Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1875-09-01

of her father. The sick sought the aid o
the latter, while those in health sought
the shrine of Hygiea, imploring her con
tinued protection. We pause and ponder
as the thought is forced upon us here
that in the usages of these ancient people
and beneath the ceremonies and practices
that seemed fitted for the rudeness of the
age, there is an underlying principle true
for all time, Medicine and Hygiea are here
symbolized-the office of the one to cure
the sick, of the other and the greater, to
protect the WELL To these the ancient
declaration may we'll apply, "the first
shall be last and the last first"
Hippocrates whose father descended
from the order of Asclepiades or descen-
dents of Esculapius, raised medicine
from system of superstitious rites, prac-
ticed wholly in interest Of the Priesthood,
to the dignity of learned profession.
He relied very much on the healing pow
er of nature, and sought only to assist
her with simple remedies. He caught
clear and distinct glimpses Of the great
law of cure, with which Hahnemann's
name is indissolubly connected. "Similia
S:miz,6us Cnyantay, as law of cure was
distinctly enunciated by Hippocrates. In
the treatment for suicidal mania he ad-
vises, "Give the patient draught made
| J, &c ~, IL.
dose than will induce mania"
| Says Dudgeon in his lectures: 1.-THE
author Of the work De Moy6is Pobulayi-
bus, supposed to be the great Hippocrates,
has the following Homeopathic formula
Doloy doloyem sol vit' equivalent to the
popular saw; lone pain cures another"
And the same maxim is repeated in his
"Aphorisms," where it is said, "Of two
pains occurring together, not in the same
part of the body, the stronger weakens
the other" Again, cold things, such as
snow and ice, cause hemorrhages, and cold
is to be used for the cure ofhemorrhages."
Such anticipations, striking though they
are, by no means derogate from Hah-
nemann's merit, but prove that the crude
idea of this great principle existed long
before Hahnemann thought it out and gave
fuller revelation to the world. We can
not too cordially recognize and be thank
full for the great truths he unfolded, but
we should Inodestly refrain from too bonn
bastic and inflated phraseology, and the
time in our conventions can be better filled
than with hackneyed eulogies on Hahne-
mann, and threadbare laudations on the
glories of Similia Simizi6ms Cnyantur.
In like hammer we find Electro Thera-
peutics, cropping out among the physi-
clans of the older time, recommending
the sick to eat of the fish TORPEDO TnI-
gayis, on account of its supposed curative
qualities, and of the women of Africa
placing their sick children in waters con-
tanning these fish. Thousands of years
have passed and we are yet on the very
Threshold of that department of Medi.
Ca! Science, whose subtle agent is as
mysterious as life, and as mighty in it's
silent power. And may we not plausibly
hope that as we depart from old medicine.
we shall leave our old Mateyia Medica,
and in its stead find our healing potencies
in Electricity, in Magnetism and in the
yet unexplored field Of Psychology.
The treatment of diseases by drug
medication is the child of Alchemy, was
Graded in ignorance and nursed by sup
erstition, and as sure as the present ad-
yancement in practice, to large aban-
donment Of drugs, is manifestly an i'm
provement upon the past, SO surely will
the coming physician adopt less crude
treatment than is now being practised.
The time has been when to the ques-
ton, who is Christian ? zone who be-
lieves in the Nicene Creed" was the an
swer. But in the light Of the Christian
thought Of to-day, the answer is widened
into the declaration Gle that loveth
the Christ and tries to obey his laws"
To the question who is Physician, the
past has answered, ga believer in the
dogmas and doctrines of the old school of
| medicine" A truer definition is the de-
claration; he who is imbued with an en-
thusiasm for humanity, whose soul is il
lumined by "a love for truth, whose lips
| are touched with live coal from the al
tar of God, who can fathom the subtitle
| forces of disease and summon the RENE
| dial agents of Nature, who can restore to
| harmonious action the unbalanced forces
of the body, whose harmonious action
constitute health--that man or woman is
the true physician, and should be laurel
crowned, coming from which ever school
he may.
The past had its requirements and it's
needs--needs which were met by the de-
velopments Of its time. It had also pro-
L