An address delivered before the Southern Reform Medical Association at their annual meeting in Macon, March 2, 1858 / by O.A. Lochrane.

  • Lochrane, O. A. (Osborne Augustus), 1829-1887.
Date:
1858
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An address delivered before the Southern Reform Medical Association at their annual meeting in Macon, March 2, 1858 / by O.A. Lochrane. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    for its existence. I will take for illustration, a young lady, whose beauty needs not the painted flourish of my praise. She is laid a pallid sufferer upon the couch of sickness. Around her, blooming hopes begin to wither. Pleasure's blossom's lose all perfume to her sense. A medical man is called in to treat her. He pursues a course of medica- tion which leaves her in her convalescence, disrobed of her beauty. Her eyes that were like two pieces' of heaven, lose their lustre, become sunk, and saddened. Her complexion that was like the blended shades of peach and pearl, becomes like parchment—her clustering curls no longer reach down to kiss her cheek. Rescued from the grave, yet the untimely frosts of age have fallen upon her youth, and she jnoes along the road of life with step and form too clearly indicating the despair of the spirit that lives within. Another Physician practicing upon a different system, also preserves her life—he protects her beauty, exalts vitality, and loveliness and cheerfulness unite and kiss upon her forehead, causing the tell tale blood to rise into her face like clouds of eve to morn's opening eye. Has she no interest in the practice of medicine—is it to her a matter of mere fun or frolick ? I am a lover of the softer sex, and will repel the accusation. Her sense and reason teach her that the very question I put, becomes daily more and more a matter of important interest to all. Mothers feel it, as they hang in tears over the bed of an afflic- ted son ; father's think of it as they press the cold kiss to the clammy lip, and say farewell for ever. Husbands think of it as the first clod rattles on the coffin lid of some angel wife torn by death from his em- brace, and the young wife through her tears, thinks of it, as they trickle down her cheek and bedew the violets upon the grave of her first born. It is a sober, and a serious question, and pardon me while I trespass on your time, with a review of some of the important differences which lie between our system and Allopathy, to attract and fix this interest. Medical Reform advances the proposition that disease depresses vitali- ty. Allopathy contends that it is exalted. The Medical Reformer in- vigorates the system to relieve nature, the Allopath depletes the sys- tem and diminishes the efforts of nature to relieve herself. These two views will subserve my purposes of illustration. The proposition that vitality is depressed and disease results from the depression, modified by the morbific action on which it depends, I < hold to be self evident and indisputable, and also that nature ever acts in harmony with the laws of life, and her efforts to throw off dis- ease should be advanced by such treatment as will effect this purpose and not obstructed. For this reason poisons are rejected by the Medical Reformer ; for