Here, reader, is our _materia medica_; wherein you will find a number of
harmless, yet efficient agents, that will, in the treatment of disease,
fulfil any and every indication to your entire satisfaction. They act
efficiently in the restoration of the diseased system to a healthy
state, without producing the slightest injury to the animal economy. The
Almighty has furnished us, if we did but know it, a healing balm for
every malady to which man and the lower animals are subject. Yet how
many of these precious gifts are disregarded for the more popular ones
of the chemist! Dr. Brown, professor of botany in the Ohio College,
says, "Of the twenty or more thousand species of plants recognized and
described by botanists, probably not more than one thousand have ever
been used in the art of healing; and not more than one fourth of that
number even have a place in our _materia medica_ at present. The
glorious results, however, attending the researches of those who have
preceded us, should inspire us with that confidence and spirit of
investigation which will ultimately result in the selection,
preparation, and systematic arrangement, of a full, convenient, and
efficient _materia medica_." Unfortunately, the medical fraternity, as
well as the farmers, have been accustomed to judge of the power of the
remedy by its effects, and not in proportion to its ultimate good. Thus,
if a pound of salts be given to a cow, and they produce liquid
stools,--in short, "operate well,"--they are styled a good medicine,
although they leave the mucous surface of the alimentary canal in a
weak, debilitated state, and otherwise impair the health; yet this is a
secondary consideration. For, if the symptoms of the present malady, for
which the salts were given, shall disappear, nothing is thought of the
after consequences. The cow may be constipated for several succeeding
days, and finally refuse her food; but who suspects that the salts were
the cause of it? Who believes that the abstraction of ninety ounces of
blood cut short the life of our beloved Washington? We do, and so do
others. We are told, in reference to the treatment of a given case, that
"the patient will grow worse before he can get better." What makes him
worse? The medicine, surely, and nothing else. Now, if ever symptoms are
altered, they should be for the better; and if the medicines recommended
in this work (provided, however, they are given with ordinary prudence)
ever make an animal worse, then we beg of the reader to avoid them as he
would a pest-house. This is not all. If any article in this _materia
medica_, when given, in the manner we recommend, to an animal in perfect
health, shall operate so as to derange such animal's health,--in short,
act pathologically,--then it does not deserve a place here, and should
not be depended on. But such will not be the result. We recommend
farmers to select and preserve a few of these herbs for family use; for
they are efficient in the cure of many diseases. And as the services of
a physician are not always to be had in small country towns, a little
experience in the use and application of simple articles to various
diseases seems to be absolutely necessary. It was by the aid of a few of
these and similar simple remedies, that we were enabled to preserve the
health of the passengers of that ill-fated ship, the Anglo-Saxon. The
following testimony has never, until the present time, been made public,
and we would not now make use of it, were it not that we wish to show
that there are men, and women too, that can appreciate our labors:--
"The undersigned, passengers in the Anglo-Saxon from Boston,
feeling it a duty they owe to Dr. G. H. Dadd, surgeon of the ship,
would here bear testimony to the valuable medical services and
advice rendered by him to us, whilst on shipboard; believing his
attendance has been conducive of the greatest benefit; at times
almost indispensable, not only during the short passage, but also
through the trying period subsequent to the wreck through all of
which, the coolness and devotion to the best interests of his
employers and of the passengers, exhibited by him, deserve at our
hands the highest terms of commendation.
ROBERT EARLE,
S. C. AMES,
BENJAMIN CHAMPNEY,
LEWIS JONES,
HAMILTON G. WILD,
W. A. BARNES,
GIDEON D. SCULL,
W. ALLAN GAY,
ISAAC JENKINS,
PRESCOTT BIGELOW,
A. M. EARLE,
ROSALIE PELBY,
OPHELIA ANDERSON,
HELEN C. DOVE,
ELEANOR TERESA MCHUGH,
JOHN HILLS,
FRANCES BLENKAM,
HARRIET PHILLIPS,
LOUISA A. BIGELOW,