Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-06-07
CHINESE MEDICAL TREATMENT.
Diagnosis of Physician Stranger
Than His Prescription.

From the Pathfinder.
The introduction into China of western
knowledge is destined to work complete
revolution in medical and surgical prac-
tice in the flowery kingdom. One OF
the things that is going and now nearly
gone is what is called 'acupuncture. or
pricking with needles. This mode OF
treating disease consists in sticking lons
needles of silver or gold into the BODY
or members of the sufferer and then pull
ing them out, as housewives sometimes
test their cakes with broom straw u
see if they are done.
Relia BILE authorities tell of many cases
in which this heroic system has brought
about cures. Perhaps the patient was
scared into being cured, and decided to
get well rather than be stuck any more
1t is declared that the Chinese doctors
are able actually to penetrate the hear'
and other vital organs with their needles
without causing death, and that the
process does not cause any. considerable
amount Of pain.
A large amount of hocus-pocus and SUI
perstition is mixed up with Chinese mf'of-
cine Some of the Chinese remedies are
undoubt eddy of value. but in most cases
they are employed without much refer
ence to their actual medicinal erect. OF
example, ginseng is widely USED. put the
roots that are most highly priced anu
cacious are those that happen to grow
with two prongs to the roots SO as 70
resemble more or less the human loriIi'
The meat of black dogs is supposed 10 De
good for consumptives. and even In can
ton the traveller often sees black doS
carcasses still for sale. Orange peel Is
believed to be a very fine meulcine; the
peels have such a market value, In TACT
that oranges are commonly Sold with the
peel taken off.
The Monaghan physician, after feeling
one pulse then the other, perhaps both
together. possibly may decide that little
dried grasshopper is the proper medicine
to be used IN the other mana. IL TIE
celestial of the native school supposes,
by the action of the pulse that the dis
eased condition requires some other form
of treatment, the Chinese drug store near
at hand possesses almost everything
under the sun as a prescription.
Oftentimes the debilitated patient is
said to need particularly rare ana un-
usual medicine, as for example. some
preparation consisting of the pulverized
dry bones of tiger: treatment Is con-
sidered very commonplace when the
native physician prescribes only such
ordinary things as dried leaves roots.
stems, dried MOWERS, the park oi trees
etc.
The Chinese doctor possesses many
ideas peculiarly his own. There is much
mystery and impress.veness in his man
ner of treatment. According 10 MORSo-
liam medicine the Cinnamon believe that
the human heart is more likely to become
intlamed at noon during the summer sea-
son than at any other time. Likewise
they regard the human ear as suggesting
conditions Of the Kidneys. while the
mouth and lips indicate the condition or
the spleen and the stomach.
DIR John Chinaman has evolved a
wonderful system of diagnosis that de-
ponds on twenty-four main varieties OF
pulse. but entirely aside from these there
are twenty-seven other special and minor
varieties that prognosticate death. One
Fundamental reaso why the Chinaman
of today is utterly ignorant in hnoWl-
edge of human anatomy is because of the
ancient custom of the yellow man neither
to dissect nor to study the muscles and
internal organs of the human body. The
basis of this reluctance to investigate the
human body is in the ancestor worship
which exists.
The Chinese revere the dead to such an
extent that when the demise of China
man occurs he is buried for three years.
At the end of this time the body Is aug
up and the bones placed in a vase The
vase and its contents are then Inferred
for all future time.