Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-04-25

chemistry or pathology is never taught.
The Chinese materia medica is recruited
from a very large number of articles,
consisting of the tissues of various spe
cies of animals, their excretions, as we'll
a sa vast array of vegetable substances.
While these men know little or nothing
of the real action of the remedies they
use, they must study with considerable
care the dosage of these agents or their
results would be often disastrous to their
Their prescriptions are real
shotgun affairs, containing from six to
twenty-four different ingredients. They
are all prepared in the form of a decoc-
ton, and the usual quantity of liquid
when ready for use is one pint, which is
generally given at a dose during the ear
ly morning, ard is not repeated again
for twenty-fodr hours.
THINK ORGANISM DIFFERENT.
A complication in Chinese therapeutics
arises from the fact that the phsician
looks on the organization of the two
sexes as so different that a plan of treat
ment adapted to the one is not at all APP.
plicable to the other. One of the argu-
ments used by the native doctor against
our western remedies is, that while these
agents may be all proper and right for
the white race, the Chinaman is so diff
ferent in his makeup that a plan OF
treatment that might be proper for one
might be disastrous for the other.
An American physician, DIR. w. S.
visiting one Of these Chinese
hospitals, says in the Journal of the
American Medical association:
"On a shelf in one of these Chinese
hospital d~ispensaries I saw a large bot
tie containing half a gallon of dark-col-
ored fluid, in which was ~macerating a
snake about two feet long. The doctor
informed me that the liquid was red
wine and that the serpent was a varie-
al virtues, and that this wine thus treat
ed was a sovereign remedy for amen
orrhea and Their forms of menstrual de-
engagements in the female.
II visited some of the hospitals run
on true Chinese methods and saw some
Kong and the work they do. The men
make their visits in the hospital wards,
as well as attend to their outdoor pa
tients, at an early hour in the morning.
They claim that at this time of day they
can better judge of the disease with
which they have to deal. An extra
charge is made for all visits made to pa
tents at their homes before noon, as
these visits are considered more valuable
thai if they are made in the afternoon.
with these men the pulse is the only
avenue through which they attempt to
gain a knowledge of the disease from
which the patient is suffering. They
place two or three fingers on the radial
artery and often spend several minutes
in studying the quality of the circula.
ton. They ask the patient his age, oc-
cupation and the length of time he has
been sick, and with this examination
they seem to be entirely satisfied.
SURGERY NOT PRACTICED.
"In general surgery forms no part Of
the practice Of medicine with the true
Chinese physician. He entirely dispenses
with the use of the knife, except to oc-
ready to open itself. In the treatment
of fractures. however, he possesses con-
siderable skill, adjusting the two ends
of the bones with great care, and apply
ing his splints and bandages in a manner
that would do credit to his western con-
frere.. He never attempts any extension
in the management of these cases; still,
l am told by those qualified to judge
that his results are generally good. In
cases of severe compound fractures, Oh
other injuries of the ~extremities, where
We would do a primary amputation, he
! leaves the case to nature, and saws the
bones off after a complete line OF de-
l~marcation has been formed, and the
soft parts have sloughed away. The
practice of obstetrics he completely ig-
nores, leaving this branch of medicine to
a set of ignorant midwives.
'The fear of the knife seems to be in
herent in the Chinese race. While ! was
in Shanghai a Chinaman was brought
into ST. Luke's hospital with such a Sc
we're crushing injury to one of his legs
that DIR. Boone considered ~amputatlo1l
necessary. The patient, however, after
a consultation with his friends, refused
to be operated on, and left the hospital
to be treated by a native doctor. This
kind of occurrence is SO freuent in China
hat it greatly lessons the amount OF
surgery done in hat country. This fear
of surgical operations is not caused by
a lack of courgae on the part OF the
Chinaman, or his unwllllngness 10 en- en-
dure pain, for l have often seen him
unfinchingly bear the application OF
caustic. and the use of the thermo-cau-
terry, and that too with a herolsm l nave
never seen equalled by any other race.
It is, however, his ideas as to a future
state that makes him look with horror
SUI elgI!lnW plnoM'lBul uo3elado Aue NC
body. Thus by the loss of a leg or an
arm in this world he believes that down
| through all the innumerable mutations
/ that he will pass after death he will be
a mutilated being.
DISSECTION NOT ALLOWED.
IA vast majority of those who are be-
| ing educated in medicine, after anything
J like the plan adopted in the west, are re-
! ceiving their Instructions in the different
missionary establishments that are scat
tered over that vast empire. When we
consider the material with which they
nave to do, the talent that Is requlreo
to constitute a good teacher in medicine
and the want of proper appliances TO IL
lustrate the subject taught, n car
readily appreciate the results ar.
likely to be. 1t st. Johns college, neal
Shanghai, l saw a medical class of eigh'
young men-the class is limited to his
Misunderstanding taught in chemistry, ma
terra medica, anatomy and physiology
In this institution they have a very gooc
set, of appliances to illustrate the sub.
iects taught. AS no dissections are al
lowed on the human body, a French
mapikin, supplemented now and Their
by the body of a monkey, is the oniy
means they have of teaching anatomy
These Young men, before entering ON this
course of study, must first have gradu-
ated in the literary department of this
college,, and after two years OF teaching
/ in the elementary branches of their pro