Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1876-03-02

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MEDICAL .PRACTTCE NCIEN1
| AND MODER1
Il h NOT necessary tnsl kek, q some
occasionally do. 10 G. >4rly dss oi
Egypt for . e0mpafisd6 befwesn old
physic and young. Dr. Washington
l. Atlee, President Of - Medical So
ciety Of this State, ,iush bic annual I'd.
dress before that Associatiep, gave "a
account Of some Of the changes 81 the
past half century, and c1arasted and
compared and estimated their advan-
tages in the practice Of imedicipe.
Down TO the cholera scourge Of 1882,
and In Q less degree at its second out
tbfeak in lao. blood-lettiYg was IN
universal remedy, and calomel s1kkhe
other details Of a ''heroic scourse u
treatment were freely prescribed. At
the same time cold water and ice were
positively forbidden to fever PATIENTS
because mercurials we're considered fa.
tally incompatible with cold water. al
this has changed now, and it 10 hard
to say. whether the change 10 altogeth-
er gain. just as it is to decide wheth-
er the real reason is mere change of
fashion, or that assigned BY medical
authorities an actual losS ef vital pow
ers, less rigorous physica condition.
DR.. Atlee does not accept ither the
rule or the reason given for it, and he
thinks blood-letting ought q be used
more freely, and that the valdahs ex-
perience of old physic for nearly TWEEN.
ty centuries should not be sacrificed to
doubtful theories-to ine1orable fash
ion. He frankly states the advantage
gained to the regular practice Of med
icine 6y the growing success of home.
opathy, that it was thereby made more
apparent than before that many diseas-
es got cured or passed of without the
aid of medicine; that 10 il let alone, they
run through their course aud leave the
patient in good health. To this extent
the allopathists have been influenced
and the general public has bscn bene.
fitted.
DIR. Atlee pays his acknowledgements
to the substantial discoveries aud ad-
vances in medicine and surgery espe.
cially those of our own countrymen, but
he also attributes much of the increase
of disease with which physicians have
to deal to the change In the habits of
the people. Half a century ago these
were much more simple and health
full than in the present day; hous.
es were smaller, with fewer stairs to
mount, and more means of ventilation
in the open hearths; women wore whoie-
some and serviceatle clothes; their
waists were not narrowed, their lungs
were allowed to expend, their shoes
were low-heeled; both men and women
lived much in the open air, rode on
horseback, went to bed early and rose
early too. The other and unwholesome
changes that have done most harm to
women are those made in the newest
fashions Of dress, which have neither
health or comfort, reason nor beauty to
commend them. The extravagunce in
amount and weight of the dress it.
self is heightened by the want of ease
for the body and of the bad distribution
Of the various articles prescribed by
fashion. Wearing small shoes, put
ting on furs for ornament, covering the
head with unnatural masses of false
hair-all of these are items in the bill
of complaint preferred by DR.. Atlee on
behalf Of the physicians against the
fashionable mothers of the country. 1t
is impossible to have wholesome chill.
dred and sturdy race of men and wo.
men if the parents of the present gen
Grafton set at defiance the laws Of
health. To the relief, however, Of suf.
ferers, medicine in the last half century
has brought inventions that are pecu-
liarly American, and the most uuiver-
sal of all of these in its application is
the use of anasthetics, by which suf.
fering from pain has been reduced to
the smallest limits.
Nor the least important Of the
changes Of the last half century in med.
icine is that produced by the education
Of women in medicine and the large
scope given them for usefulness in
branches of the healing art, for which
thev have peculiar aptitude. The "Wo-
mems Medical College" aud the "Wo.
mems Hospita" are developing new
agencies in medicines unknown to old
physic, and time is rapidly solving the
question of success or failure. What
women have done and are doing in
midwifery and other directions is being
done BY men who pursue specia!ities in
practice; and although there 10 danger
that this tendency may be carried to
excess, there is little doubt Of the ad-
vantage to the profession as we'll as the
public Of having men peculiarly adap-
ted to each class of disease make it the
subject of special Investigation. OF
course the extremes are met just as
often in patients as in practitioners,
aud DR.. Gross, in his address on ipedi
cal literature, tells the story Of an Eng
lish lecturer who thus reported 10 his
class the application Of one Of his own
patients Doctor, I have come to You
about a tunor, but / must tell YOU that
DR.. A. has charge Of INV lungs, DIR. b.
takes care Of lny head, DR.. c. attends
to nv eyes, DR.. d. looks after my d.
gestion, DR.. f. has got my heart, and