The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1909-01-27
Old SCHOOL DOCTORS
Ignorance of Physicians OF the
Eighteenth Century.

ElgnIeenIn century.
TORTURE FOR THE PATIENTS.
Every AiIrent Seyond Diagnosis Was
classed as a Fever, and Pills, Plas'
ters, Burning and Bleeding Were the
Regulation Remedies.
The proyerb 1.-The remedy is worse
than the disease must have been com
ed il the eighteenth century, when
PHYSICIANS treated their patients WIN
. violence that bordered on assault
and battery. It was held that sickness
was some kind of q demon that must
be overcome by pills, plasters, bleeding
and burning, and if the patient incl
dentally got the full effects OF the tor
ture and died, so much the worse iof
him. Air and water were CONSIDERED.
the most dangerous things for q SICK
person to have, and his misguided dc-
mand for them was interpreted as 4
SIGN that he should have still less.
The windows were shut and the cur
tains Of the four poster tightly ora"tl
around the recumbent unfortunate
saspins for breath If he burned WIN
fever the blankets were piled on nm.
a desire for water meant that be coult'
bara mono while q lack Of appetite
proved that he ought to be stuffed
with food. \ bath was positively un-
thinkable.
The deadly results Of breathing
might air" were accentuated by med
tcal writer's, says S. G. Tallentyre III
the Cornhill Magazine. AL 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 venhlated-1n the
DAYTIME. Another dared to suggest
that consumptives might benefit from
sleeping in a pure atmosphere. The
rule for ablutions was "hands otten'
feet seldom, head never" but a physl-
clan far in advance Of his age sur
missed that invalids might battle their
feet in warm water once a week ana
under extraordinary circumstances
take a warn bath once q month
Overeating and drinking caused
many Of the diseases Of the upper
classes. Moatesouieu 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. ooars
heads, pasties. creams, stu 'gs and
nincemeats. 4 fearful repast Of twelve
indisestible courses was brought on all
together, so that the diners knew what
was expected Of them A large oreak-
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 Falstaf-
ian potations. After this the gentle
men joined the women for dish Of
tea IN the drawing room, and it was
not long before the whole party OF hu-
man anacondas returned to the dining
room for supper on the cold rem
nantss,of the dinner. Amid this orsy
OF glsttony Walpole and Voltaire were
distinguished for an abstinence that
prolonged their lives.
Heavy drinking was universal and
rarely reprimsnded by medical men,
as by DR.. Tronchin One DR.. Cheyne
advised women not to take a whole
bottle a day. Another authority wrote
a popular treatise In which the best
means -of obtaining 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- a
story is told Of the celebrated and con-
v;vial DR.. Garth, who was tipping
bumpers at the kit-Kat club when re-
minded that his patients needed at
tention. "'Tis nc matter" said Garth,
already half seas over, IF see them
or not. Nine have such bad consttu-
tons 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
3 physician named Brown became
the pet Of fashionable women by al
ways prescribing pleasant remedies,
..a glass Of wine in the forenoon from
tine to time" several glasses Of port
or punch after dinner till some enliv-
ening effect IS perceived from then" J"
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
gout, for which eighteenth century
high Hvers took seas Of liquid medi-
1es, mountains Of pills and bins Of
powders.
Any disease beyond diagnosis was
put down as "a fever" Whether ty-
phus or typhoid, scarlet or gastric, non
contagious or violently infectious, any
thing which caused q rise in tempera-
ture was sufficiently described by the
term fever. Smallpox, scurvy, spotted
and jail fever were naladies distinctive
Of the age Distinction and drst 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 q mob attacked the Duke
Of Bedford's house in 1165 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 haT-
ing :Ffew pints Of extra blood drawn
from bis veins by an expert surgeon.
Blistertcg was esteemed next to bleed
ing. 4 fashionable remedy for con-