DOCTORS OF OLD.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1415, 16 April 1912, Page 11

DOCTORS OF OLD.

WHAT .WE OWE TO THEM.

In his new book, "Old-Time Maker- of -Uodicme,' Dr. James J. Walsh traces the moihual thought and accomplishment of S,, *' l0 "S"nd yearj and moro from the inll of Roino to Hie discovery of America, and he. causes amazement with his revelations of how old are manr thinzs \re call ncff.

; Imhl comparatively recent years." ho informs us,- "wo have been quite, confident in our assurance that antisepsis and asepsis wero entirely modern developments of surgery, ilore knowledge, however, lof the history of surgery has given a serious set-back to this self-complacency, and now we know that tho later medieval surgenns understood practical antisepsis well, and applied it. successfully. _ "flioy used stroujt wine as a dressing tor their wounds, insisted on keeping them clean and not allowing any extraneous material of any kind, ointments, or the like, to bo used on thorn. As a consequence they were able to secure excellent results in the healing of wounds and thoy wero inclined to boast of the f.ict th.it their incisions healed by first intention, and that, indeed, the scar left after ihoin was , scarcely noticeable." And again, "Wo aio so accustomed to think that annosthesia was discovered about tho middle of tho nineteenth century that wo foreet that literature is full of references to it. Anaesthetics were experimented with almost as zealously, during the latter half of the thirteenth century at least, as during the latter half of tho nineteenth century. They wero probably not as successful as wo are, but they did sncccM in producing insensibility to pain, otherwise they could never hava operated to the extent they did. Moreover, tho Iraditions show that the Da Luccns particularly had invented a method that left very little to be desired in this matter of anaesthesia. Among great physicians of tho Middle Ages wero Aetius and Alexander of Tralles, from both of whom we have treatises still of interest. "Alexander divided mental diseases info two, the maniacal and melancholic. The cause of menhl diseases was to be found in the blood. ITo counselled the use. of venesection, of laxatives and purgatives, of baths and stimulant remedies. 'He insisted very muoh, hoivevor, on mental influence in t!io disease, on change of place and air, visits to the theatre, and every possible form of mental diversion as among the remedial measures. "Ho gives a. rather interesting modern treatment of consumption. Ho recommends an abundance of milk, with a strong nutritious diet, as cliirnstililo as possible. A good auxiliary to this treatment was change of pir, n sea voyage, and ,i stay .it <i watering-place. Asses' and mares' milk is much better for '■ these | patients than cows' and goats' milk." Rhazos, an Arabian physician of the ninth-tenth centuries, knew well the value of tho influoneo of mind over body even in serious organic disease. One of his is:—"Physicians ought to conso)! their patients, even if the signs of impending death seem to bo present. For

the bodies of men are dependent on their spirits."

From the Salerno school of medicine, arising in the tenth century, came some interesting counsel for (ho conduct of physicians. Thus:—"When the doctor onters the dwelling of his patients, ho should not appear haughty nor covetous but should greet with kindly, modest demeanour those, who ore present, and then, seating himself near tho sick roan, accept tho drink wMeh is offered him (sic), and praiso.in ft few words the beauty of the neighbourhood, the situation of the house, and Jfio well-known generosity of tho fanyily, if it should seem to hiiu suitable to so.

"The patient should be put at his eose iieforo the examination begins, mul tho pulse should bo felt deliberately and carefulls Tho fingers should bo kept on the pulse at least until the hundredth bent, in order to judge its kind mid character; tho friends standing round will.bo. all tho more impressed because of the, delay, and the physician's word will ba received with' just that much more attention.

"Whan tho docjor ouits the patient, he should promise, him that lu> will get quite well again, bufc_ he should inform his friends that ho is very ill; in this wny. if a cure is effeete.l, tho fnmo of the doctor will lie so much the trroater, but if the patient dies people will pny Hint, the doctor had foreseen tho fatal issue."