158  Gleanings  from  the  Medical  Journals.  {AmMa0rch1?8h98rm• 
GLEANINGS  FROM  THE  MEDICAL  JOURNALS. 
By  Clement  b.  Lowe,  M..D. 
EXPERENTIA  FALLAX. 
Under  the  above  title  a  very  interesting  article  by  H.  D.  Didama, 
M.D  ,  is  published  in  the  Philad.  Med.  Jour.,  January  15,  1898. 
The  author  rapidly  and  forcibly  sketches  the  rise  and  reign  of  bleed- 
ing as  an  almost  universal  remedy.  In  speaking  of  the  sway  which 
it  exercised  over  the  most  eminent  practitioners  of  the  age  he  says : 
"  The  truth  is,  these  eminent  men  had  never  tested — never  dared  to 
test — any  other  form  of  treatment.  They  had  walked  so  long  in 
the  good  old  road  that  their  honest  inertia  could  only  be  overcome 
by  the  "  brute  force,"  as  Virchow  expresses  it,  of  indisputable  facts 
ascertained  by  repeated  control-experiments.  These  facts  having 
been  furnished  and  submitted  to  a  successful  cross-examination,  the 
gyves  of  the  venerated  experience  were  broken,  and  the  illustrious 
captives  frankly  abandoned  their  prejudice,  sheathed  their  lancets, 
and  led  their  disciples  into  the  new  and  bloodless  pathway." 
*  *  -x-  *  *  *  * 
A  voluminous  library  would  be  required  to  contain  the  quotations 
which  might  be  made  from  books,  ancient  and  modern,  showing 
that  a  great  multitude  of  wise  and  illustrious  medical  authorities 
and  their  faithful  disciples,  from  the  dawn  of  history,  have  regarded 
alcohol,  if  not  a  panacea,  certainly  an  indispensable  help  in  the 
management  of  many  or  most  diseases.  And  this  unanimity  of 
opinion  and  assurance  of  faith  was  founded  on  the  inerrant  testi- 
mony of  experience.  Indeed  the  large  majority  of  eminent  medical 
authorities  and  teachers  still  advocate  the  use  of  alcohol  as  the  best 
of  all  stimulants,  and  appeal  to  their  own  clinical  observations  as 
ample  justification  of  their  practice.  The  less  eminent  members  of 
the  profession,  the  compilers  of  books,  and  the  busy  practitioners 
simply  follow  their  leaders  without  investigation  and  without 
question. 
Regarding  the  action  of  alcohol  and  its  value  in  the  treatment  of 
disease,  a  great  diversity  of  opinion  exists  in  the  profession.  Many 
eminent  physicians,  and  the  number  seems  to  be  increasing  here 
and  abroad,  from  caieful  study  and  experiment,  and  from  a  pro- 
longed disuse  of  the   drug  as  a  beverage  or  a  medicine,  have 
