Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1908-12-28
Old SCHOOL DOCTORS
Great Ignorance Among Medical
Men and Surgeons of the
Eighteenth Century
TORTURE FOR THE PATIENTS

Every Ailment Beyond Diagnosis Was
CIass.d as a Fcvcr, and Fills, Flas-
tiers, Burning and Bleeding Were tie
Regulation Remedies.
The proverb "rhe remedy Is worse
than the disease" must have been coin
ed in the eighteenth century, when
physicians treated their patients VIVID
violence that hordered on ASSAULT
and battery. 1t was held that sickness
was some kind Of Il demon that must
be overcome by pills, plasters bleeding
and burning, and IL the patient Incl
dentally 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.
taius of the four poster tightly drawn
around the rccumbent unfortunate
gasping for breath. If he burned with
fever the blankets were piled on him.
A desire for water meant that he could
have none, while 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
teal writer's, says 8. 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 ventllated-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 invalids might bathc their
feet in warm water once week and
under extraordinary circumstances
take warm bath once month.
Overenting and drinking caused
many of the diseases of the upper
classes. Montesquieu said that dinner
killed one half Of the Farisiuns and
supper the other half Everywhere 1t
was the custom to pile the table with
roast beef, mutton, capons, boarsi
heads, pasties. creams, stu1ings and
mincemeats. A fearful repast Of twelve
indigestihle courses was brought on oil
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 Garganruan gorge for three
hours and spent two moro III FalstaT-
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 hu
man anacondas returned to the dining
room for supper on the cold rem
nants Of the dinner. Amid this ORGY
of gluttony Walpole and yoltaire wer'
distinguished for All abstinence that
prolonged their lives.
Heavy drinking WIS universal ~
rarely reprimanded by medical mo-
us by DR.. Tronchin. One DR.. Cheyl
advised women net to take whs!i
bottle a day. Another authority wro;c
a popular treatise in which the best
means of attaining longevity was
stated to be bottle Of wine at dinner
and three glasses after. Those who fol
lowed such advice were in danger OF
being dubbed temperance cranks.
story is told of the celebrated and con-
vivial DR.. Garth. who was tipping
bumpers at the Kit Eat club when re-
minded that his patients needed at
tention. "'Tis no matter" said Garth,
already half seas over. IF see then
or not Nine have such bad constitu-
lions that NIL the doctors in the world
can't save them. and the other Sit
have such good that all the doctors III
the 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 fron.
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 livers took seas Of liquid medi-
cines, mountains of pills and bins Of
powders.
Any disease beyond diagnosis was
put down as "a fever" Whether ty.
plus or typhoid, scarlet or gastric, non
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
Of 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 mob attacked the Duke
Of Bedford's house in 1865 the doctors
remedied the outrage by bleeding the
duchess next morning. A young man
who fell against marble table and
cut his head open was treated by hav-
ipo fnw pfNtQ of oytro blood drawn