh dear, dear! what will
you think of me1 How can I forgive
myself for so neglecting my poor
friends case p Pray do not be dis
tressed,' was the comforting answer,s'it
is just as well you did not find out the
pericarditis /; you might, perhaps, have
treated it. %
On the whole, we do not think the
prospects of the drug trade, for brisk
business, during the latter half of the
twentieth century, are altogether latter
ing. Before the expiration of that peri
cd, man will, perhaps, not have practi-
-cally learned that diseases may be war
ded off by clean, temperate life but
he will, at least, have learned that dis
ease, once acquired, cannot be cured by
cathartics, emetics, Or any of the other
eics,' and, throwing himself upon ma
ture, will give her the best chance to
work he can,s and thus secure the only
possible chance he has for recovery
We would not, in these remarks, be
und erstood to reflect anything upon the
noble art of surgery, whose influence
upon the sister science of medicine has
been most salutary. 1t is the use of
nauseous, poisonous and powerful drugs,
not tonic in their action, that we depre
cate, believing that not one perron in a
hundred needs them, while many a life
has been lost through their administers
ton. -..-, 9-.4.s57es. ,r.ass ersaf.s
A garden is a beautiful book, writ by.
the finger of God every flower
and every leaf is letter
You have only to learn then-and he is
a poor Ounce that cannot, if he will, do
that-to learn them and to join them,
e.,d Ill.,. -. - i