The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-03-18
DOCTORS OF EARLY DAYS.
The Quaint Remedies and Absurd
Ideas of Century Ago.
(FTOm The New York SUM-

tffUfn Inc New York sum-
At the last meeting of the New York
Historical Society DR.. Sidney Fl. CarneT,
jr. read a paper on "The New York Medi-
cal Profession in 1900" The better to put
his hearers into the proper mental atti-
tude for what he had to say to them DR..
Carney reminded them that at the time
Of which he was speaking, plum and pear
trees fiourished in Madison Square, aaG
Bablyonian naples and sycamore trees
waved their branches as they had done for
generations IL City Hall Park. Sleigh-rioo
parties to neighboTing taVerns were pOpu-
lar diversions. with the physicians as with
the laity. One doctor records that at one
of these publications. he "partook @. pan
cakes and gin. which waged such war
within my carcass as taught me a lesson. -
There were ninety -four physicians in
New York in 1900. They all used" DR..
Carney said that staff of medical proprie-
ty. a gold headed cane" These canes
formerly had within the heads aromatic
vinegar. which had its uses. Small
clothes" said Or. Carney, were rapidly
disappearing, and pantaloons were covering
a multitude of shins" There were five
medical schools in the United States in
1900. at Columbia College. at Philadelphia.
Cambridge. Dartmouth. and Lexington,
Ky The chair of chemistry included stud.
of the natural bodies, scientific medicine,
rational and experimental agriculture and
other things. No doubt the rational and
experimental agriculture instruction was
duly appreciated by young medical men
going TO practice in the country" said tho
doctor In 1898 sixteen doctors here had
lost their lives trying to mitigate the SUI
fariugs caused by the plague, The pay of
doctors at Bellevue was then twenty shiil-
ings a day The hospital was three miles
out of town.
The prop CATION OF disease by specific
germs was rot then a fact accept by all.
The yellow fever was brought here from
the West Indies then as now, and condi-
lions here favored its spread. Yet Phila-
delphia doctor writing tC one of his New
York brothers said: yellow fever, so long
as the laws of nature endure. cannot be
imported, but is the outgrowth Of existing
conditions
There has been some speculation among
the curious as to the prevalence of gripes
at bedtime among New Workers of hun
dred years ago. The remedy for this COM
plant prescribed by the physicians was
nutmeg and brandy and the yok Of an egg
to be taken before going to bed. For
apoplexy, salt and cold water were to be
used. whereupon the patient was "immc-
dately to come to himself a tOothache
remedy efficacious always with one excep-
tlOn IN the practice Vi blt BuS Sltidh wa
to crush iadybug between the thumb
and forefinger and then rub the finger
on the gum and tooth Freshly crushed
bugs were recommended. For the bite OF
a mad dog the prescription was an ounce
of the jawbone Of the dog. some colt 5
tongue, and 4 scrupe of verdigris, that
taken from the coppers of George | and
George II being preferred. of which com
pound teaspOonful day was to be takel
If that failed to cure $50 grains of verdi
girls and half an ounce CT calomel were to
be given in one dose by a physician in per-
SON II this still failed four ounces Of
pure opium were to be given to the pa
tient This last was a secret remedy so
successful, that early in the century the
State Legislature bought the secret for
$1,000.
For a visit the fee was 81, for visit and
a dose Sl.25 Pills were u cents. Doc
tors got 81 mile for going out of town.
II cost So to get one to Brooklyn and $40
to hove one visit Staten Island For bleed
ing a charge OF from 81 TO s. was made
Tadpoles figured in the regimen of that
day to such an extent that ii is said the
people of Vermont in a season OF scarcity
almost fattened on them. And one Of New
York's famous physicians spent a part of
his time in the study OF the alimentary
qualities of these tid-bits.