It is a safe guess that not more than a fourth of them held degrees from medical schools. Until the 1860’s-and in some sections long afterward-a frontier doctor was almost any man who called himself one. The greatest shortage of all was in medical knowledge and training. As late as 1846 an Indiana doctor sold a heicl of fat cattle at $7.50 a head in order to buy the precious medicine at $6 to $8 an ounce. Not until the 1840’s, when the curative properties of quinine became widely appreciated, did the pioneer physician have a really sale and effective drug but it was prohibitively expensive. Unfortunately, it also softened the gums and caused the teeth to fall out. Another was a chloride of mercury compound called calomel which supposedly cleansed the system by causing saliva to jxjur from the mouth. Ipecac, which induced vomiting, was a particular favorite. Through the 1830’s most of the drugs at the doctor’s command were narcotics or purgatives, administered usually in staggering doses. It was a fraud, of course-the bubbling liquid revealed nothing at all about the pulse-but it gave the patient the satisfying feeling that the latest marvels of science were being applied on his behalf. A stream of air bubbles rose through the liquid when the patient held the gadget while his pulse was taken. This was a dumbbell-shaped glass container partially filled with colored liquid. Some of them also used a device called a pulsometer. By 1840 the progressive, well-equipped frontier doctor had added tooth forceps, stethoscope, and obstetrical instruments to the meager list. Usually he carried homemade bandages, a few drugs, a mortar and pestle for mixing prescriptions, some syringes, perhaps some hot water bottles of pewter or crockery, and a small assortment of knives and saws. The typical practitioner could stuff all his supplies and equipment into his saddlebags. Like the patients they treated, the pioneer physicians were long on courage and endurance, and short on almost everything else. When the illness was really grave, they summoned what was rather loosely called a doctor-if there was one within fifty miles. Drinking sulphur, for instance, was thought to be good for almost anything. Pioneers closed themselves with folk remedies and patent medicines, believing as a general rule that strong smelling, vile-tasting, thoroughly disagreeable treatments were the most effective. Against such hazards there were few defenses.
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