The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1908-12-22
OLD SCHOOL DOCTORS
Ignorance of Physicians of the
Eighteenth Century.
TORTURE FOR THE PATIENTS.

Every Aiimsnt Beyond Diagnosis Was
Chased as Fever, and Pills, Plas-
tiers, Burning and Bleeding Were the
Regulation Remedies.
The proverb ''The remedy is worse
than the disease" must have been coin
ed in the eighteenth century, Wnen
physicians treated their patients with
q violence that bordered on assault
and battery. 1t was held that sickness
was some kind of demon that must
be overcome by pills, plasters, bleeding
and burning, and If the patient Incl
Mentally got the full effects Of the tor
ture and died, so much the worse for
him. Air and water were considered
the most dangerous things for sick
person to have, and his misguided de-
mand for them was interpreted as
sign that he should have still less.
The windows were shut and the cur
tains of the four poster tightly drawn
around the recumbent unfortunate
0asping for breath. If he burned with
fever the blankets were piled on him.
A desire for water meant that he could
have none, while a lack of appetite
proved that he ought to be stuffed
with food. A bath was positively un-
thinkable.
The deadly results of breathing
might air. were accentuated by med
zeal writers, says s. G. Tallentyre In
the Cornhill Magazine. All air was
bad, but the night quality often prov
ed fatal to young ladies Of beauty,
fortune and great merit and to young
gentlemen of parts and breeding" One
bold medico. recommended that bed
chamber should be ventilated-in the
daytime. Another dared to suggest
that consumptives might benefit from
sleeping In a pure atmosphere. The
rule for ablutions was "hands often,
feet seldom, head never" but physi-
clan far in advance Of his age sur
missed that invaEds might battle their
feet In warm water once week and
under extraordinary circumstances
take a warm bath once a month.
Overeating and drinking caused
many Of the diseases Of the upper
classes. Montesquieu said that dinner
killed one half of the Parisians ana
supper the other half. Everywhere 1t
was the custom to pile the table with
roast beef, mutton, capons, boars'
heads, pasties,. creams, stuf1ngs and
mincemeats. A fearful repast Of twelve
indigestible courses was brought on all
together, so that the diners knew what
was expected Of them. A large break
fast of small beer and meats preceded
the gigantic midday meal, when people
enjoyed a Gargantuan gorge for three
hours and spent two more IN Falstah-
ian rotations. After this the gentle
men Joined the women for dish OF
tea In the drawing room, and 1t was
not long before the whole party of hui
man anacondas returned to the dining
room for a supper on the cold rem
nants of the dinner. Amid this orgy
of gluttony Walpole and Voltaire were
distinguished for an abstinence that
prolonged their lives
Heavy drinking was universal and
rarely reprimanded by medical men,
as by DR.. Tronchin. One DR.. Cheyne
advised women not to take a whole
bottle day. Another authority wrote
e popular treatise In which the best
means of attaining longevity was
stated to be a bottle Of wine at dinner
and three glasses after Those who fol-
lowed such advice were In danger OF
being dubbed temperance cranks. A
story is told Of the celebrated and con-
vivial DR.. Garth, who was tipping
bumpers at the Kit-Kat club when re-
minded that his patients needed at
tentfon. "'Tis no matter" said Garth,
already half seas over, III see them
or not. Nine have such bad constitu-
lions that all the doctors In the world
can't save them, and the other six
have such good that all the doctors In
fhe world can't kill them"
A physician named Brown became
the pet Of fashionable women by al
ways prescribing pleasant remedies,
"a glass OF wine In the forenoon from
time to time" several glasses of port
or punch after dinner till some enliv-
ening effect Is perceived from them"
Together with inordinate quantities of
liquor and food. DR.. Brown recon-
mended to his male patients the COM
pany Of delightful young women"
One of the natural consequences OF
such an agreeable regimen was the
govt, for which eighteenth century
high nvers took seas of liquid medi-
cines, mountains Of pills and bins Of
powders.
Any disease beyond diagnosis was
put down as "a fever" Whether tF-
plus or typhoid, scarlet or gastric, nom
contagious or violently infectious, any
thing which caused a rise in tempera-
ture was sufficiently described by the
term fever. Smallpox, scurvy, spotted
and Jail fever were maladies distinctive
pf the age. Distinction and first aid
TO natures were never dreamed Of,
while the patient was dosed with hor-
rible drafts and nauseating compounds
and bled on every possible occasion.
Louis XIV was bled nine times for
scarlet fever. Bleeding killed the
Duchess of Tremouille and her hus-
band. When a mob attacked the Duke
Of Bedford's house In 1765 the doctors
remedied the outrage by bleeding the
duchess next morning A young man
yho fell against marble table and
cut his head open was treated by hav-
ing few pints Of extra blood drawn
from bis veins by an expert surgeon.
Blistering was esteemed next to bleed
ing. A fashionable remedy for con-
sumption was mash of raw snails,
shells and all, taken from spoon.