The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1896-01-04
THE DuAL-DOSAGE SYSTEM.

The case of Thomas Cutter, of Red
Dog, Calaveras county, was a puzzle to
the doctors. He had such a variety OF
peculiar symptoms that medical opin-
ion inclined to the belief that he sur
tered from n complication of diseases.
To one doctor the liver sce,ne1 to he
the chief organ ut faultj to another, tho
great trouble appeared to be in the kid
heys; while n third would say that in
te,tinai indigestion was the main diff
Guilty. And yet Mr.. Cutter had been adj
visetl that his stomach was chronical1y
tisort!cred, and still another diagnosis
found grave arrangement OF the hearts
action.
VIVA. added to the troubles of the pm
ticnt his Inconsistency with regard
to treatment. He had such distrust
Of medical science that he would not |
long adhere to the advice of any physi- !
clan. He consulted doctor after doctor |
and each expressed dissatisfaction with |
the previous treatment and ulagnoslS |
There seemed to be SO many things !
wrong with his internal organs that
there was room fer great diversity OF
opinion, and yet none Of the doctors
need be wholly astray.
If Mr.. Cutter did not get well it was
not because he had failed to take meul-
cine. lie had a morbid delight in drugs.
Af:er completing the rounds of the doc
tors Offices in his town he would some
times take a course of patent medicines
of his own account. lie spent hours in
reading the advertisements of the va
rious nostruus, and occasionally he
would :ind q recital of symptoms tina.
appeared to coincide with his own.
Then he would rush to the nearest drug
store, buy q bottle of the 1nuch-wanted
| rerxcd,- and faithfully take the dose pre-
scribcl. by the time he had exhausted
| ~ h Sc1S
ton had found some fresh object of at
| traction, or he had repaired to some
practicing physician, regular or irreg-
ular.
| The wonder was, in view of the guam
titles of medicine he took, that he con-
| tinued we'll enough to attend to his Of
| fetal duties as treasurer of Calaveras
| county Moreover, he drank more
| whisky than he could we'll carry with
| entire equilibrium. Another failing was
| n fondncss for faro, which gossiPs said
| had often cost him more than he could
afford to lose. Ills drinking and gam
| bling were the only things that served
| to divert his attention from his real or
| imaginary ailments. Were 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 re-
| ulity the matter with him; that his
n,nladies were imaginary, the truth
| being that he had become hyPo-
cilondriac, and had deceived all the doc
| tors by describing symptoms which had
| no existence in fact.
| In his restless search for novelty, Mr..
| Cutter origina ted what he called Il dual
| system OF treatment. In it's aRplica-
| ton to his own case this consisted in
dosing himself for one ailn:ent while
following a medical prescription for an
| other. He had a theory that the doc
tors failed to give Kim relief because
they did not make their prescriptions
sufficiently prehensive, having an
eye to only one disorder, while he was
the victim of number of diseases at
the same time. 1t was shortly after
the adoption of this new doctrine that
Mr.. Cutter called one day upon DR.. Slick
for consultation.
The doctor listened with the utmost
professional gravity to the recital of 6
long train of distressing symptoms.
II think your troubles" he said, al
last, "may all be attributed to the liver
1t needs stirring up"
Mr.. Cutter was secretly convinced tina
. the fault was chiefly i'll the lungs, bu
he dutifully took the prescription
which the doctor handed him, paid tn
fee and went to the Red Dog druggis
to have the medicine compounded
w IlS1l NiS II SS|1 IPlAo1A AA<'NA DSSAA AAAAS'
he decided that he would take som'
glycerin for the benefit of his lungs
: and SO he purchased a bottle of that sub
stance from the sympathetic apothc
, cary, who never failed to recomnen,
whatever Mr.. Cutter was disposed t.
try.
MIR. Cutter was n widOwer, and tn
only other occupant of his isolate'
2 dwelling. on the outskirts of the tow
of Red Dog, was an aged housekeepe:
Her chief virtue, in his eyes, was tina
she never meddled with the medicin
closet, whose shelves were filled with
wonderful accumulation of bottles
every form and size being represented
Despite the enormous consumption b.
the owner, the stock of medicines re
mining, in quantity as well as in va
riety, would have sufficed for a ship
crew on a voyage around the world o
for the supply of county hospital.
His latest acquisitions were no,
added to this curious collection. An
each time that he took a dose of the met
icine prescribed by DIR. Slick he followe
it up with spoonful of glycerin. H
began to feel some rather curious e1
fects from this combination treatmen
after a few days. But, as the sensation
he experienced were rather agreeabl
than other wise, he concluded that tn
dual system was working we'll and b
persevered in it. In the course of ar
other week he was conscious of a ps