{222}EDITORIAL.THEPREVENTIONANDCUREOFMANYCHRONICDISEASESBYMOVEMENTS.An exposition of the principles and practice of these movements, for the correction of the tendencies to disease in infancy, childhood and youth, and for the cure of many morbid affections of adults.BYM.ROTH,M. D., London, 1851.Open quackery was at one time contented with the market-place and the stage; its merits and achievements were announced only by the lungs of its professors and their assistants. We have changed all that. Quackery has improved with the age. It has got possession of the newspapers, and forces its way in the pulpit; it has its colleges and graduates, it edits journals and writes books; but it has changed its form, not its spirit; at bottom it is as shameless, and lying and rediculous as ever. While its essence is eternal its form is constantly changing. A variety springs up, flourishes, attains its maturity, then dies away, to be replaced by another, or to be revived in a distant country or a future generation. The facilities of intercommunication afforded by railroad and steam vessels yield the same advantage to imposture and credulity, that they give to science and truth. We import nonsense and humbug as well as silks and dry goods. But as was observed on another occasion, home manufacture has sprung up, and we have become exporters as well as importers. Spiritual knocking are set off against Mesmerism; Thompsonianism is sent in exchange for Hygeia; native Sarsaparillas have driven the foreign from the market; Mormonism goes a long way to balance Homeopathy, while the “Great Harmonican,” in size, in pretension and in absurdity, is scarcely to be rivalled any where in the present age.The newest delusion that pretends to be a system, Kinesipathy, is, in the country of its origin, already several years old. It comes to us from Sweden, and recommends the treatment of diseases by means of various exercises, and above all, blows on different parts of the body. All these are set forth with the greatest gravity, and defined and commented on with as much precision as if the author was bringing forward a National Pharmacopœia. In the treatment of disease the motives, positions, and blows, are varied in the strangest, and often most ludicrous manner. Witness the followingprescriptionfor gonorrhea, which is complete except as the author states “some movements depending on particular circumstances.”1. “Percussion on the sacrum in the stride standing position.2. “Transversal chopping on the neck in the sitting position.3. “Pressure above the os pubis in the lying position, with elevated back, while the separated and bent legs are drawn towards the abdomen. Vibration of the perineum, in the same position.”“The treatment begins with percussing the sacrum, in the stride standing position, which in the first day or two not only allays and relieves the more violent inflammation and copious secretion, but also changes the whole state of the disease in such a manner, that the following treatment by movements, (different{223}according to the state of the patient,) produces an increased flow of arterial blood in the upper extremities, and the cure is very much accelerated. In the first stage, during which only moderate stitching pains, tension, and little secretion appears; the percussion on the sacrum alone is sufficient, if repeated three or four times daily. If the symptoms become more violent, and accompanied by chordee and pain during urinating, &c., then other movements are necessary, then make use of the transversal chopping of the neck, which acts strongly against the chordee, and of the pressure above the os pubis in the above mentioned lying position, which increases the venous absorption of the bladder and sexual organs, by its effect on the excited nerves of these parts. In the second period if the urinating is very difficult, the perineum swollen and painful, the discharge mixed with blood, and fever is present, then a more general treatment is necessary. To increase the more local absorption in the urethra, vibrations along the whole tract of the perineum from before backward are employed.”That percussion on the sacrum has long been known as a remedial measure in moral complaints we are perfectly aware, but that it was to become an article of materia medica is something new under the sun!Kinesipathy has not yet, we believe, been formally introduced into the United States, but we hear that a new set of quacks, who call themselves Psychologists, have adopted something from its rules, and are employing “percussions and flagellations” as one of their means for the cure of the various ills that flesh is heir too.After all some partial truth, long well known and acted on by the profession, as is the case in most successful quackeries, underlies Kinesipathy. Exercise and stimulation of the external surface, are in themselves exceedingly beneficial, and under the influence of a charlatan, patients will submit to a discipline, which if directed by a physician would never receive more than momentary attention.PHARMACYINRICHMOND.—We are glad to see the following call to the Apothecaries of Richmond, in the July number of the American Journal of Pharmacy, and we hope that the example will be imitated in all our towns, in which the number of pharmaceutists is sufficient to form a society. Mutual association is the best means of promoting the true interests and standing of the profession.“The undersigned, believing that by friendly co-operation among themselves, their respectability will be increased; their standing in the community will become more elevated, faults in their profession be remedied, evils to which they are now subjected be removed; that their art may be more systematized, and better regulated; a more friendly feeling towards each other be excited amongst them, their mutual interests advanced, and the public good promoted; do most earnestly call upon their brethren, engaged in Pharmaceutical pursuits, to meet at the Gentlemen’s Parlor, Exchange Hotel, on Friday evening, 11th inst., at 8 o’clock, for the purpose of considering the advantages that would result to all of them, from the formation of some organized Association, that would have for its{224}object the above named desirable ends; as well as to encourage among themselves mutual improvement in the knowledge so necessary to a proper discharge of those duties, (both to themselves and the public,) which their situations as men occupying positions among the most responsible in life, impose upon them.As the organization which it is now proposed to form, would contemplate the good of all its Members, it is most earnestly hoped that all the Druggists and Apothecaries who feel any interest in this important subject, will cordially unite their intelligence and talents in an effort to accomplish the above named ends, and that the proper preliminary steps will be taken for the formation of a society of the Apothecaries in this city, which will prove beneficial to its members, an honor to their profession, and a credit to the city of Richmond.”ANDREWLESLIE,S. M.ZACHRISSON,PURCELL,LADD&CO.,SEABROOK&REEVE,ADIE&GRAY,PEYTON,JOHNSTON&BRO.,H.BLAIR,CHAS.MILLSPAUGH,ALEX.DUVAL.Richmond, June 8th, 1852.SUPPOSITORIESOFBUTTEROFCACAO.—Butter of cacao has of late been largely employed in the formation of suppositories, for which it is admirably adapted, by its consistence, and by the facility with which it becomes liquid at the temperature of the body. Some times a good deal of difficulty is encountered in incorporating it with laudanum, chloroform, extracts and solutions. In such cases M. Stanislas Martin recommends that the butter be first moulded in the desired form, and that then a cavity be formed in it, by means of an iron wire slightly warmed, sufficiently large to contain the prescribed medicine. The orifice can then be closed with a thin layer of the butter of cacao, formed by rubbing a morsel of it upon an iron spatula, or the blade of a knife slightly warmed in a spirit lamp.A number of the suppositories thus prepared beforehand, can be preserved in envelopes which serve them for a mould, these being removed only when they are about to be used.DELEGATES TO THE CONVENTION FOR 1852.At a meeting of the College of Pharmacy of the City of New York, held June 28th, Messrs. George D. Coggesshall, William Hegeman and L. S. Haskell, were elected Delegates from this College to the National Pharmaceutical Convention, to meet at Philadelphia, on the first Monday in October next. It was resolved that in case of any disability of either of their number to attend, the remaining delegates should be authorised to fill the vacancy.The re-issue of President Guthrie’s official call for the meeting of the Convention was expected in time for this number of the Journal, but has not been received. It will doubtless appear in our next with a further notice of this important subject.
{222}
THEPREVENTIONANDCUREOFMANYCHRONICDISEASESBYMOVEMENTS.An exposition of the principles and practice of these movements, for the correction of the tendencies to disease in infancy, childhood and youth, and for the cure of many morbid affections of adults.BYM.ROTH,M. D., London, 1851.
Open quackery was at one time contented with the market-place and the stage; its merits and achievements were announced only by the lungs of its professors and their assistants. We have changed all that. Quackery has improved with the age. It has got possession of the newspapers, and forces its way in the pulpit; it has its colleges and graduates, it edits journals and writes books; but it has changed its form, not its spirit; at bottom it is as shameless, and lying and rediculous as ever. While its essence is eternal its form is constantly changing. A variety springs up, flourishes, attains its maturity, then dies away, to be replaced by another, or to be revived in a distant country or a future generation. The facilities of intercommunication afforded by railroad and steam vessels yield the same advantage to imposture and credulity, that they give to science and truth. We import nonsense and humbug as well as silks and dry goods. But as was observed on another occasion, home manufacture has sprung up, and we have become exporters as well as importers. Spiritual knocking are set off against Mesmerism; Thompsonianism is sent in exchange for Hygeia; native Sarsaparillas have driven the foreign from the market; Mormonism goes a long way to balance Homeopathy, while the “Great Harmonican,” in size, in pretension and in absurdity, is scarcely to be rivalled any where in the present age.
The newest delusion that pretends to be a system, Kinesipathy, is, in the country of its origin, already several years old. It comes to us from Sweden, and recommends the treatment of diseases by means of various exercises, and above all, blows on different parts of the body. All these are set forth with the greatest gravity, and defined and commented on with as much precision as if the author was bringing forward a National Pharmacopœia. In the treatment of disease the motives, positions, and blows, are varied in the strangest, and often most ludicrous manner. Witness the followingprescriptionfor gonorrhea, which is complete except as the author states “some movements depending on particular circumstances.”
1. “Percussion on the sacrum in the stride standing position.
2. “Transversal chopping on the neck in the sitting position.
3. “Pressure above the os pubis in the lying position, with elevated back, while the separated and bent legs are drawn towards the abdomen. Vibration of the perineum, in the same position.”
“The treatment begins with percussing the sacrum, in the stride standing position, which in the first day or two not only allays and relieves the more violent inflammation and copious secretion, but also changes the whole state of the disease in such a manner, that the following treatment by movements, (different{223}according to the state of the patient,) produces an increased flow of arterial blood in the upper extremities, and the cure is very much accelerated. In the first stage, during which only moderate stitching pains, tension, and little secretion appears; the percussion on the sacrum alone is sufficient, if repeated three or four times daily. If the symptoms become more violent, and accompanied by chordee and pain during urinating, &c., then other movements are necessary, then make use of the transversal chopping of the neck, which acts strongly against the chordee, and of the pressure above the os pubis in the above mentioned lying position, which increases the venous absorption of the bladder and sexual organs, by its effect on the excited nerves of these parts. In the second period if the urinating is very difficult, the perineum swollen and painful, the discharge mixed with blood, and fever is present, then a more general treatment is necessary. To increase the more local absorption in the urethra, vibrations along the whole tract of the perineum from before backward are employed.”
That percussion on the sacrum has long been known as a remedial measure in moral complaints we are perfectly aware, but that it was to become an article of materia medica is something new under the sun!
Kinesipathy has not yet, we believe, been formally introduced into the United States, but we hear that a new set of quacks, who call themselves Psychologists, have adopted something from its rules, and are employing “percussions and flagellations” as one of their means for the cure of the various ills that flesh is heir too.
After all some partial truth, long well known and acted on by the profession, as is the case in most successful quackeries, underlies Kinesipathy. Exercise and stimulation of the external surface, are in themselves exceedingly beneficial, and under the influence of a charlatan, patients will submit to a discipline, which if directed by a physician would never receive more than momentary attention.
After all some partial truth, long well known and acted on by the profession, as is the case in most successful quackeries, underlies Kinesipathy. Exercise and stimulation of the external surface, are in themselves exceedingly beneficial, and under the influence of a charlatan, patients will submit to a discipline, which if directed by a physician would never receive more than momentary attention.
PHARMACYINRICHMOND.—We are glad to see the following call to the Apothecaries of Richmond, in the July number of the American Journal of Pharmacy, and we hope that the example will be imitated in all our towns, in which the number of pharmaceutists is sufficient to form a society. Mutual association is the best means of promoting the true interests and standing of the profession.
“The undersigned, believing that by friendly co-operation among themselves, their respectability will be increased; their standing in the community will become more elevated, faults in their profession be remedied, evils to which they are now subjected be removed; that their art may be more systematized, and better regulated; a more friendly feeling towards each other be excited amongst them, their mutual interests advanced, and the public good promoted; do most earnestly call upon their brethren, engaged in Pharmaceutical pursuits, to meet at the Gentlemen’s Parlor, Exchange Hotel, on Friday evening, 11th inst., at 8 o’clock, for the purpose of considering the advantages that would result to all of them, from the formation of some organized Association, that would have for its{224}object the above named desirable ends; as well as to encourage among themselves mutual improvement in the knowledge so necessary to a proper discharge of those duties, (both to themselves and the public,) which their situations as men occupying positions among the most responsible in life, impose upon them.
As the organization which it is now proposed to form, would contemplate the good of all its Members, it is most earnestly hoped that all the Druggists and Apothecaries who feel any interest in this important subject, will cordially unite their intelligence and talents in an effort to accomplish the above named ends, and that the proper preliminary steps will be taken for the formation of a society of the Apothecaries in this city, which will prove beneficial to its members, an honor to their profession, and a credit to the city of Richmond.”ANDREWLESLIE,S. M.ZACHRISSON,PURCELL,LADD&CO.,SEABROOK&REEVE,ADIE&GRAY,PEYTON,JOHNSTON&BRO.,H.BLAIR,CHAS.MILLSPAUGH,ALEX.DUVAL.Richmond, June 8th, 1852.
As the organization which it is now proposed to form, would contemplate the good of all its Members, it is most earnestly hoped that all the Druggists and Apothecaries who feel any interest in this important subject, will cordially unite their intelligence and talents in an effort to accomplish the above named ends, and that the proper preliminary steps will be taken for the formation of a society of the Apothecaries in this city, which will prove beneficial to its members, an honor to their profession, and a credit to the city of Richmond.”
ANDREWLESLIE,S. M.ZACHRISSON,PURCELL,LADD&CO.,SEABROOK&REEVE,ADIE&GRAY,PEYTON,JOHNSTON&BRO.,H.BLAIR,CHAS.MILLSPAUGH,ALEX.DUVAL.
Richmond, June 8th, 1852.
SUPPOSITORIESOFBUTTEROFCACAO.—Butter of cacao has of late been largely employed in the formation of suppositories, for which it is admirably adapted, by its consistence, and by the facility with which it becomes liquid at the temperature of the body. Some times a good deal of difficulty is encountered in incorporating it with laudanum, chloroform, extracts and solutions. In such cases M. Stanislas Martin recommends that the butter be first moulded in the desired form, and that then a cavity be formed in it, by means of an iron wire slightly warmed, sufficiently large to contain the prescribed medicine. The orifice can then be closed with a thin layer of the butter of cacao, formed by rubbing a morsel of it upon an iron spatula, or the blade of a knife slightly warmed in a spirit lamp.
A number of the suppositories thus prepared beforehand, can be preserved in envelopes which serve them for a mould, these being removed only when they are about to be used.
A number of the suppositories thus prepared beforehand, can be preserved in envelopes which serve them for a mould, these being removed only when they are about to be used.
At a meeting of the College of Pharmacy of the City of New York, held June 28th, Messrs. George D. Coggesshall, William Hegeman and L. S. Haskell, were elected Delegates from this College to the National Pharmaceutical Convention, to meet at Philadelphia, on the first Monday in October next. It was resolved that in case of any disability of either of their number to attend, the remaining delegates should be authorised to fill the vacancy.
The re-issue of President Guthrie’s official call for the meeting of the Convention was expected in time for this number of the Journal, but has not been received. It will doubtless appear in our next with a further notice of this important subject.