Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1907-03-09

| lars would result in Il State system of
medicine. 1t would hardly be contend
cd that this is. or should be- the atti-
tuGa Of the State toward the healing
| sciences.
1T is our contention that the differ
| enceS between the Osteopathic and 9TH
! er systems are of such nature as to
| preclude equity and justice in any at
| tempt to apply Il single system of legal
regulation, and This is our reason for
| insisting or Il separate law and exam
lining hoard in this state.
| "a brief statement Of some Of the
points # difference will show why we
take this position and that it is not
| because as our friend the enemy some
! times insists, that we want 4 lower
standard; on the contrary, we want Il
| higher standard than any medical
| board, ignorant Of osteopathy. could
intelligently apply.
There are four schools of medical
practice recognized by statute in this
| countrywide AllOpathic, or regular, The
| Homeopathic. the Eclectic and the
| Physic- Medical. In their Interpretation
and relative valuation of the facts Of
structure and function; Of etiolosy and
| the whole na tural history of disease: Of
| the scope of surgical Therapeutics. of
| hygiene sanitation and other contrib
ut;n~ aids to health, these schools are
| one and IDENTICAL The same text books,
courses Of study. instructors and equip
ment would serve to prepare students
! for either equally well. The difference
: hetWeen them begins ard ends i'll the
! subject of pharmacOthcrapy; one board
and one examination will very we'll
| serve for all their applicants for Ii
ccnse 10 practice by a little Slurling
ever Of this one point of difference.
"i?ut csteopathy differs fundamcnt-
! ally from all medical systems. It's di-
visions OF therapeutics, diagnosis and
causes Of discas, are in a large part
| new to the science of medicine. While
f, all that knowledge vast and fragmen-
tary. which is the fruit and heritage
| Of the past, which VIC can use, is still.
\ in its setting, from the point of Wow
! Of the osteopathic philosophy. 50
changed in it's Interpretation and its
| bearing. that can be but little in COM
mon between the two systems.
"Thc difference between the medical
and ortcopathic systems is primarily in
point Of view. the Keystone Of the med
zeal system is disturbance. Everything
! else is secondary.
"T,le Keystone of the osreopathic sys-
TEN is the cause of disturbance Every
thing else is secondary.
| Surgery is strictly osteOpathic in
principle. The surgeon removes an OBJ
structing condition in the form Of a
| broken, displaced or dead tissue. for
eisn substance. new growth; anything
which may be a menace to the system
then Nature repairs the damage.
But even in the fundamentals an
examination of an osteopath should diff
| fer greatly from the others. In illus
tration, a thousand questions may be
formulated on the subject of anato-
my. An examiner selects 10 and of
course. those of practical value to the
physician because of their frequent re-
currence in his work. such working
list for an oSteopath and for 4 med
ical man would be essentially differ
ent. The same rule would apply
throughout all the subjects of an eX-
amina ton.
eve osteopaths do not ask for any
special privileges. We simply expect
the right Of American citizens to man
age our own business. under the prop
er control of the State.
1.-THE medical system has its law suit
ed to its special needs. to protect the |
public against incompetent medical
Practice. The OSteopathc system asks |
10 more, and has right to no less than
n law suited to its needs, to protect the
public against incompetent osteopathic
practice"
Tn, I.
tor Deasy. DR.. Smith said that there
were about 1000 Osteopaths in good
standing in the United States and that
OstaOpaths were thoroughly vergcd in
the use OF antiseptics, anaesthetics and
the administration of antidOteS in case
of pOisons He was also questioned at
some length in regard to what he
| would do in case of diphtheria by Dr.
| Hall of Dover.
Dr. w. l.. Cousins Of Portland ap-
peared in opposition to the measure.
saying that in his opinion there was
no need of establishing another State
board to examine and register this new
cult.
DR.. Frederick II. Gerrish, professor
Of anatomy ut Bowdoin, was the next
| speaker. He voiced the opinion that to
establish a board and give the Osteo-
Iaths certificates so that they could
practice their calling the State and
use the title of doctor would dignity a
practice which was not worthy of it.
He did not believe that the education
required or the knowledge of anatomy
entitled them to the use of it. He
wanted all the various cults to pass the
regular examination required of the
two leading branches. He admitted on
cross-examination that he had not in
vestigated Osteopathy. DR.. George r.
Swasey of Portland said that anatomy
and the other branches Of the medical
profession had been studied for centu-
; ries and that naturally the medical
profession had been studied for c..n-