The Washington times., 1914-11-28
MASSAGE NOT MEDICINE.

You urge against all Of this the fact
that you, yourself, have cured sore
muscles and stiff necks with your fav-
orfte liniment There is no doubt of 1t
whatever; you are a witness to 1t. And
YOU are perfectly right. You played
tennis too long and your forearm felt
as # il had been run through rollers.
You got out your bottle of "liniment,
shook it. ACCORDING to directions. and
gave your arm a good, hard rubplnS.
Next day the muscles were plant again
and the pain was gone. All OF these
things undoubtedly happened, but the
fact remains that it was the rubbing
ind not the liniment that effected the
cure. II you don't believe it, try cot
tonseed oil or hot water or tabasco
sauce next time.
Vigorous massage is probably the best
Of all remedies for muscular pains. 1t
causes a healthy circulation OF the
blood in the affected part, and in addi-
t!cn the rhythmic motion has peculiar
psychic effect. There is really more
Than a mere superstition In this lay
ing on of hands. Stroke the hair of q
person suffering pain and sometimes the
pain abates. Rub your hand over the
brow of a headache patient and now
and then you cure the headache. Hyp-
notists, osteopaths. physical culture ad-
Vocates and other dealers in near
science take profitable account OF this
mysterious method of bringing tangled
nerves back into tune.
A Logical Prescription.
Another fortunate circumstance for
the makers of lotions and liniments is
the fact that nine-tenths Of ALL hu-
nan aches and ills are normally of
snort duration. The pains Of so-called
rheumatism" for example, are de-
cidediv evaneScent. They come and
they go. and il is quite unusual for
them TO continue in Ole place with un-
abated intensity for any great length
of time. 4 patients forearm aches,
nd when the pain reaches certain
degree, he rushes off for a bottle of lini-
llent and TubS the muscles vigorously.
iTalf an hour later the pain disappears.
Perhaps its disappearance is due TO the
massage aforesaid: perhaps. again. ii is
,iue to the fact that the pain, in the
regular course of nature, has subsided.
This tendency of the human body to
cure It's own ills seems to be little un-
derstood. IT is the popular impression
hat there is q specific for every maiady.
and that nothing but this specific will
cure Z. AS matter of fact. the great
majority Of minor diseases cure them
eelves, and so do not few very serious
ones. As an example of the first. may
mention comman colds" AS an eX-
ampe of the second there is pneu-
monla.
Changing Medical Principles.
There are OIL the market, today more
than Q thousand ready-made cures for
colds. and every adult American, ac-
cording to Mark Twain. has a private
remedy Of his own. But in the vast ma
iority OF cases colds cure themselves.
Ike pneumonia and other more serious
diseases. they run definite course.
They appear. they make their victims
mise able. and then they disappear.
Nature effects the cure. and some one
Of tn" multitude OF specifies gets the
redit Once. when DR.. William Osler
VAS asked by patient 10 write a pre-
scription for a cold in the head, he
aid: II will give You four days" The
Patient abided the tim" and was cured.
Mustard foot baths. hot cmonade,
hot SCotchcs whiskey and quininC,
,euwders and all the other familiar RENE
dies have little or no direct effect. Their
valuc-if they have any at ALLIES in
he fa"I that they ease the patients
mind and satisfy the universal yearn-
nE 60 take SoDlething for it
The popular idea that 1t s possible TO
axe ,uid in q boil. and that the result
g dangerous. is utterly and hOpelessly
aonseusi"al. BY cold in wound Of
ny sort the layman means an infcc-
ion. 4 boil is already infected, else il
wouldn't be A boil. Hence II is absurd
10 believe that il may be infected agaIL.