Evening journal., 1901-07-06
THE BLEEDING CURE.
A RELIC or THE MEDICAL METHODS
OF A CENTURY AGO.

The Darbarous Practice OF COUP
ping" Suffering humanity stiIl Has
Ita A-dherents - The Operation n
Somewhat Delicate ono.
One hundred years ago the sovereign
l,ahm for every ill, from fainting to fe-
YER was bleeding. The wonder is that
a human race was left 10 admit the
folly OF the practice. It was the cor
rect method Of the day, recommended
and employed by the best physicians Of
ihc time The SURGEON who attended
George Washington in his last illness
FIRST sct-about bleeding his august pa
iiout Tho story IS that ne took several
cups of blood from the vigorous arm Of
Washington and then diagnosed the
tase Washington died. Some say that
u be had not been blcd he probably
would have llycu.
The cry comes, But that. was n CEN
fury ago. I'm sharp contrast stands Che
wonderful advances made by modern
surgery. Thankfully it may be said
that suc3i Is the truth But sometimes
customs do hard, ami today the doc
trine Of "cupping" Has dpyotecs as
faithful as those who gave up their
life sustaining iluM in Washington's
thme. This * a startling statement.
The writer would hayo been skeptical
II 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 its prerogative in
10 the twentieth century In a certain
little side street In New York. crushed
between two towering brick is0ildings,
stands a tlmid story and half frame
house. Tho suggestive striped pole
which cmblazons the art Of the dweller
within juts over the walk In the win
dow hangs a sign bearing the word
"Cupplng" II today were set back to
1900 the pole alone would tell the sto-
~ Times they say. have changed,
and SO the sign.
The barber Is a German. lie was
mucn SURPRISED at the question asked.
Everybody knew that cupping was
necessity, especially In Nthe spring he
said. Sometimes, ho added, he was so
busy that little time remained for his
shaying aad hair cutting Of customers.
"Ach, yes" said the Barber "it keeps
me a busy man. How strange you say
that you thought it no longer was
pfacticed People come here morning.
noon ard night every day, but mostly
do they come here in The spring and
I fail. 1t is then that the blood needs
drawing Off II you have a pain in
yoor head, you come TO me. take my
little cup, burn the air in it lout, push
down my Ettle knives just behind Your
ear on the neck. and when the cup is
fuiltl ttke It away II your headatln
ls not lietteryet. l tako another cup, so
be-lt tlnt the bleeding stop not, upon
the other side. Maybe your back pains;
] cnt Xap 3 httie Qfi the side. Your arm
psins; / Draw the blood fSoin your
wrist."
Tie barber barred his arm. The skin
was crossed with tiny, pale hicks, like
those one secs on the wrist Of NOR
plhne vctim.s
twelve is the number Of cups
draw at one sitting" the barber said.
lit is had pain that viii not be gone
then. If you come again the next day
with the pain, draw of more until the
nche 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 plungeI
drives the little blades. which are ar
ranged in pains or triplets, into the
skin. 1t Is here that the skill of the
operator comes into play. When the
lncislons are made in the neck too vlo
lent. a tap on the plunger might NEAR
the sevorlng or wounding Of an artery
Pressure too light would not let Tho
blood now fast enough, The barbei
must have n trained touch.
Upon the condition Of the cup mucl
depends The air Is exhausted bl
means of a tiny acohol flame. Ihi
makes a vacuum. The cup IS pressed
ON Lightly. but firmly. The blood rush
es under the skin benenth its rim; then
like a fash, the little knives are pushe'
5 down. and the bleeding begins. Til
; operator n0ver takes more than y cup
at one sitting. That would mean per
haps a half pint of blood.
This system of bleeding for humal
G ailments harks back TO the earlies
p times. All through the middle ages
was the healing balm for the suffering
of mankind. The ancients firmly be
licved that the loss of blood in thi
+ manner drew from their systems tn
b 'noXious humors" which afflicted then
G The advent of the modern school o
G medicine and surgery did away wit
J. the process as n universal therapeuti
7 measure. 1t was not until the nine
I teenth century was nearly half con
p pleted, however. that physicians abar
c doned it as a practice.-New York Tril
q une.
a Trait OF the Sex.