[Illustration]
* * * * *
THE PEOPLE'S
COMMON SENSE
MEDICAL ADVISER
IN PLAIN ENGLISH:
OR,
MEDICINE SIMPLIFIED.
BY
R.V. PIERCE, M.D.
ONE OF THE STAFF OF CONSULTING PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS
AT THE INVALIDS' HOTEL AND SURGICAL INSTITUTE, AND
PRESIDENT OF THE WORLD'S DISPENSARY
MEDICAL ASSOCIATION.
FIFTY-FOURTH EDITION.
ONE MILLION, SIX HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND.
_Carefully Revised by the Author, assisted by his full Staff of
Associate Specialists in Medicine and Surgery, the Faculty of the
Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute._
* * * * *
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1895, by the WORLD'S
DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, In the office of the Librarian of
Congress, at Washington, D.C.
* * * * *
TO
MY PATIENTS,
WHO HAVE SOLICITED MY PROFESSIONAL SERVICES,
FROM THEIR HOMES
IN EVERY STATE, CITY, TOWN, AND ALMOST EVERY HAMLET,
WITHIN THE AMERICAN UNION;
ALSO TO THOSE DWELLING IN EUROPE, MEXICO, SOUTH AMERICA,
THE EAST AND WEST INDIES, AND OTHER
FOREIGN LANDS,
I RESPECTFULLY DEDICATE
THIS WORK.
* * * * *
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE TO THE PRESENT EDITION
PREFACE_TO_THE_FIRST_EDITION
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
PART I
CHAPTER I. BIOLOGY
CHAPTER II. PHYSIOLOGICAL ANATOMY. THE BONES.
CHAPTER III. PHYSIOLOGICAL ANATOMY. THE MUSCLES.
CHAPTER IV. PHYSIOLOGICAL ANATOMY. THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS.
CHAPTER V. PHYSIOLOGICAL ANATOMY. ABSORPTION.
CHAPTER VI. PHYSICAL AND VITAL PROPERTIES OF THE BLOOD.
CHAPTER VII. PHYSIOLOGICAL ANATOMY. CIRCULATORY ORGANS.
CHAPTER VIII. PHYSIOLOGICAL ANATOMY. THE ORGANS OF RESPIRATION.
CHAPTER IX. PHYSIOLOGICAL ANATOMY. THE SKIN.
CHAPTER X. PHYSIOLOGICAL ANATOMY. SECRETION.
CHAPTER XI. PHYSIOLOGICAL ANATOMY. EXCRETION.
CHAPTER XII. PHYSIOLOGICAL ANATOMY. THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.
CHAPTER XIII. THE SPECIAL SENSES. SIGHT.
CHAPTER XIV. CEREBRAL PHYSIOLOGY.
CHAPTER XV. THE HUMAN TEMPERAMENTS.
CHAPTER XVI. MARRIAGE. LOVE.
CHAPTER XVII. REPRODUCTION.
PART II. HYGIENE.
CHAPTER I. HYGIENE DEFINED.--PURE AIR.
CHAPTER II. FOOD. BEVERAGES. ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS. CLOTHING.
CHAPTER III. PHYSICAL EXERCISE. MENTAL CULTURE. SLEEP. CLEANLINESS.
CHAPTER IV. HYGIENE OF THE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS.
CHAPTER V. PRACTICAL SUMMARY OF HYGIENE.
PART III. RATIONAL MEDICINE.
CHAPTER I. THE PROGRESS OF MEDICINE.
CHAPTER II. REMEDIES FOR DISEASE.
CHAPTER III. BATHS AND MOTION AS REMEDIAL AGENTS.
CHAPTER IV. HYGIENIC TREATMENT OF THE SICK.
PART IV. DISEASES AND THEIR REMEDIAL TREATMENT.
INDEX
FOOTNOTES
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PREFACE TO THE PRESENT EDITION
The popular favor with which former editions of this work have been
received has required the production of such a vast number of copies,
that the original electrotype plates from which it has heretofore been
printed, have been completely worn out.
The book has been re-produced in London, England, where six editions
have already been necessary to supply the demand for it.
In order to continue its publication to meet the demand which is still
active in this country, it has been necessary, inasmuch as the original
electrotype plates have become worn and useless, to re-set the work
throughout. This has afforded the Author an opportunity to carefully
revise the book and re-write many portions, that it may embody the
latest discoveries and improvements in medicine and surgery. In
performing this labor he has been greatly assisted by contributions and
valuable aid kindly supplied by his staff of associate specialists in
medicine and surgery who constitute the Faculty of the Invalids' Hotel
and Surgical Institute.
That part of the book treating of Diseases and Their Remedies will be
found to be thoroughly reliable; the prescriptions recommended therein
having all received the sanction and endorsement of medical gentlemen of
rare professional attainments and mature experience.
THE AUTHOR.
BUFFALO, N.Y., January, 1895.
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PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
Every family needs a COMMON SENSE MEDICAL ADVISER. The frequent
inquiries from his numerous patients throughout the land, suggested to
the Author the importance and popular demand for a reliable work of this
kind. Consequently, he has been induced to prepare and publish an
extensive dissertation on Physiology, Hygiene, Temperaments, Diseases
and Domestic Remedies. It is for the interest and welfare of _every_
person, not only to understand the means for the preservation of health,
but also to know what remedies should be employed for the alleviation of
the common ailments of life.
The frequency of accidents of all kinds, injuries sustained by
machinery, contusions, drowning, poisoning, fainting, etc., and also of
sudden attacks of painful diseases, such as headache, affections of the
heart and nerves, inflammation of the eye, ear and other organs, renders
it necessary that non-professionals should possess sufficient knowledge
to enable them to employ the proper means for speedy relief. To impart
this important information is the aim of the author.
Moreover, this volume treats of Human Temperaments, not only of their
influence upon mental characteristics and bodily susceptibilities, but
also of their vital and non-vital combinations, which transmit to the
offspring either health, hardihood, and longevity, or feebleness,
disease, and death. It clearly points out those temperaments which are
compatible with each other and harmoniously blend, and also those which,
when united in marriage, result in barrenness, or produce in the
offspring imbecility, deformity, and idiocy. These matters are freely
discussed from original investigations and clinical observations, thus
rendering the work a true and scientific guide to marriage.
While instruction is imparted for the care of the body, those diseases
(alas how prevalent!) are investigated which are sure to follow as a
consequence of certain abuses, usually committed through ignorance. That
these ills do exist is evident from the fact that the Author is
consulted by multitudes of unfortunate young men and women, who are
desirous of procuring relief from the weaknesses and derangements
incurred by having unwittingly violated physiological laws.
Although some of these subjects may seem out of place in a work designed
for _every_ member of the family, yet they are presented in a style
which cannot offend the most fastidious, and with a studied avoidance of
all language that can possibly displease the chaste, or disturb the
delicate susceptibilities of persons of either sex.
This book should not be excluded from the young, for it is eminently
adapted to their wants, and imparts information without which millions
will suffer untold misery. It is a _false_ modesty which debars the
youth of our land from obtaining such information.
As its title indicates, the Author aims to make this book a useful and
practical Medical Adviser. He proposes to express himself in plain and
simple language, and, so far as possible, to avoid the employment of
technical words, so that all his readers may readily comprehend the
work, and profit by its perusal. Written as it is amid the many cares
attendant upon a practice embracing the treatment of thousands of cases
annually, and therefore containing the fruits of a rich and varied
experience, some excuse exists for any literary imperfections which the
critical reader may observe.
THE AUTHOR.
BUFFALO, N.Y., July, 1875.
* * * * *
INTRODUCTORY WORDS.
Health and disease are physical conditions upon which pleasure and pain,
success and failure, depend. Every _individual_ gain increases public
gain. Upon the health of its people is based the prosperity of a nation;
by it every value is increased, every joy enhanced. Life is incomplete
without the enjoyment of healthy organs and faculties, for these give
rise to the delightful sensations of existence. Health is essential to
the accomplishment of every purpose; while sickness thwarts the best
intentions and loftiest aims. We are continually deciding upon those
conditions which are either the source of joy and happiness or which
occasion pain and disease. Prudence requires that we should meet the
foes and obviate the dangers which threaten us, by turning all our
philosophy, science, and art, into practical _common sense_.
The profession of medicine is no _sinecure_; its labors are constant,
its toils unremitting, its cares unceasing. The physician is expected to
meet the grim monster, "break the jaws of death, and pluck the spoil out
of his teeth." _His_ ear is ever attentive to entreaty, and within his
faithful breast are concealed the disclosures of the suffering. Success
may elate him, as conquest flushes the victor. Honors are lavished upon
the brave soldiers who, in the struggle with the foe, have covered
themselves with glory, and returned victorious from the field of battle;
but how much more brilliant is the achievement of those who overwhelm
disease, that common enemy of mankind, whose victims are numbered by
millions! Is it meritorious in the physician to modestly veil his
discoveries, regardless of their importance? If he have light, why hide
it from the world? Truth should be made as universal and health-giving
as sunlight. We say, give light to all who are in darkness, and a remedy
to the afflicted everywhere.
We, as a people, are becoming idle, living in luxury and ease, and in
the gratification of artificial wants. Some indulge in the use of food
rendered unwholesome by bad cookery, and think more of gratifying a
morbid appetite than of supplying the body with proper nourishment.
Others devote unnecessary attention to the display of dress and a
genteel figure, yielding themselves completely to the sway of fashion.
Such intemperance in diet and dress manifests itself in the general
appearance of the unfortunate transgressor, and exposes his folly to the
world, with little less precision than certain vices signify their
presence by a tobacco-tainted breath, beer-bloated body, rum-emblazoned
nose, and kindred manifestations. They coddle themselves instead of
practicing self-denial, and appear to think that the chief end of life
is gratification, rather than useful endeavor.
I purpose to express myself candidly and earnestly on all topics
relating to health, and appeal to the common sense of the reader for
justification. Although it is my aim to simplify the work, and render it
a practical common-sense guide to the farmer, mechanic, mariner, and
day-laborer, yet I trust that it may not prove less acceptable to the
scholar, in its discussion of the problems of Life. Not only does the
method adopted in this volume of treating of the Functions of the Brain
and Nervous System present many new suggestions, in its application to
hygiene, the management of disease, generation and the development and
improvement of man, but the conclusions correspond with the results of
the latest investigations of the world's most distinguished _savants_.
My object is to inculcate the facts of science rather than the theories
of philosophy.
Unto us are committed important health trusts, which we hold, not merely
in our own behalf, but for the benefit of others. If we discharge the
obligations of our trusteeship, we shall enjoy present strength,
usefulness, and length of days; but if we fail in their performance,
then inefficiency, incapacity, and sickness, will follow, the sequel of
which is pain and death. Let us, then, prove worthy of this generous
commission, that we may enjoy the sweetest of all pleasures, the
delicious fruitage of honest toil and faithful obedience.
* * * * *
PART I.
PHYSIOLOGY.
CHAPTER I.
BIOLOGY.
In this chapter we propose to consider Life in its primitive
manifestations. _Biology_ is the science of living bodies, or the
science of life. Every organ of a living body has a function to perform,
and _Physiology_ treats of these functions.
_Function_ means the peculiar action of some particular organ or part.
There can be no vital action without change, and no change without
organs. Every living thing has a structure, and _Anatomy_ treats of the
structures of organized bodies. Several chapters of this work are
devoted to _Physiological Anatomy_, which treats of the human organism
and its functions.
The beginning of life is called _generation_; its perpetuation,
_reproduction_. By the former function, individual life is insured; by
the latter, it is maintained. Since nutrition sustains life, it has been
pertinently termed _perpetual reproduction_.
LATENT LIFE is contained in a small globule, a mere atom of matter, in
the sperm-cell. This element is something which, under certain
conditions, develops into a living organism. The entire realm of nature
teems with these interesting phenomena, thus manifesting that admirable
adjustment of internal to external relations, which claims our profound
attention. We are simply humble scholars, waiting on the threshold of
nature's glorious sanctuary, to receive the interpretation of her divine
mysteries.
Some have conjectured that chemical and physical forces account for all
the phenomena of life, and that organization is not the result of vital
forces. Physical science cannot inform us what the beginning was, or how
vitality is the result of chemical forces; nor can it tell us what
transmutations will occur at the end of organized existence. This
mysterious life-principle eludes the grasp of the profoundest
scientists, and its presence in the world will ever continue to be an
astonishing and indubitable testimony of Divine Power.
The physical act of generation is accomplished by the union of two
cells; and as this conjugation is known to be so generally indispensable
to the organization of life, we may fairly infer that it is a universal
necessity. Investigations with the microscope have destroyed the
hypothesis of "spontaneous generation." These show us that even the
minutest living forms are derived from a parent organization.
GENERATION. So long as the vital principle remains in the sperm-cell, it
lies dormant. That part of the cell which contains this principle is
called the _spermatozoön_, which consists of a flattened body, having a
long appendage tapering to the finest point. If it be remembered that a
line is the one-twelfth part of an inch in length, some idea may be
formed of the extreme minuteness of the body of a human spermatozoön,
when we state that it is from 1/800 to 1/600 part of a line, and the
filiform tail 1/50 of a line, in length. This life-atom, which can be
discerned only with a powerful magnifying glass, is perfectly
transparent, and moves about by executing a vibratile motion with its
long appendage. Within this speck of matter are hidden the multifarious
forces which, under certain favorable conditions, result in
organization. Magnify this infinitesimal atom a thousand times, and no
congeries of formative powers is perceived wherewith to work out the
wonders of its existence. Yet it contains the principle, which is the
contribution on the part of the male toward the generation of a new
being.
The _ovum_ or germ-cell, is the special contribution on the part of the
female for the production of another being. The human ovum, though
larger than the spermatozoön, is also extremely small, measuring not
more than from 1/20 to 1/10 of a line, or from 1/240 to 1/120 of an
inch, in diameter.
[Illustration: Fig. 1.
_A_. Human Spermatozoön magnified about 3,800 diameters.
_B_. Vertical and lateral views of spermatozoa of man.
_C, D, E, F._ Development of spermatozoa within the vesicles of evolution.
_G_. Cell of the sponge resembling a spermatozoön.
_H_. Vesicles of evolution from the seminal fluid of the dog in the parent cell
_I_. Single vesicles of different sizes.
_J_. Human spermatozoön forming in its cell.
_K_. Rupture of the cell and escape of the spermatozoön.
]
The sperm and the germ-cells contain the primary elements of all organic
structures, and both possess the special qualities and conditions by
which they may evolve organic beings. Every cell is composed of minute
grains, within which vital action takes place. The interior of a cell
consists of growing matter; the exterior, of matter which has assumed
its form and is less active.
When the vital principle is communicated to it, the cell undergoes a
rapid transformation. While this alteration takes place within the cell,
deteriorating changes occur in the cell-wall. Although vital operations
build up these structures, yet the animal and nervous functions are
continually disintegrating, or wasting, them.
Throughout the animal kingdom, germ-cells present the same external
aspect when carefully examined with the microscope. No difference can be
observed between the cells of the flowers of the oak and those of the
apple, but the cells of the one always produce oak trees, while those of
the other always produce apple trees. The same is true of the germs of
animals, there being not the slightest apparent difference. We are
unable to perceive how one cell should give origin to a dog, while
another exactly like it becomes a man. For aught we know, the ultimate
atoms of these cells are identical in physical character; at least we
have no means of detecting any difference.
SPECIES. The term species is generally used merely as a convenient name
to designate certain assemblages of individuals having various striking
points of resemblance. Scientific writers, as a rule, no longer hold
that what are usually called _species_ are constantly unvarying and
unchangeable quantities. Recent researches point to the conclusion that
_all species vary more or less_, and, in some instances, that the
variation is so great that the limits of general specific distinctness
are sometimes exceeded.
Our space will not permit us to do more than merely indicate the two
great fundamental ideas upon which the leading theories of the time
respecting the origin of species are based. These are usually termed the
doctrine of _Special Creation_ and the doctrine of _Evolution_.
According to the doctrine of Special Creation, it is thought that
species are practically immutable productions, each species having a
_specific centre_ where it was originally created, and from which it
spread over a certain area until its further progress was obstructed by
unfavorable conditions. The advocates of the doctrine of Evolution hold,
on the contrary, that species are not permanent and immutable, but that
they are subject to modification, and that "the existing forms of life
are descendants by true generation of pre-existing forms."[1] Most
naturalists are now inclined to admit the general truth of the theory of
evolution, but they differ widely respecting the mode in which it
occurred.
THE PROCESS OF GENERATION.
The vital _principle_, represented in the _sperm_-cell by a
spermatozoön, must be imparted to a _germ_-cell in order to effect
impregnation. After touching each other, separate them immediately, and
observe the result. If, with the aid of a powerful lens, we directly
examine the spermatozoön, it will be perceived that, for a short time,
it preserves its dimensions and retains all its material aspects. But it
does not long withstand the siege of decay, and, having fulfilled its
destiny, loses its organic characteristics, and begins to shrink.
If we examine the fertilized germ, we discover unusual activity, the
result of impregnation. Organic processes succeed one another with
wonderful regularity, as if wrought out by inexplicable intelligence.
Here begin the functions which constitute human physiology.
Generation requires that a spermatozoön be brought into actual contact
with a germ that fecundation may follow. If a spermatic cell, or
spermatozoön, together with several unimpregnated ova, no matter how
near to one another, if not actually touching, be placed on the concave
surface of a watch-crystal, and covered with another crystal, keeping
them warm, and even though the vapor of the ova envelops it, no
impregnation will occur. Place the spermatozoön in contact with an ovum,
and impregnation is instantly and perfectly accomplished. Should this
vitalizing power be termed nerve-force, electricity, heat, or motion? It
is known that these forces may be metamorphosed; for instance, nervous
force may be converted into electricity, electricity into heat, and heat
into motion, thus illustrating their affiliation and capability of
transformation. But nothing is explained respecting the real nature of
the vital principle, if we assert its identity with any of these forces;
for who can reveal the true nature of any of these, or even of matter?
ALTERNATE GENERATION.
In several insect families, the species is not wholly represented in the
adult individuals of both sexes, or in their development, but, to
complete this series, supplementary individuals, as it were, of one or
of several preceding generations, are required. The son may not resemble
the father, but the grandfather, and in some instances, the likeness
re-appears only in latter generations. Agassiz states: "Alternate
generation was first observed among the Salpae. These are marine
mollusks, without shells, belonging to the family Tunicata. They are
distinguished by the curious peculiarity of being united together in
considerable numbers so as to form long chains, which float in the sea,
the mouth(_m_) however being free in each.
[Illustration: Fig. 2. ]
[Illustration: Fig. 3. ]
"Fig. 2. The individuals thus joined in floating colonies produce eggs;
but in each animal there is generally but one egg formed, which is
developed in the body of the parent, and from which is hatched a little
mollusk.
"Fig. 3, which remains solitary, and differs in many respects from the
parent. This little animal, on the other hand, does not produce eggs,
but propagates, by a kind of budding, which gives rise to chains already
seen in the body of their parent(a), and these again bring forth
solitary individuals, etc."
It therefore follows that generation in some animals require? two
different bodies with intermediate ones, by means of which and their
different modes of reproduction, a return to the original stock is
effected.
UNIVERSALITY OF ANIMALCULAR LIFE.--Living organisms are universally
diffused over every part of the globe. The gentle zephyr wafts from
flower to flower invisible, fructifying atoms, which quicken beauty and
fragrance, giving the promise of a golden fruitage, to gladden and
nourish a dependent world. Nature's own sweet cunning invests all living
things constraining into her service chemical affinities, arranging the
elements and disposing them for her own benefit, in such numberless ways
that we involuntarily exclaim,
"The course of Nature is the art of God."
The microscope reveals the fact that matter measuring only 1/120000 of
an inch diameter may be endowed with vitality, and that countless
numbers of animalcules often inhabit a single drop of stagnant water.
These monads do not vary in form, whether in motion or at rest. The life
of one, even, is an inexplicable mystery to the philosopher. Ehrenberg
writes: "Not only in the polar regions is there an uninterrupted
development of active microscopic life, where larger animals cannot
exist, but we find that those minute beings collected in the Antarctic
expedition of Captain James Ross exhibit a remarkable abundance of
unknown, and often most beautiful forms."
Even the interior of animal bodies is inhabited by animalcules. They
have been found in the blood of the frog and the salmon, and in the
optic fluid of fishes. Organic beings are found in the interior of the
earth, into which the industry of the miner has made extensive
excavations, sunk deep shafts, and thus revealed their forms; likewise,
the smallest fossil organisms form subterranean strata many fathoms
deep. Not only do lakes and inland seas abound with life, but also, from
unknown depths, in volcanic districts, arise thermal springs which
contain living insects. Were we endowed with a microscopic eye, we might
see myriads of ethereal voyagers wafted by on every breeze, as we now
behold drifting clouds of aqueous vapor. While the continents of earth
furnishes evidences of the universality of organic beings, recent
observations prove that "animal life predominates amid the eternal night
of the depths of the liquid ocean."
THE ORIGIN OF LIFE.
The ancients, rude in many of their ideas, referred the origin of life
to divine determination. The thought was crudely expressed, but well
represented, in the following verse:
"Then God smites his hands together,
And strikes out a soul as a spark,
Into the organized glory of things.
From the deeps of the dark."
According to a Greek myth, Prometheus formed a human image from the dust
of the ground, and then, by fire stolen from heaven, animated it with a
living soul. Spontaneous generation once held its sway, and now the idea
of natural evolution is popular. Some believe that the inpenetrable
mystery of life is evolved from the endowments of nature, and build
their imperfect theory on observations of her concrete forms and their
manifestations, to which all our investigations are restricted. But
every function indicates purpose, every organism evinces intelligent
design, and _all_ proclaim a Divine Power. Something cannot come out of
nothing. With reason and philosophy, _chance_ is an impossibility. We,
therefore, accept the display of wisdom in nature as indicative of the
designs of God. Thus "has He written His claims for our profoundest
admiration and homage all over every object that He has made." If you
ask: Is there any advantage in considering the phenomena of nature as
the result of DIVINE VOLITION? we answer, that this belief corresponds
with the universally acknowledged ideas of accountability; for, with a
wise, and efficient Cause, we infer there is an intelligent creation,
and the desire to communicate, guide and bless, is responded to by man,
who loves, obeys, and enjoys. Nothing is gained by attributing to nature
vicegerent forces. Is it not preferable to say that she responds to
intelligent, loving Omnipotence? Our finiteness is illustrated by our
initiation into organized being. Emerging from a rayless atom, too
diminutive for the sight, we gradually develop and advance to the
maturity of those _conscious powers_, the exercise of which furnishes
indubitable evidence of our immortality. We are pervaded with invisible
influences, which, like the needle of the compass trembling on its
pivot, point us to immortality as our ultimate goal, where in the sunny
clime of Love, even in a spiritual realm of joy and happiness, we may
eternally reign with Him who is all in all.
* * * * *