Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1909-01-09
OLD SCHOOL DOCTORS
Ignorance of Physicians Of the
Eighteenth Century.
TORTURE FOR THE PATIENTS.
Every Ailment Beyond Diagnosis Was
classed as a Fever, and Pills, Plas-
ters, Burning and Bleeding Were the
Regulation Remedies.

/ teFSs DuTHiU1 anu DieeuiuS WS'S wv
Regulation Remedies.
The proverb 1.-The remedy is worse
than the disease" must have been coin
cd In the eighteenth century. when
physicians treated their patients with
u violence that bordered on assault
and battery II was held that sickness
was some kind Of demon that must
be overcome by pills. plastcrs. bleeding
and burning. and II 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 10 have, and his misguided de-
mund for them was interpreted as a
sign that he should have still less
| The windows were shut and the cur
| tains OF the four poster tightly drawn
around the rccumbcnt unfortunate
gasping for breath. If he burned with
fever the blankets were piled on him.
! 4 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 I'M
thinkablc.
Tie deadly results of breathing
might air. were accentuatcd by med
zeal writer's. says $. G. Tallcntyrc in
the Cornhill Magazine. All air was
bad. but the night quality often prov
ed fatal to "young ladies of beauty,
| for,u,o ,,,,I .,rant ,,artf'' un1 10 .sv,uu ~
gentlemen of parts and breeding" One
bold medico recommended that n bed
chamber should be ventilated-in the
daytime Another dared to suggest
that consumptivcs might benefit from
sleeping in pure atmosphere. The
rule for ablutions was hands often.
feet seldom. head never" but Il physi-
clan far In advance of his age sur
missed that invalds might battle their
feet In warm water once II week and
under extraordinary circumstances
take Il warm bath once a month.
Ovcreating and drinking caused
many Of the diseases of the upper
classes. Montesquicu said that dinner
| killed one half of the Parlslans and
supper the other half. Everywhere It
was the custom to pile the table with
roast beef. mutton. capons. boars'
heads. pastles. creams. stuillngs and
mlncemeats 4 fearful rcpast of twelve
indigestiblc courses was brought ON nj!
| together, so that the diners knew what
was expected of them. \ large break
fast Of small beer and meats preceded
| the gigantic midday meal. when people
enjoyed a Cargantuan gorge for three
hours and spent two more In Fastail-
ian potations. After this the gentle
men Joined the women for a dish Of
tea In the drawing room, and II was
not long before the whole party of hui
man anacondas returned TO the dining
room for supper on the cold rem
nants of the dinner. Amid this orgy
OF gluttony Walpole and Voltaire We're
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 Il whole
bottle day Another authority wrote
popular treatise in which the best
means of attaining longevity was
stated 10 be bottle of wine ut dinner
and three glasses after Those who fol
lowed such advice We're In danger az
being dubbed temperance cranlls. 4
story is told OF the celebrated and con
vivia DR. Garth. who was tipping
bumpers at the Kit-Kat club when re-
minded that his patients needed at
tention. "'Tis no matter" said Garth.
already half seas over. IF | 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
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 from
time 10 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-
mcndcd 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 lvers took seas of liquid medi-
zines. mountains OF pills and bins OF
powders.
ANY disease beyond diagnosis was
put down rs ~ fever" Whether ty-
phus or typhoid. scarlet or gastric. non
contagious or violently infectious, any
thing which caused rise in tempera
ture was sufficiently described by the
term fever Smallpox. scurvy spotted
and Jail fever We're maladies distinctive
of the age. Disinfection 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