The Columbus journal., 1885-06-17
DOCTORS AND DocToRlNo.
a Few w--ds of Advice to People Who Are
Inclined to Medication.

"
a Few w-=ds of Advice to People Who Are
Inclined to Medication.
Do we believe in doctors? Whether
we'do OF. not, we generally send for
them when We are i'll. Still, if I were
asked my opinion, l should say the
profession is. largely oyercrowded.
Physic is hugely overdone. Half the
complaints PROFESSIONALLY idle
~people-suffer from are imaginary. l
do not deny that men and women get
i'll, and occasionally die. but l hold
that. in a vast number of eases, q doe
tor is unnecessary at hrst, and quite
helpless At last-that, is. as far as his
phys;c is concerned. and 1 have pretty
good authority for what | say.
Sir William Jenner has the courage
to declare that 1.-The science of medicine
is a barbarOus jargOn-every dose Of
medicine is a blind experiment. When
the great Maiendie assumed the Pro
fessOr's Chair of Medicine at the Col
lege of France. he thus addressed the
astonished students: "Gentlemen,
medicine is a humbug. Who knows
anything about medicine? l tell you
frankly. I don't. Nature does a good
deal: doctors do Very little-when they
don't do harm" Majendie went on
10 tell the following pungent little pro-
fessional tale out of school:
% ''When | was head physician at the
Hotel Dieu | divided the patients into
three sections. To one l gave the reg
ulation dispensary medicine in the reg
ulation way; to another l gave bread,
milk and cOlored water and to the third
section l gave nothing at all. Well.
gentlemen, every one in the third sec
ton got well. Nature invariably came
to the rescue
Now, OF course, We must allow some
thing for the Obtrusive candor of pro-
fessional confessiOn-which is always
apt to Overleap the mark and give the
opponent few more points than he
asks for. really for the sake of placing
him at a disadvantage. Still there is
truth in the candid jest, if jest it be;
and the truth is this: The doctor is
often superfiuOus. sometimes mischiev-
Gus AMI occasionally fatal. Physick-
ing, rs Sir William Jenner QUOTED by
DIR. Ridge) admits. is largely a specu-
lative operation. The ingenious
.'doseist," as Artemus Ward would
say. has theories about what is the
matter with you; he physics according
to his theory. and then physics to o
rect his theory. This he calls ''chang-
ing the treatment Wrong again!
Patient gets worse. Perhaps 1t is
change of air. not change of food. he
wants-bright idea! send him out of
town. on he goes into the country;
forgets to take his physic; feels better:
gets well: doctor looks bland, mods his
head and says: Told you so: change
of air-that's what. you wanted"
What he really wanted was to be let
alone. Leave off worrying Nature
fiat is what is required; not in all
cases. but in Il good many; and tina. is
probably what Majendie and Jenner
and all the wisest doctors think. They
aim at diet and disciplins-they assist.
they do not try to force, Nature's hand
and they etsr now and then admit
this in a burst of confidence.
There is another dubious side of the
question. Doctors often say TO you.
BE sure you come to me at once. l
car arrest disease at an early stage:
but dclav-hesitate! hesitate!-and YOU
are lost!' This is just n of those
dangerous half-truths whereOut doc
tors do suck no small advantage. If
YOU call the doctor in for every little
ailment. you will get into an artificial
state. Nature will strike work. and you
will never be well without the doctor
nor with him either. If YOU always
take Opiates, You will never sleep with
out them: or tonics, YOU will never cat
without them: or stimulants; you will
never work without them.
Ii is a law true in sociology and
physics alike. that dependence grows
by what it feeds OH. There are doc
tors who always send people to bed di-
rectly if they have a little cold-amd
those people are forever catching cold
they have no resistance left. You
are somewhat out of order; instead of
exercise and moderation, in comes the
doctor with his dose and. next time.
Nature will refuse to have anything to
do with you. Il am not going to
trouble myself about you." She virtu-
ally says. '.Send for the doctor; 0
prefer his physic to my more slow but
more sure and more healthy recupera-
tive power. Take physio-I strike
work"
Not only do we often begin too soon.
but VT go on too long with the doctor.
He calls and calls again; he refines his
prescription until its gradations of eff
ticacy are quite imperceptible. but they
are just enough to keep nature in lead
ing-strings and y make each step de-
pendent vpon the therapeutic art.
Of course, l admit that there are
many cases to which these remarks are
wholly inapplicable. Bronchitis. in
cipient cancer. and others. both func-
tiOnal and organic-tO take these in
time may be everything. There are
cases where the diagnosis of a good
physician is simply invaluable; his
hints about food are not to be neg
lectsd. yet they should be taken. per-
haps. cum granO, and checked bv per-
sOEal experience. There are other
eases. too. where cOd-liver oil, q%uinine
and one or two other drugs are absO-
lutte specifics. Who can not realize
DIR. LivingtOn's gloomy consciousness
Of having signed his own death war
rant, when he determined to 60 for
ward after !as:ne ha medicine-chest of
quinine in the dismal riverP-LOndOn
Truth