Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1870-09-22

influence that every physician exercised
upon the u. ind, and through the mind
pom the body; the soothing or stimuAt-
ing of the nervous power; the calm
ing of exulta.ion or the stirring mp OF
apathy; the quieting of the over-busy
brain or the squirting of the faccid will
the repose OF over-used powers or the
awakening of suspended vital functions;
the subduing of the over sensitive skin or
the stimulating of it when wan, muddy
and lifeless; the limiting Of supplies to an
oyer-fed frame, or the repair of the body.
wasting by disease, by the proper kind OF
| food and stimulants; the bringing into
play, and 70 again into existence, muscle
| that had become wasted and paralyzed by
disease-these were all among the aims
| that the physician sought to accomplish"
And in accomplishing these aims, the
| influence OF nurses and OF all friends who
| frequent the room of the invalid, Is as
useful IS the influence Of the physician.
"Rest and ease" DR.. sibson says, are
the features of the treatment he had ap-
piled to acute diseases for many years,
especially rheumatism and govt. He
submits his patients ito rigid system OF
absolute rest, protection from external in
jury, gentle pressure, equal warmth ana
the removal Of pain, chiefly by treatment
from without"
twas formerly favorite notion with
physicians that the nature OF the remedy
should be concealed from the patient.
DR.. s. favors the reverse OF this. he
gives his patients no colored or favored
fluid to make them think they were tax
ing medicine when they were not doing
30, because he did not think 1t quite
I'D ~,
pioy such planned system OF fiction. II
physicians did 30 they complicated their
observations ard deprived themselves OF
the help that the patient could give them
when he understood the aim OF
the method of treatment. Whatever
might be the lire of treatment
adopted for disease, the influence of treat
ment on the disease itself was less than
the physician was apt to think. The
great majority of diseases tended to get
well. They had, SO to speak, a lifetime OF
their own, with its periods OF growth,
majority and decline; they were the pass
ing tenants of the body which they occu-
pied, often with great injury tor limited
time. Treatment could not change their
nature, could not expel them at once,
could not quench them, could not materi-
ally shorten or prolong their existence.
But the treatment could lessen the snfer-
ings of the body occupied by the disease,
shield it from outer injury, repair Its
waste, and support and reinforce its
powers; while it could ward Oft those
causes which tend to increase or reawaken
the disease, and lessen the intensity OF
its action, infammatory or otherwise, es-
pecislly upon the local structures. TO
watch, then, the treatment OF disease
was TO watch, not, go to speak, the remedy
and its immediate effects, but the disease
itself, and it's behavior during certain
method of treatment"
E.The remarks Of this London physician
are not here quoted az indicating system
of practice new or unknown in this
country. American physicians OF emf
nence have long proceeded upon the same
enlightened principles. But our chief OBJ
iect is TO remind others than physicians
how much they may do in promoting re-
covery, or warding off dangerous disease,
by cheerful and rational conduct in sick
room; and by close attention TO the personal
comfort and quiet Of the patient. Pussy
impotence, because no magical results
seem to follow q doctors prescription,
often defeats the end which would be
quietly accomplished If the patient were
encouraged to hope, or were at least LEI,
alone. The nursing and the general de-
meanor of friends and attendants are OF
as much consequence to the patient as
the skill Of the physician. -Hrcltange.