New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-12-13
NEW PUBLICATIONS.

MYTHS N MEDICINE AND OLD-TIME DOCTORS
Ey A,rnrp {. GARnArr. MD pp' s'-' VI i"'
Mans sons ,
Many interesting and suggestive BOOKS naNo ''o.
written upon the obscurcr side OF inc ooN''or"."
of medical science and there is roomi for moro itora
,u,e nj the kind But Dr. CARAT appears to nave
roaae his inouirics into tho myths OF med'o'no
mainly for tho purpose Of leading mp to vigorous
attack ON homeopathy. and the result ~ thnt w''o
tho real pis of his undertaking Is in the mar cn"
ter the preceding ones are little other ''i'" '''
gathered and undigestcd excerpts in''" o''''
writer's Tho book. in fact. is "padu'o ""'"','
s,,v and II il malo evident throughout that inc
author has very little thorough KNOWLEDGE VI '"'
stages of medical progress which he attempts W "o-
seribe by long citations. Ills ichdhess ioi u"'
,ion indeed is so great that he drags in extracts
which have but the rcmotest apPosltehess anu
when he is not using the scissors he occas'o"'''S
makes the most singular observations. AS sPeci-
mon of his historical researches we may instance MS
attcmpt TO connect the story OF" Blue Dcaru VII"
Mahomet H. 1t might have been supposed 10 oo
generally understood 10y this time that IL any MS
torical parsonage can he connected with tha' icsoh
a ia the Marechal dc Rctz, GILES de Laval a
little further on DR.. Garratt makes 'h's .iuS
wonderful observations "Ihcse Two prom''o''
lines or as we may say, firo strands OF 'ne warp III
tbe loom of time, Gods Word aud Medicine. are
ancient story" 1t is n relief when, subsequently,
no admits that the one is greater than the othcr'
and that they are quite unlike in their source ana
their perfection"
Il seems quite unnecessary also to observe ,ha'
Gthe present high degree of attainment III 'ic UNIV
ont departments OF the healing art Is nor tnch' '
born of the present time. as So many 'h''N "a 90
sune. and not n few assert" Surely no e"uc"'eu
nerson ever assumed or thought anything ol TIC
kind. and surely 1t could not be worth Wlllc u
onsver anv icnoramus capable of making so pre-
posterous an assertion. III the chapter on a'cHoin'
there was opportunity for very interesting ais
.ertation hut il has been missed simply because the
ou+bor evidently has but the senderest conprc-
bensio of his subject lie gives page after page ol
extracts from the purposcly obscure writings oil TIE
alchemists but he appears TO think thai every 'hs
they set down is to be taken literally true
.,uIe,. of occuIt science would never have made
tins blundcr. and yet some OF these extracts are
Main enough as for instance where he Process vi
the Elixir" is described, and the writer says
sTake Xxx of our gold. ana not OF tie vulgar IA Vi
orr Lune not of the vulgar; but be thou au'l'h
;hod that thou take not of the gold and silver OF
the vulgar for they are dead, hut take ours winch
arc living; then put them into oar FIRE. and 80 on
Here If is perfectly clear that the whole description
Is fpurativc or symbocal and no adept would ever
have made the mistake of suppOSlng that material
corpscs were intended,
But no account of alchemy can he other than mis-
leading which ignores its esotcrlc sigllhcance loi
that il was which attracted to II So many strong
minds. and which alone explains the fascination the
pursuit had for many such powerful mteliig'hceS DIS
Thomas Auumas. Roger Bacon. etc. No view can
be shalowcr than that which holds the vulgar iusV
of wealth or tie desire for long life to have been the
dominant motive of the alchcmlsts In 1act' TINS
ia merely the vulgar view of their ignorant cohtem
noraries: and if similar sources were relied upon
for the future historians account of our own sclen
tsts il is quite possible that our lynds liuNieys
Clerk MaXwclls and Faradays might be made to ap
roar A. vain drcamcrs or hal-crazy theorists IL Is
ppity that Dr. Garratt did not study this part OF
MS subject more fully before he undertook to write
npon IL. but Il /, plain that homeopathy was after
all the target at which he aimed. and 1T may DC au-
mt,cd that his chapter on that is 10y Tar tie HVeh
est reading in the book. In fact he smlteS the
llutiuni,,s hip and thigh and NO doubt some oi
them will feel called upou 10 come to tho defence o
thc school of llahnemann Altogether AZ boo'
upou mytls m medicine. this IS disappointing and
in>uGicicn. Il may also bc said that thc proof
rcamg ha, been careless and that several mistakes
have been overlooked which should have been cor
lVClrd