The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1900-12-31
MEDICAL PROGRESS OF
NINETEENTH CENTURY.

NtlNL lLiN IL OEN ~ ~ -
vxTHEN the nineteenth century
wv dawned the medical profession
was still dazcd, 10 speak. with
I the practice OF vaccination. which had
been inaugurated only three years be-
/ fore. Exposure to cold was accepted as
the common cause of acute diseases and
blood-lcttine. starvation. mercury, anti
mony and opium were the "sheet-anch-
I ors' Of therapeutics. ''Peritonitis' was
prevalent and almost invariably fatal and
a major amputation was well nigh equiv
alcut 10 a death warrant. The study OF
gross anatomy was hampcred by scare
i'y Of material, histology was in It's In
fancy. physiology was speculative, pa
thology was a matter of plausible sugges-
tion. diagnosis rested almost solely on
subjective s. mptoms. and the treatment
OF disease was traditional
But through al this period or apparent
staEnation Influences were at work which
were destined 10 raise medicine from
the position Of a respectable trade 10
that Of "A science ever more and more
bordering upon the exact. Conservative
surgery. as expoundcd by Syme and Cho-
part. was growing into recognition. start
ling things had been accomplished; Eph-
rain McDowelrs holiness and success in
/ ovariotomy had slowly come 90 be recog-
f. niZed as fnre-hcflF ia.. $50 iwmerse saw
irg ~ lfe ana the discovery of an
{ rehabilitation by al least two Ameri-
cans. Morton and Long. Independently,
had practically done away with anguish
under the surgeons knife and amazingly
Widened the sphere OF operative surgery.
{ But il was not until after all this. to-
geiher with the introduction of clinical
I themometry and the dcGnitive abandon
mcnt Of Towering measures i'm the Their
npcuticS. that medicine entered upon IFS
real nineteenth century career. The pivo-
/ tai events of the century have been the
Establishment OF the germ theory OF dis
ease. its elimination ia antitoxine treat
ment. aud. the browning glory - an. tie
devti opment of preventive medicine.
The germ theory OF disease. for which
We are really indebted 90 pletcur. is un-
questianabiy the fulcrum Of the actiologr.
pathology and therapeutics 90 the present
uay. We no longer. save i'm a remote
sense, attribute disease a. the visitation
oi Providence or exposure 10 cold. we
know that in the great majority OF i'm
stances disease is due 20 an invasion
from without. and NOT o. pcrvcrsity on
t-c part Of the almost divine organism
with which The Almighty has endowed
us. Constitutional detects and hcrcditv.
Ga orr present view. play Iut subsidi-
AIRY part in aetioioey. ana .scrofula" is
rolegated % the lumber room. The "fav-
orahle soil" for disease is soil made
favorable 10y some defect. usually an ac-
quired one, of the normal resisting pow
crs
~ has been made clear during the cen
tury. and chiefly in it's closing wears. that
aIl The Infectious diseases are traceable 10
living germs. each disease having its
specific microbe. and the avenues of con-
Elimination with these germs have been
50 fully explored that comparatively lit
Ie remains TO De- done ia that direction.
d has been shown that typhoid fever is
almost exclusively q ''watcr-horne' dis
case, THAT we take tho germ in with Cd,
water We drink. Bur. complete as the de-
nunstratipn s.. O. has been difficult
TASK 70 rouse tac average man from his
sluggish lutreduiity. and consequently
the Work Of guarding against injurious
impuritits 10 our supplies OF drinking wa
ter stiil lag- far behind what orr civili-
zation demands. IL has been shown also
tnat 'the harmless. necessary" fly IS an
active agent in disseminating typhoid fe-
Htr and certain other diseases. notably
Malignant pustule. and that malaria has
. nothing 10 10 with had air. and Is NOT
"a haleful emanation from the earth. but
IS produced solely by Laverans plasmo-
dunn. which is nurtured for portion Of
It's life history In the organism of GER
tain mosquitoes. Furthermore. there is
now good reason 10 believe that yellow
fever is spread by mosquitoes. 1t has
been shown that tetanus Is in no wise
dependent upon the character OF the
wound that prcCcdes Il. though there is
doubtless "A misleading truth i'm the popu-
lar impression that stepping on a rusty
nail" IS peculiarly apt 90 DE followed 10y
F the disease. There Is nothing malign
I in the nail. In the rust. IN the punctured
I character of tue wound, or in fact that IL
/ is the tendonous structure OF the foot
7 that have been injured-there IS nothing
malign in any one of these things per Sc
Z the pre-eminsnce OF the rusty nail as an
occasion OF tetanus IS very simply ex-
planned: before II can be stepped on, il
rns.st generally be situated on the ground,
/ and. when il proves productive of tetan-
US. on soil contaminated with the germ
! OF the disease.
/ Puerperal fever, declared by oliver
Wendell Holmes and demonstrated 10y
/ Semmelweis 10 be the product OF intec-
+ ton from without. IS now so interpreted
I the world over. To the enormous saving
{ az wotnen's lives Destructive diseases
/ - tho teeth and their sockets are now
traced 10 pathogenic germs. and II is
hardly too much TO expect that as a con-
seoueu,e the dentists art will be pract-
rallv restricted before long 10 the saving
| Of he natural teeth in all but traumatic
cases.
7, Mace of the multitudes who formerly
| dsed of so-called ''peritonitis. we now
T. sec the vast majority OF persons VINO