The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1909-09-15

NS"s
of iaudinum or some other narcotic
but what you should do is to take you
foot off the eats tail
Suppose the stomach is "holIering? -
There is distress there. Shall we pui
something into it to sooth il? The os,
teopath goes back to the point between
the shoulder where the nerves which
supply the stomach elnanate from tn.
spine. II he finds contracted mus
Gle causing pressure and irritation t.
them. he relieves it: likewise a strained
and thickenea iigament: or if compress
sion Of the nerves there be caused by
narrowing of the hole of exit due tc
slight slip or twist of a vertahra the
vertobra is adjusted. He removes thC
pressure. Take the foot off the cats
tail. Naturally, though. even if the
stomach.s digestive capacity has been
primarily impaired through pressure
upon its nerves. that diet which would
put the least stress upon it in its
weakened condition should be used un-
til the pressure has been removed and
chance for recovery given. The os-
teapath gives due attention IL diet,
general care. etc. when indicated. but
he seeks above all to remove the pri-
mary cause.
Back farther we mentioned that the
blood vessels had little circular muscles
in their walls which. by their contrac-
ton or relaxation. made the caliber of
the blood vessels smaller or larger,
thus determining the amount of blood
which could get through them. this
81 a rai
control of nerves distributed to the
fibers of the muscles. In acute cases
circulation To diseased parts is often
affected by stimulating or inhibitory
treatment directed to these circulation
controlling nerves.
The opponent of osteopathy says,
THAT sounds all right if 1t could be
done; but the idea of affecting the cir
culation of organs deep in and dis
tant by few manipulations over the
spine is ridiculous. That ii can be
done. u simple experiment will show
you.
There arc little muscles in the eye of
the nature of the ones in the walls of
the arteries, and which control the
size of the pupil of the eye. The GEN.
little eye muscls is located in the
spinal cord at the upper part of the
dorsal region chat is, between your
shoulders just below where the collar
band strikes. Have some one place
his thumb or knuckles against your
back there, about an inch to one side
of the middle, and press firmly and
move the thumb briskly up and down
few seconds. Meanwhile you look i'm
mirror and see If the pupils of your
eyes do not dilate. OF course the ma
nipulations of an osteopath are in no
wise so crude. but it serves to show
you how, through the nerves, the var
ious organs can be affected
Spinal Tissues Strained and Misplaced
When we stop and reason it Is not
such cause for wonder that faults oc-
cur with the spinal tissues as it is
that they do not occur more fire.
quently.
When we think Of the weight sup
ported. how the vertebra set one on
the other and the fact of the spine's
being involved i'm practically every mo-
ton of the body. and then think of the
many falls, twists. wrenches and jars
received from infancy on. 1t is no
marvel that some of its tissues might
become strained or slightly misplaced.
Oftentimes we give the back slight
wrench and forget all about 1t so soon
as the immediate soreness wears off,
but some of the little muscles or liga-
ments at the point strained remain
contracted and tensed
Sometimes in the excitement of play
children get strains and do not even
know they are hurt.
In diseases such as typhoid fever,
scarlet fever. In grippe. the poisons in
the system frequently settle in the
spinal tissues and leave chronic con-
fractions.
Scientific Proof.
In spite of the results accomplished.
medical men. as a class. have poo
hooed the osteopathic theories. That
a yertebra could ever be slightly mis-
placed has been considered all bosh
They contended that Ii it Is misplaced
at all ii must be entirely dislocated,
and such would cause either death or
paralysis. The X-ray has
I'm number of instances confirmed
the osteopath's diagnosis as to the
occurrence of slight vertebral dis
Experiments. too. have been made
In the laboratory which tend To prove
the theory of spinal strains. contrac-
lures. and slight dispiacements affect
ing nerves and the organs supplied by
those nerves. For instance. DIR. Nc
ronneil of Chicago. took .healthy dogs
from the pound. and after putting
them under an anaesthetic. made
slight strains at certain points along
he spine. No severe gross deformity.
caused. No fracture, no COM
oiete disiocation. the tissues were not
Torn; just slight twist. such as a
shild frequently gets in play. and for
gets about almost as soon as ii liz
lone. Then, when the dog had been
killed, some weeks later, the nerves
lear the point where the slight wrench
# the spine had been made were ex-
,mined, both with the naked eye and