Page:First course in biology (IA firstcourseinbio00bailrich).pdf/602

 thought it safe or scientific. Of course there are still many cases where the patient or the patient's friends must be humored by administering medicine, or alleged medicine, where it is not really needed, and indeed often where the buoyancy of mind, which is the real curative agent, can only be created by making him wait hopefully for the expected action of medicine; and some physicians still cannot unlearn their old training. But the change is great. The modern treatment of disease relies very greatly on the old so-called natural methods, diet and exercise, bathing and massage, in other words giving the natural forces the fullest scope by easy and thorough nutrition, increased flow of blood, and removal of obstructions to the excretory systems or the circulation in the tissues. One notable example is typhoid fever. At the outset of the nineteenth century it was treated with "remedies" of the extremest violence,—bleeding and blistering, vomiting and purging, antimony and calomel, and other heroic remedies. Now the patient is bathed and nursed and carefully tended, but rarely given medicine. This is the result partly of the remarkable experiments of the Paris and Vienna schools into the action of drugs which have shaken the stoutest faiths; and partly of the constant and reproachful object lesson of homeopathy. No regular physician would ever admit that the homeopathic "infinitesimals" could do any good as direct curative agents; and yet it was perfectly certain that homeopaths lost no more of their patients than others. There was but one conclusion to draw, that most drugs had no effect whatever on the diseases for which they were administered."—"Encyclopædia Americana," Vol. X. (Munn & Co., New York.)

Applying Hygienic Tests Systematically.—The cause of ill health (e.g. a headache) should be sought with system and thoroughness, applying the tests in rotation to every function of the body: Lungs. Is the air habitually breathed fresh and free from dust? Is the body held up, and is the chest or waist cramped by clothing? Muscles. Is enough physical exertion made to cause deep breaths to be drawn? Food. Is it simple, digestible, and eaten properly? Drink. Is the water pure? Cleanliness, Work and Rest, Clothing, Ventilation, and Mental State may be inquired into until the source of trouble is found and the cause of ill health removed. To give drugs and leave the cause of ill health untouched, is to fail. There are signs of coming weakness or illness which, if heeded and the ways of living improved, will usually prevent illness. Among these signs are headaches, paleness, sensitiveness to cold, heavy feeling or pain after meals, constipation. Huxley says that young people should so learn physiology and so understand their bodies that they will heed the first sign of nature's displeasure, and not wait for a box on the ear.