National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-05-04

What Is dIsesssf This 10 mcst Important
question. snd n the great rock On which We split
from most ether classes Of physicians We think
instead Of its being legion 10 q . unit, &c.
What constitutes physioisnf A person shilled
consider man skilled In the art Of healing who
would prescribe fx you sny substance which
Hosld produce irritation Inflammation, uleerstfon,
modification, scsofuis md cancers Of the stomach;
and al the worst forms Of disease Of all the ther
organs q the systemf ! think not.
When We reflect for moment upon the pnors~
ity OF the evils resulting from the use Of alcohol
and the great mortality Il produses, ought It not
70 excite our astonishment and Indignation thai
men In the arst ranks In society and looked upon
smen Of science and skill. should uphold, pre-
scribe and use alcohol, and AL other polsons ~
remedies for diseassf what say You, Mr..
beecnerf Two important questions present them--
selves for our consideration First. Why Do Allo-
paths and homepsthiss use alcohol and al other
polsons a. medicinesf Because &c Is In sccordance
with their thsory; the allopsths being fornfsdi
on the law OF contrary conirarius curunfur,;
and the homepaths upon the law Of similtr sfmf--
isoss crrsnfur- Both classes claim to produce
greater medicinal disease than the original one,
H.
NAL and mineral kingdom, including alcohol. for
that purpose, and leave poor old nature. TO con-
tend with both As best she can; and the artificial
disease Is always the most formidable and obstl-
nate TO remove, and II they survive ct ALL Il Is to
drag out short and miserable existence, ana
die victim to the treatment rather than the
original disease. Is not this science with o ven
geancef Listen. few moments TO what some Of
their ablest authors, and honest aud learned pro-
fu-~ Ali
/. DR.. Whiting says: ''The very principles upon
which most medical questions have been based
were never established. They are and always
were false, and the phIlosophIc mind may search
for ages without being able to CLEAN fromIt hardly
one solitary, ueIl-established fact; and what has
been christened medical science, Is, In fact,
nothing but hypothesis piled on hypothesis.r
DR.. Bigeiow says the practice Of medicine Is
sill an Intellectual speculation. DR.. Bichert says
that medicine is an ncoherent assomblage Of In
coherent ideas, and Is not subject for Q method
ical mind. Dr. Abereromb:e calls It the art OF
eonjecturing, the science Of guessing. DR.. Rush
says our want OF success is owing to ourignorance
Of disease and our Ignorance OF suitable remedy,
and that we have assisted in multiplying disease
and increasing its mortality. DIR. Waterhouse,
after lecturing twenty years, says am sick OF
learned quackery. Shea, Of MediccI Enquirer,
conducted by association Of ply sieans and sur
gcons, says: Happy had 1t been for tho world, II
the medical systems which have been obtruded
upon 1t were only chargeable with inutility, ab-
surdity, and falsehood. But, alas! they have
often misled the understanding, perverted the
Judgment and given rise TO the most dangerous
and fatal errors in practice. DR.. Chapman says
IL is horrid, unvarrsntable, murderous quackery.
We might add hundreds OF others, but our space
Is limited and word to the wise Is sufficient Then
why in the name Of science, OF suffering humanity,
and everything that Is sacred and dear should
such aboninable ignorance, stupidity, Qunckery,
and murder be longer tolerated. Why should It
not be as much Q criminal offence 10 administer
any poisons as medicines, which always destroy
the Vitality OF the system and kill their patients
sooner or later, a. to give them for that express
purposef
Now, what Is the true science and practice Of
medicinef It Is the system Of principles properly
| called physiological, or those that govern the
formation and preservation of the organised
body. It's doctrines are that the human body ID
formed and controlled. preserved and depended
and, when injured, restored by the action Of ar
invisible agent called the vital force; that when
all Its parts are In such condition that this force
can act fully and freely through them, this body
is said to be In health. Theinsblity Of any organ
to perform Its healthy functions It denomInatss
disease. It rejects from Us f5hedial means and
do violence to the healthy state, as lancets,
lssches, cups, blisters, and all poIsons, narcotic
escharotio and mechanical; and 10 uses those
| articles, and those only, which In their nature
harmonic with the organic tissues and the vital
force. II also teaches that instead Of there being
/ from seven TO eleven hundred diseases, there II
but one disease and q variety Of forms; that in
stead Of irritation, fever and Inflammation being
disease, they are manifestations Of an effort o.
i
stead Of giving all the polsons Of the three king
dom Of nature, to produce greater medicinal dis
ease than thsone you now have, (which Is thell
tneory,1 II aios nstura To eradicate the original
/ disease with remedies which are perfecTIy h.--a
less in their nature, and which leave no etfsctl
behind to destroy our future comfort and hsppi
ness. Have we not clearly shown that alcohol Il
not nutritious, nor . natural stimulous, nor eve
necessary as beverage or medicine. and that 4
Is an irritant, narcotic, So, and always unneces
sary and injuriouh and that It Is heroic in blood
| and havoc and deyaststlonf
| am perfectly satisfied that the physicians ant
| druggists and such arguments rs Mr.. Beecher'
are doing more to encourage intemperance, I'm
morality, crime and quackery and all . drunk
ards grave and . drunkards hell than all tn
| rumsellers on earth or in heaven, and unless tn
| people arise In the dignity OF their manhood and
learn and understand these plain and simple sub
Jects for themselves, aud assert their rights lk
men and Christians, and not suffer themselves 3
be longer duped and poisoned BY such men as MI
Beecher and the poison doctors, We will all di
premature deaths and go TO perdition, for no
doing our duty like rational, intelligent and con
sistent human beings. enlisted for life in thi
great work over thirty years ago, and have see
many glorious results, and our warfare is wage
against error, and not men; but the subject IL q
such vast importance, and humanity demand
that the people should no longer submit 70 ha'
the knee to the image Of BaaI which the medlca
Nebuchadnezar has set up.
DR. GEO. Gross.