Perfect Drugs
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Before
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Perfect Drugs |
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Before
the FDA: Quack Cures to Medicine Shows
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Drug Advertising | ||||||
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Glossary
of Terms Honorary - Any doctor who worked for free for several hours per week at a public hospital. It gave a doctor a philanthropic reputation, valuable experience and a wide range of patients, and in turn gave the poor access to good quality health care. Electrotherapy - any form of treatment in the nineteenth century which used either galvanic or faradic currents to stimulate muscle action or produce heat. Massage - any series of rubbings or manipulation of the skin and muscles, practised by a masseur or masseuse. Leeching - the application of medicinal leeches to remove swelling, congestion, or 'excess of blood'. See also bloodletting. Allopathy - philosophy of medical treatment which cures using opposites, i.e. a fever is treated with a substance in large or small quantities that will reduce the symptoms. Homoeopathy/Homeopathy - philosophy of medical treatment which cures using similars, i.e. a fever is treated with minute quantities of a substance that will duplicate the symptoms. Hydropathy - originally, treatment using water externally and internally to cure illness. Could consist of drinking spa waters or mineral waters, hot and cold baths, showers and jets of water. Systematised by Priessnitz in the early 1800s. Hydrotherapy - modern version of hydropathy, emphasising the value of water as an agency for producing warmth and action in muscles without strain. Accoucheur - midwife, person who delivers babies. Acetopathy - 'the acid cure'. Baunscheidtism - a counterirritation practice involving scarification. Gustav Baunscheidt, a German mechanic, invented a scarifying instrument and introduced it to the world at the Great Exhibition of London in 1851. A spring-loaded plunger drove a cluster of needles into an irritated portion of skin, which was then rubbed with a few drops of "Baunscheidt's Oil," a special balm sold in two grades, "Genuine" and"Imitation." Counterirritation treatment was a popular procedure in the second half of the 19th century, and generally found itself in the gray area between legitimate medicine and quackery. Blood-letting: The medical principle behind bloodletting in the 18th and 19th centuries was to reduce a 'plethora' or overabundance of blood in the body. This is related to the belief in the four humours as determinants of health, which appears to have originated in ancient Greece and was very popular in the medieval period also. Bloodletting in the reign of scientific medicine, however, was carried out for different reasons - to reduce inflammation, swelling or congestion in a particular area. faradism: Named after Michael Faraday (1791-1867). Faraday formulated the law of electromagnetic induction, whereby a changing magnetic field induces an electric field. Chinese Medicine - covers a wide range of medical practices, including herbalism, acupuncture, and spiritual healing, all of which were practised, sometimes in combination with Western medicine, in nineteenth century Australia by Chinese practitioners. Clairvoyance, medical - a technique sometimes used for diagnosis and sometimes for healing. The patient would bring or post an item such as a handkerchief or lock of hair for the clairyovant to touch and diagnose accordingly. Dermatology - in nineteenth century Australia, any treatment involving the skin as a vehicle for medicinal treatment. Dispensing Chemist - a chemist who made up prescriptions and sold them. Eclecticism - school of medical philosophy based loosely on trying a wide range of competing modalities, based on their efficiency in individual cases. Herbalism/Botanic medicine - a modality which emphasised cures for illnesses to be found in their natural state in herbs and plants, rather than in processed and refined products. Locum tenens - a doctor or assistant who undertook another doctor's practice in his absence, by arrangement. Oculist - eye doctor of any description. Magnetism - 'animal magnetism' is a nineteenth century term for mesmerism, or hypnosis. Phrenology - system of character delineation based upon measurement of the skull and the location of various 'bumps' on the skull, each corresponding to a virtue or vice. Consumption - generally pulmonary tuberculosis, but can be used for any 'wasting sickness'. Dropsy - any abnormal accumulation of fluid in the cellular tissues or in a body cavity. Could be used to refer to any disease involving abnormal swelling. Female Irregularity - euphemism for a number of conditions, from unplanned pregnancy to irregular menstruation or dysmenhorrea (painful periods). Gout - condition that causes sudden, severe episodes of pain and tenderness, redness, warmth, and swelling (inflammation) in some joints. After a number of years, if not treated, the development of persistent swelling, stiffness, and mild to moderate pain. In the nineteenth century, gout was thought to be partly hereditary and partly inflamed by rich diet and alcohol. Lumbago - term used to describe any form of lower back pain. Manly Vigour - virility/male sexual potency. Nervous Debility - condition thought to be caused by excessive masturbation or noctural emissions. Rheumatics - term used to describe any form of pain in the bones or joints, particularly if it is chronic. Rupture/Hernia - an abnormal opening through the muscles of the abdominal wall, which allows the intestines to escape, causing a bulge often visible through the skin from outside the body. Sciatica - term used to describe any form of stabbing back pain which extends to the legs. Scrofula(King's Evil): very common form of tuberculosis in the nineteenth century, consisting of enlarged rubbery lymph nodes in the neck, which were not painful, and often drained onto the skin of the neck via the sinus tracts. Before antibiotics offered a reliable way to treat tuberculosis it could be a very chronic infection, lasting for years. During the middle ages it was popularly believed that the touch of the king could cure scrofula, hence, King's Evil. Venereal Diseases - any diseases which are sexually transmissible and which generally affect the genito-urinary organs. Tincture: medicine made by adding powdered herbs, roots, bark or plants to diluted alcohol, usually whiskey or brandy. This was then set aside for a week, and frequently shaken. Tinctures formed the basis of much homeopathic treatment. Infusion: medicine made by pouring boiling water over the substance, as if making tea. When the substance had infused, honey or sugar could be added to conceal the taste. Decoctions: medicine made by simmering a bruised herb or plant in water for a time, to extract the essence. Formentations: a cloth steeped in hot water and applied to a sore place or wound. Popular treatment for boils. Herbal formentations worked in the same way as other formentations, but used herbs steeped in hot water, sometimes with vinegar added. Cloth dipped in the water was wrung out and applied. (These definitions were taken from http://www.tld.jcu.edu.au/hist/quack/glossary.html) |
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| Site by: Kendra Marie Young. [youngk@grinnell.edu]. All photos courtesy of the National Library of Medicine | ||