Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-05-26
THE VILLAGE DOCTOR.
"REMINISCENCES OF THE TIME WHEN
EVERYBODY PRAcTlCED MEDICINE.

EVERYBODY PRACTlCED MEDICINE.
In Former Days There Was n Pauoity
Sweating It ont - Patients Warned
Against Cold Water.
If one could disentange himself from the
telegraph wires Of today get the shrek OF
the locomotive out of his ears and then take
Il back ward leap into old plantation times he
would he nightly amused. Among the OBJ
jects of interest would be the pantry Of the
great house, where the housewife kept her
stores. II he peered curlously about he
would certain rather retired SHELF on
which would be lunches Of herbs and roots,
also bottles Of decoctions made thereof
These were tho household remedies, formula
copyrighted by tradition, proprietary TO the
family In the country, where the doctors
bailiwick was Of extended area and where
drug stores we're nonresident, everybody
was to large extent his own doctor. AS q
consequence he wanted to be everybody else's
doctor, while everybody else yearned to be
bis.
PAUCITY OF AILMENTS
Alasl Our repertoire Of illnesses was lin
tied, indeed, compared with today. There
was paucty of available diseases. a man
could not possibly have cerebro spinal men-
nights; il wus not to be had. II he had
pain in MS chest no one soothed his anguish
by telling him he had pneumonia. The word
Dieurisy was remorselessly flung at him.
Diphthera was uncomatable putrid sore
throat filed that vacuum in the list III a
man was whee2y and had trouble with ms
breathing the rugged word phthlsic was
nailed 10 him; no one dreamed or bronchitls'
Bripht,s disease had not been invented in our
10 t@a frDnhlnd
them save when In love. Hence old time
people, when they came to die, had a con-
tract.d list OF ailments from which TO choose,
and they died as they lived, plain and unro-
mantle.
When the amateur doctors Of the commu-
nifty desired assistance then the village doc
tor was called in, and he confined himself to
two remedtes-calomel and jalap-adminis-
tered by the shOyelful There must have
been fall in the price of these drugs when
the last Of these doctors died. If man
sprained his ankle, was bitten by mad dog
or had a sick headache he was told to take
caIomel or jaap; if he refused and died, 1t
served him right. If he took them and died,
it was evidence that no human power could
save him Castor oil and paregoric some
times appeared, but they were dwarfs COM
pared to calomel and ialap. The only rem
edies feared were the private remedies OF the
people The moment an old woman thought
sue couiu man i',,aS ~, aGn,inister
it to some suffering neighbor.
The good Samaritan, Mrs Perkins, often
- Ii, =. -, ,L, nsa Of snaka root
"hikeu nilo. 70 uise tio Use Use
yea IA 'ne ~ - I"e So, n,,,,t KittT
made a salve for sores that was very famous.
Its principal constituent was ducks fat, but
the fowl must be killed al certain phase OF
,no i,'oou an .ne '"' 20 - A. tbis
Ainuieu "lon ~ ''i,ii ,.;,o,I,,,s ,,,a, ~
save was ',''u " 80 tbo astro.
may I've " i019 " ilI - -. ~ ~, 80,
h'iiii'S'i an" oN .''',.,I
ia't'io "eio NV l'! - - -,
." IA i Inv H. 80 ,1,,o,;oa e,,.
mere "1' a Inuio' Pi.oiry - -, 80, ~,
coiuS, anu my t e"o' -. - -. 70
sweating OUT cue "ise''se ' - sv-
"liu cherfy oai oino"o II - , "iVn
anu vinegar anu I',I., .,i -
advocates ou' '"oniS .a'e '.ii'., 5n.t'tJ
was ihollSoiiilil 'liiA l,. Noai ',e So,
INDEFINITE name OF Coihposil'oii' inele
was hoIhinS uhuri''ieh "oouU Is 'uo'' VI
erect hoWeNer' ~ ""' y. q" ''iden', ~
PuisiNe manu- ~ D ' 'ie - Nc.
nisU ''''ou Vne' ~ 80 ~ -
n'ei as ~ "eiiO 49, ~ ~ IN IT, - ~ 20
boiilhe ohe SORES Vi .no iee a., a' 10
causing S"ea'ihS' anu IL 'l, I, " '' =.
letter ~ oIouHnT .io to'i ooy, u t. ~
brought lhe oElsint 0',' ou' arl' ',ie neai
secrets OUT No.iihs 'ii"' Io"I'' We nv
rested hehe"V" '"o '"'i'uio a. 'e' " OoNil'o
tioh seaiice. ,...,--
ohe ora iuea Oh tile uoe'ois n'' s.eae!y
changed ooyG'''on " t , patLe ~
urlhkihS water w. ti"''e, ~" 'au NI eNo
ihNnilu ciaNe, ~ NC ~ .nao 4i ="
hodelaUe i'''uiS'n'1 "'u'e w 900 =. - -. w
attendants were soieiilii'S "eI 1t W 'uin d
dear ear 10 us emu ea.is ~ s Sao tta
OF Ten years l aililei an1 iSC oiI" al ~. .Le
htl-"a'eI les 'ile an ~ ,pe'.e... -. III
'no P"io ,.I,' - =; -. -
,tat,', oasa of dvsenter, nav hv dow the
va 80, Jror nearer r. the grave and the
i,'Na tha oor,inrr of tha 5astro,ra,
a'HJ nv, - q -