46 Kansas Academy of Science. 



We all recognize the importance of the science of chemistry to the 

 geologist, the botanist, the physicist or mineralogist, as well as to the 

 physician and the student in home economics. It is only by the study of 

 chemistry alongside of these other sciences that the students have gone 

 into the world with a fully rounded knowledge of their special subjects. 



What has chemistry wrought in the last fifty years? It has assisted 

 in transforming a treeless plain into a garden of luxurious abundance. 

 It has been the handmaid of the farmer, of the miner, of the dairyman, 

 of the horticulturist and the manufacturer in developing the latent re- 

 sources of the state of Kansas. 



The Early History of Medicine. 



J. M. McWhaef. 



In the brief time allotted a paper of this character, I can but touch 

 some of the high points. Medicine is one of the most noble of all arts, 

 but through ignorance on the part of many who enter this field it is to- 

 day far behind all other arts. Physicians are many in title, but few in 

 reality. A student of medicine must bring love to the task of labor and 

 perseverance, so that instructions received may take root and bring forth 

 proper and abundant fruits. He must have a true knowledge of medi- 

 cine, that he may become an esteemed physician in name and reality. 



The evolution of medicine from its primitive stage to the present 

 moment presents many fascinating and ludicrous sides. 



It would be a pleasure to enter in detail upon the subject matter, but 

 time prevents such consideration. Medicine has been divided into three 

 periods or ages. First, the mythological; second, the dogmatical or em- 

 pirical; third, the rational. The mythological age began with the human 

 race, coming on down through the centuries to 400 years B c. This was 

 followed by the dogmatical or empirical age, which continued to the close 

 of the eighteenth century a. d., with the death of the Brunonian system. 



Here the rational system of medicine enters the field, and Hippocra- 

 tes has the credit of being the father of this system. To-day we look 

 upon the teaching of Hippocrates as rational empricism. Long before 

 the birth of philosophy there appeared an order of priest-physicians, 

 cultured by the Asclepiadea, who traced their origin to a mythical per- 

 sonage known as Esculapius. They created temples of health in which 

 they placed their patients, who on entering the temple must undergo 

 purification, bathing or friction, followed by fomentation with odorifer- 

 ous herbs. Then came a period of total abstinence of food, followed by 

 permission to eat the flesh of animals that were brought to the temple 

 for sacrifice. Religious ceremonies with music were used. In fact, any- 

 thing and everything to play upon imagination. The asclepia or hospital 

 was as a rule located near a spring, the water of which possessed medic- 

 inal properties. Primeval man was powerless with this medical armament 

 to battle against the ravages of an epidemic like the black death of the 

 fourteenth century, which claimed in China alone thirteen million. The 

 human race for centuries have struggled against influences that were an- 



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