Several years ago when I practiced in the country I had to have three horses to do my business. There was no veterinary surgeon in that part of the state so I often had to prescribe for some of the common ailments of animals. One winter we had an epidemic of “pink eye” among the horses; a severe cough was one of the principle symptoms. For that cough I prescribed Tr. Veratrum Viride, ten drops on the feed three times a day. This seemed to be the remedy needed, for it cured the cough.
We have a cat in our family we think a great deal of. One cold night this winter the cat wandered away from the house. In the morning he came home with a bad cold, core throat. He would cough and sneeze like a human being. The glands of his throat seemed to be swollen; he could not swallow any solid food. Mrs. Jones gave him Kali Mur. 3d x in a little warm milk every two hours. In a few days with the above remedy the cat was well.
We have had in our family a dog at different times. They sometimes get indigestion and vomit up their food. The wife would give the dog Nux Vomica 3d x, three tablets every three hours. One or two doses would settle the stomach.
Our grandson had some rabbits. One of them had hurt his spine in some way. He would have spells when the head would be drawn back towards the spine. Of course that indicated Natrum sulph. 6th x, and that remedy was given, three tablets every three hours. It seemed to be the remedy indicated for it helped the animal.
I had a letter from Dr. Edith N. Parsons, De Land, Florida. She has a “chicken farm” of several hundred chickens. She says; “Sore head and croup are classed together as incurable. When it first appeared three days ago in my flock I had to kill them. It is a terrible disease. Large sores appear about the head, often causing blindness if about the eyes; if not well feathered, will appear about the body. The smell is indescribable.
“My first cure was with Baptisia; cured in ten days without any external treatment. (Carbolic acid ointment is usually prescribed.) I added Thuja with a cure in five days. As this seems hereditary, from the parent flock, I gave Baptisia and Thuja in the drinking water to a flock of fifty who have been so far free from it. This flock will net me about dollar 75, so you see I get good interest on my investment indefinite medication”.
In a letter from Dr.J.W. Heuger, West Point, Miss., he says a brother physician of the regular school asked him to prescribe for his wife. She had been confined and her bladder became infected; her suffering was intense. He had exhausted all agents within his knowledge and as a dernier resort was giving her chloroform to keep her from having convulsions. From his description of her case I sent him:.
Ex Mercurius Cor. 3d x 3 1/1.
Tr. Cantharis gtts. V.
Aqua z3 1/IV.
Mix. Sig. A teaspoonful every hour for three hours. In three hours she was completely relieved. Dr.Heuger is graduate of the regular school, but is a broad-minded liberal man, who wants the best there is in medicine. He has the confidence of his brother physicians. When they have any difficult cases they go to him for advice.
A prominent physician writes me from Mississippi that “they regard Dr. Heuger as an encyclopaedia of medicine”.
It sometimes happens that we need a quick stimulant. The oil of Monarda Punctata (Horsemint), is a pure, active stimulant of a diffusible character. A few drops on the tongue will produce a stimulation that will be felt at the tips of the fingers. It is stimulant to the heart and nervous system and takes the place of alcoholic stimulants. The dose of the oil is from one to five drops.
In nasal catarrh (chronic) when a patient for many months has one cold after another, there was persistent sneezing, a constant inclination to blow the nose, and a profuse watery secretion, which, when lying down conditionally ran from posterior nares, The remedy indicated was Tr. Euphrasia (Eye bright), five drops every two hours. It cured the patient in a short time. A red. watery condition of the eyes is a strong indication for this remedy. We must not forget Euphrasia in “snuffles” of children: give ten drops of the Tr. Euphrasia in half a glass of water; give one teaspoonful every fifteen minutes until relieved.
For constipation in little children you may prescribe Podophyllum 2d x, 30 grs. in half a glass of water, a teaspoonful three times a day.
In cases where the muscles beneath the skin have been severely lacerated, torn and bruised., apply Tr. Arnica, one part to five parts of warm, fresh, sweet milk, keeping the application warm, covered with protective dressing and renew the dressing every two hours. You will get good results from above treatment. As the “National Clinic” is now conducted, it would seem that surgery is very much in the limelight. It gives the surgeon an opportunity to exploit himself and parade his superior knowledge before the general practitioner. In what way is homoeopathy the gainer by that king of clinic?.
One great fault I have to find with homoeopathy is that they have not been frank with the public; they have not taken the public into their confidence and told them what they can do for them when they are sick. You may have a good thing, but the public will never know it unless you tell them about it. Some of the draggles healers combine together in a city or town and buy a space in the daily papers, telling what they can do for the sick. All this is educating the public to do without any medicine at all.
We as a profession should awake to the fact that the Drugless Healers are crowding hard upon the heels of the profession. It is a crisis in our profession and we must realize the danger. We as a profession have got to do more for the sick than ever before if we except to hold the confidence of the public. The demand of the present day from the public is not for surgeons (God knows we have enough of them), but there is a crying need all over our country for medical men who are fitted to heal the sick.
There is a demand for the old family physician who was in his day prepared to meet any emergency that might arise in the family. He was a “tower of strength” in the sick room, a “friend in need.” The people learned to love him for they had confidence in his judgment. They went to him with all their troubles.
He was a “father confessor” for the community. I can see our old family doctor as if it was but yesterday. In his two-wheeled chaise and his ever present pipe. Let us hope and pray that the day may come when the old family physician will “come into his own,” when he will be prepared to meet any emergency that may arise in the family circle.
God bless the old family doctor. May his shadow never grow less. After lifes fitful dream he will live in the hearts of the people, for the suffering he has relieved, for the lives he has saved.
