The times., 1901-06-02
BARBARoUs SURGICAL WORK.
Cuppins Once Regarded as n Balm
for All Ailments.
CFrom the New York Tribune

One hundred years ago the sovereign
balm for every i'll, from fainting to fever,
| was bleeding. The wonder is that a hui
/ man race was left to admit the folly of
the practice 1t was the correct method of
| the day, recommended and employed by
| the best physicians of the time. The sur
| geon who attended George Washington
| n his last illness first set about bleeding
| MS august patient. The story is that he
| took several cups of blood from the Yigor-
! Gus arm of Washington, and then dag
| noSed the case. Washington died. Some
| say that if he had not been bled he prob
| ably would have lived.
The cry comes: But that was q century
ago. In sharp contrast stands the wonder
| full advances made by modern surgery.
| Thankfully it may be said that such is
| the truth But sometimes customs die
hard and today the doctrine of 'cupping
has devOtees as faithful as those VINO
gave up their life-sutsaining fluid in
Washington's time. This is a startling
statement. The writer would have been
skeptical if he had not learned its truth
himself
In the seventeenth and eighteenth CEN
turies this gruesome form of treatment
was the work of the barber. That guild
has maintained its prerogative into the
twentieth century In certain little
side street. crushed between two towering
brick buildings stands timid story and
nalf frame house. The suggestive striped
pole which emblazons the art of the dwell
Ter within Just over the walk. In the win
dow hangs a sign bearing the word Cup
ping" If today were set back TO 100 the
pole alone would tell the story. Times,
they say, have changed. and so the sign
The barber is a German. He was much
surprised at the question asked. Every
body knew that cupping was necessity,
especially in The spring, he said Some
times, he added, he was so busy that lit
tie time remained for his shaving and hair
cutting of customers.
"Ach, yes,"L said the barber 'it keeps
me busy man. How strange you say
that you thought it no longer was prac-
ticedi People come here morning, noon.
and night every day. but mostly do they
come here in the spring and fall 1t is
Y7u have a pain IN your head, you come
to me. take my little cup, burn the air
) II out, push down my little knives just
.s-ilind your ear on the neck, and when
the cup is full I take it away If your
headache is no better yet ] take another
cup, so be it that the bleeding stop not,
upon the other side. Maybe your back
pains; / cut you little on the side. Your
arm pains, l draw the blood from your
wrist
The barber barred his arm. The skin
was crossed with tiny, pale hicks, like
those one sees on the wrist of a morphine
victim.
Twelve is the number of cups I draw
at one sitting the barber said. 1T is
bad pain that will not be gone then. If
you come again the next day with the
pain / draw off more until the ache has
disappeared completely
The cups look like sherry glasses with
the stems removed. The knife Or lancet
is arranged like a name stamp. Pressure
on a spring plunger drives the little
blades which are arranged in pairs or
triplets into the skin. 1t is here that the
skill of the operator comes into play.
When the incisions are made in the neck
too violent a tap on the plunger might
mean the severing or wounding of an ar
etry. Pressure too light would not let the
blood flow fast enough. The barber must
have trained touch.
Upon the condition of the cup much de-
pends. The air IS exhausted by means Of
a tiny alcohol fame This makes a vacu-
uu The cup is pressed on lightly but
firmly The blood rushes under the skin
beneath its rim Then like a flash the 1T
tie knives are pushed down, and the bleed