Specific medication and specific medicines / by John M. Scudder.

  • Scudder, John M. (John Milton), 1829-1894.
Date:
1870
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Specific medication and specific medicines / by John M. Scudder. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    agree with diseased action, but simply because they have been previously used with reputed good suc- cess. It is, in fact, pure empiricism. The old dog- ma of phlogosis and antiphlogistics, and the new doctrine of impaired vitality and restorative medi- cation, guides the empirical use of remedies in the one or other direction. THE ADMINISTKATION OF MEDICINES. We may lay it down as an axiom, from which it is never safe to depart, that—No medicine should be given, unless the pathological condition and the indica- tions for its use are clearly defined. It is much better to employ a placebo, than run the risk of doing harm by medication. Good nursing is an essential element in the suc- cessful practice of medicine, and always requires direction by the physician; keeping the stomach in good condition for the reception of food and medi- cine, is of first importance, and requires attention. Following this is the selection of proper food, its preparation, and the time for its administration. These alone very well repay the careful attention and thought of the physician, even if he can not see an indication for the employment of remedies. When we recollect that the cause of disease is always depressing, and a source of constant renewal, we will see that the removal of the cause from the patient or the patient from the cause, or the antag- onism of remedies to remove the cause, is a proper