The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-05-07
HOME HEALTH CLUB

(By. pr. David H. Reeder, Chicago)
 Nature and Medicine: To the re-. cent graduate from a modern medical college all country doctors are old fogies and most of the men who graduated from other colleges are still in the dark ages of medicine. Recently read an article in one Of the standard medical publications evidently written by a graduate or this kind and he spoke of the past age of medical darkness in which the herbs and sinples were used in the treatment of sickness. Now l do sup pose that if this man was called to attend. one of your children he would at once Inject some form or serum or vaccinate in some manner in order to kill the germs of the disease while as a matter of fact the germs do not, cause the disease at all and So far as the serum is of value in aiding na- ture to cure anything I prefer to take chances with the non-po1sonous siInpIes.
 Now, T. will admit this much. If the man who treats acute attacks like diphtherda will use only the in eredients with which he sterilizes and preserves his serum and inject that only, he win destroy much of the ptonalnes that are permitting the germs to propagate and nature will then quickly destroy them.
 A real scientist recently isolated substance from the, polishing of rice This substance he called 'FVitam1nes-
 There was only ten grams vf it in a
 ton Of rice and yet it's removal from the exclusive rice diet of the natives in the tropical countries caused a serious disease with which the medi- cal profession was unable to success fully contend. By restoring this ap- parently inffni tisna1 quantity of vital
 a1a e.
 covered.
 The same results are obtained in
 other conditions through the use of the oId-fash1oned herbs and simples of the old apothecary and the good old grandm others By them a. cer- tain herb is credited with certain cur ative powers and they get the desired results through its use, then comes the chemist and takes the humble herb to his laboratory in. ordersto to, find out wherein the cure is to be found and why. He baskes and boils and
 steWs and distiIs. he sterilizes and ex- ! tracts reduces and extracts again l with the result that the real curative element is lost in the shuffle and he Isreports that the curative power is a
 myth He can find nothing that would have an effect such as claimed for the little herb and says it is one more Of the superstitions, Of medical darkness exposed by the light of I modern science and chemistry, but i iff1e old de gran dnnot1er goes right on
 successfu11y relieving pains and aches and fighting off death with the hum | ble little wayside plant in which an 1 A11wise Creator has secreted a tiny | specke of a. chemical compound pre-
 pared in the mysterious laboratory of nature for the purpose of giving health and strength to some one of the ductless glands and when that i natural chemical compound is not 1 destroyed or left out in the prepara- tion of the remedy it does the work with no chance of killing the patient or of injecting into the pure blood stream of an innocent child some vile l substance that may cause lifelong suf- I fering and possibly immediate death I am a thorough believer in req scientific tnvestig gation into all man. ner of diseases and causes of disease l but such investigations should no
 cause us to lose sight of the fact tha the laboratory of nature is the great Test on earth and from tive. get our best-a1ad most reliable rem 1edies.-