Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1901-06-28
THE BEEEDINGsCtJBfs
A RELIC OF The MEDICAL METHODS
or A CENTURY Ago.

The Barbsrous Practice sf scuv-
psns" SUFFERING Rsn.nisy sttn Mas
It's ASherests - The Operation q
Somewhat Delicate oae.
One hundred years ago the sovereign
balm for every III. from fainting to fe-
yer. was bleeding. The wonder Is that
q human race was left TO admit the
folly OF the practice. II was the cor
rect method OF the day. recommended
and employed by the best physicians OF
the time. Tbs surgeon who attended
George Washington In his last Illness
nrst set about bleeding his august pa
tient. The story Is that he took several
cups az blood from the vigorous arm Of
Washington and then diagnosed the
case. Washington died. Some say that
II he had not been bled ne probably
would have lived.
The cry comes. But that was CEN
fury agoli In sharp contrast stands the
wonderful advances made by modern
surgery. Thankfully II may be said
that such Is the truth. But sometimes
customs die hard. and today the doc
trine OF 'cupping" has devotees as
life sustaining fluid In Washington's
time. This Is startling statement.
The writer would have been skeptical
IL he had not learned Its truth himself.
In the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries this grewsome form OF treat
ment was the work OF the barber. That
guild has maintained It's prerogative In
TO the twentieth century. In certnIn
little side street In New York. crushed
between two towering brick buildings,
stands timid story and half frame
house. The suggestive striped pole
which emblnEons the art OF the dweller
within juts over the walk. In the win
dow hangs sign bearing the word
"Cupping." III today were set back 20
100. tho pole alone would tell tho sto.
~. Times. they say. have changed,
and 80 the Sign.
much surprised Mt the question asked.
Everybody knew that cupping was n
necessity, especially In the spring. he
said. Sometimes. he added. b. was no
busy that little time rsmained for his
shaving and hair cutting or customers.
"Ach. yes" said the barber ut keeps
me n busy man. How strange you say
that you thought II no longer was
practiced. People come here morning.
noon and night every day, but mostly
do they come here I'm the spring and
fall. IL IL then that the blood needs
drawing OF. II you have a pain I'm
your head. you come TO me. take my
little cup, burn the air I'm IL out, push
down my little knives just behind your
eur on the neck. and when the cup Is
full 1 take II away. II your headache
10 net betteryet, take another cup. so
be 1t that the bleeding stop not. upon
the other side. Maybe your back pains;
l cut you little on the side. Your arm
pnins; draw the blood from your
wrist"
Tho barber barred his arm. The skin
was crossed with tiny, pale hicks. like
those one sees on the wrist or NOR
phine victim.
Twelve Is the number OF cups l
draw at one sitting" the barber said
ut il bad pain that will not be gone
then. II you come again the next day
with the pain. draw OF moro until the
ache has disappeared completely"
The cups look like sherry glasses
with the stems removed. The knife,
or lancet. is arranged like name
stamp. Pressure on n spring pluneer
drives the little blades, which are ar
ranged I'm pairs or triplets, into the
skin. 1t 10 here that the skill OF the
operator comes into play. When the
incisions are made In the neck too yio-
lent. tap on the plunger might mean
tho severing or wounding OF an artery.
Pressure too light would not let the
blood flow fast enough. The barber
must have n trained touch.
Upon the condition OF the cup much
depends. The air Is exhausted by
means OF a tiny alcohol flame This
makes a vacuum. The cup Is pressed
on lightly. but firmly. The blood rush
es under the skin beneath it's rim; then,
like fash, the little knives are pushed
down. and the bleeding begins. The
operator never takes more than IL cups
at one sitting. That would mean per-
haps a half pint or blood.
This system OF bleeding for human
ailments hanks back 70 the earliest
times. All through the middle ages IL
was the healing balm for the suiferlngs
Of mankind. The ancients firmly be-
lieved that the loss OF blood In this
manner drew from their systems the
''noxious humors" which afiicted them.
The advent OF the modern school OF
medicine and surgery did away with
the process as universal therapeutic
measure. II was not until the nine
teenth century was nearly half com
pieted. however. that physicians ahan.
doncd It as practice.--New York TrIb-
une.