The Coolidge examiner., 1935-05-10

most accurate observer and record
er OF what he saw. reported that In
Persia: The citizen who has lep-
rosy or the white sickness may not
come into town or consort with
other Perslans They sgy that he
Is so afflicted because he has sinnei
In some way against the sun"
Bui things weren't so much bet.
ter In Europe or the other countries
In western Europe. Doctors did
their best. according 10 the knowi.
edge they had nut one must re-
member that our knowledge of an.
aestheslas and germs and antisep-
tics aud dlslnfectants have oil come
since 1876 when ether was first
used
Before the days Of ether. the OPP
Grating rooms were filed with the
groans and shricbs OF the unfortu.
nate victims. Often the noise and
suffering were so great that students
would faint.
The only way patients could for
gct their pain was In sleep--lf they
could sleep. Shakespeare says tn
Cymbeline 'He that sleep feels
not the Ioothache."
Speaking Of toothache. IL vas the
BARRIERS who generally extracted
teeth And ia Shakespeare's day
the BARRIERS bad custom of having
musical Instruments in their shop
windows maybe rs from that Gus
tom that sc derive the term bar
ber shop chords, and then they
would tie the teeth they had drawn
70 the end Of the lutte strings Bur
one of the most famous physicians
In medical history. Ayicenna. whose
Canon was q text book 10 medical
schools as late as the Fifteenth cen.
tury. 'sloosened teeth by means 81
the faE % tree toads In preference
TO pulling them"
The BARRIERS were the surgeons
Just about everywhere Indeed the
surgeon was an apprentice to the
barber shops In England In 1910
union of barber surgeons known
as the Company of BARRIERS and
Surgeons WIS founded A practlc.
ing surgeon didn't begin to have
the social Standing ~ physician
proper His business was to do
hloodlettlne aud 10 open abseesses
md 10 dress wounds. lie wasn't
allowed 20 prescribe medicine
In Holland the barber surgeons
used 10 remove glands or sebaceous
cysts from various portions OF the
head and neek. "He has a stone In
the head" meaning "he is crack
Drained" was common saying In
Holland IN the Sixteenth and Sew.
enteenth centuries. So cutting the
stones from ones head" was sup
posed 10 be curative for mental de-
fciency.
People everywhere believed In
charms. In many places people
dared not be bled without consult.
Ing the stars. Those who couldn't
afford astrologers consulted alma
macs printed for that purpose
But there were some queer rem.
edIes In this country. too. In Gov
ernor Winthrop's day. a well-known
woman healer had two fayorite rec
lpes for curing jaundice. In one
she put lemon. tumeric and saffron;
the other consisted OF 20 head lice
mixed with nutmeg and sugar and
powder OF tumeric. And many be
lleved that jaundice could be cured
by the patient looking at yellow OBJ
iects.
Hydrophobia was ole OF the
great scourges OF the Eighteenth
and early Nineteenth centuries
Here Is a remedy which the leglsla-
ture of the state OF New York
bought from Mr.. Crous for the
sum OF $1,000. 1t consisted Of an
ounce of the Jaw bone OF a dog,
burned and pulverized or pounded
to a fine dust; the false tongue of
a newly foaled colt which was dried
and pulverIzed. and finally one
scruple OF verdegris. which was
raised on the surface Of old copper
after lying in old earth. the copper
of George | and George II being the
purest and best. These ingredients
were mixed together. and an adult
was given a teaspoonful OF II daily.
Still the physicians of these by
gone times were no fools. They had
a lot of knowledge of human nature.
For instance George Cheyne, Eng
Hsh physician born in 1911, said:
TOO great nicely and exactness
about every minute circumstance
that may impair ones health Ia to
die for fear of dying" That holds
true TO this day.
G. Western Newspaper Union