St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1892-01-16
OLD AND NEW PHYsIc.

/ OLD AND NEW pHYs'c.
The PAysleian Of To-Day 1hInns More el
| Hygiene Than oe Medicine.
in his method of treating the sick the
practitioner of the old school had Z
lively ssnse of the value of medicines
aud Of remedial substances generally.
he cared little or nothing about hy-
gene. tie let his nurses draw down the
tsinds If the windows in tho sick room,
a-:S make it dark and dirty dungeon,
without the slightest compunction. He
had no love for open windows; and,
unless the weather was very cold, he
never troubled about the fire or the ex.
ternal temperature. but he enforced
freedom from noise. and secured mental
repose Dy directing the street below to
be covered with straw. He ordered low
diet in acute cases; and, as . rule. he
Knocked Oh stimulants SO vigorously
that his permission to administer
| q glass of wine or beer was looked
upon by the joyful family as first and
certain sign of recovery. lie never for
q moment forgot his potent remedies
The lancet. the cuppinR-glass. the
ltech. the calomel pill and black
draught, the effervescing mixture to be
taken every three or four hours, the
sleeping draught. the cooling lotion to
te applied 70 the head. the blister and
the blister ointment, followed by the
'tonic" day after day during con.
valesceace''-these were almost in
sepa.aGles from his routine. Say what
we may Of him now, the doctor Of the
old school was right loyal to his reme-
dies He had at his command fearful
means, and he stuck to them. They
were not many nor much varied, but
s3ch - they were there was no mis-
take about them. Tartar emetic in
sixth-oi-a-grain doses until it was ''tol-
Grated, mercury until it touched the
gums." half an ounce or even
an ounce of EPSON salts;
eHervescing tartrate of potash
or soda: mixture ad libitum. bark mp to
c:nchorism, and occasionally . bolus.
hut the great remedy was blood-lctting;
every man carried . lancet, and tor
tOise-shell lancet case holding two
bright hlades was considered the most
bcfitt;ng present for . youth about to
te a.ticled- Mine I keep still As
souvenir. 1t was . joke to direct o
youth 70 learn to practice venesection
on what were called 1.-The veins of a
cabbage leaf" and some. thinking it
proper advice. did. in their innocence,
begin In that style. The lancet, in fire.
quent use, was supplemented by the
lcech aud the cupping-glass. There is
no wonder that, in the treatment of
acute diseases. medicine was not emi-
ncntly successful in the old days
The wonder is rather that patients
recovered 50 we'll a they did.
The famous Dr.. Gregory, when
piling on the ''heroic treatment"
would say to his students: Don't
BE- alarmed. gentlemen; it takes q great
deal TO kill man." Gregory was right,
and IL some were not really killed it
was more by good luck than by good
management 1t was not successful
treatment, ~ all who have lived to
compare it with our reformed treatment
admit 1t was bad ut the time, for it
left many had aftcr-effects. and it was
far worse than NO treatment at all Of a |
medicinal kind; fact the discovery of
which every honest observer must in
of homeopathy. The contrast between
new and old physic in matter Of prac-
tice 10 striking. Our fathers followed
Galcn in the view that every prac-
titioner ought to hold all his RENE
dies in his own hand and dis |
pense them himself; the chemist |
and druggist was the demon. Now
il is considered too commonplace for
the doctor to dispense his own RENE
dies, and when he does SO it is sort of |
favor or necessity-somcthing thrown |
in. to form. incidentally or not at all, an |
additioi. to the fees for attendance. The |
rharmsccutist pushes his trade in
to meet our wants. and our |
wants ore many. He grows bolder; he |
invents for MS in advance of our needs. |
lie floods our breakfast tables with his |
n0strums. adviccs and temptations He |
is . professor Of materia medica. |
pharmaeology. hygicnics, diet and
regimen. all rolled into one. lie has .
new remedy for every day in the year.
with tiSo for holidays, 90 that any
that lives for . year has long |
life. The result is that . large sec-
ton Of practitioners is flying after
everything. trying everything, and
holding fast by nothing. whilst anoth-
er smaller section is giving mp every
thing. Of. In state Of greatest activity,
Is playing placcbo with considerable
luck in the play, to their astonishment.
For several years past specialism has
taken such hold on the public mind
that, rerforce, the universalists have
been driven to haul down their colors.
Some particular persons seem to have
70 many specialists n they have or
rsns. II know = lady who boasts Of
her eye doctor, ear doctor, chest doc
Tor. henYt doctor. brain doctor, and nose
DOCTOR. Is we'll Is what she calls her
.,eeneial prac-;" and of all Of them she
speaks:ae < they were men Of different
profession. just as she might speak Of
her matchmaker, her bellows-maker. or
her uLdertaker.-Dr. b w. Richard
spn, in Asciepiad.
: INSECTS OF LONG AGO.
curaous FiDdlngs og the Geologists In .