Another letter to a young physician : to which are appended some other medical papers / by James Jackson.

  • Jackson, James, 1777-1867.
Date:
1861
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Another letter to a young physician : to which are appended some other medical papers / by James Jackson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    the very commencement of a disease that there is the best chance of arresting, or mitigating it by treatment. Patients have sometimes said to me that they had not sent for me a day, or a week sooner, because they did not know what was the matter with them, or how the disease was brought about. To this I have replied by asking if your house were on fire, would you delay calling for the firemen, till you found out how and where the fire originated? In truth the ignorance on the part of the patient, as to the nature of the disease and its cause, should be regarded as the best reason for asking a physician's advice without delay. The other principle is that when medicinal drugs cannot be employed with benefit, medical treatment may nevertheless be very useful. It is by hygienic treatment that the sick may be relieved, in many instances, especially when em- ployed in the first stage of disease. In truth the wisest course for a sick man, who can have re- course to a physician, in whom he has confidence, is to call for professional aid as soon as he finds himself sick ; — and this, all the more, if he does not understand his own case. Having called his physician, the patient should submit himself to his control entirely, allowing him to delay any