The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1888-07-28
CHINESE DOCTORS.
TIE Science Of Medicine is Almost I'm
known to Them.

kuOWu W 1ueWs
Their Queer Ideas of Anatomy-Sickness
Ascribed to the Agency of Evil Spirits
Drugs Used in the Art of Healing.
The science of medicine is of COM
paratively modern date. saws q writer
In The Netc York herald. even in the
nations most advanced in civilization.
We need not be surprised, therefore.
that China can not lay claim to any
important medical discoveries, OF that
her knowledge of medicine is purely
empir CAL The cause of this Is not far
off. 1t is their religious scruples that
have prevented the Chinese from OBJ
tanning an intimate acquaintance with
the human body. Their belief is that
a mutilated body turns the departed
sp rit into a mutilated ghost Hence
The punishment Of linq.chi or cutting
into thousand pieces, is the most ter
rible in the Chinese penal code For
then the suffering and disgrace are
undergone is the next world as well as
in this.
What the Chinese know of medicine
and anatomy may be summed up as
follows, To them the body is mass of
flesh. supported by the bony frame
work and held in place by the skin.
The blood flows through. but whether
continuously in circle or not Is not
clearly understood.
The brain Is the seat of the yin. or
female principle. the base of which has
sort of telegraphic communication
with the whole body through the mar
row. In the thorax are the lungs, con-
sisting of six lobes-four on one side
and two on the other. These lobes
regulate the muscular activity of vari-
Gus parts of the body. Respiration is
performed in the abnormal region,
which, in the case of a scholar. is fill
Cd with learning. The heart is imme-
diately below the lungs, and Is the
abode of the thinking principle. The
liver is at the right of the heart and is
the seat of the passions.
The gall bladder supplies the human
being with courage. Chinese history
mentions a great general whose gall
bladder was as large as quart meas
ure. From this his valor may be in
ferred. 1t is not an uncommon thing
for Chinese soldiers to eat the gall of
fierce animals for the purpose of in
creasing their courage. Their ideas
concerning digestion and assimilation
of food are equally misty.
Sickness is as often ascribed to the
agency of evil spirits as to natural
causes. But if health results from the
right proportions of the five elements
fire, earth, metal. wood, or water
that goes to make the human form
divine, the wrong proportions of the
same will bring about all sorts of dis
eases.
The Chinese have. accordingly, two
classes of doctors--one that makes q
speciality of diseases caused by evil
spirits, and the other that comprises
all regular practitioners, whose duty
is to restore the five elements to their
normal proportions.
The confidence placed in the dag.
nostic virtues of the pulse is unlimit-
ed. The radial pulse is not the only
one depended upon. but there are
three places on the ght wrist where
the pulse is felt and the same number
on the left Chinese doctors distin-
guish twenty-four different kinds of
pulse beats. According us the pressure
is light or heavy they are able to dag
nose the state OF the organs. The
right wrist gives informal on concern
ing the condition of the heart and in
testines, and the left concerning the
condition of the stomach and lungs.
The skin is considered TO rank In
Importance next to the pulse. Names
are given to almost every square inch
of it. Hence Chinese doctors are
especially liberal with poultices and
plasters. Not infrequently the plaster
that has effected a cure is pasted on
the wall of a DOCTORS Office. The
number of such plasters indicates the
quality of the practitioner and the ex-
tent of his experience.
Chinese doctors are always very
liberal W tn their doses of medicine. In
this matter of size they are catering to
the public taste, for their patient is
not pleased with either simple or
small doses. His medicines must be
compounded of at least five different
drugs, in quantities large enough to
have telling effect. Hence the
Chinese have neither respect nor use
for homeopathists. No sugar-coated
pills for them. The blacker and thick
er the mixture the better they are
suited. The efficacy of dose is in
direct proportion to its size and
nauseousness.
The ingredients used in the art OF
healing are mainly vegetable sub
stances, of which cinnamon and GIN
seng are the most costly and highly
priced: But m neral substances, such
as plumbago. sulphate of copper. Gallo
mel, arsenic. and red precipitate are
just as often prescribed. In addition
10 these, various animal substances are
deemed valuable for healing purposes.
The Chinese medical profession may
be said to be seIf-taught, for they did
not learn their art in schools of
medicine under distinguished special
lists. They are mostly scholars who
have failed to pass the government
competit We examinations and are too
lazy to teach. Tho perusal of several
standard and ancient medical books is
sufficient to qualify man for practice.
He hangs out his sign and trusts to
chance to produce him his first
patients and TO luck in his expert
ments on them. Unless he prescribes
deadly drugs he is just as likely to cure
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