Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1895-12-05
THE DUAL DOSAGE SYSTEM

THE DUAL DOSAGE SYSTEM
The case Of Thomas Cutter, Of Red
Dog, Calaveras county, WAS puzzle
to the doctors. He had such q variety
Of peculiar symptoms that medical
opinion inclined to the belief that be
suffered from q complication Of dis
eases. To one doctor the liver seemed
to be the chief organ ct fault; to an
other, the great trouble appeared To
be In the kidneys; while . third would
say that intestinal indigestion was
the main difficulty. And yet Mr..
Cutter had been advised that his
stomach was chronically disordered,
and still another diagnosis found
grave arrangement Of the hearts
action.
What added to the troubles of the
patient was his Inconsistency with re-
gard to treatment. He had such q
distrust of medical science that he
would not long adhere to the advice
of any physician. He consulted doc
tor after doctor and each expressed
dissatisfaction with the previous treat
ment and diagnosis. There seemed to
be SO many things wrong with his
internal organs that there was room
for q great diversity Of opinion, and
yet none of the doctors need be
wholly sstray.
II Mr.. Cutter did not get we'll it was
not because he had failed to take
medicine. He had morbid delight
in drugs. After completing the
rounds of the doctors offices in his
town he would sometimes take q
course of patent medicines on his own
account. He spent hours in reading
the advertisements of the various
nostrums, and occasionally he would
find recital of symptoms that ap-
peared to coincide with his own. Then
he would rush to the nearest drug
store, buy bottle Of the much wanted
remedy and faithfully take the dose
prescribed. By the time he had ex-
hausted the bottle his tickle thirst for
medication had found some fresh OBJ
ject of attraction, or he had repaired
to some practicing physician, regular
or irregular.
The wonder was, in view of the
he continued we'll enough to attend to
AAS OAANlAk Aul1CS ID JEk3kASuKOX Va S0k0.
veras county. Moreover, he drank
more whisky than he could carry with
entire equilibrium. Another failing
was fondness for faro, which gossips
said had often cost him more than he
could afford to lose. His drinking
and gambling were the only things
that served to divert his attention
from his real or imaginary ailments.
We're it not for cards and liquor; as
he expressed it, his stomach would
have been constantly upon his mind.
But some of his cronies declared that
there was nothing in reality the mat
ter with him; that his maladies were
imaginary, the truth being that he had
become q hypochondriac, and had de-
ceived all the doctors by describing
symptoms which had no existence in
fact.
In his restless search for novelty,
Mr.. Cutter originated what he called
dual system of treatment. In it's
application to his own case this con-
sisted in dosing himself for an all
ment while following medical pre-
scription for another. He had q
theory that the doctors failed to give
him relief because they did not make
their prescriptions sufficiently COM
prehensive, having an eye to only one
disorder, while he was the victim Of q
number of diseases at the same time.
It was shortly after the adoption Of
this new doctrine that Mr.. Cutter
called one day upon DR.. Slick for q
consultation.
The doctor listened with the utmost
professional gravity to the recital OF q
long taain of distressing symptoms.
II think your troubles" he said, q
last, may Ill be attributed to the liv
or. It needs stirringup."
Mr.. Cutter was secretly convinced
that the faults was chiefly in tho lungs
but he dptifully took the prescription
which the doctor handed him, paid the
fee and went to the Red Dog druggist
When the prescription had been Allied
glycerin for the benefit Of his lungs
and so he purchased bottle Of that
substance from the sympathetic apo
mend whatever Mr.. Cutter was disposed
to try,
Mr.. Cutter was widower, and the
other occupant OF his tsOloted dwell
ing, on the outskiats Of the town Of
Red Dog, was an aged housekeeper,
Her chief virtue in his eyes, was thai
she never meddled with the medicine
closet, whose shelves were filled with I
wonderful accumulation Of bottles
every form and sixe being represented
Despite the enormous consumption BY
the owner, the stock Of medicines re.
naming, In quantity % well IS in var
iety, would have suff1ced for . ships
crew on voyage around the world Of
for the supply Of county hospital.
His latest acquisitions were now
added to this curious collection, And
each time that he took dose Of the
medicine prescribed by DIR. Slick he
followed It up with q spoonful oil
glycerine. He began to feel some rath-
or curious effects from this combina-
ton treatment In q few days. But, as