Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1877-03-21
Dosing.

There are host Of people who
seem to have little else to do but tt
consider their physical condition and
administer doses for its improvement
people who are positively dissipatet
and Incorporate in their use of medi
cines, and appear to think this world
not so much a vale OF tears IA Of
drugs people to whom new pre-
scrip,ion affords delight only equal
ed by that which a savant would de-
rive from the possession of a bone Of
extinct megatherium. If they are
troubled with insomnia, instead of re
sorting to the natural assistance OF oc'
cupation and exercise, they turn to
the bromides for aid, ard call in chlor.
al for their defense if they have low
spirits, they lay siege with blue pills ;
if rheumatism invades their borders,
they summon colchicum rather
than endurance slight attack ofln-
digestion is an occasion for Sedlitz
power if collie threatens, they adj
vance upon it with castor oil qulLlne
is their password, and camphor the
panacea for all their ills from hysteria
to heartburn while they entertain
tie idea that Death himself is afraid
of carbolic acid ! In fact, rhubard,
SIENNA, thoroughwort and all the ghast-
ly array of drugs, the mere mention
of which is agitating to a well-bred
stomach, are familiar words with them,
and household gods to whom they
sacrifice almost daily. If they are in
the least degree under the weather, it
never occurs to them to allow Nature
to work out her own salvation, but
they take her affairs into their own
hands, and. having small acquaintance
with her processes, the result re-
scmbles that of novice attempting
the tasks of a superior, aud making
them the more difficult for that SUI
perior to accomplish. One of the pc
culiar pleasures of such persons con
sists in persuading others to try their
methods of cure. The most delicate
compliment you can pay them is to
swallow some pauseating mixture upon
their recommendation, which all the
while bears a strong family likeness to
that of those who with bad compilations
assure you that soap is wholesome for
the skin, or of bald people who exto|
the virtue of certain washes which they
have employed. This art of dosing
does not interfere, however, with the
usefulness of the family physician, but
rather supplies him with practice by
laying the foundations for positive dis
ease. The stomach which has been
unngbteously corrected rebels at
length the nerves that have been too
often artifcially soothed finally refuse
to acknowledge the power of the
charmer the strength engendered by
stimulants proves but a broken reed ;
fortified by frequent toncs
surrender one day without reserve.
If the science of medicine itself is as
yet only experimental, must not anna
teur dosing, beyond question, belong
to the most Objectionable class of EN-
piricisms d? Almost everybody with
whom it is a habit cultivates her favor
lite nostrum. TO one cod.liver oil is
the fountain of perpetual youth and
health another's salvation lies in sui
phur-to the disparagement of ortho-
doxy; third worships blue pill and
confdes in calomel ;while there yet re-
main those who have such respect for
all indictments that they slight none.
Bazar.