A treatise on materia medica, pharmacology, and therapeutics / by John V. Shoemaker ... and John Aulde.

  • Shoemaker, John V. (John Veitch), 1852-1910.
Date:
1889-1891
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A treatise on materia medica, pharmacology, and therapeutics / by John V. Shoemaker ... and John Aulde. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    hypnotism,—a hict which has been demonstrated by the admission of patients while under treatment. To place an estimate upon the method here outlined without some practical exhibition of the power would be in the nature of attempting an impossibility ; but there are two things Avhich demand consideration because of the power which it is said one person thus gains OA'er another. The first is, that no one should be subjected to the oiieration without having given full consent, or, if a minor, tlie consent of parents or guar- dians ought to be obtained. The second matter for consideration is, that no directions or suggestions of aii}^ character whatever slionld be given to the patient other than those bearing directly upon the disease. In the absence of these precautions, the plan may be made to serve those Avho w^ould conduct their business with mercenar}’^ motives, and un- doubtedly would lead to serious complications in our modern civilization. EARTH DRESSINH. Earth dressing in surgery was first brought to the attention of the medical profession in this countiy through the investigations and writ- ings of the late Dr. Addinell Hewson, of this cit}’’, about twent}' years ago, and, while these applications have now been almost wholly super- seded as topical remedies by recent antiseptic measures, there are certain directions in which the dressing ma}’- be emplojmd to great advantage. The use of local applications of the kind are not, however, entirel}^ discarded by the most active surgeons who are fully cognizant of the value of antiseptic precautions ; the use in Germaiyy and some other countries of common peat is much on the same principle as we use clay in this countiy, and, while there may be reasons at one time for a particular dressing, there may at another time be a demand for something else. In the earlier history of the use of cla}, it was far more popular than can ever be expected again, as the microbiotic mania had not then attained such wide-spread prevalence; then again,there was an objection to the use of a dressing which could cause so much inconvenience to the patient, and this difficult}' was not readily overcome. Often the use of clay might be substituted for a poultice, but when the application is to be removed the clay dressing is decidedly objectionable. The result is that frequently the affected tissues are treated to a poultice as a routine method, instead of a suitable cla}^ dressing, by which sickness is unduly prolonged and the life of the patient endangered. For the reasons mentioned regarding the effect which the advance O O