Enchiridion medicum, or, The practice of medicine : the result of fifty years' experience / by C.W. Hufeland.

  • Hufeland, Christoph Wilhelm, 1762-1836.
Date:
1844
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Enchiridion medicum, or, The practice of medicine : the result of fifty years' experience / by C.W. Hufeland. 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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    shortening his days ; every word, every look, his whole conduct must be of an enlivening tendency. He must not forget that his patient looks upon him as judge of life and death, and anxiously scrutinizes the glances of his eyes, the gay or sad features of his countenance, in order to dis- cover his sentence. Is.it not a fact that fear, especially of death, anxiety and fright are pernicious poisons, that they directly paralyze the vital power; while hope and courage are the most efficacious animatives, frequently surpassing all medicines, nay, without which even the best medicines are unavailing! The physician, therefore, must be care- ful to preserve hope and courage in the patient's mind, re- present his case in a favorable light, conceal all danger from him, and, the more serious it becomes, show a more cheerful appearance ; and least of all betray uncertainty and irresolution, although there be cause for doubt. He can guard himself from the suspicion of not having fully appreciated the nature of the case, by giving a true de- scription of the patient's situation to the relatives, and if they be fickle and negligent, to state it rather darker than lighter. Hence it will appear, how blamable is the con- duct of those physicians, who do not hesitate to announce to the sick the danger, even fatality of their situation, and how injudiciously those relatives act, who desire the physi- cian to do so. To announce death is to give death, which is never the business of him, who is employed to save life. —Even if the sick person desires to know the truth, under a pretence of arranging his affairs or the like, it is not. ad- visable to pronounce his sentence. I have heard of two cases, wherein two excellent practitioners were induced by the entreaties of the patient,'to reveal to him the incura- bility of his evil, and the consequence was that each pa- tient committed suicide. It is not life alone, but what is still more, reputation, that the physician must risk, when the life of a sick person is at stake. We meet here with a case, which un- doubtedly is one of the most difficult in the medical pro- fession, and in which a false sense of honor is so apt to mislead, while nothing but correct considerations and true principles can safely guide us. The physician sees, that the patient can be saved only by one means; but that means is dubious and the trial is dangerous, and at the same time there is nothing more certain, should it prove a failure, than guilt will be attributed to him. The false po- litician will be prevailed on by this consideration, think- ing it were better that the sick die than that he appear