The Cooperstown courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., N.D.) 1902-1913, 1903-08-13
LAYlrEN HAVE " HELPED.


Drsfsssisnal Men.
Medical discoveries BY the non-medi.
cal are being discussed by physiciana
generally, and investigation Of the sub
ject reveal that many important aids t.
the profession are the result Of the lay.
mans labors. In writing ON the topic
DIR. George n. Gould Of Philadelphia
says:
Il have been struck by the fact that
the majority Of great medical discov-.
cries. truths and instruments, have not
been made completely and suddenly, but
have been led up to by preliminary and
progressive steps. and that the layma1
has often made these discoveries prio.
to the medical practitioner. This great
medical truth is, indeed, but an illustra-
ton Of the general law that all profess
sionAl progress. in whatever branch Of
study, is result Of stimulus from with.
out" 81
Many lessons are to be learned from
such observations in medical history.
One is struck by the fact that .'our broth
ers, the animals, were first in learning
not little Of medical art. nays the Chi
cago Tribune.
Birds often show surgical instinct. M.
Tatio has often killed woodcock conva-
descent from wounds previously received
and in every instance he found the in
jury neatly dressed. with down plucked
from the stems Of feathers and skillfully
arranged over the wound. evidently with
the beak. In other cases ligatures had
been applied to wounded or broken
limbs. Fulbert Dumonteil vouches for
the fact that ten times he had found
birds with the fractured ends Of their
legs neatly Appropriated and ligated
together.
DR.. Weir believes many higher ami
mails have discovered materia medica
which should be recognized by physi-
clans. Dogs will seek out conch grass
when ailing; horses and mules will eat
clay for internal maladies, and cattle
with eczema have been seen to plaster
hoof and joint with mud. DR.. Wier mem
tions COW which broke thin Ice on .
pond to treat Joint with q mud poul-
tice. Sick cats will 60 miles for dose
Of catnip.
Wier also tells Of a large monkey who
scratched his shoulder on projecting
nail in his cage. The animal seized .
handful Of clean sawdust and pressed Il
ON the bleeding scratch, stopping the
bleeding and leaving coat under which
the healing was prompt.
Ophthalmology was one of the earliest
subjects to command professional opin-
ion. The origin Of the operation OF
COUGHING cataracts is so lost in antiquity
that Elianus says men learned 1t from
goats who. by pushing their heads
against thorns Of bush, operated on
their own cateractous eyes.
Babbage. a nonmedical man. devised
an instrument for the purpose Of look
Ing into the interior Of the eye. Pliney's
description Of the visual defect of the
Emperor Nero suggests compound as
tigmatism. Nero viewed the arena
through a large. highly polished emer-
aid, probably of uneven curvature in ito
two principal diameters. Nero may
thus be credited with the discovery Of
an eyeglass suited to short-sighted peo-
pie Bifocal lenses were devised by .
layman, Benjamin Franklin.
The laryngoscope ID q great medical
sana. els maus W q nonmeolcal man
10 :, : ansa. ue ualeia. s,ns,ns nus
=. " Aonuon "auo pnysloioelc oDser-
80. . - ~. ~. sol'e ~ leoo, using mr.
.o W u1e enloa', 70 are employed To-
s.. s S.elMaA converted tne lnvenuon
A 81. s'r ms. un,e e., u sclenunc research.
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,nowda. . S ~ nc xnowleose OF tnls
- ~ 49,, =. - - s IaMe l.om pIlest out
I,tha,,t s sn. .ao s,s.lnea % ne.l wounds
49,. .u ~. es s.a ,oucnlns OF seeing the pa
:. 49, - s Ia a'...:. some OF .ne poWoer
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