The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1874-11-05
Something About chinese Doctors In
California.

|
the Pacific coast
Under circumstances Of physical suffer-
Ing or mental distress the mind Is I'M
usually prone to superstitious and ira
tlonal fancies, so that we can hardly be as
tonished to find that a considerable portion
of the sick become the willing prey of the
Vicious and ignorant impostors, who In the
guise OF medical men practice on their Gre
dulity, extorting money by promises OF
certain and speedy cures, and by remedies
known only to themselves.
Prominent among these medical impost-
ers of the present day are the so.called
"Chnese doctors" To the people Of the
eastern states who hear but little and see
absolutely nothing Of the Chinese, it may
be interesting to show what TN extensive
practice these 80 called doctors have among
the people of this state, and what their
merits may be.
In every village and hamlet and every |
mining camp in the state may be seen the
signs of these Chinese medicos, usually |
stuck over the doorway of some Chinese |
wash-house, barber shop or "boot makec."
The signs are usually in Spanish, as they |
find these simple people the most prohta-
bic victims DIS well as the most easily de-
ceiyed. But the Spanish are not the only
people who patronlze this class OF physi
clans, for among the patients of cele-
brated Chinese doctor in San Francisco
may be found some of that city's most
prominent and wealthy business men. Let
us now consider for moment the merits
of these Chinese medicos who are daily
entrusted with the health and lives
of respectable and intelligent peo-
pie, who consult them under the strange
belief that Chlnaman may possibly pos
sess greater skill than thoroughly educa-
ted physician of their own race. The ba-
SIS of all medical knowledge, anatomy,
physiology, and pathology, and the science
of chemistry which is indispensable to
medical education, the Chinese physician
knows nothing of. DR.. Dunglison, in his
history of medicine, quotes from Du Haldc,
|
pire, that :the notions which the Chinese
possess regarding the structure of the body,
mainly rest on old traditions, which PROBE
bly, originated from the Greek physicians
of Bactriana; superstition preventing them
from dissecting dead bodies. 1t Is on this
account that their anatomical information
is so incorrect and confused as to scarcely
deserve mention" In the plates given by
Chyre IN his specimens of medical science
in China, the position of the various organs
are often wrong-some being absent, while
others are present that never existed save
in the fertile brain of a Chinese doctor.
The Chinese have been given the credit of
understanding the circulation of the blood,
but nothing can be more prcposterous.
They admit but two constituent elements
Of the body, heat and moisture, the union
of which produce life, and their separation
causes death. This being their physiology
they can know nothing of the circulation
of the blood, but attribute the pulse to the
circulation of the heat and moisture, and be-
leve it to begin at o'clock in the morning.
1t commences in the lungs and terminates
at the end OF twenty-four hours in the
liver. But feeling the pulse forms the
, most important part OF Chinese medicine
: by the aid of that they natter ,nou,o.,'~.
they can tell not only the nature. but also
the cause of the disease. They have seve
raj places for feeling the pulse, Dependant
upon the nature of the disease. Thus they
have three places at the wrist, one for dis
, eases of the heart, another for diseases o.
the lungs, and another tor diseases Of thu
liver. The manner, also, in which the,
explore the pulse is as mystical as it il
' ridiculous they apply the four finger
upon the artery, raising and depressing
1 them upon the vessel as if they were play
t ing upon the piano-forte. To become
: skilful pulse feeler requires years of con
slant practice 80 that physician wei
versed in that art is looked upon as mos
b important parsonage. Knowing nothing
of anatomy, they can know nothing of sur
r gerry and never practice it. DR.. ]. G
/. Kerr, who was for long time in charge o
l. the Medical Missionary Society's Hospital
e in Canton, speaking of the medical practic
n amongst the Chinese, says, "They have n
+ knowledge of the structure of the huma
u system or of the functions of its variou
4 parts. The inestimable advantages c
t operative surgery in all its branches is ur
n known to them. What has been for age
the medical practice in China is The prat
8 tice of Chinese doctors to-day And it is
=. fact that the code by which Chinese ply
= sicians have been and are at present guide
:. was composed by one, Hoang-ti, fou
e thousand years ago. 1t is said upon th
= authority of Cleyer that there is not &
present school in the whole Chinese En-
n pire where medicine is regularly taught
If Such being the fact, the Chinese physician
3, are wholly dependant upon their own e.
ease and the proper mode of treatmen
7, But as the Chinese are very superstition
&c and attribute the cause of many of the
'e ills to the winds and spirits, the physical
N mas an easy mcthou out VI .hiS uilicut.
,e He mingles SO much of superstition IN h
treatment that it more than supplies his d
rs fciency in knowledge. Thus favori
n remedy of the physicians and one by whic
st they are said to have carried the majorii
Z. of their cases, consisted of paper, upo
e. which they had written a description
10 particular characters of the disease an
ii placed before their idols. This paper WI
l. afterward made into pills and the patiel
Q caused to swallow them. But paper is
" "bonne bouche" when compared to Il
at other medicines in the Chinese cataogu
he As they know nothing of chemist
10 they are unable to procure the powerf
n medicines, which in the practice of mo