TREATMENT OF DISEASES. ITl 



at my tongue. If it -^vas not perfectly clean and moist I should not consider 

 mj'self perfectly healthy, nor perfectly sane, and would postpone my proceed- 

 ings in the hope that my worldly prospects would get brighter. What does a 

 physician discover by looking at the tongue? Many things. The tongue sym- 

 pathizes with every trifling ailment of body or mind, and more especially with 

 the state of the stomach. That thin, whitish layer (fur) all over the surface, 

 indicates indigestion. A patchy tongue {i. e., the fur in patches) shows that the 

 stomach is very much out of order indeed. A yellow tongue points to bilious- 

 ness. A creamy, shivering, thick, indented tongue, tells of pre\ious excesses; 

 and I do not like my friends to wear such tongues, for I sincerely believe that 

 real comfort can not be secured in this world by any one who does not keep hi^ 

 feet warm, his head cool, and his tongue clean." 



Remarks. — That we may know what further the tongue may teach us w^ 

 will give the "Synopsis of a Paper read before the Eclectic Medical Associa- 

 tion of Ohio, by Prof. John M. Scudder, of the Eclectic Medical Institute oi 

 Cincinnati," and published by him in the Eclectic Medical Journal, of which he 

 is the editor and proprietor. The paper was prepared to explain, and does 

 fairly explain, the leading point, or basis upon which " Specific Medication" is 

 established or founded, and that is, the indication for treatment as shown by 

 the condition of the tongue, or " What the Tongue Tells Us," as shown in our 

 first heading above. And although it is quite lengthy, yet as it contains so 

 much valuable information for those who may desire to take care of themselves 

 and their families, I think it best to give the full synopsis as ho 

 gave it in the Journal, Vol. XXXI., pages 425-8, under the head of 

 "Specific Medication," but as it relates largely to what the tongue teaches or 

 shows us, I will head it accordingly. 



2. The Tongue, the Condition of the System Shown by it, 

 and the Remedy their Conditions Call for.— After the preliminary 

 business of the association was completed, he addressed them as follows: 



Gentlemen: — At the last meeting of the State Society I was requested to 

 prepare a paper on Specific jVIedication, which should serve as a basis for a dis- 

 cussion in this new departure (as it has been called) in medicine. 



I do not propose, in doing this, to occupy much of your time in details, but 

 rather to present the principles upon which specific or direct medication rests. 



It will be well for us, first, to think for a moment (if it is possible for us to 

 realize it) what an un-specific or indirect medication is. It means that we never 

 oppose remedies directly to processes of disease, but, on the contrary, influence 

 diseased action in a roundabout, indirect, and uncertain manner. 



As examples — We violently excite the intestinal canal with cathartics to 

 arrest disease of the brain, the lungs, the kidneys, or other distant parts. Or it 

 is possible that we confine our mmistration first to the gastric sac (stomach), 

 then follow with potent cathartics. In order, we excite the skin and the kidneys 

 in the same manner. This not sutficing, we counter irritate with rubefacients, 

 blisters, etc., and so far as possible keep up an influence counter to the disease, 

 by unpleasant, nauseating and irritant medicines. 



Whatever may be said in favor of such a practice, and how fine-so-ever the 

 theories in reference to it may be spun, it is based upon the idea that two dis- 

 eases can not exist in the body at the same time, and if the medicines are sufli- 

 ciently potent their action will surely be the strongest — and the disease will stop 

 — lea\ang the patient to recover slowly from the influence of the medicines. 



