The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser in Plain English or, Medicine Simplified, 54th ed., One Million, Six Hundred and Fifty Thousand (part 7 of 8)
Your ever true friend, B., Blountville, Sullivan Co., Tenn.
CASE 22,511. IMPOTENCY.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Dear Sirs--Accept my thanks for the great benefit received from your treatment. I never thought I could be so fully restored.
G., Peru, Ind.
CASE 450,422. SPERMATORRHEA, SEMINAL DEBILITY, MUSCULAR RHEUMATISM. CURED WITH SIX MONTHS' TREATMENT.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Gentlemen--I am thankful to say that, as the result of the six months' treatment you have given me, that I am cured of my trouble. Since the beginning of the treatment the losses became less and less frequent, and now I am entirely relieved, and desire to return my sincerest thanks to you for the good you have done and the kind attention that you gave me.
Sincerely yours, G., Milverton, Ont.
CASE 48,927. NERVOUS DEBILITY AND IMPOTENCY.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Dear Sirs--My head is clear and I feel like myself again, and now only wish that the money I spent for useless medicines and experimenting doctors, had at once found its way to you. By recommending you to others suffering as I did, I hope to assist in your honorable work. For my restoration to health and manhood, I am deeply grateful.
Truly yours, B., Philadelphia, Pa.
CASE 154,136. SEMINAL WEAKNESS.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.: Gentlemen--I see no further use in continuing your medicines, as I now feel perfectly well and the emissions have stopped entirely. I used to feel dizzy, exhausted, and irritable on arising in the morning, but now I feel nothing of the kind.
Respectfully, K., Johnstown, Pa.
CASE 175,391. SPERMATORRHEA, WITH SYMPTOMS OF BRIGHT'S DISEASE AND TORPID LIVER.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Gentlemen--When I applied to you for treatment, although a man of apparently perfect health, yet I was subject to an exhausting drain, and felt myself gradually declining in vigor of intellect and constitution. The five months' treatment that you have sent me has effected a very remarkable change in my health. My kidneys (which had troubled me so that I feared Bright's disease) and torpid liver have become natural, and I feel like a new man. The only precaution I now take is not to sleep on my back; and I feel that I am cured. I send you the names of some other patients, and close by saying that I thank you sincerely for the cure, and the great benefit in my health that has resulted from your treatment.
M., Manhattan, Kans.
CASE 110,837, STRICTURE AND SPERMATORRHEA.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Gentlemen--My seminal trouble was cured long since, and I had forgotten it. Your medicines relieved me of that in a short time, and I am satisfied that it will cure the worst cases in a few weeks. I am also satisfied that you and your faculty accomplish more in the healing art than any other in the country, and I cannot say too much in recommendation of your institution. I have tried your institution, and have found your words true in every sense, and take pleasure in authorizing you to use my name in any way to suit yourself. My appetite is good, and I have no pain or trouble whatever. The neuralgia in the lungs, the tough phlegm, weakness, etc., have all disappeared.
A.
CASE 111,571. SPERMATORRHEA.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.: Gentlemen--Under the influence of your last course of medicine my health has improved so greatly that I feel any further treatment to be unnecessary. My health is better now than at any other period for years. The night emissions have ceased entirely, I not having had one now for many months. I feel better in every way.
Respectfully, P. Pittsburgh, Pa.
CASE 57,757. LOST SEXUAL POWER REGAINED.
[EXTRACT FROM LETTER.]
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Gentlemen--While taking your medicine I labored physically. I am cheerful, hopeful, joyous, glad, and grateful for my restoration to sound and vigorous health. My friends daily express surprise at the great change in my personal appearance, and declare that I appear younger than I did fifteen years ago. I always reply that I obtained my new lease of life from the World's Dispensary Medical Association, Buffalo, N.Y.
With sincere gratitude and great respect, I subscribe myself W., Canyon City, Grant Co., Oregon.
CASE 3,508. SEMINAL AND NERVOUS DEBILITY OF THIRTY YEARS' STANDING. CURED IN TWO MOUTHS.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: My kind Benefactors--Inclosed find the case of my daughter-in-law, whom I desire you to treat, believing that you can cure her. I feel assured that if you fail in the cure of her case, now so chronic, that no human skill will be of benefit.
Some four or five years ago you treated me for general debility and premature decay, with severe attacks of vertigo. The first month's medicines, which were sent by express, effected a relief of my case. Owing to the long standing of my trouble (twenty-five or thirty years), I concluded to continue the treatment another month. My order was promptly filled by mail. By these two months' treatment I was perfectly cured, my whole system renovated and invigorated. I have been repeatedly asked what I had been doing to cause such an improvement in my personal appearance, and activity, for an old man. With profound gratitude, adding love,
I am your obedient servant, W., Rusk, Texas.
CASE 250,336. SPERMATORRHEA; LOSS OF STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS OF MEMORY. CURED WITH SEVEN MONTHS' TREATMENT.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Gentlemen--I have not taken any medicine since last December, at which time I had closed the seventh months' treatment. I am happy to say that, as a result, my mind is clear and easy. I am steadily gaining in strength, and feel better than I have for many years, and owe it all to your treatment and advice. I hope you will live long and prosper, and continue to dispense a balm for suffering humanity. I will close by giving your faculty my greatest devotion and sincere thanks, and hope success will crown your business.
W., Pickens, Miss.
CASE 82,127. SPERMATORRHEA.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.: Gentlemen--Your last month's treatment has entirely cured me. I have been married three weeks and am happy, thanks to your unexampled skill.
B., Blackberry, Kane Co., Ill.
CASE 88,736. SPERMATORRHEA.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.: Gentlemen--Sure enough I am well, and I desire to thank you for your medical skill. My strength is very greatly increased, my digestion and appetite are perfect. I sleep well and awake refreshed, and, in fact, feel better every way. My eyesight, which was weak, is wonderfully improved, and my physical condition is now perfect in every way. All the emissions have ceased.
Respectfully, B., Fayette, Howard Co., Mo.
CASE 144,241. SEMINAL DEBILITY. CURED WITH FOUR MONTHS' TREATMENT.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Gentlemen--I am happy to say that your treatment, which I have taken four months, has effected a radical cure of my trouble, and you are at liberty to use my name and address as a reference. Your treatment has effected a cure in my case.
Very truly yours, M., Trout Creek, N.Y.
CASE 71,250. SPERMATORRHEA OF THIRTEEN YEARS' STANDING.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.: Gentlemen--I can honestly say, as the result of your treatment, that I feel better now than at any time previous for years. My disease is under complete control, and I have no fear of any further trouble in that direction. In a word, I feel that I am cured and well; and you may rest assured that I shall take great pains to avoid in the future the cause that brought me to my former condition. I am, indeed, thankful to you, as your treatment has made it possible for me to lead a better life, and effectually to resist those passions which so long dominated over me.
I remain, very respectfully yours, H, Council Bluffs, Iowa
CASE 142,842. SPERMATORRHEA CURED.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.: Gentlemen--it is with great thankfulness to you that I pen these few lines. I am to-day a strong and healthy man, which I never would have been but for your kind and skillful attention. My health was completely broken down by the effects of self-abuse, and I doctored with other physicians for two years, but with no success. However, after a few months of your treatment I find my health fully restored. I am now in a condition to enjoy the world and take comfort wherever I am; in a word, I am "a man among men." I most cordially invite all persons requiring skillful medical treatment to apply to the World's Dispensary.
M., Fredericville, Mich.
CASE 174,937. SPERMATOZOA. THREATENED WITH IMPOTENCY.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Gentlemen--I finished your three months' course of treatment some weeks ago, and am glad to say that I am a well man. A thousand thanks to you.
K., Warm Springs, Mont. Ter.
CASE 52,272. SEMINAL DEBILITY. LOSS OF MANHOOD. GENERAL WEAKNESS FROM EXCESSES.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Dear Sirs--I took your medicines according to directions, and I feel that I am fully restored to health and the enjoyment of my manly powers. My health is better than it has been for years, and is improving all the time. The headache and dizziness have entirely left me. You have my honest recommendations to all sufferers.
Thankfully yours, M., Hudson, N.Y.
CASE 44,573. IMPOTENCY.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Dear Sirs--As a result of your three months' treatment, I am feeling better than I have for twenty years,--more of a man in every way.
S., Prairie Star, Neb.
CASE 56,811. NERVOUS DEBILITY. AFFECTION OF SEVERAL YEARS' STANDING, PERMANENTLY CURED BY ONE MONTH'S TREATMENT.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Dear Sirs--Five years have elapsed since my case was cured by you with one month's treatment. Since that time I have not had the first symptom of the disease. I know I am cured.
Yours with thanks, C., Kalamazoo, Mich.
CASE 175,579. EMISSIONS, YELLOW COMPLEXION, BLACK HEADS AND ERUPTIONS ON THE FACE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION:, Gentlemen--I am happy to say that I have not used all of the last month's medicine. The five months' treatment that I have had from you has effected my entire cure. I have had no losses for many weeks, and my complexion is restored to its natural clearness and purity. The black heads and pimples have all disappeared.
K., Neillsville, Wis.
CASE 21,437. IMPOTENCY.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Dear Sirs--I have, as a result of your treatment, been more of a man than before in six years. I have felt, worked, and eaten better than ever before. My strength is in every way fully restored.
C., Jordanville, N.Y.
CASE 38,005. IMPOTENCY.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Dear Sirs--When I first wrote you I had given up all hope of ever getting well. I had not worked for two years. I had not been under your treatment three months before I went to work, and have been at it ever since. I gain every day.
C., Hinsdale, N.H.
CASE 53,578. SPERMATORRHEA. GREAT LOSS OF STRENGTH AND FLESH, APPETITE REGULAR, SOMETIMES RAVENOUS AND THEN VERY POOR. INTELLECT AND MEMORY MUCH ENFEEBLED, THE RESULT OF LOSSES THROUGH THE URINE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Gentlemen--The condition of my health is highly satisfactory, thank Heaven and you as the instrument. It has often been a cause of astonishment to me, to think now admirably your medicines controlled my cage; it seems wonderful even now. I say, with all my heart, God bless your noble work, for the cure of my disease and perfect restoration of my health and strength.
A., Shongo, Allegany Co., N.Y.
CASE 52,920. SPERMATORRHEA, RESULTING IN DYSPEPSIA AND HEART DISEASE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Gentlemen--I am gratified to be able to report my cure. My case was a severe one, the insidious drain upon my system producing general debility, attacks of severe palpitation of the heart, and obstinate dyspepsia. Since using your medicines, I have been cured of these troubles. I have no palpitation, digestion good, not easily worried, able to work hard without undue fatigue, strength greatly increased. My weight is now 163. I am thankful to God and to you for the evidence of my final cure.
Yours devotedly, R.
CASE 51,002. SPERMATORRHEA. RHEUMATIC PAINS, GENERAL LOSS OF MEMORY, STRENGTH, MANLINESS, AND INTELLECTUAL POWER.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Dear Sirs--When I sent to you for medicines, I little expected the remarkable benefit that has resulted. The rheumatic pains that have so long troubled me, ceased within a week. I am now able to attend to my business with my former ability and energy. You have my gratitude for the cure effected in my case.
Very respectfully, P., Bloomington, Ill.
CASE 146,406. SPERMATORRHEA, WITH DYSPEPSIA, CATARRH, AND BACKACHE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Gentlemen--I am happy to say that as a result of five months' treatment, the weakness of my urinary and generative organs has been entirely relieved. My catarrh is so much better. The difficulty in the head is now gone, and I have no discomfort. The weakness in the back, and pain in the kidneys, has all left me, and I rest well at night. There are now no unnatural discharges, and I am happy to say that your medicines have effected such a change in my condition that now I continue to improve all the time.
D., Medusa, N.Y.
CASE 52,121. SPERMATORRHEA. SYMPTOMS: DIURNAL AND NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS, LOSS OF SEXUAL POWER AND WASTING OF THE ORGANS, GENERAL DEPRESSION AND EMACIATION. MOST SEVERE FORM OF THE DISEASE. CURE WITH THREE MONTHS' TREATMENT.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Dear Sirs--I have waited several months and find my cure perfect and permanent. Thanks to you my health and manhood have been perfectly restored, and I am as fat as a bullock.
S., Millbrook, Ont.
CASE 4,100. SPERMATORRHEA. ENTIRELY BROKEN DOWN.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Gentlemen--Over eight years ago I visited you at your office this present month, very melancholy and thinking perhaps that in six months I would be lying in my cold and silent grave, and now I am strong and healthy. I never was so healthy in my life. Am married, and we have two of the nicest children you ever saw. I am the happiest man in town, and hope to ever be so. My sickness was contracted through ignorance and self-abuse. I am glad to say that I have had a permanent cure, and thank God. I feel grateful to you and thank you kindly.
Yours very truly, L., Barnes' Corners, N.Y.
CASE 52,004. EMISSIONS. LOSS OF WEIGHT, STRENGTH, AND MENTAL POWER.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL, ASSOCIATION: Dear Sirs--I received the month's treatment sent for, and took it. It worked like a charm. I have no more emissions, and my weight, energy and strength, are fully restored.
R., Fort Collins, Colo.
CASE 53,859. SPERMATORRHEA. FIVE YEARS' STANDING. SYMPTOMS: FREQUENT NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS, LOSS OF MEMORY, NERVOUS, NO ENERGY OR STRENGTH.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Dear Sirs--Pardon me for not sending you a report of my condition before this. Have been waiting to see if there would be any relapse. I am assured that my cure is complete and perfect. None of the symptoms of the disease remain. Your medicines I can recommend as the most powerful and direct to accomplish good I have ever taken. I feel it my duty now to give you my heart-felt acknowledgment for the good done me.
Respectfully, H. Goshen N.Y.
CASE 38,973. SPERMATORRHEA. EXTREMELY BAD CASE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Gentlemen--You have cured me sound and well of the terrible effects of early indiscretion. My case was worse than any I have ever read, and I never expected to get well. With eight months treatment taken at my home, I have been fully restored. You have my sincere and hearty thanks. C., Halifax, N.S.
CASE 70,648. SPERMATORRHEA AND THREATENED IMPOTENCY.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: My Dear Benefactors--Please accept my sincere thanks. Words at my command are inadequate to express my feelings when I realize the great beneficial features of your most excellent remedy. I have spoken to several of my most intimate friends who are similarly affected, and after I took the first dose I was completely relieved, and the flesh I gained was in such abundance that I was scarcely identified by them. I gave part of your par excellence medicine to a bosom companion of mine, named ----. He became convalescent, but desires another bottle. Write to him at once. Your name will be held in the highest esteem by these invalids, and by
Yours respectfully, H., Cincinnati, Ohio.
CASE 143,838. SPERMATORRHEA, WITH PARALYSIS AND DYSPEPSIA.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Sirs--Your treatment worked like a charm with me. Before I sent to you I consulted my family doctor, and asked him what he thought of my case. To give you his own words, he said. "J., I think you will be an entire cripple." I then thought I would write to you. I had not taken more than three months' medicine when I was out in the harvest field. I sleep all night, have a good appetite, my back has got well, and I can lay all night. My limbs are stronger, and my nerves are again all right. Upon the whole I am a new man, and my mental powers are much relieved. In eighteen months from the time I placed my case under your treatment, I was better than I had been in ten years, and feel like myself.
Yours truly, J., Peru Mills, Pa.
CASE 93,264. SEMINAL WEAKNESS.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.: Gentlemen--Allow me most sincerely to thank you for the great benefit I have derived from your two months' treatment. When I first wrote to you I felt as if my life on earth was short, indeed; but, thank God, through His help and yours, I have been saved from filling an early grave as the results of self-abuse. Before I began treatment I was pale and sickly; I had palpitation of the heart so bad that I often expected to drop dead in the street; I had loss of voice; always felt tired; I had involuntary emissions of semen in the night, which always made me feel weak through the next day; whilst quite often my mind was filled with suicidal thoughts. Such was the price I was compelled to pay for violating the laws of God and nature. Now every thing is changed. I thank you a thousand times, Doctor, for the great good you nave done me. May God bless you. I shall always be pleased to recommend your treatment to everybody, and I will cheerfully answer any communication that I may receive in relation to this. W., Lynn, Mass.
CASE 140,948. SPERMATORRHEA.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.: Dear Sirs--I believe myself to be free of the trouble for which you have been treating me. It seems too good to be true, yet I feel satisfied that I am more of a man than ever before in my life. I have not the time nor ability to thank you in the high-flown language peculiar to testimonial writers, but suffice it to say that I am.
Most gratefully yours, S.
CASE 44,464. NERVOUS PROSTRATION.
This gentleman, engaged as the head of a large academy, suffered severely from mental depression, weakened memory, nervous exhaustion, and lack of intellectual power, the result of the delicate drain upon the nervous system and his severe labors. We append his letter after four months' treatment:
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Gentlemen--My friends all notice and speak of my decided improvement. My health and faculties are again as they were years ago. Yours, H., Philadelphia, Penn'a.
CASE 33,928. SPERMATORRHEA, RESULTING IN CONSUMPTION.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Dear Sirs--I would have been beyond the reach of aid now but for your treatment. I am now enjoying perfect health. Yours gratefully. H., Gillie's Hill Ont.
CASE 42,921. SPERMATORRHEA, RESULTING IN DYSPEPSIA AND DECIDED LOSS OF STRENGTH.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Gentlemen--I am deeply indebted to you. The disagreeable head symptoms, dyspepsia and weakness are all gone. I can now eat and digest as hearty a meal as any one, and feel well, healthful and energetic. Never have any losses. I was very sick when I commenced treatment, but was speedily relieved.
Yours truly, S., Charles River Village, Mass.
CASE 44,866. SPERMATORRHEA, WITH MARKED LOSS OF MEMORY, HEALTH, AND TONE OF SYSTEM.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Gentlemen--I took treatment of you last summer. The improvement was marked, and I have continued to grow healthier and stronger, notwithstanding I have been busy all the time and nave studied very hard. Do not get fatigued as before. I read six orations of CICERO in seven weeks and passed with honor a very close examination. My limbs are solid and strong, whereas before I was weak, and my flesh cold, soft, and clammy. I am in college working hard. Truly, P.
CASE 147,411. APPROACHING IMPOTENCY. RENEWED HEALTH AFTER FIVE MONTHS' TREATMENT.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Gentlemen--I can gratefully say I am feeling like a new man since taking your prescription for seminal weakness. While I was in the West two months, my wife received two months' treatment from you, and on my return home, to my greatest satisfaction, her cheeks were as red as roses and her health greatly improved, for which accept our profound thanks. May your honored President live long and do good unto the sons and daughters of afflicted humanity, is our prayer. W., Aral, Va.
CASE 44,198. NERVOUS PROSTRATION, CAUSED BY SELF-ABUSE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Gentlemen--Your kindness to me I can never forget. I cannot express half my feelings of gratefulness to you. I had despaired of ever getting well. Thanks to your skill I am now a new being. Yours very truly, B., Steuben County, N.Y.
CASE 53,816. NERVOUS DEBILITY, CAUSED BY SELF-ABUSE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Gentlemen--My health has improved so that I no longer need treatment. You have my heart-felt thanks for the good you have done me, and may you have as good success in treating the hundreds of others as you have had in mine. I remain yours very truly, K., Hartford, Conn.
CASE 53,913. NERVOUS DEBILITY AND IMPOTENCY.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Gentlemen--I shall ever remember you with gratitude. My relief is perfect and permanent. I feel so much better. I remain yours truly, J., Jacksonville, Ill.
CASE 254,484. SPERMATORRHEA; GENERAL DEBILITY.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Gentlemen--I am happy to say that your medicines and treatment are always ahead of what they are represented, and I hope you will accept my deep and sincere thanks for the good you have done me. My weakness and debility have entirely disappeared, and I can say that the expense of the six months' treatment I received from you, has been repaid a hundredfold, by the benefits it has effected in my condition. F., Starkey, N.Y.
CASE 54,803. NERVOUS DEBILITY AND IMPOTENCY.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Gentlemen--I have taken the last of the medicine which you sent me, and feel satisfied it has entirely cured me. I return my thanks to you for the good you have done me. F., East Liverpool, Ohio.
CASE 69,116. SEMINAL WEAKNESS, WITH CANCEROUS TESTICLE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Gentlemen--It has now been over two years since you treated me and found it necessary to remove one testicle on account of cancerous disease, that must soon have destroyed life had the operation not been performed. T feel myself a strong, healthy man, having had no symptoms of the seminal weakness for months past. Yours, P., Pittsburgh. Penn's.
CASE 51,417. IMPOTENCY.
I am getting along so well with the medicine that I am a standing wonder to my friends, and I shall not cease, while life lasts, to praise the skill that has brought about such miraculous results.
Yours truly, K., Chillicothe, Ohio.
CASE 67,004. IMPOTENCY.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Gentlemen--I am only too happy to say that I have fully recovered my powers in every particular since placing myself under your treatment. I would not take $5,000 for the good you have done me. I am only sorry that I did not go to you before wasting time and money on the quacks connected with that "Museum of Anatomy" in New York.
T., Philadelphia, Penn'a.
CASE 67,208. SPERMATORRHEA.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Gentlemen--When placing myself under your treatment, I was told that my case being an exceedingly bad one, it would probably require six months in which to effect a perfect cure. After taking your remedies four months I found myself in perfect health, and have remained so ever since. I cannot express the gratitude I feel for you, and can never half repay the debt of gratitude I owe you. I have given your pamphlet,-"Abuse of the Male Generative Organs and the Diseases to which it Gives Rise," to quite a number of young men whom I had reason to suspect it might benefit.
Gratefully yours, T., Norfolk, Virginia.
CASE 67,070. SPERMATORRHEA.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Gentlemen--I have now returned home a now man, after four months' treatment from you. I need no more medicines now. I would urge all suffering to go to you for help. Thanking you for your services,
I remain yours truly, R., Bunch, Iowa.
CASE 431,637. IMPOTENCY, WITH NERVOUS DEBILITY AND LIVER DISEASE.
This gentleman applied for the relief of the following symptoms: Exhausting and frequent seminal emissions, losses in the urine, want of manly strength, nervous prostration, indigestion, torpid condition of the liver, headache, nausea, and constipation. After a course of five months' treatment he writes:
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Gentlemen--I am very grateful to you for the good you have done me, and I feel like a man now. It is sometime since I left off medicine. I have continued to improve, and I feel better than I have for years before treatment. I am happy at the restoration of my health and vigor. I shall recommend you to all sufferers. Hoping you will continue to be successful.
I remain, Yours truly, P., Canaan, Conn.
CASE 111,489. SEMINAL EMISSIONS, LOSS OF MEMORY AND GENERAL DECLINE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.: Gentlemen--Inclosed please find money for my last supply of medicines. You seem to understand my condition thoroughly. My color, appetite, and strength have improved wonderfully, and my sleep is sound, undisturbed and refreshing. Under the influence of your medicines I have completely recovered my mental and physical powers, and I feel that I am able to discontinue further treatment. The emissions have become less and less frequent until now they do not trouble me at all.
I remain, yours truly, H., Eagle Springs, Coryell Co., Tex.
CASE 51,203. SPERMATORRHEA. PERFECT CURE. HIS LETTER BEFORE TREATMENT, AND AFTER.
(First letter.)
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Dear Sirs--It was my pleasant privilege to read concerning your skill in the treatment of all kinds of diseases, and concerning your reputation, which is most justly merited. Encouraged by these facts to place explicit confidence in you. I beg leave to state my own case as clearly as I may be able. It is as sad as it is fatal if no thorough cure can be effected. I have from my twelfth year onward been practicing, though not excessively, the evil, self-abuse. Although I have been led to abandon the pernicious habit for several years, my age being twenty-four, the horrible effects have not disappeared. The serious result is that I am suffering from spermatorrhea. An involuntary discharge of the seminal fluid occurs invariably once, not infrequently twice, every week during sleep. The genital organs have become diminished in size. I will proceed to state the symptoms which I have been able to observe. They are--disposition to solitude, inaptitude for study, indolence, forgetfulness, melancholy, weakness in the back (especially perceptible after standing), a lack of confidence in my own ability, want of energy, sometimes pain in the chest, elbow, arm, knees, and loins. Uneasy nights, disturbed and highly disagreeable dreams becoming more and more irritating as the time for the discharge of the seminal fluid draws nearer, also a desire to lie longer in bed in the morning.
Now, dear Doctors, permit me to ask your kind advice as to what means are to be taken. I have tried numerous remedies for more than a year, but to no effect. My suffering grows severer. Please reply as speedily as you may be able. If you be so kind as to honor me with an answer, please state the amount of money needed for your services, which shall be forwarded at once. Please find inclosed one dollar, remuneration for your kind services.
Very respectfully, M., Wheeling, Cook Co., Ill.
(At the close of treatment.)
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Gentlemen--I have finished the eight months' treatment; had I been able to follow the directions more closely, three months' treatment would have effected a permanent cure of my case. Now I am well, body strengthened, mind invigorated, memory revived, energy to work restored, cheerfulness and bright hopes, once altogether lost, are now fully regained. Indeed, I feel like a new being. And now, dear Doctors, in closing our important correspondence, permit me to render my heart-felt thanks for your kindness to me, and for the benefit received from your invaluable treatment. Adieu; may God grant you a long life, that you may benefit many an afflicted one.
Very truly yours, M., Wheeling, Cook Co., Ill
CASE 464,255. MASTURBATION. LOSS OF FLESH AND MENTAL POWER.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Gentlemen--After three months of your treatment, I find myself cured of one of the worst habits that it has ever been the lot of man to fall into. My whole system is invigorated; I have no more weak back nor legs; no more emissions; my strength is greatly increased, and my weight is more than it has ever been before. The dull, heavy feeling in my head is entirely past, and I can truly say that I feel like a new man. Hoping you will do as much good in the future as you have in the past, is the wish of, Yours truly, B., Holyoke, Mass.
CASE 91,656. SPERMATORRHEA. OBSTINATE CASE OF EIGHT YEARS' STANDING.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.: Gentlemen--I have taken seven months' treatment from you, and to-day I am a well man. My friends are surprised at the great change which has taken place in me. The emissions have ceased entirely, and I am strong and well. I am a thousand times obliged to you for the good your treatment has done for me.
Respectfully yours, U., Topeka, Kansas.
CASE 461,306. ONANISM. MELANCHOLIA; CONTEMPLATED SUICIDE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Gentlemen--Having waited several weeks after finishing the last medicine, to see if there would be any relapse, I now send you a report of treatment. I believe I am thoroughly cured, not only of poor health, but of all desire to abuse myself. I have regained health, spirits, and confidence. Am married, something I have long desired, but never before dared to attempt. Please accept my sincere thanks, gentlemen. Your medicine has saved me from a suicide's grave.
H., Denver, Col.
CASE 110,838. SEMINAL WEAKNESS AND FISTULA IN ANO.
A case of anal fistula that had been unsuccessfully treated by Prof. ----, of Nashville, who had operated with the knife. He had also been unsuccessfully treated by several home physicians who stated that his symptoms of spermatorrhea were all that could be described, and more too. The sensations of crawling and itching in the rectum were very severe, and as a result of weakness there was a serious palpitation of the heart, and general debility. The generative organs were unduly excitable and weak. He complained of weakness in the rectum and loins, with irregularity of the bowels, trembling and weakness of the entire system. There was profuse discharge from the fistula and also from the urethra. We undertook his case without making any promises of a radical cure, as it seemed that the disease had progressed so that it would be impossible to effect more than satisfactory improvement in his general condition, and a palliation of the symptoms of disease. At the end of seven months' treatment he writes as follows:
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Gentlemen--The result of the treatment you have sent me is a permanent cure of the fistula beyond a doubt, and in a magical manner. My heart is very much improved, so that it does not trouble me in the least. My health is perfect in every way. It is unnecessary for me to order any more medicines, but should I think at any time that a little is required to keep me in good health, I will order at once. I think that I am entirely through with the fistula and sympathetic weakness, and I can truly say that your remedies delivered me from the jaws of death. With sincere thanks to you, I am, yours for ever. D.
CASE 140,056. SPERMATORRHEA.
The following long-standing and aggravated case of seminal debility began to yield at once under the specific influence of our medicines. Frequent nocturnal emissions were present, and the semen also passed off, unobserved and unsuspected, in the urine; of course a ceaseless vital drain of this character began quickly and profoundly to impress the constitution, so that when the patient under consideration applied to us for relief, the most unmistakable symptoms of commencing organic disease of the heart and lungs had plainly declared themselves to be present. Like many hundreds, of similar cases which we cure annually, the disease yielded promptly and perfectly to the well-directed efforts of our specialist in this important branch of practice; indeed, so easy, swift and perfect was the cure that the patient failed to realize the necessity of continuing the treatment a few weeks in order to insure himself against the possibility of a relapse, and discontinued his correspondence with us, whereas it is in precisely such cases that we recommend the treatment to be not too abruptly discontinued.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.: Gentlemen--Your kind favor, thoughtfully inquiring after my health, came duly to hand. In answer, permit me to say that it was not my intention to take further treatment as I considered my cure to be perfect, all local and general symptoms having wholly subsided before I had finished the month's course, and thus far manifesting no disposition to return. However, in the light of your wisdom and experience, I have reconsidered the matter and now believe with you that another month's course of treatment is advisable, in order effectually to guard against the possibility of a relapse. I accordingly inclose you the price of the additional month's course. The second morning after commencing the use of your medicines I awoke refreshed in body and mind, and this experience has been repeated every morning since. The emissions were arrested at once, and I have not had a single unnatural discharge since, except once when I experienced a slight nocturnal emission, which, however, was followed by no depressing after-effects, but altogether the reverse. I feel so much stronger and better in all respects that It is a positive pleasure for me to do a hard day's work now.
Respectfully, B., Crystal Lake, Wis.
CASE 86,291.
This gentleman had suffered during eleven years from seminal weakness as the result of indiscretions in youth; nocturnal emissions were present, and there was also a seminal loss with the urine, and at stool; the patient's memory was greatly impaired and his mind otherwise affected from the vital drain; he was dyspeptic, his bowels were costive, and threatening symptoms of consumption had already begun to manifest themselves when he came under our care. Two months of our special treatment, at the patient's home, effected a perfect and permanent cure, and completely arrested all abnormal seminal losses. The following grateful letter is from the gentleman in question:
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--Permit me to say that, six months after having discontinued your treatment, my cure remains perfect. This great permanent and enduring benefit was secured to me through only two months of your skillful treatment and careful management of my case. Your medicines had a wonderful control over my disease, driving away its terrible symptoms as if by magic; they imparted to me a new power, filled my body and mind with unusual vigor, and transformed me from one racked with pain and living death or worse, to a full measure of health and happiness. I feel that if I had not been opportunely and successfully treated by you, that my life would have been permanently blighted, and that the happy and contented mind that now inspires these lines would ere this have been dethroned of reason. I feel that you have been my savior. I have not had a single nocturnal emission since leaving your treatment, six months ago. Thanking you, gentlemen, from the depths of a grateful heart, I remain.
Your obedient servant, G., Cayuta, Schuyler Co., N.Y.
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Did the interest of our readers demand it, we could add to the preceding list an almost endless number of extracts from letters written by grateful patients, expressing their heart-felt thanks for having been cured of spermatorrhea and impotency by our treatment. But we have we trust given sufficient to illustrate our great success in dealing with these maladies.
A CAUTION TO THE AFFLICTED. We are daily consulted by persons suffering from spermatorrhea and impotency who have been victimized by ignorant charlatans. Some seek to dupe and swindle the unwary by claiming to have themselves been cured of spermatorrhea or impotency by some prescription, which they offer to send free to any sufferer. When the prescription is obtained it is found to consist of a few articles well-known to every druggist, coupled with certain arbitrary and fictitious terms, unknown to everybody and not to be found in any medical work extant. Following the prescription is a modest suggestion that if it cannot be filled by the home druggist, the benevolently-disposed party furnishing the prescription will be pleased to send the medicine, already prepared, for from three to five dollars. Of course, the whole scheme from beginning to end being a swindle, when the "medicine" is obtained and taken it proves entirely useless. Skill and genuine merit do not go begging. Men who spend hundreds of dollars for the publication of advertisements offering to give away valuable information can always be safely set down as swindlers.
In the public prints will be found advertised various ready prepared, "put-up," or proprietary, so-called "remedies," "Specifics," "Boluses," "Pastiles," "Rectal Pearls," "Urethral Crayons," "Voltaic Belts," "Galvanic Belts," "Batteries," and "Pads," all recommended as infallible remedies for spermatorrhea and impotency.
A vast experience in the treatment of these affections has satisfied us that each case must be studied and treated according to the symptoms manifested, and that medicines that are adapted to one stage of the disease are entirely unsuited to other stages of the same case. No "Pad" or "Battery and Pad," "Galvanic" or "Voltaic Belts," "Battery," "Bolus," or "Soluble Crayon," ever did or can help a case of this disease, except it be in the imagination. Although the proprietors of the most popular proprietary medicines in the market, medicines carefully adapted to the cure of the diseases for which they are recommended, yet, should we attempt to get up a general remedy to cure spermatorrhea and kindred maladies, we are certain it would be an utter failure, and this is entirely true of all such preparations now and heretofore offered for sale, and, from the very nature of the diseases they are recommended to cure, ever must be. Each case must have medicines carefully prepared to meet the conditions present, and when these conditions, from the effects of treatment or other causes, change, the treatment must be varied accordingly.
POSITIVE INJURY instead of benefit often results from the employment of some of the nostrums advertised for the cure of spermatorrhea, impotency and kindred affections. Especially have we found that the use of "Soluble Urethral Crayons," "Boluses," "Pastiles", and kindred contrivances, which are so extensively advertised, are exceedingly injurious, and often render otherwise moderate and simple cases, complicated and incurable.
Although of pretended French origin, they are evidently the invention of an ignoramus, who knows nothing of the delicate anatomy of the generative organs or of the proper treatment of the diseases incident thereto, for none other would have thought of such a preposterous plan of treatment. No man should insert such absurdly devised and mischief breeding contrivances into his urethra (urinary canal), for thereby he is almost sure to do himself a permanent injury. So far from having been invented by an eminent French surgeon, as claimed, such treatment is entirely unknown in France, and ever has been, as the writer well knows from personal observation and enquiry while sojourning in that country and visiting its most noted hospitals and medical institutions.
All the various "Troches," "Boluses," "Wafers," "Suppositories," "Pearls," "Rectal Pearls," "Rectal Capsules," and other contrivances which are recommended for the cure of Spermatorrhea and kindred weaknesses, and which are designed to be employed by inserting them into the lower bowel (rectum), and there permitting them to dissolve, are only so many irrational and filthy devices for duping the ignorant and innocent sufferers from these maladies.
AN ALLURING SWINDLE. A still more enticing, and hence more dangerous, device for swindling unfortunate sufferers, is the widely advertised "Vacuum Treatment" or "appliance" so loudly and plausibly recommended for "Developing weak and wasted organs." A simple, little, brass air pump, connected with a glass tube, or cylinder, fitted with a valve at one end, which costs not to exceed one dollar and a half, is the worthless device palmed off on the confiding ones at from fifteen to thirty dollars. This is done under the false pretense that its daily use to pump blood into the weak or wasted organs, will cause their development and growth.
Thousands have invested their hard earned cash in this worse than worthless, injurious, contrivance. In fact the head of the concern putting out this alluring device is said to have amassed a fortune out of the nefarious business.
So far from benefiting any one, out of several hundreds of cases that have come under our personal observation, in which this apparatus has been faithfully used for a long period of time, we have never met with a single case that had derived the slightest benefit therefrom. On the contrary, we have been called upon to examine many who had been seriously injured by its use.
The sudden congestion or filling and over-distention of the delicate blood-vessels of the organ operated upon, caused by placing it in a vacuum, is liable to rupture these minute vessels, causing the infiltration of blood into the tissues and giving rise to inflammation, and in some cases, to suppuration, mortification, sloughing and death.
In other cases, the blood-vessels of the organ and adjacent parts are so weakened by the strain put upon them as to induce varicocele and other diseased conditions. In spermatorrhea, it is the worst possible thing that can be applied, for by forcing an undue amount of blood into the part the sensitiveness of the organ is increased, irritation is set up in the deep urethra, and the emissions are increased in frequency. In this, and other ways, hundreds of men but slightly out of health have been permanently injured.
But this is only a small part of the story connected with the reprehensible business of palming off "The Vacuum Developing and Strengthening Appliance." The precious rascals, not content with making from a thousand to fifteen hundred per cent. profit on the miserable device furnished, while advertising fifteen dollars ($15.00) as the price of the "appliance" and "accompanying preparations," for "ordinary cases," make a general practice, when they have secured the fifteen dollars ($15.00), of sending it by express with a bill to be collected on delivery FOR FIFTEEN DOLLARS ($15.00) MORE. With this bill they send an explanation, that "on re-examining the case" they "found it necessary, or thought it advisable, to send their stronger and more expensive preparations and appliances for the worst cases AND SO HAVE CHARGED FIFTEEN DOLLARS ($15.00) MORE TO COVER THE EXTRA EXPENSE."
It is astonishing that there are those who can be induced to part with their money for such claptrap devices, and still more so that having been duped and swindled out of their hard earned money through false pretenses and promises of benefit held out to them, they should submit quietly to such extortion and not have the swindlers arrested and prosecuted for obtaining money under false pretenses as they richly deserve. For what crime can be more deserving of punishment than the holding out of false hopes and pretenses to the unfortunate? Employing the United States mails for swindling is a pretty dangerous business, and sooner or later these rascals will, we predict, find it out to their sorrow. They are pretty sure to get hold of some men, ere long, who will invoke the aid of the United States District Attorney to bring them to justice.
YOUNG MAN, if you have, through ignorance, fallen into practices that have arrested your physical growth and development in any of your organs or parts, shun all such unscientific and worse than worthless contrivances as you would shun a pestilence. No matter how plausible the web of arguments woven to entrap you, be assured, they are the utterance of knaves who care not what false hopes they encourage so they secure your money.
Consult only those whose well known skill, experience and integrity will insure honest dealings and the most scientific treatment known to the "healing art," and who supply the latter at reasonable cost.
Be assured also, that when, through proper treatment, your weakness and functional derangements are overcome, the parts that have suffered therefrom, will regain all the strength and development possible to impart to them through the aid of the physician's skill. Nature often accomplishes wonders in this direction, when aided by the skillful practitioner.
* * * * *
VARICOCELE;
OR, ENLARGED VEINS OF THE SCROTUM SOMETIMES CALLED FALSE RUPTURE
Probably no affection of the generative organs has been given more attention by surgeons than this. Its great frequency, being present in about one-third of all cases of spermatorrhea, and its disposition to result in impotency and wasting away of the testicles, bring it constantly before the profession.
CAUSES.--Varicocele commonly results from long continued fatiguing exercise, in the upright position, heavy lifting, jumping, straining, severe constipation, injuries from horseback riding, bicycle riding, especially the latter, or any obstruction or obstacle to the free return of blood through the spermatic veins. Self abuse and excessive sexual indulgence are also prolific causes of varicocele.
When the spermatic veins are over-distended to such an extent that their tonicity is impaired, they gradually lose their capacity for transmitting the blood, and a slowly increasing enlargement and tortuously of veins results. This goes on, becoming steadily more marked, until the pressure of the engorged vessels upon the spermatic cord impedes the full circulation of blood in the testicle and causes a wasting and softening of this gland. A loss of sexual power and increasing weakness of the generative organs generally follow this gradual destruction of the testicle, and sometimes total and incurable impotency results.
This affection is also designated by the terms circocele and spermatocele. It consists of an enlargement or varicose condition of the veins of the scrotum or spermatic cord, and affects the left side more frequently than the right. This is due to the fact that the spermatic veins of that side are longer, more dependent and tortuous, and, consequently, support a greater column of blood than the other side. The enlarged veins feel like a bundle of earth-worms. The knotty and tortuous vessels sometimes form quite a large tumor, which is, now ever, but rarely sensitive to the touch, yet sometimes causes a feeling of weight in the scrotum and loins, and sometimes produces a sensation of numbness in the thighs.
When varicocele of an aggravated or largely developed type is present, associated with any weakness of the generative organs, as spermatorrhea or impotency, it must be cured before the organs can regain a healthy condition, as by the constant pressure of the abnormal quantity of blood and enlarged veins upon the spermatic cord, arteries, and testicles, the irritability, weakness, and wasting, are increased. The use of suspensory bandages, with strongly astringent lotions, will, in mild cases, produce relief and many times cure. Except in the worst cases, it is well to try these means before resort is had to operative surgical treatment, unless the patient is anxious to be cured in a more speedy manner. The treatment by suspensory bandage and lotions is necessarily somewhat slow in producing remedial results; yet, many quite well marked cases have, in our experience, been cured by such means perseveringly applied. Although many who have been unable to come to us for an operation, have been cured by suspensory bandages and our improved lotions applied to the affected parts, in all cases in which the veins are very much enlarged, we recommend the sufferers to come here and undergo our surgical treatment, which is painless in its execution and radical in its results.
It has been recognized by physicians and surgeons for over a century, that in bad cases of varicocele a cure can only be certainly and permanently effected by operation. Many have been the methods of operation advanced by the prominent surgeons of every age, but all have met with such an alarming mortality, that they have been one by one abandoned, except as a last resort in extremely bad cases. A late author gives the percentage of deaths from the various old operations, now in general use throughout this country and Europe, as varying from seven to fifteen per cent. of all cases. In contrast to this, we point with pride to our records, by which we are shown to have operated upon over a thousand cases by our original method, obtaining in each and every instance a perfect cure, without a single alarming symptom or a death ensuing. This we think is sufficient evidence of the perfect safety of the operation and its superiority over every other method. So every sufferer with the disease, we would recommend it as a positive means of securing a permanent cure. Various worse than useless devices are advertised by quacks, who, as a class, are afraid to undertake surgical treatment for the cure of varicocele. One has what he calls a "varix clamp," or "clasp," to be worn upon the enlarged veins. Many "compressors" and other equally useless devices are advertised and sold for the same purpose. These are not only perfectly worthless, but positively dangerous in their application. The pressure they make upon the spermatic cord, nerves, and artery, is very apt to result in impotency and a rapid wasting away of the testicles. Patients should avoid all the catch-penny devices recommended for varicocele, as none of them are worth a moment's consideration.
Even a moderate degree of morbid enlargement of the spermatic veins will sometimes cause such engorgement and obstruction to the free circulation of the blood in the testicle, as to cause gradual wasting or shriveling of that organ. In some cases the morbid condition will give rise to seminal weakness, or spermatorrhea. Many of these cases that can only be cured by surgery, are trifled with by quacks, who attribute the spermatorrhea, or loss of semen, to everything else than its true cause--varicocele.
To illustrate, Mr. B., of Colorado, applied at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, a few years ago, and said he had for five years been troubled with nightly emissions of semen and his testicles were gradually wasting away. He had been under the treatment of men making great pretensions as specialists, to whom he had paid several hundred dollars in the vain hope of getting cured of spermatorrhea. They treated him with medicines only, and did him no good whatever. On examination, we found a very varicose or enlarged condition of the left spermatic veins, and gave it as our opinion that the seminal loss was wholly due to this abnormal condition and could only be cured by an operation that would remove the varicocele. The operation was promptly performed. In two days he was able to leave his bed, and in a week started home to Colorado. Some months thereafter we received a letter from him wherein he said: "The enlarged veins continued to absorb and grow less and less, until, in a few weeks' time, all unnatural enlargement had disappeared. With a steady improvement in the condition of the veins, I experienced corresponding improvement in my general health, and the seminal losses grew less and less, and finally, long ago, disappeared entirely. I feel that my manhood, with all the powers that should belong thereto, are mine to enjoy. In other words, my restoration to health is complete. Had I saved the large amount of money that I fooled away on those quacks, and given it all to you, I feel that you would then have been only fairly paid for the great good you have done me."
The foregoing is but a fair sample of letters that we are almost constantly receiving from those who have pursued useless treatment for spermatorrhea, dependent upon varicocele, and have been speedily cured by our never-failing operation for this malady. Among the great variety of operations in surgery for various diseased conditions, performed by our surgeons, none have been attended with more uniform satisfaction, and perfect success, than has our operation for varicocele.
A PAINLESS OPERATION.
By the injection of a few drops of a medicated solution under the skin, at the point where the incision is to be made, we are now able to produce such complete local anæsthesia as to render the operation entirely painless without the administration of either chloroform or ether. This is an important consideration, as many are averse to taking chloroform or ether, and now that we are possessed of an agent that produces, locally, complete insensibility to pain, we are very glad to be able to dispense with their use in all such minor operations. Many examinations heretofore very painful, as of the bladder for stone, and of the deep urethra for strictures, are now rendered entirely painless by the use of this wonderful agent.
A great variety of surgical operations are now performed by our surgeon specialists, without any suffering on the part of our patients, by the local use of an anæsthetic solution injected into the parts to be operated upon. Formerly we were obliged either to administer chloroform or ether, or subject our patients to a great deal of suffering. Our specialists were among the first surgeons in this country to employ local anæsthesia successfully. We regard it as a great boon to our patients, and never withhold it in any case where it can be employed to prevent suffering, its use being attended with no danger and followed by no bad or disagreeable results.
OUR PAINLESS OPERATION.
Having operated with unvarying success, during the past twenty-five years, upon several thousand cases of varicocele, at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, we now invite special attention to the results of our peculiar operation, which is neither severe nor dangerous, and from which the patient makes a much more rapid, and in every respect more satisfactory, recovery than from other operations in use by surgeons generally. In our practice we have never failed to secure the happiest results from our operation. The saving of time is also of importance to the laboring man as well as to the millionaire. Instead of being confined to his bed for ten to twenty days, and to his room for a month or more, as is the case following other operations, the patient is not confined to bed at all, and can generally return home in a week or ten days at the longest. The only precaution necessary is that he should, for a reasonable time after the operation, wear a well-fitting suspensory bandage. This can, in a little time, be entirely dispensed with. When we contrast these results with those obtained from ligation, graduated pressure by "clamps," suture pins, or the slicing off of a part of the scrotum, and suturing, or stitching, the wide gaping wound so caused, as is practiced to-day by other surgeons, the marked superiority of the results obtained, through our superior method of operating on this affection, must be apparent.
A very large part of those cured by our treatment have previously spent far more money for worthless "electric suspensories," "equable scrotal compressors," "scrotal clamps," various "rings," and other "jim cracks," than was paid us for a radical and permanent cure. Some of these instruments are so formidable as to suggest the racks and thumbscrews of the middle ages. Such useless appliances often weaken the scrotal muscles by the unnatural compression which they produce and make the discomfort far worse when they are discontinued than before their use.
For such cases as cannot come to us at once for an immediate and perfect cure, we have a common sense method of treatment, comparatively inexpensive, that gives relief and comfort in all cases, and in mild cases often effects a complete cure. This treatment leaves the scrotum and its contents in an improved, strengthened and more healthful state.
* * * * *
TESTIMONIALS.
If the following letters had been written by your nearest, most respected and trustworthy neighbors, they could not be entitled to more confidence than they now are, coming, as they do, from intelligent citizens, each one of whom, in his own neighborhood, enjoys the full confidence of all his acquaintances. These letters are taken at random from among hundreds of similar ones, received from former patients of ours, residing in all parts of the United States and Canada, and if it would add anything to the endorsement in the way of giving greater confidence in our ability to treat successfully the malady under consideration, we could multiply the letters which we here introduce many times over. To publish more, however, would seem to be tedious repetition, for there necessarily must be a sameness in all such letters testifying to our skill, and we must, therefore, be content to rest our case with the limited number of endorsements which we have room for only in this volume.
VARICOCELE.
A PERFECTLY PAINLESS OPERATION. PATIENT SMOKES A CIGAR AND TALKS WITH THE SURGEONS WHILE OPERATION IS BEING PERFORMED.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--I suffered with varicocele at the age of nine years, caused by a fall, and doctored for same about fifteen years, and obtained no relief. Renowned surgeons of Pittsburgh, New York, and other cities pronounced my case incurable.
I heard of the Invalids' Hotel, No. 663 Main Street, Buffalo, N.Y., and entered it as a last resource. On the third day after entering the Institution I was treated, and during the operation (which was a painless one), I smoked a cigar and talked with the operating surgeons, feeling no pain whatever. I remained in the Hotel one week, and during that time I never once was unable to walk to the elevator and have my meals in the dining room. The tables were laden with the best the country can produce. It is truly "The Invalids' Hotel" (or rather home), as the clerks and nurses are very kind, attentive and social.
Will add, that I am permanently cured, and advise any person thus afflicted not to hesitate entering the Invalids' Hotel for treatment.
Respectfully, A.J. SETH, Lucinda, Clarion Co., Penna.
VARICOCELE.
Fair View, Sanpete Co., Utah.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--I feel it my duty to thank you for the benefit I received at your Institution during the month of December, 1892.
I was afflicted with varicocele on the left side, which caused me a great deal of trouble and almost made me feel at times that I did not want to live any longer if I could not be restored to soundness again. Hearing of your skill in the treatment of varicocele I determined to give you a trial, which I accordingly did, and with gratifying results for now I am as sound and well as a gold dollar.
The operation which was performed on me at your Institution for the permanent cure of varicocele was, to my great surprise, entirely painless and performed in a much briefer time than I expected. I only remained at your noble Institution ten days after the operation, at the end of which time I returned to my home at Chatham Hill, Smyth Co., Va. When I got home I experienced very little soreness from the operation and I felt that I could enjoy life fully. About six months after, I got married and came to Utah where I now reside, and I am very much pleased to say that I am now as sound and well as ever, and very happy in my married state.
When I went to your Institution I was surprised to see such a great number of young men from almost every State in the Union, who had come there to be operated upon for varicocele; and they all told me that the operation was painless to them, as it also was to me, and they said they were fast improving and were glad they had come there for treatment. I never experienced such great and unprecedented kindness as I did during the ten days I was at the "Invalids' Hotel." I had an excellent room--well furnished, plenty to eat, and was treated with the kindness of a mother by the nurses and attending physician.
I advise all who are afflicted with varicocele to go to your Institution at once for an operation, which I assure them they will never regret. Trusting that those who require an operation of any kind, or who are afflicted in any way, may go to your Institution and be restored to health, and again thanking you for my restoration to health and YOUR great kindness and good treatment of me while I was with you, I remain,
Yours very truly, William F. Petts
P.S.--My sister's life was saved by your "Favorite Prescription," W.F.P.
VARICOCELE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--It is with great pleasure I recommend those suffering from varicocele to your skillful hands. I suffered with varicocele for seven years, caused by standing behind the counter at business from seven in the morning until ten and twelve o'clock at night.
In 1888 a friend gave me a copy of your Common Sense Medical Adviser. After perusing its pages I was convinced of the genuineness of its doctrine. I immediately started for Buffalo--a distance of 1,900 miles. During my stay of ten days at your Institution I was treated with the utmost kindness by the nurses and surgeons, all of whom are expert specialists.
The equipment of the Institution is something immense. I often think of the appetite those healthy exercises in the treatment room gave me when dinner time came.
After being in the Institution three days I underwent an operation for varicocele--an injection of medicine locally making the operation absolutely free from pain. The operation was performed in about thirty minutes, immediately after which I could walk to my room, and, after resting an hour, descended to the dining room and took my dinner as usual.
While at the Institution I met numerous persons suffering from varicocele, and it was quite pleasing to contrast their happy looks as they wished you "goodbye" with the haggard appearance they had upon entering.
After leaving the Institution I traveled about 1,400 miles by rail and 500 miles by water without the least inconvenience, which I consider a fair test of the operation.
Five years have passed since that time, and I now feel as sound as it is possible to feel.
In conclusion, let me say to those suffering from varicocele that it is impossible for them to do better than follow my example.
Respectfully yours, ARTHUR EBSARY, (Care of Hon. Jas. Baird.) Water Street, St. John's, Newfoundland.
VARICOCELE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--I am a carpenter and some years ago, I fell from a scaffold which in time almost killed me. I wasn't hurt very much at the time, but a dull aching pain seemed to take me in the left side of the scrotum, and after I could stand it no longer, I went to my doctor. He said that I had a rupture of the blood veins of the left testicle, and it was incurable. I gave up in despair; but at last, a friend handed me some of your advertising papers, and I saw the Common Sense Medical Adviser advertised and sent for the book and studied its contents carefully, and came to the conclusion that I was suffering from varicocele. I found on consulting you that my suspicions were right. I at once wrote you for particulars, and in less than a week I was at the Invalids' Hotel for treatment. At that time no one knows how I suffered; but I hadn't long to suffer. In ten days after an entirely painless operation I was a well man and returned home.
I cannot say too much in regard to the treatment and care from both Surgeons and Nurses. Nothing was left undone to promote comfort and good care. It is the only place on earth that I would feel safe to trust my life for a severe operation. There were, I think, over 100 patients at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, at the time I was there, and as I had a good chance to be with them, I found that they were all doing remarkably well.
At the date of my operation which was the 7th of March, 1893, I weighed just 165 pounds; to-day I weigh 189. I have gained in health, strength and vigor every day, I believe.
I would just say, in conclusion, that I can give my word as an honest man to any sufferer that I believe he can be cured of almost any chronic malady at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute.
Respectfully yours, F.H. JENKINS, (Box 13), Ascot Corner, Sherbrooke Co., P.Q., Canada.
VARICOCELE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--Having been operated upon at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute. Buffalo, N.Y., for the radical cure of a varicocele of the left side from which I had suffered for four years, I take pleasure in certifying to the speedy and certain relief afforded me, and the painless nature of the operation, as performed by the surgeons of the World's Dispensary Medical Association. Fourteen days from the time of the operation I returned home cured, and went to work. I desire to express my thanks to the Medical Staff for their skill and attention. I met several patients while at the Sanitarium, and they all reported as getting along favorably and well. Respectfully,
R.C. MARTIN, Gambril, Scott Co., Iowa.
VARICOCELE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--I can heartily say that the operation was a great success. I had rupture of the veins, or Varicocele, ten years. I never thought that I could be cured so easily. The operation was entirely painless, and I was only nine days away from home. I am now as well as ever and I recommend the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute to any one who is suffering from any chronic disease. Yours,
CHARLES DOVE, 33 John St., Wilkes Barre, Pa.
VARICOCELE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--I was successfully treated for varicocele at the Invalids' Hotel. The operation was made painless by local application, previously applied, which made the parts insensible, and I returned home the ninth day. While there I met with patients from all parts of the country, and all spoke in the highest terms of the treatment received from the surgeons and nurses and all connected with the Institution.
Yours respectfully, J.F. SINGREY, Maryville, Nodaway Co., Mo.
VARICOCELE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--I feel very thankful to the Association for the benefit received--due to an operation performed for the cure of a varicocele of many years' standing. All traces of the disease have disappeared. I was surprised to know that so little pain was connected with the operation.
Will say to those who think of visiting the Invalids' Hotel, that they will be treated well, and their visit will be made as pleasant as possible during their stay.
Yours respectfully, HENRY P. SMITH, Warren, Huntington Co., Ind.
VARICOCELE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--Having been operated upon at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, Buffalo, N.Y., for varicocele of ten years' standing, I take pleasure in certifying to a speedy and perfect cure. The operation was made painless by local applications previously applied, which made the parts insensible to such a degree that the operation was performed without any suffering on my part. Time of stay, after operation, was ten days. I cannot speak too highly of the care and attention I received from the surgeons and nurses while there; everything that was provided was of the best--the best of food, clean apartments and pleasant rooms.
I would recommend your Institution to any one suffering from any kind of chronic or surgical disease; and if they will only go to your Institution, they will meet with patients cured and others on the way to recovery from the same difficulty they have themselves--no matter what it is, if curable at all. I wish you success,
Yours truly, GEORGE R. SOUTHERN, Morris, Otsego Co., N.Y.
VARICOCELE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.
Gentlemen--It is with pleasure that I certify to the success of the operation performed upon me for varicocele at your Institution some months ago. This operation was performed by one of your specialists in a skillful and painless manner.
I found the Invalids' Hotel just what it is represented to be, and all patients who were there were well satisfied with the treatment.
I was not confined to bed at all after the operation, and was able to leave at the end of ten days in an excellent condition.
I am unable to express the great relief which your treatment has given me and I cannot say too much in praise of your Institution.
I take great pleasure in recommending you whenever I get a chance, and cannot thank you enough for what you have done for me. With kindest regards,
I am sincerely yours, B.T. STONE, Fellowsville, Preston Co., W. Va.
LARGE VARICOCELE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--It gives me much pleasure to state that during my stay at your Sanitarium I was treated with the utmost kindness, and found everything there just as represented in your pamphlet, if not indeed better. Your Institution is the best of the kind that I have ever seen and if it is possible for a person to be cured your specialists will accomplish it. A visit there convinced me that you do not make promises which you do not fulfill. After being there and having a surgical operation successfully performed, I heartily recommend all invalids to give your place a trial. Much to my surprise the operation which was performed was perfectly painless, no anæsthetic was given, and I was not confined to my bed for an hour. I was able to leave your Institution at the end of ten days completely cured. I can heartily commend your efforts in the cause of suffering humanity, and shall be pleased to offer my personal testimony at any time. With best wishes to the World's Dispensary Medical Association, I am,
Sincerely yours, C.W. KELLY, Riverside, Riverside Co., Cal.
VARICOCELE. THE RESULT OF INJURY.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--Nine years ago I was struck with a springing pole, causing the spermatic cord to swell badly. I applied for medical aid and was told that no harm would result. But I grew worse, and spent over one hundred dollars with quacks and received no help.
Four years ago while reading a chapter in Dr. Pierce's Common Sense Medical Adviser, I noticed that no hesitation was made in stating that a permanent and radical cure of varicocele could be made at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute. I went to the Hotel and the result was I returned home in eleven days permanently cured. I cannot speak in too high praise of the surgeon, and his delicacy and kindness in performing a painless operation; or of the nurses, who almost hourly visit the invalids and minister to their comfort. The Institution is fully equipped and nothing is left undone that can relieve suffering. I conversed with a great many patients while at the Invalids' Hotel and language could not express their delight at their treatment there.
I earnestly urge all invalids to save time and suffering by being treated at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute where the latest and most improved methods are used, and operations are made painless and where everything is delightful and comfortable. I owe my life to the tenderness and skill of the surgeon and nurses at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute.
Very truly yours, CLARENCE F.L. DEHAVEN, Haynes, Hocking Co., Ohio.
VARICOCELE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--I can say that while in your Institution I received the best of care and attention both by doctors and nurses; that your operation was almost entirely without pain; that my virility has increased since then as well as the tone of my general health; that your Institution is as commodious and cheerful as one could wish. Your patients with whom I became acquainted while there nearly all seemed to be well pleased with the ease and comfort of their surroundings as well as the manner in which they were treated for varicocele.
Respectfully, FLAVIUS BROOKS, Sinnamahoning, Cameron Co., Pa.
BAD VARICOCELE OF MANY YEARS' STANDING.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--I take pleasure in recommending your Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute as first-class in every respect. Some four years ago I was there and had an operation performed on me for a very bad varicocele with which I had been troubled some 15 or 20 years. The operation was made painless by the use of local applications. After staying at your place about twenty days (longer than is generally necessary) I was able to make my long trip home. The operation was a very successful one, considering the long time my trouble had been neglected, as I have suffered little or no inconvenience since. I saw a very large number of patients at the Invalids' Hotel from all parts of the United States and Canada, and all of them seemed to have a very high opinion of the treatment they were receiving from your Specialists, and I know personally, of several remarkably successful operations performed by your skillful surgeons while I was there.
Respectfully, D.E. MOOREFIEID, Nathalie, Halifax Co., Va.
VARICOCELE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--Having been operated upon at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute for the cure of Varicocele, which was caused from heavy lifting, I take pleasure in informing you that it is entirely cured; it was a varicocele of a number of years' standing and a bad case. It has been three years since I was operated upon and I have not experienced any trouble from it since; in fact, I feel that I am now entirely cured. The operation is painless and gives entire satisfaction in every respect.
I advise all who are suffering from this or any other chronic disease to take treatment at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute and they will be well rewarded by so doing.
Yours respectfully, DAVID H. MILLER, Markle, Huntington Co., Ind.
VARICOCELE OR FALSE RUPTURE--DUE TO STRAINING AND OVERWORK.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo. N.Y.:
Gentlemen--I can bear testimony to the removal of the difficulty for which you treated me, for I had been to experts in Philadelphia and they did not know how to perform the operation, and said I could not be cured. I was treated by experts in Albany and other cities, but all for no use. I went to the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute and was operated upon and find I am cured. The treatment in every other respect was good; everything was done to make patients happy and pleasant; the best of care and attention was paid to all.
Yours truly, W. McGOWAN, Orbisonia, Huntingdon Co., Pa.
VARICOCELE OR FALSE RUPTURE--TWELVE YEARS' STANDING--CURED IN TEN DAYS.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--Having been operated upon at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, Buffalo, N.Y., for the radical cure of a Varicocele of the left side, from which I had suffered for twelve years, I take pleasure in certifying to the speedy and certain relief afforded, and the painless nature of the operation as performed by the surgeon of the World's Dispensary Medical Association. Ten days from the time of the operation, I returned home radically and permanently cured. I desire to express my thanks to the medical staff for their skill and attention.
Gratefully yours, N.H. SHARITZ, Box 22. Rural Retreat, Wythae Co., Va.
VARICOCELE AND RESULTANT WEAKNESSES.
WASTING OF STRENGTH AND MANLY VIGOR--NOW STRONG AND WELL.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--I am unable to find words to express my feelings of gratefulness and gratitude that I owe to your Institution, for the able and gentlemanly treatment that I was favored with during my stay with you, by officials and attendants in their respective capacities, in every department. Nothing was left undone that could possibly be of benefit to me or add to my comfort, and to your Institution, your treatment, which in my own experience I have found to be marvelously wonderful, I feel to-day as if I owe my health, my strength, my life; for I firmly believe if it had not been for your timely and painless treatment, instead of writing to you at this time, being in the enjoyment of health and strength, I would be filling a place in an insane asylum or an invalid's grave. And it may not be more than just to your wonderful treatment to say that the Varicocele and resultant weaknesses was of about fifteen years' standing, during which time I had spent time and money with both physicians and quacks, without any result for the better, and when my life blood was daily wasting away, and the powers of manly strength and vigor were completely gone, by an act of Providence I went to your Institution as a last resort, for life or death. I was painlessly operated upon by you for my complaint, from which time I have steadily improved in health, strength, weight and vigor, until I have gone from 135 pounds, my weight when operated upon, to 174, at which I tip the balance as I write to you to-day. If the afflicted everywhere could only realize that so many lives may be spared by your wonderful treatment, none would stay away.
You are at liberty to give my testimony to the world in whatever way it may be of most benefit to you. I also enclose a photograph of myself that has been taken since the effects of your treatment have been shown. With feelings of much gratefulness, I am,
Very truly yours, ROBERT B. WILLS, No. 23 Elizabeth St., Hagerstown, Md.
RUPTURE OF SPERMATIC VEINS.
VARICOCELE (FALSE RUPTURE)--PREVIOUS OPERATOR LEFT PART OF SURGEON'S NEEDLE IN FLESH; SUCCESSFULLY EXTRACTED AT INVALIDS' HOTEL.
"WHAT I THINK OF THE INVALIDS' HOTEL AND SURGICAL INSTITUTE:"
The Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute is an Institution first-class in every respect, presided over by a capable, honest and pleasant lot of medical experts who certainly know their business. I cannot speak of it too highly.
I was treated there in the summer of 1887, for Rupture of the Spermatic Veins, previous to which I had been operated on two different times, with no relief, by a doctor here in this place cracked up to be one of the best in Northern Illinois, and an officer of the Chicago Eye and Ear Infirmary. The operation at the Invalids' Hotel was perfectly painless, did not have to take any anæsthetic, neither was I confined to my bed at all, and the result a perfect success; while in the two previous operations I had here at home, I was confined to my bed a week each time and another week scarcely able to move about, be sides getting worse each time with pain enough to drive one crazy. But the half has not been told. About two and a half years after I had been cured of my difficulty at Buffalo, I commenced having terrible pains in my leg and abdomen, for which I could not account, and after standing it until it seemed as though I would be glad to die, I again consulted the Invalids' Hotel; after a thorough investigation they operated on me where my pain seemed the most apparent, and dug out a piece of a surgeon's needle something over half an inch in length, that had been broken off in the first operation I had by the doctor here at home, and so admitted by him when confronted with it. I have spent lots of money and nearly six years of the worst pain man ever stood getting relief, while had I known of this place on the start, an operation with no pain whatever and scarcely more discomfort than a sore mouth after having a tooth removed, would have ended it all.
In conclusion, I will say to any poor sufferer, don't do as I did and put your trust in the would-be greatest doctor you have at home, but go to this place at Buffalo, where you will have proof of their ability, and where you will surely meet patients about to leave, cured; others on their way to recovery for the same difficulty you may have yourself, no matter what it is, if curable at all; a place where you will have the kindest of attention, the best of medical and surgical skill, and where you can see sufferers going away every day with hearts full of gratitude and happy.
Respectfully, CHAS. P. MORSE, 311 North Avon St., Rockford, Ills.
VARICOCELE-FALSE RUPTURE CAUSED BY INJURY.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--In the year 1866, sometime in July, I jumped from a load of lumber to the ground, and at once felt a sharp severe pain along the spermatic cord of left side of scrotum, preventing my walking to the house without help. The veins near the cord filled to such extent that they seemed solid, and could not be reduced for some time. I went to a good doctor and by him was advised to "pay no attention to it, it will not amount to much." From that time I suffered continually, and will not try to describe what I endured until I was relieved by a surgical operation performed on me by the surgeon-specialist of the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, of Buffalo, N.Y. After working-hard for several years my suffering increased and I was advised to consult Prof. L., of Chicago Hahnemann College (of Homeopathic School) and by him was informed an operation of tieing the veins (choking them off) could be performed but 90 per cent (if I remember rightly) of the operations proved fatal. I decided not to try it. By accident I learned of your great skill, and though my case was of twenty-one years' time, and my health and strength gone, I considered the method plausible and reasonably safe. I had the operation performed, and now after six years have passed, I can say with satisfaction, there is little to be noticed or remind me of the past years of misery. The parts are of healthy-color. Urine has assumed a natural appearance, both sides of scrotum seem in size alike. No bandage is worn and for two years has been discarded. My weight increased and for two years prior to the taking of my photo, I did the work of handling a third-class post office, doing a money order business of $50,000, not losing a day in that time, and at the present time in this hot climate, I have been doing outdoor work, some of it hard, and with mercury at 100 degrees. I have worked and found no need of a bandage; and no unnatural relaxation of the scrotum or veins is noticed.
If anyone wishes to write me, they are at liberty to do so. If my experience can be of benefit to any, I will answer all enquiries, and in a general way will now say no one should delay attending to such difficulty, for if the blood is in a reasonably healthy condition your surgeon will operate in such a way that the result will be all right in time. I send photo taken in 1891.
Respectfully, GEORGE W. McCOLLOM, Monrovia, Los Angeles Co., Cal.
VARICOCELE.
Sanborn, Barnes Co., N. Dak., Aug. 9th, 1895.
PROPRIETOR INVALIDS' HOTEL AND SURGICAL INSTITUTE, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Dear Sir--Having been afflicted with varicocele and loss of manhood and having heard so much of the cure for these troubles at the Invalids' Hotel. Buffalo. N.Y., I went there and was operated upon. The operation itself is nothing to bear. It is painless and the result is a radical cure. For this you have my sincere thanks. I take pleasure in recommending your Institution to all sufferers and know that it is in every respect just as claimed to be. I would say to all who suffer from this trouble: go to the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, at Buffalo, N.Y., and you will get relief. You will receive kind attention from all.
Very truly yours, George Bignall.
VARICOCELE AND GENERAL DEBILITY.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--I can bear testimony to the removal of varicocele, for which you treated me. I had been in the habit of getting out with the boys and trying to see which could kick the highest with one foot on the ground, and it caused me to have varicocele. I went to my home doctor and he treated me with no success. It was getting worse all the time and I got out of shape all over. My health got bad and I thought my case hopeless. I had tried two doctors and received no benefit.
I had one of your little Memorandum Books in my pocket, and one day, looking through it I saw you treated such cases, and wrote you and received word in a few days that you would treat me, so I sent off for one month's treatment; and in five months I had gained my weight back, and that was eight years ago and I feel sound and well and my health has been good ever since.
You are at liberty to use my testimony in whatever way if may be of most benefit to you.
I also enclose a photograph of myself that was taken soon after your treatment.
With feelings of much gratefulness, I am,
Very truly yours, J.L. RIDINGS, Clarence, Shelby County, Missouri.
VARICOCELE AND NERVOUS DEBILITY.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--I commenced treatment, I think, in July or August, of 1888, and continued four months. My case was nervous debility of fifteen years' standing.
I tried home doctors but found they were only aggravating my case. I also tried the Remedy Company, then of St. Louis, who claimed to perform wonderful cures with their "Pastiles," but they proved utterly worthless. Having come in possession of Dr. Pierce's little book and circulars, a perusal of the same convinced me that my health would not be trifled with at his Institution.
I was a poor man and could not afford much experimenting. I ordered one month's treatment, and at the end of this first month, I found, to my surprise, that I was feeling different. The second month, still more surprised at my returning health. Third month thought I was cured, and engaged myself to a young lady, and wrote you to that effect, and you advised me with your congratulations to marry, and to order another month's treatment; and at the end of the fourth month I was a man, something I did not know what it would be like to be before.
I have now been married five years, and have two healthy children--a boy and a girl. I would never have dared to marry had it not been for your medicines. I must add that during this treatment I was troubled with varicocele on left side. I wrote you this at third month of treatment, and you sent without extra charge, a Suspensory and Lotion, and two months' treatment cured me sound and well of this distressing malady; I have not felt the least symptoms of its return.
I want the world to know what a competent and honorable firm the World's Dispensary Medical Association is. I would love to shake you by the hand. May God let you continue to be a help to mankind is my prayer.
Yours truly, D.A. WALTON, Marion, Grant County, Ind.
BAD VARICOCELE OF LONG STANDING.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--I feel many obligations to your noble skill, as physicians. I was treated with much kindness by physicians and nurses. I was surprised to find such a speedy cure of such a bad case of varicocele of long standing; the operation was entirely painless and I felt a great change in myself, as a result of it. Am so glad to tell any sufferer of that terrible disease to apply to you at once and be cured, for I am sure I could not have lived long as the pressure and burden was so great I could scarcely be on my feet at all; any work in an upright position was impossible.
Now it has been five years since I was operated upon and I feel well of that disease--varicocele attended with impotency or weakness of the generative organs, caused by varicocele.
Thanks to the good physician who relieved me--hope he may live long and be able to relieve all that submit themselves to him for treatment, as I did. I found everything that had been described to be just so in regard to the Staff and Institution.
Gratefully yours, J.M. ELAM, Flat Rock, Scott Co., Va.
DOUBLE VARICOCELE AND STRICTURE OF URETHRA.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--I have taken treatment from you for several months for nervous debility, and although I am not quite fully cured as yet, I have been greatly benefited, and believe, if I had come to you before I was duped and swindled by different quacks and was more dead than alive, I would to-day be a thoroughly well man.
I have also been to your Institute twice for surgical operations, and cannot too highly praise the Hotel, or the skill and care of the attending surgeons and nurses. They are gentlemen in every way and the Invalids' Hotel is just as represented.
I shall advise all suffering from chronic diseases to go to you for relief, as I have never seen any one there who was not cured or greatly benefited.
Very truly yours, CHRISTIAN HANSON, Austin, Mower Co., Minn.
INDIGESTION, CONSTIPATION, VARICOCELE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Dear Sirs--In regard to my condition of health, will say, although I am not entirely well, yet I have received much and lasting good from your treatment. My digestion was improved greatly, so that little trouble is experienced after eating; my liver seems to act reasonably well, and my bowels are much better. My varicocele I consider entirely cured, as I have not used the bandage for one half day for more than six months, and do not experience any inconvenience from that source.
Yours truly, HARLAN HODGES, Keota, Keokuk Co., Ia.
BAD VARICOCELE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--Having been operated upon at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute for the radical cure of a bad varicocele, from which I had suffered for eight years, I desire to express my thanks to you for your kindness and skill. And I would advise all persons, needing surgical or medical treatment, to go to the World's Dispensary Medical Association.
Respectfully yours, WILLIAM H. DELLINGER, Vincennes, Knox Co., Ind.
VARICOCELE.
Cambridge, Furnas Co., Nebr.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--With great gratitude toward your most valuable Institute, I feel indebted to you for the cure of varicocele. I was troubled ten years with this annoying disease, caused, I think, by being thrown from a horse. My case was of a very obstinate character. I was treated by a leading specialist of Omaha, Nebr., without success and without being in the least benefited. I expended the neat little sum of $500, and then sank back in despair, losing all hopes of a cure. I had previous to my treatment in Omaha noticed a little hand or Memorandum Book of the World's Dispensary, and again one came to my notice. I mustered up courage to write to you, and in June, 1892, I visited your Institute for treatment. I was treated by the best skilled surgeons and given best attention by experienced nurses. I met a number of patients while under treatment troubled with various and complex diseases, who expressed their gratitude to the Faculty of the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute. The operation performed was rendered painless, owing to local applications previously applied. After the operation, which was about 11 o'clock, A.M., I rested until 12, noon, and responded to the dinner call as usual. I was required to remain but ten days, then returned home, a distance of some twelve hundred miles. I wore a neat fitting support for about six months, and then abandoned it and have gone as nature created me. Oh, what a relief. I had worn a "suspensory" for about six years. I have had no return of former trouble, it being now about two years since the operation.
To any suffering with varicocele I must say, "don't delay, but place yourself under treatment at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, Buffalo, N.Y., and you will say as I do, 'The half has never been told.'" With earnest wishes for your future success, I am,
Yours truly, E.L. Brown
VARICOCELE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--I wish to inform you of the success of your treatment of me for varicocele on the left side and its attendant weakness, etc. I am now happy to say that through the agency of your surgical skill and the efficacy of your medicine, I am healthy, strong, and a perfect man. I suffered for about two years previous to the operation with acute pain in the parts, and continued mental anxiety. I desire to express my entire satisfaction that, during the ten days that I remained in the Invalids' Hotel, I never experienced such uniform kindness and attention as I did from the attending surgeon and from all the attachees, and that I recommend all persons similarly afflicted to consult you, and they can be sure to find the way to happiness.
Respectfully yours, D.E. RIGHETTI, Cayucos, San Luis Obispo Co., Cal.
VARICOCELE
OF TWENTY YEARS' STANDING--CURED "WITHOUT PAIN.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--I take great pleasure in recommending the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute. After trying my home physicians without obtaining any permanent relief, and growing constantly worse, I went to this famous Institution and submitted to an operation for varicocele. This was a perfect success, and soon I felt like a new man, and as strong as I ever did. I feel that nothing I could say would do justice to this renowned Institution. In every way, it is kept in advance of the age. The staff of physicians and nurses spare no pains to make the visit of every one pleasant as well as beneficial in the highest degree. I would urge all sufferers afflicted as I was, or with any chronic disease, to avail themselves, without delay, of the skillful treatment to be obtained of the specialists of the World's Dispensary Medical Association, for I am confident that they will receive all the benefit that can be obtained from medical or surgical treatment and care.
Yours truly, CHAS. H. BOYLE, Fort Benton, Choteau Co., Montana.
VARICOCELE.
SPENT $500 WITH OTHER DOCTORS TO NO PURPOSE.
Bryson, Jack Co., Texas.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--I had been troubled with varicocele for nine years, and had given up ever being cured. After spending $500.00, with medical quacks I then went to the World's Dispensary Medical Association as a last resort. One of their skillful surgeons performed an operation upon me which was entirely painless. I conversed with several other patients, who had the same disease. They seemed happy to know that there was such an Institution that could relieve suffering humanity. The surgeons and nurses were so good and kind to us and gave us the best of attention and even the patients had a very fraternal feeling toward each other.
Your Institution is finely equipped and has the best of accommodations. Accept my thanks.
Yours truly, A.D. Bryson
A BAD CASE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, 663 Main St., Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--I have been cured of an almost life-long difficulty by the skill of your specialist, and heartily thank you for the successful manner in which the operation was performed in my case. The result is complete and perfect relief, and as time advances I can each day more fully appreciate the value of your Institution. The time spent there I shall never forget, as it was a time of extreme pleasure to me. The operation was perfectly painless and did not confine me to my bed, and this taken with the extreme kindness of every one connected with the Institution, made the time pass in a very happy manner.
I consider your Hotel first-class in every respect, and would heartily advise all sufferers from chronic ailments to visit you before giving up their cases as hopeless.
Respectfully yours, H.C. DECKER, Dresbach, Winona Co., Minn.
VARICOCELE-CAUSED FROM STRAIN.
Montague, Sussex Co., N.J.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--In reply to your inquiry concerning my treatment, I cheerfully give you the following testimonial: "I was troubled for many years with a very bad varicocele, which I received when a boy while jumping. The complaint troubled me exceedingly. I tried almost every known means to effect a cure, but with no avail, for the more I doctored the more aggravated became the disease. After thus suffering for many years and knowing of the fame your Institution had attained in curing such diseases, I at last consulted your specialist in that class of diseases--was operated upon and returned home in ten days, a sound and well man. I can recommend your Institution to all suffering humanity as the most home-like, your nurses the most attentive and specialists the most skillful the world can offer. May you long be the benefactors of mankind."
Yours truly, F.L. Van Etten
VARICOCELE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--The result of your operation, performed one year and a half ago for a case of varicocele of twelve years' standing, and which had troubled me very much, has cured me entirely. I am thankful to God that He put it into my mind to visit your Surgical Institute. I cannot recommend your skill too highly.
Yours truly, ED. H. MAHNKEN, Smithton, Pettis Co., Mo.
VARICOCELE.
Medora, Billings Co., N. Dak.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--Having been operated upon at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, Buffalo, N.Y., for the radical cure of a varicocele on the left side from which I suffered four years, I take pleasure in certifying to the speedy and certain relief afforded, and the painless operation, as performed by the surgeon of the World's Dispensary Medical Association. Ten days from the time of the operation I returned home permanently cured.
I desire to express my thanks to the Medical Staff for their skill and attention.
Gratefully yours, Geo. O. Reid
A STRONG ENDORSEMENT.
To whom it may concern:
This is to certify that I took treatment at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, Buffalo, N.Y., and I was cured of a chronic trouble that had been maltreated by other physicians. While there I saw a man who had been cured by the specialists, who had before been given up to die by the best doctors in Troy, N.Y. Of course, the case must have been a very stubborn one. I afterwards saw a man here, in Georgia, die, who, if he had been in Pierce's Surgical Institute under the treatment and care of his skilled doctors and nurses, I know would have most assuredly got well. Why? Because it was only a cage of stone in the bladder, and they are easily cured at Dr. Pierce's Surgical Institute. I think almost any chronic disease can be cured there, if taken in time, judging from my observations while an inmate of that Institution.
H.E. BANKSTON, Barnesville, Pike Co., Ga.
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HYDROCELE,
OR DROPSY OF THE SCROTUM.
This malady consists of a collection of water in the tunica vaginalis, or membranous sac which contains the testicles. It may affect either one or both sides. In health the sac-like covering, or investing membrane, of the testicle secretes a limpid fluid which lubricates its inner surface. When secreted in excess, it accumulates and constitutes hydrocele.
The tumor commences at the bottom of the scrotum and grows very gradually, while hernia, or rupture, with which it is often confounded, progresses from above downwards and makes its appearance suddenly.
We were recently consulted by an aged gentlemen, whose disease a distinguished surgeon had pronounced double hernia. On examining the enlargement, we found the disease to be dropsy of the scrotum, complicated with varicocele.
CAUSES. Injuries from blows or bruises are among the most common causes of this disease. It may also result from inflammation of the testicle or from excited action in those parts. It has been known to result from stricture of the urethra, or water-passage, and also from local irritation along that passage.
HYDROCELE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Dear Sirs--In answer to inquiries will say, that any person afflicted as I was, I would advise them not to listen to any ordinary doctor, but leave at once for the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, Buffalo, N.Y., where he could get the best of treatment and attendance that money could procure. The table also is loaded with the best of fruits, vegetables, and the finest meats of the markets.
Respectfully, H.H. WILLIAMS, St. Augustine, Florida.
HYDROCELE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--Without solicitation, but simply to aid suffering humanity, I take pleasure in recommending your place to any suffering from Hydrocele.
I was cured in a short time, after having the Hydrocele for eighteen years. Your new process is painless, no knife being used and is certain, sure and safe. With many good wishes of success, I am,
Yours truly, DAVID FLYNN, (Engineer, S.F. & W. Ry.,) Way Cross, Ware Co., Ga.
HEMATOCELE OR RUPTURED VEINS.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--I was afflicted with Hematocele of large size, caused by an injury, for which home-treatment gave me no relief.
Hearing of your Invalids' Hotel I went there and had an operation performed for its cure. I have the greatest confidence in your Specialists, as the operation was a perfect success. It was perfectly painless, and I was able to go home in less than two weeks with the cure complete. I take pleasure in certifying to the good work you are doing.
With the best of feeling toward the Invalids' Hotel, I am,
Yours truly, DON PARKER, P.O. Box 155, Oakfield, Genesee Co., N.T.
HYDROCELE WITH VARICOCELE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--About five years ago, having been a patient at, the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute and undergone a painless operation for the cure of hydrocele and varicocele--which was performed to my entire satisfaction. I desire to express my thanks to the Medical Stuff for their skillful treatment of my case. Two weeks from the time of the operation I returned home, radically and permanently cured.
I recommend all similarly afflicted to consult the World's Dispensary Medical Association.
Yours truly, DANIEL HUNTINGTON, Huron, Beadle Co., So. Dak.
TWENTY-TWO YEARS' STANDING--UNSUCCESSFULLY TREATED BY OTHERS.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--I wish to acknowledge that you have cured me of the worst case that ever came within my knowledge, it having afflicted me twenty-two years. After I had suffered much from other surgeons without any cure being effected, and with only relief for a short time, you performed a not only painless but very scientific operation, and with medicine completed the cure. It is now five years since you treated me and no symptoms of the disease have shown themselves. I will also add that while with you at the Invalids' Hotel I received the best of care and attention from the well trained nurses in your employ, for all of which I feel grateful.
With respect and best wishes, EDWIN L. WATERS, Athol Centre, Mass.
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THE URINARY ORGANS:
THEIR ANATOMY, PHYSIOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY.
By reference to Fig. 1 the reader will get a good understanding of the relative positions of the kidneys, bladder, and adjacent organs.
THE KIDNEYS.
It is hardly necessary to discuss the minute structure of these organs in a book intended for the non-professional reader.
The function of the kidneys is to remove certain waste materials from the blood. As fast as excreted by the kidneys, the urine passes through the ureters, of which there are two,--one leading from each kidney, into the bladder. The ureters are lined with a continuation of the mucous membrane, reflected from the bladder upwards, and this lining also extends to the cavities of the kidneys.
Calculi or gravel, and stones, forming, as they sometimes do, in the kidneys, and passing down through these delicate and sensitive canals, cause excruciating pain. The symptoms of renal calculi passing from a kidney to the bladder are, as already indicated, severe cutting pain in the loins, and along the ureter, attended with considerable fever. A very rough stone, such, for instance, as a mulberry calculus, passes with considerable difficulty, and the patient is often suddenly seized with excruciating agony in the loins and in the groin, the pain also shooting down into the testicle of the corresponding side, often causing it to retract. There is usually, also, sympathetic pain shooting down the thigh. We have seen patients roll on the floor in the greatest agony, cold sweat meanwhile pouring down their faces, when thus suffering. The patient may also vomit violently, through nervous sympathy. The urine is apt to be bloody, and there is a constant desire to pass it. There is pain in the end of the penis, and also in the lower portion of the abdomen.
THE BLADDER.
This is a sac, or reservoir, to receive and hold the urine as it comes from the kidneys through the ureters. Its walls are partly composed of muscle, and partly of a lining mucous membrane. The muscular coating is external, and it is by its contraction that the urine is expelled. When empty, the bladder shrinks down to a small size, as compared with its distended condition. When filled, it is capable of holding about one pint. If it is distended by the retention of urine much beyond this capacity, the muscular coats lose their force, and often the urine cannot be passed naturally. In health, when the bladder becomes filled and distended, there is a consequent desire to empty it by passing water.
The voiding of the urine should not be attended with the slightest pain or disagreeable sensations, and the desire to pass it should not be frequent. When there is frequent desire to pass it, or when its passage is attended with pain, there is irritation, or inflammation, in the coats of the bladder, or in the urethra. This may arise from an excessively acid or irritating condition of the urine, as well as from various other causes. Gonorrhea, or clap; stricture of the urethra, which impedes the free flow of the urine; enlargement or inflammation of the prostate gland; gravel, and stone in the bladder, are all capable of creating a frequent desire to pass water. Whatever the unhealthy condition may be which gives rise to this troublesome symptom, it calls for prompt and skillful treatment, for the most trivial affections of these organs often pass into those that are exceedingly intractable, if not incurable.
THE EXAMINATION OF THE URINE. The urine itself, when subjected to microscopical or chemical examination, as we shall hereafter more fully explain, offers the best means of determining the exact nature of these distressing affections. When normal, the urine is of a pale straw-color, and throws down no deposits on cooling. In passing it no difficulty or pain should be experienced, and it should spurt from the urethra in a full, round, and regular stream, until the bladder is entirely emptied. If the stream is forked, checked, or interrupted in any way before the bladder is completely emptied, it is evidence that something is wrong. Stricture of the urethra, prostatic disease, and gravel, or stone in the bladder, are all capable of producing obstruction to the free flow of the urine.
HOW SLIGHT AILMENTS BECOME DANGEROUS DISEASES. As we have before stated, the mucous membrane lining the bladder is reflected upwards into the ureters, lining these canals. By reason of this continuity of mucous surfaces, patients suffering from urethral, prostatic, and bladder affections, often die from disease of the kidneys. It must not be supposed that because stricture of the urethra does not co-exist with Brights disease, that the latter may not have been caused by the obstruction in the urethra due to stricture. Pulmonary consumption, for instance, often begins in the form of nasal catarrh, but, by the continuity of the mucous membrane, it travels, so to speak, into the throat, or pharnyx; from the pharnyx into the larnyx, and then into the lung structure itself. The disease is transferred from the nose into the lung tissue. What occurs in the nasal, laryngeal, and pulmonary tract of mucous membrane, happens, also, in the urinary tract. A gonorrhea, which is a specific acute inflammation of the urethral canal, leaves behind it a slight gleet, or chronic inflammation of the mucous membrane of the urethra. This may give little inconvenience for a number of years, but gradually it culminates in a stricture, or, implicating the prostatic portion of the urethra, occasions inflammation of the prostate gland, and, perhaps, enlargement of this organ. This gradually gives rise to cystitis, or inflammation of the bladder. From the bladder, the disease travels up the ureters into the kidneys, and finally Brights disease is established in these organs.
The mucous membrane lining the bladder also extends through the urethra. Throughout the interior of the body, whether it be in the stomach, lungs, or other parts, this lining mucous membrane serves as a protection to the parts beneath, just as the skin on the exterior of the body serves as a protection to the sensitive true skin and the tissues underneath it.
THE CAUSE OF CERTAIN DISTRESSING SYMPTOMS. Close to the neck of the bladder is a triangular space, on which the mucous membrane is smoother, and devoid of folds, or rugae, and which is far more sensitive and vascular than other portions of the mucous membrane lining this organ. It is called the trigone vesical. This trigone is the most depending part of the bladder. If there be stone in the bladder, it naturally gravitates and rests on this sensitive space, so that, when the bladder is empty, the foreign body occasions inconvenience, until the urine, trickling down through the ureters, and intervening between the mucous membrane and the stone, serves as a temporary protection to the mucous surface. Hence the pain becomes less as the urine is secreted, until the water is again passed, and the intervening fluid thereby removed, when the stone again presses upon, and irritates, the sensitive trigone, by coming into more immediate contact with it. The greater ease with patients afflicted with stone experience in a recumbent position in bed, or on a sofa, compared with being in an erect posture, is easily explained. The foreign body, when the patient is standing, walking, or riding, falls by its own gravity on this sensitive spot; when in a recumbent position, it rolls away from this sensitive trigone into the back part of the bladder, where the mucous membrane is less sensitive; consequently, the patient suffering from stone in the bladder is more easy at night, whereas, one suffering from prostatic disease, whether it be inflammation of the prostate gland, or enlargement of that organ, is usually worse in bed.
HOW BLADDER DISEASES COME TO BE CONFOUNDED WITH OTHER DISEASES. The bladder is largely supplied with blood-vessels, lymphatics, and nerves, given off from the same systems that supply the rectum or lower bowel, and in females the uterus or womb, and the ovaries. This accounts, in a great measure, for the symptoms of bladder disease in those afflicted with piles, or other diseases of the lower bowel, or of diseases of the uterus or womb in the female. We have frequently been consulted by patients who had erroneously supposed themselves to be suffering from disease of the bladder, or of the prostate gland, but whom we found, on examination, to be suffering from hemorrhoids, or piles. In these cases, by removal of the pile tumors, the frequent desire to urinate, and all pain in the region of the bladder, are promptly relieved. Sometimes, ulcers located in the rectum, give very little unpleasant sensation in the bowel, but produce pain in the bladder, with frequent desire to urinate. Enlargement of the uterus, the womb, or displacements of that organ, as prolapsus, or anteversion, and all capable of producing symptoms of bladder disease. A frequent desire to urinate and more or less sharp pain in the region of the bladder are usually experienced in these cases. Disease of the bladder, in like manner, often produces an apparent disease of other organs through sympathy, and without great care in diagnosticating each case, the effect may be taken for the cause, and the patient treated for a disease which does not really exist.
THE URETHRA.
The urethra, in the male, is the canal extending from the bladder to the end of the penis, through which the urine is passed. This canal starts from the base of the bladder, passes through the prostate gland, and, entering the penis, continues of about uniform size along the under part of the penis until it reaches the glans, or head of that organ, where it expands somewhat into a bulb-like fossa, or cavity, and becomes reduced again at the orifice. At a short distance from the bladder it receives the outlets of the seminal ducts. The urethra is a most delicate and sensitive canal, and is surrounded by tissues of like delicacy, and is lined with a mucous membrane which is highly vascular, and filled with sensitive nerves. The introduction of any instrument into this canal is to be undertaken only when absolutely required, and when necessary. It should be so skillfully and carefully effected that no pain or irritation can result. The slightest awkwardness is liable to cause an unnoticeable injury, which may result in a false passage, or an effusion of plastic lymph around the canal, which, organizing, forms the most troublesome kind of organic structure. By proper and early treatment all danger and pain is avoided, and a cure effected in a very short time. In an extensive practice, in which we yearly treat thousands of cases, we have never yet failed to give perfect and permanent relief from stricture, or disease of the prostrate gland, without the necessity of using cutting instruments of any kind, when we have been consulted before injury to the urethra has been produced by the improper use of instruments. Having specialists who devote their entire time and attention to the study of these diseases, we are able to relieve and cure a large number painlessly and speedily, in which the awkward manipulations of physicians or surgeons, whose hands, untrained by constant and skillful use, not only fail to effect any benefit, but set up new, or aggravate existing, disease.
This subject will receive a more full and complete consideration in another part of this treatise.
THE PROSTATE GLAND.
The prostate is a gland of about the size and shape of a large chestnut, lying just in front of the bladder, and surrounding the urethra. The size of the prostate gland varies considerably with the age of the person. In early life it weighs but a few grains. As puberty approaches it becomes larger, and in the adult weighs from half an ounce to an ounce. In old age it enlarges considerably, and sometimes presses upon the bladder so as to impede the flow of urine. This condition is often confounded with stricture, gravel, or stone in the bladder, by inexperienced physicians. Hypertrophy, or enlargement of the prostate gland, is not an unfrequent disease in the adult or middle-aged man. Being in close contact with the bladder, when it enlarges it encroaches on the bladder, pressing on it, and it has the effect of interfering with the function of urination. As before indicated, enlargement or hypertrophy of the prostate gland, is often confounded with stricture, gravel, and stone in the bladder, by inexperienced physicians, and treated accordingly. The true condition of this gland is readily determined by an examination through the rectum or lower bowel, the finger of the expert surgeon being able to determine at once whether it is enlarged or not.
THE DANGER OF BAD TREATMENT. In disease of the prostate gland, as well as in inflammation of the kidneys and bladder, stricture of the urethra, and many other forms of urinary disease, the use of stimulating diuretics, and the much-advertised "kidney cures," "buchus," and similar preparations, which largely increase the flow of urine, simply aggravate, and do positive harm. In fact, the most difficult cases that we have had to deal with have been those that, through such treatment, either taken on their own account or prescribed by inexperienced physicians, have been rendered so much worse as to make their cases very intractable, and tedious to relieve and cure.
REQUIRE NICELY ADAPTED TREATMENT. As we have heretofore indicated, there is no class of diseases that require nicer adaptation of medicines to each individual case, than those of the urinary organs. Medicines which, in one stage of these diseases are beneficial and curative, in another stage are often exceedingly injurious. Hence it is that we claim it to be impossible for any one to put up any set prescription, or proprietary medicine, that will meet the wants of a large percentage of this class of cases. The only rational course to be pursued is to examine carefully each case as it is presented; find out the exact condition and stage of the disease with which the patient is afflicted, and then prescribe for it such special medicines as are nicely and exactly adapted to the patient's condition. These, in many cases, will have to be changed from time to time, to suit the ever-changing condition of the disease, as it is modified by the treatment. Not only have the manufacturers of "buchus," "kidney cures," etc., committed grave errors by prescribing stimulating diuretics for almost all kidney and bladder diseases, under the impression that, as the patient passes only a small quantity of urine at a time, the kidneys should be stimulated to secrete more, but physicians in general practice have been very prone to commit the same error in their practices. When the bladder and kidneys are in a weak and diseased condition, incapable of efficient action, the bladder being already unable to dispose of the diminished quantity of urine secreted, it is simply outrageous practice to administer medicines calculated to stimulate the kidneys to perform more work. By being thus forced, these organs become seriously diseased. It would appear most unreasonable to whip and spur a horse already jaded from overwork. Common sense would dictate rest, which always does good; but, as the bladder is weak, the doctor whips up the kidneys with drugs, thus endeavoring to force them to secrete more urine, and thereby the poor, crippled bladder, which is incapable of disposing of even the diminished quantity secreted, is actually made to do more work in a diseased and feeble condition, than it would perform in a sound, strong, and healthy state. The results of this pernicious practice are Bright's disease of the kidneys, cystitis or inflammation of the bladder, and numerous other grave maladies.
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KIDNEY DISEASE.
Diseases of the kidneys are generally very slow in their inception, coming on gradually and manifesting no special symptoms of their presence until they have assumed a formidable character. For this reason they are the more dangerous. Simple derangement of the urinary secretion is no evidence of disease of these organs, as changes in the color, quantity and specific gravity of the urine are often produced by changes of temperature, active or sedentary habits, mental emotion, and sometimes by articles of diet, or drink, as well as by the use of different drugs.
The existence of disease of the kidneys in the early stages can only be positively determined by a microscopical and chemical examination of the urine, which reveals to us the presence of casts, epithelia, blood, pus, etc. The microscope informs us not only of the presence of disease, but very often of the particular portion of the kidney in which it is located, as well as of the stage which the disease has reached. We are also aided by chemistry in determining the exact abnormal condition of the kidneys by the detection of albumen, sugar, etc. These examinations, by aid of the microscope and chemical re-agents, should never be neglected by the physician. Without them his diagnosis, or judgment of the patient's condition, is simply guess-work. With them he is enabled to base his treatment upon certain and positive knowledge of the patient's real and true condition.
The usual symptoms of chronic disease of the kidneys, but which vary materially with the age, constitutional peculiarities and temperament, are weakness in the small of the back, pains in the region of the loins and groins, numbness of the thigh on the side of the affected kidney (for often only one organ is affected), high-colored and often scalding urine, many times depositing a sediment, sometimes white or milky urine, bloody urine, frequent desire to pass the urine, partial impotency, pains in the testicles and shooting into the loins, suppression or inability to pass the urine, gravel, stone in the bladder, dropsical swellings, swelling of the testicles, irritability and pain in the bladder, mucous and sometimes seminal discharges oozing from the urethra.
WHEN THE BLADDER IS AFFECTED the prominent symptoms usually complained of are irritability of the bladder, accompanied by a frequent desire to urinate, inability to retain more than a small quantity of urine, and this for a short time only, pain in the region of the bladder, extending into the back, thighs, etc., hot scalding sensations in passing the urine, sediment in the urine, and sometimes bloody urine. The appetite is usually diminished, there is a depression of spirits, the urine is often passed only by drops, and is irregular in quantity and quality, frequent inability to pass the urine at all, in males partial impotency, with dull disagreeable pain in the testicles and irritation of the urethra, attended with mucous and sometimes seminal discharges oozing from the urethra. Some of these symptoms may be present as the result of functional or organic disease of other organs than the kidneys or bladder, and to distinguish them with positive certainty is impossible without the aid of a microscopical and chemical examination of the urine.
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BRIGHT'S DISEASE.
This affection may appear in either an acute or chronic form. The acute form is frequently a complication, or sequel of scarlet fever, diphtheria, cholera, typhoid fever, erysipelas or measles, and is frequently developed by intemperance. The acute form of the disease is very rapid in its progress, often destroying life by uraemic poisoning--the retention of urea in the system.
The symptoms of the acute form are diminution or suppression of urine, dry skin, chills, thirst, pains in the loins, and a general dropsical, puffy condition of the system, especially manifesting itself in the earlier stages under the eyes, but gradually showing itself in the oedema, or swelling of the feet, and lower extremities generally. Unless promptly relieved, the patient dies of coma (stupor), or from convulsions. No person should be so rash as to attempt the treatment of this dangerous affection without the aid of the best medical skill that can be procured.
IT IS THE CHRONIC FORM OF BRIGHT'S DISEASE that we propose principally to discuss in this article. True Bright's disease of the kidneys is an insidious and most fatal form of organic disease.
We venture to assert that less than one per cent. of those who imagine they have "Bright's," have this disease at all. We find that most of those who, as one of our Faculty puts it, insist upon having Bright's disease, base their "diagnosis" upon the ever-changing condition of the urinary secretion, and especially upon the copiousness of the deposit; whereas, in true Bright's, deposits of any kind are rarely met with. Perhaps the form of deposit most commonly mistaken for Bright's disease, is that known to medical men as the urates. When the urates are in excess they form a heavy pinkish deposit of a flocculent nature within from five to thirty minutes after the urine has been passed--that is, after it has been passed sufficiently long to cool. To prove that the deposit is urates, heat the specimen to the temperature of the blood, when the deposit in question will disappear. Excess of urates has now been definitely traced, in the majority of instances, to functional torpidity of the liver.
Another common form of deposit is that in which the reaction of the urine, instead of being acid, as in health, is either neutral or alkaline, and in which the earthy phosphates are precipitated for this reason. The earthy phosphates, when thrown down by a neutral or an alkaline condition of the urine, appear as a heavy white deposit, which, though usually devoid of clinical significance, is certainly calculated to frighten timid patients who read of the "terrible ravages of Bright's" in the advertisements of various popular "kidney cures." To prove that the precipitate is phosphatic in its nature, add a few drops of vinegar and it will disappear; whilst, if, after the vinegar has been added, the specimen be brought to the boiling point, not only both the urates and phosphates remain in solution, but there is only one single substance known to pathological chemistry that can form a deposit under these conditions--and that substance is albumen, which, if present in quantity, is always indicative of serious disease.
The papers are filled with the plausible but unwarranted statements of the manufacturers of various "kidney cures," who anxiously desire that every one should be impressed with the idea that all their troubles arise from kidney disease in order to sell large quantities of their medicines. In many cases the unfortunate patient is rendered much worse by the use of remedies that are not suited to his condition, and which will not cure the real trouble with which he is affected.
Daily we are consulted by persons in whose cases these errors have been made. In reality, true Bright's disease is not a common affection, and nine out often individuals who think that they suffer from it, or the early stages of the trouble, in fact have something more curable. In some cases it is an affection of the liver, which forces an excretion of unnatural salts by the kidneys, and thus renders the urine acrid and irritating, or they may be suffering from some other disease, such as a deformity or enlargement of certain glands, as the prostate; unnatural position of the organs, as with women who suffer from weakness, the uterus pressing forward on the bladder and urethra, and thus showing every evidence of disease in the urinary canal. It is as common for persons to suffer from deformity of the urinary canal as from misshapen limbs, or from noses and ears not of proper size and proportion.
The urinary canal, from the bladder outward, is narrow and delicate. Any disease or injury therein is liable to result in gradual contraction, which may be manifested long years after the cause has been forgotten, or has disappeared. These affections, to the inexperienced, or the physician who is not particularly alert and cautious in his diagnosis, are liable to cause error, and he will pronounce a given case Bright's disease, when in reality there is some simple cause for the irritation of the urinary canal, and the pains in the kidneys, etc., all of which frequently result from a slight damming up of the flow of water, and the prevention of free expulsion from the system of the salts of which the body is relieved by the kidneys. They cannot work under pressure. When, from any cause, the flow of water is checked, and, as it were, dammed up so that a slight pressure is put upon the kidneys below, their secretion is most materially interfered with, and the many trains of symptoms that usher in disease of the kidneys, appear.
The true, and only sure way to relieve these conditions, as can be understood by any one, is to remove the real cause. The use of any medicine that stimulates the kidneys to an irritable action, under such pressure, is to be avoided, as it only makes the trouble worse, increases the amount of water that is dammed up, and results in more serious manifestations of constitutional disease; whereas, by merely relieving the choked outlet, the flow of water becomes free, and the kidneys are speedily restored to their natural condition. This is well illustrated by the following:
Case 113,396.
As recorded at the Invalids' Hotel. L.C.K., farmer, age 41, married. For a period of nearly ten years, as a result of slight injury, he had suffered from cloudy and unhealthy-looking water, with some burning on passing it; frequent calls to urinate; swelling of the limbs, loss of energy and strength; headache, etc.; gradually there appeared severe pain in the back, at times recurring with a sense of fullness in the abdomen. For a period of nearly eight years he had been constantly treated by physicians at his home, all of whom had investigated his case. He had made several long journeys to consult the manufacturers of a much-advertised "kidney cure," who, after pretending to examine his urine, scientifically (none of the proprietors are physicians), assured him that, without the shadow of a doubt, his disease was Bright's, and that he might be cured by their "kidney cure," which was for sale at all drug stores. For a period of eighteen months he steadily took this "cure," which, he states, he is sure aggravated his disease, as, although his sufferings at times were less, he felt that he was not improving in the least, and that his disorder was not being properly controlled. His home physician went with him on several occasions, consulted with the owner of the proprietary medicine, and was equally mistaken in his diagnosis. After consulting many doctors, all of whom assured him they could give him treatment that would prolong his life somewhat, and make his condition comfortable, but that no treatment would affect his cure, he was induced, by reading our article, heretofore referred to, to consult us. A very thorough examination of the case was made, which resulted in finding two contractions of the urethra, which admitted only the smallest sized probe, and which, necessarily, prevented the free flow of the urine. These were speedily removed, when, much to the surprise of his family physician, who accompanied him, over thirty-seven ounces of fluid were drawn from the bladder. This gave him immediate and perfect relief. The pains and aches in the region of the kidneys, the weakness and tenderness, and the many other uncomfortable symptoms with which he was troubled, all disappeared. From a feeble and irritable invalid, in a few weeks he was converted into a happy and cheerful man. The symptoms of congestion and irritability of the kidneys gradually disappeared, and in thirty days after visiting us he writes that he feels himself entirely sound and well. This gentleman states that he will be pleased to correspond with any one who wishes to learn the particulars of his case, and his full name and address will be furnished to any inquirer.
Bright's disease when fully established is characterized by degeneration of the kidneys. Submitted to examination, after death by this disease, these organs present various appearances. Hence, the degeneration that characterizes the disease has been designated as waxy degeneration. Some pathologists contend that the disease consists of several different renal maladies, all of which, however, agree in the one ever-present symptom of a more or less albuminous condition of the urine.
As to the causes of kidney disease, it may be said that any thing which will give rise to a greater or less degree of congestion of the kidney will induce either a temporary albuminous condition of the urine, or a true Bright's disease of the kidneys. Suppression of perspiration, by exposure to cold and wet, want of cleanliness, deficiency of nutritious diet, liver disease, certain poisons in the system, as of scarlet fever, measles, erysipelas or diphtheria, taken in conjunction with sedentary habits, bad air, excessive mental labor or worry, may each occasion an albuminous urine, and finally result in Bright's disease, but of all causes that appear to produce this disease, none are so prolific as intemperance. A scrofulous diathesis, or habit of body, may strongly predispose to the disease, and chronic kidney disease frequently follows acute rheumatism and the practice of masturbation. In some instances the chronic form of Bright's disease follows an acute attack, but is more often developed slowly and insidiously without any known cause.
THE SYMPTOMS of this fatal malady generally appear so gradually that they excite but little or no concern until it has reached its more advanced and dangerous stages. Frequently, a puffy, watery or flabby condition of the face, particularly under the eyes, is the first symptom noticed, and the patient may observe that his urine is diminished in quantity. The urine is sometimes abundant, but generally more scanty than in health, is acid in its reaction, and generally of a low specific gravity. The countenance is generally somewhat pale and bloodless, which, taken with the dropsical condition of the system, and the constant albuminous condition of the urine, points the expert specialist to Bright's disease of the kidneys. Various circumstances and conditions may give rise to the temporary presence of albumen in the urine, and, although albumen may be temporarily absent from the urine even when Bright's disease exists, yet this is not common. There are certain indirect symptoms which point clearly and almost unmistakably to the presence of this disease. These are deep-seated pain or weakness in the back, gradual loss of flesh, red, brown, or dingy urine, more or less drowsiness, and as the disease advances, a smothering sensation, or difficulty in breathing, with dropsical puffiness or swelling. Occasional attacks of nausea and vomiting are common; pains in the limbs and loins, which are often mistaken for rheumatism. Irregularity of the bowels is also common. The skin becomes harsh and dry, not perspiring even under active exercise. Sometimes these symptoms are years in their development, being very obscure at first, and in some cases the disease has been known to prove fatal without the patient having experienced any extraordinary symptoms. With those whose systems are enfeebled by want, intemperance, exposures or disease, as scrofula or syphilis, the first symptoms usually observed will be a frequent desire to urinate, occasional attacks of diarrhea, flatulency, dropsical swelling of the face, especially under the eyes, and afterwards of the extremities, paleness and increasing debility. Stupor, apoplexy and convulsions are the forerunners of a fatal termination.
Microscopical and chemical examinations of the urine are the only reliable means of diagnosis, and should be often repeated. (See Urinary Signs, in Appendix.) As albumen is often present in the urine without the existence of Bright's disease, it is impossible, except by the aid of the microscope, to distinguish true Bright's from other affections of the kidneys. In both purulent urine, and that containing blood, albumen will be found by the usual tests, but in smaller quantity than in Bright's disease. Albumen, with disintegrated epithelia, hyaline, and large granular casts, as well as waxy casts, are peculiar to, and characteristic of, this disease.
In the treatment of this malady, our specialist's experience has been very great, and attended with marvelous success. Of course, after the substance of the kidney has degenerated and broken down, and become destroyed to any great extent, a cure is impossible. But that we now possess remedies of great value, and specific power over this terrible disease, we have the most positive evidence in the remarkable success attended in its treatment. Most cases that are curable can be managed successfully at a distance, the necessary medicines being sent either by mail or express. Our specialists have cured many in this way who were so bloated from dropsical effusion as to weigh twenty-five to forty pounds more than usual. In our Sanitarium, where we have had the advantage of our Turkish baths and other appliances, we have cured some cases in which the removal of the dropsical effusion reduced the patient's weight sixty pounds.
We cannot, In conclusion, too strongly condemn the general resort to strong diuretics so often prescribed by physicians for all forms of renal maladies, but which, by over-stimulating the already weak and delicate kidneys, only aggravate and render incurable thousands of cases annually. Not less harmful are the many advertised "kidney cures," "kidney remedies," "buchus," and kindred preparations. They all contain powerful, stimulating diuretics, and, while they may appear for a short time to do good, invariably render the case worse and far more difficult to cure. The cases of Bright's disease reported cured by these preparations are cases of far less dangerous maladies, made to appear, by exaggerated accounts of them, as true Bright's disease. The use of these general, ready-made or proprietary remedies in any case of true Bright's disease is hazardous in the extreme. In no disease is there greater necessity for treatment nicely adapted to the exact condition of the patient (which should always be carefully ascertained by microscopical and chemical examinations of the urine) than in this. As it is a disease that runs a slow course, there is always time to send samples of the urine for examination by expert specialists, and no other physician than a specialist of large experience should be entrusted with the treatment of a malady so dangerous in its character, and in the diagnosis and treatment of which general practitioners commit such frequent, and often fatal, errors. (SEE TESTIMONIALS.)
DIABETES. (POLYURIA AND GLYCOSURIA.)
There are two essentially different varieties of this disease, one of which is called Diabetes Insipidus, or Polyuria, and the other Diabetes Mellitus, or Glycosuria. The first is characterized by an increase in the amount of urine excreted, and yields readily to proper treatment. The second is characterized by the presence of sugar in the urine, and under ordinary treatment often proves fatal.
The causes are obscure, and are therefore not very well understood by the profession.
SYMPTOMS. A notable increase of the quantity of urine excreted is the first symptom which attracts the patient's attention. Frequently, several quarts, or even gallons, of urine are daily excreted, and it is paler than natural. The patient experiences extraordinary thirst, and has an almost insatiable appetite, though at the same time he loses flesh and strength. The tongue may be either clammy and furred or unnaturally clean and red. The bowels become constipated, and a peculiar odor is observed in the patient's breath and exhales from his body. The skin becomes harsh, dry, and scurfy. There are dizziness, headache, dejection, lassitude, and not unfrequently blindness, caused by cataract, is developed in one or both eyes. The intellect is blunted, and, as the disease progresses, the emaciation and debility increase, and pulmonary diseases develop; or, perhaps, an uncontrollable diarrhea sets in, and the patient dies from exhaustion.
In this disease, as in Bright's, we have many medicines that produce specific curative effects, enabling our specialists to treat it with greatly increased success. The disease is readily diagnosticated, or determined, by chemical examination of the urine, so that we have been enabled to treat this class of cases very successfully at a distance, and without personal examinations. Great attention should be paid to the diet in these cases. It should be highly nutritious, but anything of a sweet or starchy nature must be avoided.
The following articles are wholesome and afford sufficient variety, viz.: of animal food--beefsteak, game, poultry, fish, eggs, cheese, cream, butter; of vegetables--spinach, dandelion greens, turnip tops, watercresses, lettuce, celery, and radishes; of drinks--tea, coffee, claret, water, brandy and water, beef-tea, mutton-broth, or water acidulated with tartaric, nitric, citric, muriatic, or phosphoric acid. The forbidden articles are oysters, crabs, lobsters, sugar, wheat, rye, corn or oatmeal cakes, rice, potatoes, carrots, bests, peas, beans, pastry, puddings, sweetened custards, apples, pears, peaches, strawberries, currants, etc., also beer, sweet wines, port, rum, gin, and cider. (SEE TESTIMONIALS.)
CHRONIC INFLAMMATION OF THE BLADDER. (CHRONIC CYSTITIS.)
This affection, also called catarrh of the bladder, is an inflammation of the mucous lining of this organ. It may occur at any period of life, but it oftenest appears in the aged, and is usually associated with some obstruction to the flow of urine.
CAUSES. It may be due to colds, injuries, irritating diuretics, injections, extension of disease from the kidneys or adjacent organs, intemperance, severe horseback riding, recession of cutaneous affections, gout, rheumatism, etc.; but it more frequently results from stricture of the urethra, enlarged prostate gland, gravel, and gonorrhea. It is also caused by an habitual retention of the urine, and sometimes results from masturbation or self-abuse.
SYMPTOMS. There is an uneasy sensation in the bladder, and heaviness and sometimes pain and weakness in the back and loins. The urine is scanty, and, although there is a desire to void it frequently, it is passed with difficulty. If allowed to stand, it deposits more or less mucus, which is sometimes mistaken for semen. As the disease progresses, the quantity of the mucus increases. It is very viscid, and adheres to the sides of the vessels, so that if an attempt be made to pour it out, it forms long, tenacious, ropy threads. Sometimes the quantity of mucus is so great that on exposure to cold the whole mass becomes semi-solid, and resembles the white of an egg. The excreted urine is alkaline, acrid, exhales a strong odor of ammonia, and soon becomes exceedingly fetid. Sometimes the urine becomes so thick that great difficulty is experienced in expelling it from the bladder. Nocturnal emissions, impotency, and loss of sexual desire are apt to ensue. Occasionally there will be a spasmodic contraction of the bladder, with straining and a sensation of scalding in the urethra, and sometimes the patient is unable to urinate.
When ulceration occurs in the progress of the disease, as it is apt to in its advanced stages, blood will occasionally be seen in the urine. In the advanced stages of the disease the system becomes greatly debilitated, emaciation supervenes, with hectic fever, nervous irritability and, finally, death.
TREATMENT. A strict observance of the rules of hygiene is essential to a cure. We must ascertain the cause if possible, remove it, and thus prevent it from perpetuating the disease. The various causes and conditions involved in different cases demand corresponding modifications of treatment; hence, it is useless for us to attempt to teach the non-professional how to treat this complex disease. We have succeeded in curing many severe cases without seeing the patient, being guided in prescribing by indications furnished by microscopical and chemical examinations of the urine. (See Urinary Signs in Appendix.) In fact, nearly all cases can be cured at their homes, and without a personal examination being made. In the worst cases, we have found it best to have our patients at our institution, where we can wash out the bladder with soothing, healing lotions, and thus make direct applications to the diseased parts. (SEE TESTIMONIALS.)
GRAVEL.
When the solid constituents of the urine are increased to such an extent that they cannot be held in solution, or when abnormal substances are secreted, they are precipitated in small crystals, which, if minute, are called gravel. Another cause of the precipitation of these salts is a stricture of the urinary canal which, by interfering with the free expulsion of all the fluid from the bladder, results in the retention of a portion, which gradually undergoes decomposition. Salts from the urine are thus precipitated in the same way that they are thrown down in urine which is allowed to stand in a vessel. Any one can illustrate this, by allowing a small quantity of the urinary secretion to stand for a few days either in an open or a closed bottle. Soon a white, flaky deposit will be observed, which will become more and more dense, and finally fine grains will be seen precipitated at the bottom of the bottle. Similar grains, lodging in the folds of the bladder, gradually increase in size, by the precipitation of more salts around them, and ultimately become a source of much irritation. When of large size, they are termed calculi or stones. When these formations occur in the kidneys they are termed renal calculi; when in the bladder, vesical calculi. There are several varieties of gravel, each depending upon different conditions of the system for its formation. The two prominent varieties are the red, containing uric acid, and the white, or phosphatic, gravel.
SYMPTOMS. When the deposits are in the kidneys, there is pain in the back and loins, occasionally cutting and severe; sometimes it darts down the course of the ureter to the bladder, and extends even to the thighs. When the deposits are in the bladder, there is a frequent desire to urinate, with a bearing-down, straining pain; also a cutting or scratching sensation in the urethra during micturition. In the male, intense pain is often experienced at the end of the penis. When the urine is voided in a vessel and allowed to settle, a gravelly deposit is seen, generally of a red or a white color, and the particles varying in size.
TREATMENT. These urinary deposits indicate a general derangement of the system, as well as a local disease. Nutrition is imperfect and some of the excretory organs are not properly performing their functions, or, perhaps, some portion of the body is being too rapidly wasted. Very frequently we find these gravelly formations as the result of a rheumatic or a gouty diathesis. It is also a well-known fact that torpidity of the liver throws an excessive amount of work on the kidneys. These organs then, in part, perform the function of the liver, and hence unnatural activity is required of them, and the secreting of such substances as uric acid, which precipitates readily and gives rise to severe irritation of the urinary canal.
In order to treat these cases rationally and successfully, it is first necessary to ascertain by microscopical and perhaps chemical examinations, the character of the deposit. By such an examination, the exact condition of the system which gives rise to these abnormal products may be definitely determined, and the remedies to be employed indicated. As the non-professional are not qualified to make such examinations, it would be useless for us to suggest specific treatment for the various forms of this affection.
Samples of the urine may be sent to us with a brief description of the symptoms experienced, and the proper medicines to cure can be returned by mail or express. Our specialists are treating, with uniform success, large numbers of cases in this way. (SEE TESTIMONIALS.)
STONE IN THE BLADDER.
Few affections to which the human flesh is heir are more painful than this terrible affliction. The cutting operation heretofore required to remove it, is considered one of the most dangerous operations that the surgeon is ever called upon to perform.
The death of the Emperor Louis Napoleon, of France, from an operation for the removal of a stone, at the hands of surgeons renowned for their skill, gave new impetus to the efforts of surgeons to invent some method that would be less dangerous than that which has been heretofore commonly employed. The cutting operations have been the rule. Of these the operation by median-section is the safest, and is most commonly employed for the removal of stones that are not too large, while the lateral operation is used where the stone is more than about one inch in its smallest diameter.
As will be seen by the consultation of any hospital record, the deaths in these various operations have been, in adults, from one in three to one in every four cases--a very large percentage, and sufficient to deter any sufferer from undergoing an operation except for the relief of a condition which is in itself worse than death. Even when this alarming death-rate is explained to sufferers, they willingly undergo the operation, feeling that they would rather die than longer continue in their pain and anguish.
Our specialists, not satisfied with the results of these operative measures, in their studies of the disease endeavored to perfect some other means by which these foreign bodies could be removed from the bladder without such great danger and pain. The operation by crushing, and removal without cutting, appeared to them to present the most practicable advantages, and they therefore devote their entire time to the improvement of this method for the removal of stone.
The method of crushing was first invented by a French surgeon many years ago; but, owing to his crude instruments, and the difficulty that was experienced in expelling the pieces of stone, the operation was seldom employed by surgeons. The improvements in these methods at the hands of Bigelow and Sir Henry Thompson, with those that have been made by our specialists, have resulted in our being able to present to sufferers with this disease, a means of cure which is, we are assured, the most successful known to modern medical science.
There have been so far in the history of the treatment of this malady by the new method of cure, one hundred and twenty-odd cases operated upon at the hands of prominent surgeons, all of which were with less perfect methods than that of our specialists, and there were but four deaths in this large number. By the advantages which are the result of further improvements by our specialists, we can assure you that this mortality is even less in our hands; in fact, approaches, as near as possible, to a perfect method of cure.
We think that in a moderately healthy subject, one in which the kidneys are not badly diseased as the result of irritation from the calculus, the operation is almost absolutely safe. The method consists in the crushing of the stone, and its removal from the bladder by means of small silver catheters attached to an apparatus which gently and perfectly removes, by suction, all the pieces which are thrown to the bottom of the bladder. This operation has now been performed in our institution in a very large number of cases with uniform success, and the cures have been effected in from six to eight weeks without a single unpleasant symptom arising during their progress. By this method it is not necessary to remove the entire calculus at one operation, if it is a large one. By the old cutting operation this was required, as the bleeding was great, and what was to be done had to be done immediately, or the patient would die from the hemorrhage. With the new method a part of the large calculus, or when several exist, one or two of them, may be removed at a time, after which the patient can rest and gain strength for the second; or, if necessary, for the third operation.
The largest stone removed by us in this way was one weighing between seven and eight hundred grains, for which three operations were required. It is necessarily performed under a mild anæsthetic, which prevents suffering and secures the perfect relaxation of the patient. In the case in which this large amount of stone was removed we feel certain that a cure could not possibly have resulted from a cutting operation, as the heart was seriously affected, and the physical condition of the patient so low, as the result of years of suffering, that death would have occurred while undergoing the operation. By carefully pursuing the new method, and not prolonging the sittings more than a few minutes each time, the entire stone was evacuated. The health of the patient constantly improved during the interval of three operations, which covered a space of seven weeks. This stone was as large as a hen's egg.
Small calculi or gravel are readily removed in a few moments' time by the new method. In no case is there any bleeding. Instead of a large, gaping wound being left after the operation, from which secondary hemorrhage may take place, or poisoning result from the irritation of decomposing urine, the parts are left in a healthy state with the surface unbroken. The stone, a constant source of irritation, is removed, and the health is speedily restored.
When it is impossible for the patient to visit us, a careful examination of the urine is made, and if gravel have been passed, these are carefully examined also. An idea of the composition of the stone is arrived at by this means, and treatment is directed to dissolve it. Success has commonly followed this method of treatment, when the stone has not been very large. With the gradual reduction of the size of the stone the irritation subsides, and the general health of the patient improves. (SEE TESTIMONIALS.)
CHRONIC ENLARGEMENT OF THE PROSTATE GLAND. (HYPERTROPHY.)
The prostate gland lies just in front of the base of the bladder, and surrounding the urethra, or urinary canal. Enlargement, therefore, of this body, if it be of considerable extent, causes it to encroach and press upon the base of the bladder, and to more or less constrict the urinary canal near the base or outlet of the bladder. The enlargement may be only slight, or the dimensions of the gland may be increased from the size of a large chestnut, its normal dimension, to the volume of a pullet's egg, or even to the size of an orange.
Hypertrophy of the prostate generally arises from causes which operate in a slow and permanent manner. Whatever has a tendency to produce a determination of blood to, and an engorgement of, this organ, is capable of producing the affection, an augmented flow of blood to the the part having the effect to increase the nutrition. Among the most frequent causes of this affection, are excessive venery, masturbation, disease of the bladder, stricture of the urethra, horseback exercise, gonorrhea, and the employment of strong, stimulating diuretics. Some of the worst cases that we have had to deal with have occurred in old men, and, in fact, the malady is more common to those advanced in life; but it is frequently produced in those of middle age by the causes enumerated.
Among the earliest symptoms of the disease is an uneasy feeling in the region of the base of the bladder. There is a more frequent desire to urinate than usual, and, in the course of time, this frequency becomes more urgent; still no particular notice may be taken of it, it being considered as "only a slight inconvenience." After several months, or it may be years, the discomfort increases, and nightly calls to empty the bladder become habitual. By and by the patient begins to find the discomfort of getting out of his warm bed very troublesome; still no notice to taken of it. He does not consider it worth his while to consult a doctor for "such a trifle." In the course of time the patient is obliged to get out of bed twice during the night instead of once. Afterwards, the calls become still more frequent and urgent; the inconvenience more evident; finally, pain is substituted for inconvenience, and then the doctor is consulted. Unless a specialist of experience be consulted, the bladder will most probably be examined, and medicine will be prescribed only to excite the kidneys to secrete more urine, which does harm instead of good; the disease slowly, but surely progressing. Patients often write us that they have had something wrong with the bladder for a number of years, having to urinate more frequently than they ought; sometimes having to do so three and four times during the night; in extreme cases even every half hour or so, and that they are not able to pass it freely, but only in small quantities, and attended with much pain. These symptoms are not always constant, but let up for a few weeks and then appear again. Things go on in this way for a year or two, perhaps, when the passage of the urine is completely shut off for several hours, and the patient is in great agony until the bladder is relieved by the use of the catheter. After such instrumental relief, for a day or two the urine may be natural again, coming at first, perhaps, in very small quantities, but by and by more freely. Then, after a week or two intervening, there may be another complete stoppage, attended, as before, with intense suffering, which will have to be again relieved by the use of an instrument.
The foregoing is a fair account of the usual progress of the disease and its symptoms. As the prostate gland becomes more irritated and inflamed from the natural progress of the disease, or from the irritation caused by the passage of instruments, or the employment of strong, harsh, stimulating diuretics, the urine becomes cloudy, and still later is found to have deposited during the night in the chamber utensil a quantity of thick, tenacious, and usually offensive mucus. There is apt to be more or less discomfort in the rectum, or lower bowel, produced by the pressure of the enlarged prostate upon it. Rarely, the first intimation of a large prostate occurs through a sudden retention of the urine, and the patient being under the impression that there was nothing wrong with the organ previously. Closely questioned, however, the information is elicited that there has been a long train of mild symptoms, similar to those that we have described, preceding the attack of retention of the urine. This shows the importance of early attention and proper treatment when such symptoms are manifested. However slight the inconvenience experienced, it should not be neglected. The disease should be brought under control at the outset by skillful and nicely-adapted treatment. Usually before a person suffers from toothache, the decay occasioning it has been gradually progressing without pain for from five to eight years. Just as the decay of the tooth may be arrested by the early attention of the dentist, so may prostatic disease by early attention be not only promptly relieved, but permanently cured.
Disease of the prostate being slow in its inception and progress, is also slow to yield even to the most skillful treatment. Being slow to develop, patients rarely seek assistance until the organ has become so large as to be seldom restorable to a size where mechanical means can be wholly dispensed with for relieving the bladder. Most surgeons are too much in the habit of depending on the catheter for the relief of the patient, and usually instruct the sufferer how to use it, telling them that this, the catheter, is to be their only doctor for life. Great as is the relief afforded by the catheter, which has often saved life, yet it is a fact that its frequent and prolonged use often renders disease of the prostate very intractable and often wholly incurable. Frequent use of the catheter, without any treatment to prevent the further enlargement of the diseased gland, or to reduce its size, permits the part to go on enlarging, and, besides, the constant use of the catheter irritates the prostatic portion of the urethra, causing thickening of the lining membrane, and sooner or later a more or less complete organic stricture of this canal, depending upon thickening of the lining mucous membrane, as well as upon the encroachment of the gland itself upon this canal. Besides, when the use of the catheter is once commenced, even when the enlargement is not very great, it is with the utmost difficulty that we have been able to induce patients to leave off its use. The bladder, becoming accustomed to its use, refuses to obey the will without this help. The irritation set up in the parts by the friction of the catheter causes inflammation and exudation in the lining membrane. This extends to the structure of the prostate itself and increases the hypertrophy or enlargement. It will, therefore, be seen how important it is to early resort to treatment to relieve the first manifestations of this affection. A disease of so delicate a nature, and one so often confounded with other maladies by inexperienced physicians, should only be intrusted for treatment to expert specialists of large experience in the management of this and kindred maladies.
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STRICTURE OF THE URETHRA.
Stricture of the urethra generally results from some specific disease of the urethra, but may be caused by sexual excesses, exposure, or strain, or by the practice of masturbation or self-abuse. It runs a course varying in time from a few days to many weeks or months, during which time the patient is often unaware of the real cause of his sufferings.
Commonly, the attention is first called to a stricture by a slight discharge, or smarting sensation, or the appearance of an undue amount of mucous deposit in the urine. Occasionally, some difficulty in starting the water, or a diminution in the size and force, or a twisting of the stream as it flows, is the first symptom. This passive stage is of variable duration. When skillful treatment is instituted at this stage of the disease, a speedy cure is easily effected without pain or danger. Any exposure, improper use of instruments, or irritating cause, may speedily give rise to the alarming symptoms due to closure of the urethra, from which fatal consequences may suddenly ensue.
This condition is illustrated in Fig. 2, which shows the hard and tough stricture which surrounds the soft mucous membrane that lines the urinary canal. When irritated or inflamed, as the result of a cold or other cause, the mucous membrane becomes swollen and thickened, and, as the stricture will not yield and enlarge, the result is that the urethra is almost completely closed, and it becomes impossible to pass the urine. Great pain is experienced, and the surgeon has to be called to draw off the urine with a catheter, which, at best, is a very difficult and painful operation, when the urethra is so irritable and constricted.
TREATMENT. In the earlier stages of the malady, relief is given by the skillful use of instruments for dilating the canal, or, where this fails by the operation of urethrotomy, for which we employ an improved and ingenious instrument, by which the stricture is readily and almost painlessly divided.
IMPROVED METHODS. Our surgeons have operated upon many hundreds of bad cases by a very ingenious and almost painless method, that requires no use of bougies in the after-treatment. This saves the patient an immense amount of pain and annoyance, and enables him to go home almost immediately after the operation.
The ordinary after-treatment, by dilatation with bougies, is very tedious, and often more painful than the operation itself, so that our peculiar method of treatment has been hailed with joy by those familiar with the old and unnecessarily-painful systems of treatment. Besides, our more improved method has been followed by far more perfect cures in every case operated upon.
In many of the cases coming under our observation and treatment, there have been several strictures, as illustrated in Fig. 3, which shows the urethra constricted at three different points, besides a congenital contraction at its mouth or meatus.
SPERMATORRHEA not infrequently results from stricture of the urethra, even when the affection is quite slight. Our attention was first called to this subject by the consideration of the numerous cases in which epileptic convulsions or "fits," and other serious diseases of the nervous system in children, have resulted from an unnatural contraction of the prepuce or foreskin, constituting what is termed phimosis.
Every surgeon of experience has met with many of these cases of reflex irritation. It occurred to us, that, inasmuch as these contractions of the foreskin give rise to nervous diseases of an alarming nature, may not an unnatural narrowing of the urethral canal, which must have exactly the same effect in retarding the flow of the urine, give rise to irritable nervous affections in adults. May not unnatural irritation and excitement of the sexual organs, so set up, cause loss of semen to occur during sleep, and consequent nervous and general debility?
It is a well recognized fact that the urethral canal should bear a certain definite and proportionate size to that of the penis, just as the length of the arm should naturally bear a certain proportion to the length of the body. In the case of some parts of the body, disproportionate development of the part may not give rise to anything further than unsightliness; but when we find the small size of the urethra retarding the free passage of the urine, then we may expect, if this condition is long continued, to find more or less irritation of the urethra and, perhaps, of the bladder, also. When there is a contraction of the urethra at its external orifice, or at any point along its course, unnatural pressure is put upon the urinary canal behind the constricted portion, and these parts must bear an undue strain during the passage of the urine.
It is a well established fact that improper diet, cold, exposure, and over-work exert a very powerful modifying influence upon the urinary secretion, frequently causing an acrid and irritating condition of this fluid. This condition, when associated with a contracted urethra, must result in irritation of the mucous membrane lining this canal back of the stricture, if long continued or frequently repeated. As an illustration, we have a hose pipe from which, by means of a small nozzle, water is expelled a considerable distance, but a great tension is put upon the hose behind the nozzle. If the pressure is increased greatly the hose will burst; but, if the small nozzle be replaced with a larger one, the projection of the stream will be quite as great, but all undue tension of the pipe is overcome and the danger of bursting is done away with. We have, in an unnaturally contracted urethra, a favorable condition for the development of disease in the urinary canal and adjacent parts of the generative organs. Irritation is set up in the urethra behind the stricture by undue strain in passing water, and the frequent reoccurrence of acrid urine, as the result of any of the causes we have already mentioned, this irritation keeps gradually increasing. It will be felt more during the periods when the urine is acrid, but may pass unnoticed even at such times. The seminal sacs and the prostate and Cowper's glands communicate with the deeper portions of the urethra by means of canals or ducts, lined with mucous membrane which is continuous with the urethral mucous membrane. Hence we can readily see that not only by reflex nervous irritation are those parts debilitated, through the contraction of the urethra, but the affection is apt to extend by continuity of the mucous membrane, and thus become more and more manifest, through symptoms of disease of the testicles, prostate gland and seminal vesicles, and these disorders become more and more seated the longer the morbid condition of the urethra is allowed to run on, until there may be an entire loss of the sexual functions, occurring at an age when there should be present the most vigorous manhood. From no other cause can we explain the common prevalence of disease of the deeper portions of the urethral canal and bladder, many times confounded with other diseases of the urinary and generative organs.
The following is the history of a case that fully illustrates the foregoing statements:
CASE 112,289. MR. O.C.E., SINGLE, 32 YEARS OF AGE.
He applied to us suffering from entire loss of the sexual function, with great nervous debility, and there was a thin slimy discharge from the urethra, and the usual symptoms of melancholia and weakness. He had lost all taste for business, and was extremely nervous, from the fact that he was engaged to be married, and felt that his condition would not permit it. On examination a contraction of the urethra was found at the point shown in Fig. 4, which had probably been present for years. He stated that he never had been just right in those parts, but had lived a virtuous life, had never had any venereal disease, and, hence, the true nature of his trouble had not been suspected. With the removal of the stricture there was an immediate improvement in his condition, which became more and more rapid, as his system gained strength and reaction became manifest. At the end of two months he wrote that he felt sound and well, and that he had experienced the most wonderful improvement in every way. His vital strength was fully restored, and he was most profoundly grateful.
Chronic inflammation of the bladder, sometimes called catarrh of the bladder, an affection that is elsewhere herein fully treated of, and chronic inflammation of the kidneys, and true Bright's disease, as well as prostatic disease, are all liable to result from strictures of the urethra. Hence, it behooves one suffering from this malady to have it promptly and skillfully treated.
FALSE PASSAGES. In very rare cases of impassable stricture, or in which fistulous openings, or false passages, have formed, through which the urine flows or dribbles away, we have resorted to the operation of perineal section with the most gratifying results. The cases requiring this operation are rare ones, in which death must generally result but for the relief afforded by the operation.
DANGEROUS USE OF INSTRUMENTS. The worst and most dangerous cases of stricture with which we have met, in a long and extensive experience, were rendered thus by the careless or unskillful use of bougies, catheters, or sounds. Many surgeons and physicians are most recklessly careless or unskilled in the use of these most dangerous instruments, as the many cases of false passage or stricture of the most painful and dangerous kind, caused or aggravated by their ignorant or improper use, sorrowfully testify.
DELAY DANGEROUS. By proper treatment of stricture in its early stages, all danger and pain are avoided, and a cure is effected in a very short time. In an extensive practice, in which we yearly treat hundreds of cases, we have never yet failed to give perfect and permanent relief from stricture, or diseased prostate or urethra, without the necessity of cutting instruments of any kind, when we have been consulted before injury of the urethra has been produced by improper use of instruments. Having specialists who devote their entire time to the study and cure of these diseases, we are thereby enabled to attain the highest degree of skill in the management of these cases.
GREAT SKILL REQUIRED. The urethra is a sensitive and delicate canal, and is surrounded by tissues the most delicate, and lined with mucous membrane which is highly vascular and filled with sensitive nerves. The introduction of any instrument is to be undertaken only when absolutely required, and, when necessary, it should be so skillfully and carefully effected that no pain or irritation can result. The slightest awkwardness is liable to cause an unnoticeable injury, which results in false passage or an effusion of plastic lymph around the canal, and as it organizes, the formation of the most troublesome organic stricture. The attention not only of sufferers, but also of the profession, is called to the remarkable success of our operation, perineal section, by which a cure of extremely bad cases of impassable stricture and false passages, or urinary fistulas, is effected in from thirty to forty days, and with very little suffering. That we have been successful in such cases must be considered as conclusive evidence that no case of stricture, false passage, or urinary fistula, is beyond the reach of our skill.
* * * * *
TESTIMONIALS.
In a practice embracing the treatment of a vast number of cases of diseases of the Urinary Organs, it has been our good fortune to effect many remarkable cures. The experience gained in this field of practice has made our specialists skilled experts, and hence hundreds consult them as a last resort. In fact we seldom get a case, in this line, that has not been the rounds of the home physicians before applying to us for relief and cure. The cures, therefore, which we shall introduce here are the more remarkable because of the failure, in nearly every case, of other medical men to benefit or cure. They are not the every-day, ordinary cases met with in the general practitioner's rounds, but complicated, obstinate ones, which had generally been given up as hopeless before coming to us.
CASE 4A-3431. "WASTED TO A SHADOW." BLEEDING FROM KIDNEYS. A SEVERE CASE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--I think it my duty to write to you concerning my case. In the year 1886 I was seized with inflammation of the bladder and passed nothing but thick blood, owing to heavy work, and I consulted a doctor and he said there was no cure for such a bad case; but he gave me medicine and it relieved me at the time I used it; and I took 16 bottles and I got worse and wasted to a shadow. I quit taking the medicine, and other complaints came, as rupture in the spermatic cord, for which I applied to you and soon got relief. And in 1891 the bladder disease made its appearance, and I wrote to the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute and got no reply as our mails were stopped on account of snow drifts. I sent for the best doctor in Listowell and I still got worse, and he said I might live three or four weeks, but there was no stoppage of the disease. And I got so weak that I had to support myself by the furniture in my room; and I wasted down to 100 lbs. in two weeks; and I applied to your Institute and I received my medicine in a few days, and in two weeks I began to gather strength and now I am hearty and well and my weight is 145 lbs. I feel so thankful to the Medical Association and its Staff of skilled men. It is 15 months since I quit taking your medicines and no signs of the disease returning.
Yours gratefully, THOMAS S. BAILEY, Dorking, Wellington Co., Ont.
CASE 23A-877. INFLAMMATION OF THE BLADDER, WITH OTHER COMPLICATIONS. SUFFERED EXCRUCIATING PAIN IN URINATING.
For many years I suffered with inflammation of the Prostrate Gland and Bladder. It became gradually worse and I endured extreme pain, so much so that I was laid up for weeks at a time, and almost gave up in despair. I was persuaded to go to the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute. I have never regretted following this advice. While there I submitted to an operation by their specialist. This was entirely painless and the result perfectly satisfactory. I left in a short time delighted, and have since been strong and well. I cannot speak in too high praise of this famous Institution; the rooms are large and pleasant, the food the very best, the attendants kind and attentive and the staff of physicians skillful and of large experience. I highly recommend all invalids to the World's Dispensary Medical Association. I feel confident that all the benefit to be derived from medical treatment is to be received at this Institution.
Yours truly, GEO. W. HEFFNER, Chicago, Ills.
CASE 2A-103. INFLAMMATION OF BLADDER, COMPLICATED WITH KIDNEY DISEASE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--Having been a patient in your Invalids' Hotel for several weeks, I take great pleasure in telling other sufferers of my treatment which I received under your efficient staff of physicians, surgeons and nurses, and I will say with clear conscience that every care and comfort was given me that could be wished for. I am sure that your Institution is far in advance of the age, and would wish that every invalid could avail himself of the treatment that I received in your most excellently kept Invalids' Hotel. I cheerfully give this as my testimonial to individuals, friends and sufferers. My health is so fully restored that I look upon life with pleasure and comfort, whereas before I was a suffering, nervous invalid, unable to sleep and much of the time in torment. Wishing you success,
I am your friend and well wisher, M. MANHEIM, Georgetown, S.C.
CASE 859,143. BLADDER, RECTAL, KIDNEY AND LIVER DISEASE. "ENTIRE URINARY ORGANS ONE MASS OF SORES." "DESPAIRED OF CURE."
My disease was caused by the roughness and exposure incidental to the life of a miner, working in the gold mines of California and Montana. I had much of the time to work in water, with my clothes wet, which finally brought on a severe pain In my kidney, which ere long completely prostrated me. I employed and was treated by six different physicians, the best I could obtain in my section of country, and who while seeming to understand the nature of my disease, yet gave me no remedy that afforded me any real relief. I grew worse under the treatment of them all. The pain in the kidney left me, but immediately located in the bladder. My bladder became very painful and commenced to ulcerate and fill up. It seemed from the excruciating agony I suffered, that there must have been an abscess in either the kidney or bladder, and from the large amount of pus discharged at one time, it appeared to me that my kidneys, bladder and the entire urinary organs were one mass of sores and pus mixed with blood. I had to use injections of laudanum daily in the lower bowels to ease the pain and live. Was reduced by long suffering, looking for each day to be my last. I felt that no human power on earth could help me. No language can describe, and God only knows, the agony I suffered. From what I have already written, you may form some faint conception of my physical condition at the end of six years' treatment by the best medical aid I could get in the section where I was living. I also used for some time (with no benefit), "Warner's Safe Cure," and in fact, tried every means that I could hear of, but to no permanent relief. Such was my condition when I was led finally to consult and be treated by your Association, though I had but faint hope of obtaining any relief from any one. With the very best description I could give in writing of my case, and all the information you got from me, you would not undertake the case until you were further informed, and for which caution I sincerely thank you. You wrote me--"we are at a loss to definitely determine your condition. We have an opinion based upon the facts before us, but we feel that we must have a personal examination." In the condition I was then in, I could not have been kept alive to reach the first railroad station, which was only six miles from my house, and much less to travel to Buffalo. Indeed I wrote you, that if you would cure me for nothing, I was unable to go to you. In reply, you then advised me to take your "Special Remedies" until I could improve sufficiently to go to Buffalo for examination. Now this frank answer of yours, removed every doubt from my mind, and convinced me that you were honorable physicians. On March 10th, 1883, I began taking your "Special Remedies," as you prescribed them, and at the end of three years' constant treatment, I was improved sufficiently to go to Buffalo to your Institute, where I was examined as you required of me. When I reached your Institute, I was there carefully examined and received a month's treatment. When I reflect on my condition and my suffering when I first began to use your specifics, and see what I am now, I feel that no words can too glowingly express my gratitude to your Association for the physical benefits you have conferred upon me by your treatment of my despaired-of case.
SAMUEL C. TRACY Platteville, Wis.
DOUBLE VARICOCELE AND STRICTURE OF THE URETHRA.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, 663 Main St., Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--I have taken treatment from you for several months for nervous debility, and although I am not quite fully cured as yet, I have been greatly benefited, and believe, if I had come to you before I was duped and swindled by different quacks and was more dead than alive, I would to-day be a thoroughly well man.
I have also been to your Institute twice for surgical operations, and cannot too highly praise the Hotel, or the skill and care of the attending surgeons and nurses. They are gentlemen in every way and the Invalids' Hotel is just as represented.
I shall advise all suffering from chronic diseases to go to you for relief, as I have never seen any one there who was not cured or greatly benefited.
Very truly yours, CHRISTIAN HANSON, Esq. Austin, Mower Co., Minn.
CASE 23A-890. DISEASE OF THE URINARY ORGANS.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--I feel it my duty to give my testimonial in behalf of your grand Institution. I had an operation performed at your place two years ago for the relief of a very painful disease of urinary passage, and, thanks to your skill, I was cured, and have enjoyed the best of health since. I earnestly recommend your Institution to all who are suffering, and still further let me thank you for the kindness I received at the hands of everybody connected with the Institution. I am,
Respectfully yours, FRANK A. EMPSALL, P.O. Box 980, Pittsfield, Berkshire Co., Mass.
CASE 2A-208. RETENTION OF URINE. SUFFERED INTENSE PAIN.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Dear Sirs--To your favor of the 20th ult., would say that I can only speak in the highest terms of your Institution. After suffering for ten or twelve years with retention of the urine, and bladder difficulties, I can say that I found immediate relief at your hands. When going to your place, about six years ago, I was suffering with intense pain, loss of appetite, and unable to eat a good meal. I now weigh 170 lbs., do a good day's work and feel well in every respect. I am only too glad that I am able to praise your Institution, and can highly recommend it to any one who is suffering as I was. With great respect, I remain.
Yours very truly, P.J. HAMILL, Utica, N.Y.
CASE 80,115. ENLARGED PROSTATE AND CHRONIC CATARRHAL INFLAMMATION OF BLADDER.
Several years ago I had occasion to become an inmate of the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, No. 683 Main Street, Buffalo, N.Y. I was afflicted with an enlarged prostate and chronic Inflammation, or catarrhal condition of the bladder. I was largely benefited by the treatment I received there, and had I remained a little longer, as I was advised to do by the doctor who attended me, I should have fully recovered. I was so nearly cured that I did not think it necessary to remain longer, as I supposed nature would do for me what remained to be done, to effect a perfect cure. My business was urgent. I could not well remain longer. In this I made a mistake, I should have remained longer. I was seventy-two years old at the time. I bear willing testimony to the ability of the medical staff and the interest the doctors take in the welfare of their patients. The nurses and all the subordinates were very kind and seemed to vie with each other to contribute to the pleasure and happiness of the inmates of the Institute. One will find the Institute equipped with all the improvements known to modern science, for the promotion and restoration of health. It is impossible to do justice to its merits in a short article of this kind. Persons must go there and see and judge for themselves, of the wonders of this extraordinary medical establishment. If they cannot recover their health there, in my Judgment, it is of no use to go elsewhere.
ABRAHAM SCHELL, Knight's Ferry, Cal.
CASE 820,804. OBSTINATE AND COMPLICATED DISEASE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION:
Gentlemen--Yours of July 12th to hand. I am only too glad to comply with your request. Having suffered for many years with a complication of diseases and feeling conscious that they were rapidly making serious inroads upon my constitution, and that I was speedily becoming unable and incapacitated to attend to my ordinary business. I resolved, after reading a number of testimonials from your patients, to place myself under your treatment at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute. With heart-felt gratitude I can truthfully say I am relieved of my trouble. I most cheerfully and earnestly recommend this Institution to all who are afflicted with chronic and painful diseases, no matter of what nature. During my stay there I saw some wonderful cures and surgical operations.
Yours truly, JOHN H. SMITH, Deckertown, Sussex Co., N.J.
CASE 520,425. COMPLICATION OF DISEASES.
Without solicitude or hope of pecuniary reward, with heart-felt gratitude and a desire to aid my fellow-man to health and happiness, allow me to state, that as an inmate for more than a month of the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute at No. 663 Main Street, Buffalo, N.Y., I feel warranted in its highest recommendation. While there I saw and talked with a great number of people who came there as a last resort, to be cured of almost every chronic disease to which flesh is heir, and they were unanimous in their praise of the Institution and the skilled specialists who constitute its professional staff.
ANDREW HOLES, Moorhead, Minn.
CASE 654,500. DISEASE OF KIDNEYS AND OTHER COMPLICATIONS CAUSED BY EXPOSURE AND MALARIA.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--Having spent a short period of time at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, No. 663 Main Street, Buffalo, N.Y., I must say I found it fully equal in every respect to the claims made for it by the proprietors. It was filled with invalids who were under the care of a corps of physicians and surgeons and the fact that all the sick people appeared to be improving, and that they were both cheerful and hopeful, and that they all spoke well of the Institution and of its doctors, was calculated to inspire confidence in one who went there himself to be treated. The greater number of these cases, as far as I was able to learn, were chronic and of a complicated character. They represented a wide range of the States and Territories of the Union, and had in each exhausted the resources of the home physicians. Having myself been treated by your Faculty for a complication of troubles induced by exposure and malaria, I feel that I owe my restoration to health to your skill and devotion, at a time when I was unable to perform labor and was much discouraged, and had failed to obtain relief elsewhere. You are at liberty to make any use you may desire of this communication.
Very respectfully yours, J.W. DEAN, Chariton, Putnam Co., Mo.
CASE 620,230. DIABETES AND INFLAMMATION OF BLADDER, GIVEN UP BY HIS HOME DOCTORS AS SURE TO DIE IN A FEW WEEKS. RESTORED TO ACTIVE WORK ON HIS FARM.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--I received your kind letter the 12th, and was glad to hear from you and have no objection to your making use of my name in any way to help the sick and suffering, for I know what it is to be sick. I was sick for seven years; could not do anything; was visited by seven doctors and was treated by four, and was given up to die by one of the best doctors of Russellville. He said I could not live longer than fall. He treated me for Sugar Diabetes, while the rest said I had inflammation of the bladder. After giving up all hopes of being cured at home, a friend got me to write to Dr. Pierce's Institution and after corresponding: awhile I decided to go and be treated. I was there one month and I never was cared for or treated more kindly by any one. No parents could have been better to their sick children. I cannot speak too highly of the Institution, and I believe I would have been in my grave to-day if I had not gone and been treated.
I feel great pleasure in expressing to you my sincere thanks for the cure that has been effected in my case, by your very skillful treatment, whereby I am now entirely and I trust permanently cured from a dangerous disease, which had defied the utmost skill of all former medical attendants for the past five years, and from which I had despaired of being: relieved. I am happy to state that my health is so good since taking the month's course of treatment at your Institute, and, the home treatment since my return, that I am now able to carry on the work of my farm.
I would cheerfully recommend all persons requiring medical or surgical aid to consult you at the earliest possible opportunity, as I know by personal experience that the facilities cannot be surpassed for treatment of all classes of chronic diseases.
Most gratefully yours, J.D. PARKS, Homer, Logan Co., Ky.
P.S.--I have always recommended my neighbors to your Institution and was the cause of F.M. Brasher taking treatment, who was cured after two doctors gave him up. J.D.P.
CASE 820,426. COMPLICATION OF DISEASES. A GRATEFUL PATIENT'S WORDS OF PRAISE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--Having been in your Institution as a sufferer from two distinct chronic diseases of years' standing, and having been placed under the charge of your specialists, I was speedily relieved of my afflictions. The Invalids' Hotel is a place as much like home as it is possible for such an institution to be. The physicians and surgeons are all expert specialists and thoroughly efficient; the nurses are very competent, attentive and kind; and, in fact, the whole personnel of the Invalids' Hotel endeavor to do their best to make the patients feel like being at home. I always felt while there as if I was one of the family. I gladly recommend your Institution to all persons who are afflicted with any kind of chronic disease, for from my own experience I know the professional staff will do all which they promise to do. Please accept my thanks for the speedy benefits and perfect cure of my diseases, and I think your Institution is worthy of the highest endorsement.
Yours truly, WILLIAM HENKEL, No. 1917 Congress Street, St. Louis, Mo.
"A question of life or death!"
CASE 2A-107. STONE IN BLADDER. CASE SIMILAR TO THAT OF COL. ELLIOTT F. SHEPARD, WHO DIED IN NEW YORK WHILE UNDERGOING AN OPERATION.
Gentlemen--I am seventy-seven years of age and have resided in Erie for sixty-two years, and for thirty-six years have been an elder in the First Presbyterian Church. During four or five years I suffered from a painful affection of the bladder; the severity permitted neither freedom from pain by day nor calm repose by night. Meanwhile, I consulted leading physicians and visited numerous health resorts. Neither time, means nor effort were spared that I might be free from pain. Relief came unexpectedly. A signal act of Providence, that should be acknowledged daily, brought your Institution to my notice, though I had then no acquaintance with any one connected with it. With me it was a question of life or death. Up to last March I was in a condition of unendurable torture. I knew that at my age, after the months of pain already borne, that any operation would be serious, perhaps fatal. Accordingly, I arranged my temporal affairs and carefully "set my house in order." On the 13th of March last, I started for Buffalo to your Institution. Still uninformed as to the cause of my trouble, I submitted to a searching examination, as to my habits, constitution, parentage, the age and cause of death of my parents, and other facts, from which a tolerable biography could have been prepared. All was kindly intended. Their aim was to locate my ailment and then to determine my ability to undergo an operation. Having found a stone in the bladder, they advised that it be crushed and extracted. By a strange coincidence as this was announced, I learned of Col. Elliott F. Shepard's death under an operation for the same disease. He was many years my junior, and seemingly far better able to undergo the operation. Still, in my desperation, I determined to go on. During five days, I was under treatment for the coming operation. On the 18th of March the stone was crushed and extracted. It was a complete success. Of the consideration, tenderness and skill of the surgeon and his assistants, I cannot too strongly speak. Of the gentle and assiduous nurses, the system and completeness of the whole establishment, as it moved along as one harmonious whole, in all its departments, I cannot sufficiently express my admiration. I am now relieved of a state of torture, and restored to health and happiness equal to any period of my life. This I say with sincerity and emphasis. Since then I have gained twenty-two pounds in flesh. I wish my words could reach the ear of every one similarly affected, throughout our land, to banish all doubts and take advantage of the science, skill and pleasant surroundings so happily blended in your Institution, for the removal of pain and the mitigation of distress.
DAVID S. CLARK, Erie, Pa.
CASE 520,123. STONE IN BLADDER. 1200 GRAINS OF STONE REMOVED WITHOUT CUTTING. PASSED BLOOD IN GREAT QUANTITIES FROM THE BLADDER. DOCTORS AT HOME (AS USUAL) DISCOURAGED HIM FROM COMING TO US.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION:
Gentlemen--I am glad to make public the wonderful cure that you accomplished in my case. For ten years I was a sick man, and during three years I suffered so much that life was a burden. My business had to be given up and the torments were something that could not be described. Every little while I had to urinate, and each time suffered a spasm of pain, like a knife thrust; the use of a catheter was painful and often it took long and painful trials before the water could be drawn off. I passed blood, in quantities at times. When I went to your place we had given up hope of a cure, and relief was all that I looked for. My doctors at home discouraged me. I spent four weeks in your Invalids' Hotel, and now at the age of sixty-seven years am sound and hearty as any one, work from five in the morning until seven at night. I manage a large and active business and enjoy life. I cannot express my high praise of your Institution. Your doctors are skillful and the nurses all kind and good. All understand their business and attend to it. I came home a new man and cannot say enough for your praise, and to express my thanks for the wonderful cure and comfort I have enjoyed.
Yours, JAMBS VINE, SR.
P.S.--You removed a stone that weighed over 1200 grains from my bladder, without cutting. The operation gave me complete relief. While there and since, I have seen a great many skillful cures done by you.
J.V., SR., St. Catherines, Out.
CASE 620,610. STONE IN BLADDER--WEIGHT 530 GRAINS--SUCCESSFULLY REMOVED WITHOUT CUTTING. NEIGHBORS TOLD HIM HE WOULD BE "BROUGHT HOME IN A BOX."
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION:
Gentlemen--Seeing the picture of the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute in our local newspapers, called to my mind the treatment I received there in 1887. I had been suffering for ten or twelve years with bladder trouble, and our home physicians did not seem to understand the cause or the trouble, and I finally corresponded with your faculty, and their advice was to come and have an examination. I had been a great sufferer and was so weak that I could hardly walk from the hotel to the depot, and those who saw me start said that I would be brought home in a box. Soon after my arrival an examination revealed a stone in my bladder. After a few days' treatment to strengthen up the system, the stone was taken out, weighing 530 grains. Four or five others were afterwards taken out of smaller size, and I am still alive. Will soon be seventy-six years old, and I cannot speak too highly of the care and attention I received from the physicians and nurses while there. Everything that was provided was of the best; good food, glean apartments; and no better place can be found for treatment of the many diseases they advertise to cure.
Anyone suffering from bladder or kindred trouble can find relief at the Invalids' Hotel, Buffalo, N.Y.
Respectfully, C.A. CHURCH, New Berlin, N.Y.
CASE 620,258. STONE IN THE BLADDER--GREAT SUFFERING FOR YEARS--HEART-FELT GRATITUDE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
I would not be a true man If I did not acknowledge at this time (as I should have done long ago), with words of gratitude, the wonderful relief I received at your Institution five years ago. It affords me the greatest pleasure to say to you and to the world at large, that the treatment and operation I received at your Institution was an entire success and a miraculous cure. After twenty-five long years of suffering such as few people endure, caused from exposure while in the military service of the United States, I contracted kidney and bladder disease, which shortly afterwards resulted in the formation of a calculus or stone. I experimented with medicines. Special Prescriptions, etc., from some of the most eminent physicians in the world, in fact everything that promised relief and help for my kidneys was used, but received no relief, until the bladder discomfort became unendurable. As a last resort, knowing full well that life with me would be very short unless I could receive immediate relief, I went to your famous Institute, where I was treated and operated upon and a large stone was removed from the bladder. The old method of cutting, which is so dangerous, was not employed, but the new and painless process of crushing; this process was an agreeable surprise to me, no pain and no risk, as in the old method of cutting. From the day of the operation I began to improve, and in a few weeks thereafter I returned home to my wife, family and friends, a well and happy man, and I have spent the last five years with ease, comfort and pleasure--a living, walking testimonial for your renowned Institute. Believe me, when I say that words fail me to express to you my sincere gratitude for your marvelous and almost miraculous cure effected in my case. I feel sure no invalid could receive more skillful and kindly attention anywhere in the world. I would urge every sufferer to take treatment at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, believing it to be the most skillful, and feel sure that it is the most advanced of the age.
Sincerely and gratefully yours, WM. H. MILLER, Stoyestown, Somerset Co., Penna.
CASE 720,402. STONE IN BLADDER ONE AND A HALF INCHES IN DIAMETER SUCCESSFULLY REMOVED WITHOUT CUTTING OR PAIN.
From severe exposure when in the army, I brought upon myself an acute attack of rheumatism, from which I suffered terrible pain. Following this I began to be troubled with my bladder and kidneys. For three years I experienced considerable discomfort. There was severe burning and scalding, and urination caused much pain. I passed two pieces of gravel and became convinced that I had stone in the bladder. Was examined by my home physician, who said there was no stone. I was not satisfied, however, and went to the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute. I was examined by their specialist. After an injection of cocaine and carefully cleansing out the bladder, a stone was found about one inch and a half in diameter, probably similar in its composition to the pieces already passed. I was advised to have it operated upon and removed, which I arranged to do. The process used was their new and painless one of crushing, no knife or other cutting instrument being employed. The stone was readily grasped by the crusher and reduced to small fragments. The evacuator was then introduced and the stone entirely removed. After a few weeks' careful attention my health was entirely restored and I was able to leave for home. I take great pleasure in making public my wonderful cure. I could not speak in too high praise of those who took charge of my case, nor recommend too highly this famous Institution. It is about three years since I was operated on, and pave not felt any bad effects since.
THOS. DALTRY, Huntington, Huntington, Co., Ind.
CASE 820,539. GRAVEL OR STONE WITH CHRONIC KIDNEY AND BLADDER DISEASE. CURED NINE YEARS AGO AFTER BEING GIVEN UP TO DIE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
In 1884, at the age of fifty-four years. I was prostrated with Kidney and Bladder complaint and told by the best physicians that I was but ten days out of the grave. I applied to your Institute for help and received treatment, and now after nearly nine years am in comparatively good health. All this time I have been able to do much work and to oversee my farm. Two stones or gravel were passed while under home treatment. No further formations have developed. The many cases I have recommended to you have all been more than satisfied with the results of their treatment. I wish to thank you for the great benefit and care I received at your hands.
Yours truly, ORVILLE THOMPSON, Avoca, Steuben Co., N.Y.
CASE 859,612. A STRONG ENDORSEMENT.
To whom it may concern:
This is to certify that I took treatment at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, Buffalo, N.Y., and I was cured of a chronic trouble that had been maltreated by other physicians. While there I saw a man who had been cured by the specialists, who had before been given up to die by the best doctors in Troy, N.Y. Of course, the case must have been a very stubborn one. I afterwards saw a man here, in Georgia, die, who, if he had been in Pierce's Surgical Institute under the treatment and care of his skilled doctors and nurses, I know would have most assuredly got well. Why? Because it was only a case of stone in the bladder, and they are easily cured at Dr. Pierce's Surgical Institute. I think almost any chronic disease can be cured there, if taken in time, judging from my observations while an inmate of that Institution.
H.E. BANKSTON, Barnesville. Pike Co., Ga.
CASE 820,260. COMPLICATION OF DISEASES.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION:
Gentlemen--It is now about six months since I discontinued your treatment, and as I have had no return of the old symptoms, I consider it unnecessary to take more medicine. When I visited your Institution some two years ago, I had but faint hopes of ever being restored to health, as I was suffering from a complication of diseases. My case was an unusually obstinate one, yet I am satisfied that a cure could have been accomplished in half the time, had I been able to follow your directions in regard to diet more closely. I hereby tender you my sincerest thanks for the kind treatment received while at your Institution. Those days will always be the happiest in my memory. I will close by giving your faculty my sincere thanks, and hope success will crown your business.
Yours very gratefully, J.F. RITTER, Medford, Jackson Co., Oreg.
Stricture, the result of injury from falls and accidents, is particularly difficult of permanent cure. The following gratuitous recommendations are from cases belonging to this class who entirely approve of the publication, with full name, photo-gravure and address.
CASE 820,507. STRICTURE CURED AFTER MANY OPERATIONS BY OTHER SURGEONS HAD PROVEN TO BE FAILURES.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION:
I would state that I am an architect, fifty-two years of age, that about seventeen years ago I fell from a scaffold, a distance of eighteen feet, across a beam, striking upon the perineum. A physician was immediately called and I was treated by him for about eight or ten weeks. A catheter was introduced into the bladder, but caused such intense pain and anguish that it had to be withdrawn. It was tried again but could not be introduced on account of the lacerations in the urethra, caused by the violence used. A consultation was held and an operation recommended. An anæsthetic was used and a cut made through the perineum from the outside into the bladder. A catheter was inserted into the bladder, tied in place and left in position for about eight weeks. After eight or nine weeks the catheter was removed, but it was four or five weeks before the wound in the perineum healed. After a few months I began to have a urinary difficulty, and symptoms of urethral stricture. This condition continued until the urethra was entirely closed, and it was impossible to make water. A physician attempted to pass a catheter, but could not do so. He continued to treat me by the process of dilation for five or six months. I began to feel more comfortable, but the symptoms of stricture would manifest themselves again. I then went to a hospital at Toronto. There I was treated also by the dilating method. The treatment was continued for about four weeks, but became so very painful, and there was so much irritation in the urethra, that it was impossible to endure it longer. They then called an electrical specialist and he began treatment by electrolysis. In about three weeks I went home, but in a short time the stricture again manifested itself; the contraction was very marked, and micturition very difficult. It grew gradually worse and I could not receive any comfort or benefit. I returned to Toronto to take further treatment from the electrical specialist. During the operations of dilation of the urethra, I passed some gravel. After four weeks treatment I returned home, but in about two months was as bad as ever, and last October went back to Toronto and was again treated by the electrical method. The doctor had much difficulty in inserting the smallest catheter, and it caused intense pain and suffering. The last time he attempted to insert a catheter, there seemed to be something give way, and a large amount of pus and fluid passed from the rectum. The physician told me an abscess had formed. I returned home and tried to keep as comfortable as possible, but could not micturate with any degree of satisfaction or comfort. I gradually began to grow worse and there was a return of the stricture with inflammation of the bladder. In March, 1892, there began to be formed gravel in the bladder. They would at times obstruct the flow of urine entirely. I kept going from bad to worse, until the urethra appeared to be entirely closed. The physician I called found it impossible to pass a catheter Into the bladder, and advised me to go to some hospital where I could receive proper treatment, and where proper appliances for this class of cases were used, as he felt satisfied nothing could be accomplished for me at home. I then came to the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute in Buffalo to receive treatment, and the treatment has been so successful that the urethral stricture as well as the gravel have been removed. After I returned home I felt as if a great load had been lifted from my shoulders. I have no irritation at all as I used to have, and I can keep my water for six or seven hours without any trouble, and the water seems to be clear and free from sediment of any sort, and in general I feel as I never expected to again. The doctors here were dumb-founded at the short time I was in getting fixed at your Institution, and feel ashamed to ask any questions as to treatment. Many months have passed and I continue well and active in my profession. Any one I can send the way of your Institution you may be sure I shall do so, and thanking you personally for your kind and successful treatment of my case,
I remain ever your well-wisher, ARCHIE RITCHIE, Architect, Mount Forest, Ont.
GRATEFUL LETTER FROM A PROMINENT ARCHITECT.
TO THE WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION:
Gentlemen--It is again with the greatest of pleasure that I write you after twelve months since I was treated in your Institution, to add to my former testimonial. With the blessing of good health I have been able to attend to my business as well as ever, and have the greatest of comfort in every respect, and feel about ten years younger than I was when I came to your Institution for treatment, and I have still again to thank you, gentlemen, for the kind and courteous attention I received from every one I came in contact with in your Institution, while under treatment, and shall ever remember my visit to your Hotel with pleasure, and shall advise any one suffering under the same trouble, with whom I may come in contact, to come to your valuable Institute for treatment, where they can have the best of attention and skill. Again thanking you, gentlemen, for what you have done for me, I hope that your Institute may long be kept up to minister to suffering humanity. God bless your staff of physicians, and may success attend you, is the wish and prayer of ever your well-wisher and grateful patient,
ARCHIBALD RITCHIE, Mt. Forest, P.O., Ont.
[See Mr. Ritchie's former communication, on page 857.]
CASE 2A-126. PAINFUL IMPEDIMENT TO THE ACTION OF URINARY ORGANS.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION:
This is to certify that I have been to the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, at Buffalo, N.Y., for treatment, and cannot speak in too high terms of the staff of physicians and surgeons, or of the treatment which I received. I consider the Hotel one of the best in the country, the table being excellent, and the treatment the very best to be found in the land. It is a most pleasant place to stay. The attention which is given by the nurses could not be better. As surgeons I think your specialists possess the finest skill that can be found. Any person suffering should not delay, but go at once and be treated and get well. You are at liberty to use this endorsement in any way that will do the most good.
With gratitude, I remain, EDWARD COMPTON, Chillicothe, Ill.
CASE 620,380. STRICTURE, THE RESULT OF INJURY--CURE PERMANENT.
The stricture, which resulted from an injury, had been greatly aggravated by uric acid crystals which were continually forming in the urine. Patient had rheumatism, causing this acid state of the system. He had been a great sufferer for many years, continually experiencing the nervousness, smarting, pain and burning, with occasional attacks of urethritis, common to the malady in this form. This made the stricture almost unbearable, and he was practically incapacitated for his labor at the time that treatment was undertaken in our Institution. He had been to the Hot Springs and in the care of other physicians with no satisfactory results. The relief of the stricture by our new and painless method was followed by very great improvement in his condition, after which appropriate remedies for the rheumatism were administered, and the result was a very gratifying and satisfactory relief from his difficulty. Patient afterwards embarked in business as a proprietor of a hotel of his own, and has been ever since very active in carrying on the business, and extremely successful. The stricture showed no tendency to recur, as is commonly the case where it is cured by other methods than employed by us. Many years elapsed from the time that it was treated before the testimonial appended was written.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Dear Doctors--I want to thank you, but words cannot express my gratitude, for your treatment white at your Institution, but I will say for the benefit of persons afflicted with stricture, that I was entirely cured by you, and after several years have not seen any signs of its returning.
Yours truly, FAY SAWDY, Proprietor Hotel Sawdy, Earlville, Madison Co., N.Y.
CASE 551,864, URETHRAL STRICTURE--NASAL CATARRH--CURED IN TWENTY DAYS--A PREVIOUS OPERATION BY A NASHVILLE (TENN.) SURGEON UTTERLY FAILED.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL, ASSOCIATION. Buffalo, N.Y.:
In September, 1886, I was examined by one of your able staff of physicians and was found to be suffering with a bad form of nasal catarrh and with two strictures in the urethra (water passage). After a few days' general treatment, I was operated upon and turned over to be cared for by the nurse, from whom I received all the attention that was necessary. To my utter astonishment I was dismissed in twenty days from the Surgical Institute, cured of the stricture. I had been operated on by one able surgeon of Nashville, Tenn., and was worse after the operation than before. I have never had a symptom of the stricture since I was dismissed from the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, and have been in better health than ever before in my life.
Very truly, S.A.D. SMITH, Laurel Hill, Tenn.
CASE 820,201. STRICTURE OF THE URETHRA OF THREE YEARS' STANDING--COULD PASS URINE ONLY IN DROPS AND WITH GREAT PAIN.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION:
Gentlemen--Wishing to add my testimony as to your great skill in surgery, I will say that I suffered with stricture of the urethra, due to an injury, for about three years. It became so bad that at times I could pass water only in drops and with great pain. I went to a doctor here, who used sounds which helped me for a time, but in less than six weeks I was worse than ever. Hearing of your place, I came to you and had a painless operation performed, and have ever since been thoroughly cured. I experience no trouble or pain. It is three years since I had the operation, and the cure has proved permanent. You have my deepest gratitude.
Yours truly, FRANK BRENDELL, Olean, Catt. Co., N.Y.
CASE 820,472. COMPLICATED AFFECTION OF NERVOUS SYSTEM AND URINARY ORGANS.
To the afflicted with chronic Diseases:
It is with great pleasure that I refer to the successful treatment, together with the kind care and attention received at the hands of the professional staff, both physicians and nurses, of the world-renowned Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute. In every way It verifies their statement--"Not a hospital but a pleasant remedial home," and as such I add my name to the thousands who know and recommend it to the afflicted. Not only was this true in my own case, but in many which came under my observation while there, so I say to the afflicted--visit them if you can and if your case (no matter of what character) is Within human skill, you will never have to regret it.
Very sincerely yours, EDWARD J. ARCHER, Plainwell, Mich.
CASE 520,408. STONE IN THE BLADDER.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION:
Gentlemen--For six years I had been a great sufferer from stone in the bladder. The discomfort increased, until it almost became unbearable. Hearing of the universal success of the specialist at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, in similar cases, I went there and submitted to an operation. The method employed was their new and painless one of crushing, no knife or cutting instrument being used. I felt no pain afterward, there was no fever, and I could have gone home the day after. The operation was witnessed by one of my friends, who says it was very artistic and done with skill. It was a complete success, for I have not been troubled in the least, although nearly seven years have passed.
I feel that I cannot speak in too high praise of this renowned Institution and its staff of skilled physicians. No invalid need fear to place himself under the skillful treatment and kindly care to be received there, for I am confident that all the benefit known to medical science, can be obtained at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute.
ROBERT WORTHINGTON, Staunton, Fayette Co., Ohio.
CASE 114,747. NERVOUS DEBILITY, DYSPEPSIA, KIDNEY AND LIVER DISEASE--CURED.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION:
Gentlemen--I take pleasure in informing you that the treatment you gave me for the relief of an affection of the spine and nervous system, disease of the digestive organs, kidneys and liver, has been entirely successful. I had feared that my health was gradually being undermined, prior to entering your institution, and I can testify to the perfect appointment that you have, the excellent apparatus for the administration of electrical and other massage treatment and baths. My relief was most satisfactory, and the cure has remained permanent.
I take pleasure in recommending your institution to the afflicted, believing that you have the very best treatment for chronic diseases known, and I have had an opportunity to satisfy myself, from conversation with other invalids in your Institution, of the care and skillful treatment that you administer, and its excellent effects. I believe that it is fully abreast of the times, and equal to any institution in the world.
With many good wishes and thanks for my cure,
I remain, Yours truly, B.V. WRIGHT, Graniteville, Middlesex Co., Mass.
CASE 790,698. DIABETES CURED BY HOME TREATMENT.
To whom it may concern:
This is to certify that for a number of years I was a constant sufferer, and what was many times termed a hopeless victim of that terrible disease, diabetes. The symptoms were indeed alarming; my strength being so completely exhausted that my walking from room to room was attended with difficulty. My nerves were in a constant tremor, and in fact no other words than that, "I was completely out of fix all over," will express my condition. Having purchased a bottle of Dr. Pierce's Favorite Prescription for my daughter, and in looking over the directions of the accompanying circular and finding my own case so thoroughly described, I decided at once to give his special home treatment a trial, which I did during the three months that followed. This proved to be all that was required for the restoration of my usual health, and during the four years which have since elapsed I have had not the slightest reason for believing otherwise than that a perfect cure has been effected, and can most heartily recommend Dr. Pierce's medicines and treatment to any or all who may be suffering with kidney complaint in any form.
Very sincerely yours, MRS. MARY A. WOODRUFF, Columbus Junct., Louisa Co., Ia.
CASE 795,590. INCONTINENCE OF URINE--CURED BY SPECIAL HOME TREATMENT.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Dear Sir--I consider myself duty-bound to you and suffering humanity to acknowledge the benefit that I have received from your treatments. From babyhood till I was twenty years old I was continually bothered with a weakness of the muscles of the bladder, that gave me much trouble, both by night as well as day. I doctored with several physicians and tried all patent medicines, but could not get any relief until I took your medicine about six months, and now I am sound and well. It has been over two years since I quit taking your medicine, and have had no symptoms of the disease returning.
Yours most gratefully. Miss MOLLIE RICHMAN. North Cove, Pacific Co., Wash.
CASE 4A-2,226. BRIGHT'S DISEASE AND GRAVEL CURED BY SPECIAL HOME TREATMENT.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Dear Sir--You have my thanks and best wishes for your success, as you cured me of what the doctors here called Bright's Disease and Stone in the Bladder. They did me no good, so I concluded to write to you, which I did, and am happy to say your medicine worked like a charm. God and myself only know how I suffered. I lost fifty-six pounds of flesh in six weeks and I thought my time had come, but when I commenced taking your medicine, in three days I saw a change for the better was taking place, and in one month I considered myself cured. I am still in good health and can do as hard a day's work as any man. Again I thank you. Your charges were reasonable and any one suffering as I was should write you at once.
Any person writing to me must send stamped addressed envelope if wanting an answer.
J.W. THOMPSON, St. John, Whitman Co., Wash.
CASE 2A-223. INFLAMMATION OF THE BLADDER. RETENTION OF URINE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--I had been a terrible sufferer for many years with Bladder trouble. I had experienced the greatest discomfort, and tried in vain to find relief. I was persuaded to go to the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, I went and while there submitted to a course of treatment that gave me relief, and was entirely satisfactory. Three years have elapsed and I continue well. I take the greatest pleasure in making public my cure. No sufferer going there can fail to receive all the benefit to be derived from medical treatment. The staff of physicians are skillful and of large experience; the attendants kind and attentive, and the Institution, in all its appointments, not to be excelled in the country. I had been told by other physicians, Jealous at your success, not to go to your place, but I am now more than pleased that I disregarded their advice.
E.A. BROWN, Corfu, N.Y.
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RUPTURE. (BREACH OR HERNIA.)
By the term Hernia, we mean a tumor, which is formed by the displacement of the intestines, the omentum (covering of the bowels), or both, and which protrudes from the abdominal cavity. The most common varieties are umbilical, inguinal and femoral hernia. Children are most subject to umbilical, males to inguinal, and females to femoral, hernia.
CAUSES. These are either predisposing or exciting. Any thing which occasions general or local muscular debility, as dropsy, pregnancy, abscesses, wounds, obstructions to natural evacuations, etc., is a predisposing cause of hernia. The exciting cause is pressure applied to the contents of the abdomen, as straining in evacuating the bowels and bladder, lifting heavy weights, or violent physical exertion.
SYMPTOMS. The only characteristic symptom of hernia is the presentation of an elastic, or doughy tumor of variable size, which either gradually or suddenly makes its appearance. There is flatulence, uneasiness, and sometimes pain in the abdomen.
Sharp and dull pains frequently recurring and confined to the locations where ruptures appear should receive attention. Examination will not infrequently reveal a small enlargement. If a hernia, this will usually disappear after a night's rest and may not be again noticed until the next day, or for several days. On coughing, with the finger applied to the enlargement, a sensation of an impulse (succussion), or slight additional protrusion will be felt
The trouble appears at any time of life, an analysis of seventy thousand cases indicating that it is most common in debilitated persons, and that there is a constant decrease in the frequency of the affection from the first to the thirteenth year, after which rupture is more and more frequently met with as age advances.
INGUINAL HERNIA (see Fig. 1) is more common than all other forms of rupture. It is more frequently met with in men, and when severe there is usually a mass of intestine which falls into the scrotum and has an evil effect, by pressing upon the testicle. The protrusion follows the spermatic vessels and hence it usually appears low down in the abdomen and on one or both sides of the pubic bone.
FEMORAL HERNIA (see Fig. 2), most common in women of mature life, is felt as a lump below the strong ligament in the groin which forms the line of separation between the thigh and the abdomen. On its outer side and close to it can be felt the beating or pulsation of the large artery of the thigh.
UMBILICAL HERNIA (see Fig. 3) appears at or near the navel and is most common in children. It may be present from birth, or it may result from fretting and crying at any period of childhood.
Sufferers from any form of rupture are constantly subject to the danger of strangulation. This occurs when, from any cause the free return of the contents of the protruded part of the intestine is prevented. It is an accident of a serious nature, inasmuch as nearly fifty per cent. die if not carefully operated upon, and with the most skillful treatment, one in four cases terminates in death.
Every individual should guard against rupture by maintaining, by proper exercise, diet, and rest, a condition of vigor and tonicity of the muscular system.
When debilitated, all strains and exertions should be care fully avoided until the health is built up, and the relaxation overcome.
TREATMENT. The palliative treatment of hernia is by reduction and retention. Reduction consists in returning the protruding intestine to its proper place through the opening by which it escaped. This is accomplished either by manipulation or by a surgical operation. Retention is effected by wearing a mechanical appliance called a truss.
As soon as the tumor protrudes, or the "bowel comes down," the patient should assume the recumbent posture, with his shoulders and feet elevated. The patient or an attendant should grasp the hernia, and with gentle, but gradually increasing pressure upon the tumor attempt to replace it. At the same time let the patient knead the bowels upward by pressing upon the integument, so that the intestine may, as far as possible, be pushed away from the point of protrusion. Sometimes the contraction of the muscular fibres at a point where the hernia makes its exit is so great that the tumor cannot be replaced. In this case the system should be relaxed with lobelia (not given in doses to produce vomiting), and as soon as the patient is thoroughly under its influence, the manipulations may be resumed. When there is any difficulty experienced in putting back the "breach," or rupture, professional assistance should be promptly summoned. After the reduction of the rupture, a truss should be properly adapted, applied, and constantly worn, to prevent the protrusion of the intestine.
Of the latter instruments there are several hundred varieties for sale throughout the country. With the exception of about one-half dozen forms, which embody the true principles of a proper truss, they are, without exception, harmful. Unless proper support be given to the walls of the abdomen, and that without constant pressure, a truss does harm; then, too, the shape of the pad must be such as to avoid pressure where it is not required; otherwise, as in the case where a small ring is worn upon a finger, there is a gradual loss of strength and a depression formed in the healthy tissue, which can be plainly seen and felt. In this way trusses do harm, and such evil consequences may follow the improper application of a good truss.
SURGICAL TREATMENT. When the hernia has become strangulated and cannot be returned by manipulation, a surgical operation is necessary. Whenever the necessity for such a procedure is apparent, it should be performed immediately, for the greater the delay the greater the liability to fatal results. The operation consists in cutting down upon the strangulated bowel, thus relieving it of its constriction and facilitating its replacement. It is a delicate operation, and must be skillfully performed. After the operation, the patient requires appropriate hygienic treatment.
THE RADICAL CURE. A small percentage of cures will follow the proper use of a good truss, and the advertisements of the so-called rupture cures are founded upon such cases. These impostors pretend that the use of some vaunted salve, ointment, or styptic lotion, applied on the outside, will heal and cure the deep-seated separation of the muscular fibres. The truss in these cases is the curative means in the small number that are relieved, and for it but few dollars should be charged instead of the exorbitant prices demanded by these impostors.
Improvements in surgery in this age of wonders, have kept apace with the advances in electricity and other branches of science. Diseases and deformities which only a few years ago were considered incurable are now overcome and cured with certainty and without risk or suffering. Especially is this true with reference to hernia or rupture.
Our specialists have devoted much attention to the radical cure of rupture, or breach, with the most gratifying results. Formerly we employed and advocated the use of the injection treatment only. This method was tested and brought to a most efficient and practical stage, so that we now apply it in the treatment of over eighty percent. of the cases that are presented at our Institution. This plan of cure, as used by us, is a great advance over that of any similar one in use, throughout the country. Our fluid is much more safe in its effects, never gives rise to the troublesome abscesses and inflammation that is common to the use of the injection fluids that have been advised on the Heatonian method. The fluid we use is a bland and healing agent, which produces an exudation behind the cords that surround the inguinal rings, and forms a well defined truss pad of moderate size in such position that the rupture cannot pass by it and appear externally. It causes also an adhesive inflammation limited to the hernial sac, that completely closes it.
This treatment is rendered entirely painless by the use of a solution which is injected underneath the skin with a fine hollow needle attached to a small syringe, and which tends to produce complete local anæsthesia, or loss of feeling so that the procedure is thoroughly and carefully carried out without any risk or discomfort.
The needle used by us for the treatment of the hernia is so perfected that any possible injection of the fluid into the abdominal cavity, or upon the coating of the intestine, is an impossibility, and in no way can an injection be made into a blood vessel or nerve so as to produce any discomfort or trouble. We thus avoid all the risks that pertain to the usual plan of injection.
There is a small percentage of cases, as before stated, in which this form of treatment is not likely to give a permanent cure, from the fact that the omentum or intestine has become adherent externally, to the sac, or in the scrotum, to the coverings of the testicle. This makes the complete replacement of the rupture without cutting an impossibility, and in such cases even where the hernial opening is closed, treatment by injection only would not result in a permanent cure.
Our aim is to treat all cases of rupture that we undertake in such a manner that by no possibility can the deformity return. We therefore have for the cure of these cases another method, by which with our local anæsthetic fluid, we are able to perform a surgical operation without any distress whatever to the patient. The greatest risk of the old operation for rupture was the danger of general anæsthesia with chloroform or ether, or some similar agent. The great majority of individuals cannot bear the inhalation of the large quantities of these anæsthetics necessary to secure loss of feeling without consequent nausea, and at times an effect upon the heart that often results seriously. The risk from the anæsthetic is much greater than from the surgical procedure. By our method, this risk is entirely done away with. The pain dispelling fluid enables our operator to pursue his method WITHOUT GIVING THE PATIENT ANY PAIN OR DISCOMFORT WHATEVER. During the operation he is in full possession of all his faculties, and can assist in any way desired by coughing, or straining, in order, at any time, to complete the protrusion of the rupture and show its entire extent of surface when the sac is laid bare. We then replace the rupture completely; suture the sac so that the rupture will have no pocket into which to descend, and then firmly unite the rings by a plan that we have invented, and BY WHICH THEY ARE MADE MORE STRONG AND FIRM THAN IN THEIR ORIGINAL STATE.
Early in our experience, and while using the plan of treatment that is usually employed for the radical cure of rupture, we had occasional relapses of the difficulty, but since using our improved method we have had no such trouble. We can assure our patients that there is less risk of the appearance of the rupture at the point where the operation is performed than there is of a new breach forming. The success of this treatment has been invariable. None of the plans of treatment that we pursue for the cure of rupture tend to keep the patient in bed more than a few hours. There is little or no pain, after either of our plans of treatment, and out of the many hundreds which we have treated and perfectly cured, in no instance have we had any inflammation or serious manifestation--there being no fever or general reaction. It is a matter of great surprise to our patients, who undergo our treatment for the radical cure of rupture, that by our varied methods, the object is accomplished with so little discomfort and with no pain whatever.
From two to three weeks' personal attention of our specialist, is usually all that is required even in the worst cases.
NO TRUSS IS NEEDED AFTER OUR TREATMENT. WE CONSIDER A CASE CURED ONLY WHEN THE PATIENT IS ABLE TO DO WITHOUT A TRUSS OR SUPPORT IN ALL THE USUAL WALKS AND VOCATIONS OF LIFE.
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TESTIMONIALS.
The testimonials that we append are but a small number out of the great mass that we have received. A very large percentage of individuals who have been treated by us for rupture desire that their disability be held a matter of sacred confidence and with all such we take pleasure in guarding their confidence with the greatest care. Others are quite willing that their experience may be made public in this manner for the benefit of similar sufferers.
If the following letters had been written by your best known and most esteemed neighbors they could be no more worthy of your confidence than they now are, coming, as they do, from well known, intelligent and trustworthy citizens, who, in their several neighborhoods, enjoy the fullest confidence and respect of all who know them.
A LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEER
TESTIFIES TO HIS CURE OF RUPTURE. THE CONSTANT JAR OF A LOCOMOTIVE IS ONE OF THE SEVEREST TESTS THAT CAN BE APPLIED TO A RECENTLY CURED CASE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--After suffering a number of years from a painful Rupture, I went to the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, at Buffalo. While there, I submitted to an operation which was not painful. It was done without chloroform, ether or any dangerous anæsthetic. Under the skillful treatment of your specialists and the very close and kind attention of your nurses, in less than a month, I left the Institution feeling like a new man. I have every reason to believe that the Hernia will never return, and that I am permanently cured. It it a great relief to go without a truss.
Very respectfully, F.W. FROST, Rotterdam June, Schenectady Co., N.Y.
A LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEER'S
ADVICE TO SUFFERERS FROM RUPTURE. THE CONSTANT JAR OF A LOCOMOTIVE IS ONE OF THE SEVEREST TESTS THAT CAN BE APPLIED TO A RECENTLY CURED CASE. THROW AWAY TRUSSES.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--I am an engineer--running an engine on the Western Division of the Fitchburg Railroad. I had a severe case of double Hernia; still, have always worked along with them until this winter. One side was of twenty-five years' standing--the other of about eight years. This winter I was laid up sick with pneumonia; in coughing so much, which of course was made necessary by that terrible disease, I strained myself so that after getting up from my sick-bed, I was not able to go to work, as I could get no truss that would hold the rupture. I was talking with Brother Stagg one day. He asked me "why I did not go to the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, at Buffalo, N.Y., and get cured?" I went, and in three weeks was cured, so that I could dispose of my truss entirely.
I wish to say this comes from me direct; it was my own proposition that this letter be made public.
Yours respectfully, F.S. AUCHENPAUGH, Rotterdam, N.Y.
RUPTURE FROM BOYHOOD.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--I am glad to say that I was cured at the World's Dispensary Medical Association after suffering from boyhood until the age of twenty-five from a hernia, or rupture, by a treatment of twenty days. It is now five years since I was cured, and can say that I was permanently cured. You have my most sincere gratitude for your skillful operation and the good care received in your Institution while there. I can recommend your nurses and physicians most highly, and I think your Institution unequaled in this country.
Yours truly, ALBERT SAUVAIN, Silverton, Marion Co., Oreg.
HERNIA--LEFT INGUINAL--PRESENT EIGHT YEARS WITH NERVOUS PROSTRATION.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--I take greatest pleasure in making public the most wonderful cure I received at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute of Buffalo.
I had suffered severely for eight years with a left inguinal hernia; had tried many physicians and medicines, but found only temporary relief. I was greatly run-down, and my nervous system considerably shattered. My friends persuaded me to go to the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute. While there I was operated on by their specialist, and in a few weeks began to gain strength and energy so that I could return home, and have since felt entirely well.
Words could not do justice to my feeling in regard to this institution. There is no place like it for medical aid, and I would urge all invalids to go there, feeling confident that they could no where receive more skillful treatment or more kind attention and care.
Respectfully, A.J. KIDDER, North Yam Hill, Yam Hill Co., Oreg.
HERNIA. CURED SEVERE PAIN.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Dear Sirs--Your favor received and found that you would like to have me give you a testimony of my case I will say in reply that I was treated at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, for Hernia on the left side. It was not large but it gave me severe pain while working. I wore a truss but it did not relieve the pain very much. I read in the paper one night your advertisement and a week after I started for the Invalids' Hotel, and took the treatment for rupture and went home sound and happy, like a new man, and I can work harder than ever and can assure anyone interested that it is no humbug.
With the best wishes, JOHN H. RIEMER, Zion, Wis.
P.S.--If any one would like to inquire about my case give them my full address and I will inform them about it, if they enclose return stamped and addressed envelope for reply. J.H.R.
"SOUND AS A DOLLAR."
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--Am greatly pleased to report that the operation for the radical cure for rupture received at your Institution in May, 1889, has proved entirely successful. I am sound as a dollar. My case was an extremely troublesome and dangerous one. Many times I required the assistance of a surgeon to reduce it. No truss would hold it a whole day. My two weeks' stay with you was worth thousands of dollars to me. Will gladly answer any inquiry and would advise any one suffering from hernia to take the radical cure.
Very truly yours, B.F. HOOK, Holmesville, Holmes Co., Ohio.
RUPTURE, DYSPEPSIA OR INDIGESTION, AND KIDNEY DISEASE.
The following is from the widely-known and popular proprietor of the Kingsley House at Ashuelot, N.H.: "It may seem useless to add testimony to the overwhelming mass already given of the many remarkable cures performed at your Institution, but I deem it a pleasure and a duty to add mine to your long list as very remarkable. I had a rupture of twenty-seven years' standing, with hemorrhage of the kidney for six months, preceding my visit to your Institute, and was also troubled badly with indigestion, all of which ailments had reduced me in strength and flesh to a mere skeleton. Had been treated by many local physicians, who failed to do me any good. I could walk but a very short distance when I left my home on the 8th of July, 1892, for treatment at your Institution, with but little faith or hope of ever being any better. But through your skillful treatment I was able to return to my home on the 9th of August, 1892, and consider myself permanently cured, having had to take no medicine since. Considering my case almost a miracle, I cannot speak too highly of your Institute and skillful treatment, to which I feel that I am indebted for my continued existence. You are at liberty to refer to me, and to use this as you see fit.
Very respectfully, A.N. KINGSLEY, Ashuelot, Cheshire Co., N.H.
RUPTURE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--About four years ago, when working on a scaffold it gave way, and I fell a few feet and the strain and jar caused a rupture in the right side. I did not pay very much attention to this until I noticed that it was enlarging. It finally grew so that I could not work. I used several kinds of trusses that did me no good.
I went to the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, and submitted to an operation which was entirely painless and proved most satisfactory in every respect. Since then I have been well and able to do hard work for a man of my age (72). I feel no inconvenience from the rupture.
I take pleasure in recommending the Institute to all who are in need of help. I can highly recommend the physicians and nurses and the kind attention I received while there. I am now well and sound as ever.
Yours truly, HENRY KEIFER, Spring Green, Sauk Co., Wis.
HERNIA AND PILES CURED WITHOUT PAIN.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--I have been successfully treated at your institution for piles and also rupture of the left side.
Your institution is all it claims to be, and the treatment of my case was accomplished without pain and apparently any risk. Your method of using locally cocaine as an anæsthetic is such a decided improvement. I did not have to take any dangerous ether or chloroform, but had a small quantity of medicine injected that made the operation as painless as though it was being done on some one else. At the same time I knew everything and could see what was being done.
You have my kindest thanks for the good care and many attentions given me. Your nurses and physicians all give kind and skillful care.
Yours very truly, J.J. APP, Bolivar, Tuscarawas Co., Ohio.
HERNIA OR RUPTURE.
LARGE PROTRUSION OF SIXTEEN YEARS' STANDING.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
To the afflicted: For sixteen years I was troubled with Hernia, caused by heavy lifting. It was on the right side and the protrusion sufficient to extend into the scrotum. I purchased trusses, but none of them could be worn with comfort, and I suffered very much. I concluded to go to the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute and see if I could not obtain relief. While there I submitted to an operation. The result was entirely satisfactory. The pain in my back subsided; my general health began to tone up, and in a short time, thanks to the skill of their specialist and the kind attention of their nurses, I felt like a new man. I take pleasure in highly recommending the Institution to all the afflicted. I feel confident that all the benefit to be derived from medical or surgical treatment is to be received at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute.
Yours respectfully, M.G. HARTZELL, Deadwood, So. Dakota.
DOUBLE RUPTURE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--It is with much pleasure that I write you this testimonial of the wonderful cures you have performed for me.
In the year 1883, I became ruptured on the left side. I immediately wrote you (having heard of your fame in curing all kinds of diseases) for your terms of treatment which I received by return mail, you also stating you were positive you could cure me. Through unavoidable circumstances I was unable to come to your Institution until December, 1886. During this time I had tried wearing a truss, which only made it worse, and very much aggravated my complaint as it was impossible to hold the rupture in its place. However I arrived at the Invalids' Hotel on December 8th, 1886. On being examined by one of your staff, I was pronounced a bad case, but by your mode of treatment you could cure it. I was therefore, operated upon by one of your specialists, without any cutting however and comparatively little pain, by your scientific method, and in thirty days returned home cured. The time I had to remain there, I believe, was much longer than most persons treated for the same complaint.
Since then I have worked very hard sometimes (my occupation being that of a farmer,) so much so that I became ruptured on the right side three years ago,--the other side remaining perfectly sound without any protection. I considered myself very unfortunate in being in this position again, fortunate in knowing where to go for relief, and very soon was back in your Institution where I was successfully treated and perfectly cured and am to-day a sound man and able to do any kind of work on my farm.
I write this testimonial for the sake of suffering humanity, and wish you to use it in any way that the greatest number of persons may read it. As for myself, I would not be in the condition I once was and not know of your Institution for all I could see. I not only recommend your Institution for the complaint of which I was cured but for all chronic diseases or anything requiring a skillful surgical operation, believing your Staff of Physicians and Surgeons to be second to none anywhere. Your nurses and attendants, and every accommodation, also, being all that is necessary to make your Institution everything that its name implies--a complete Invalids Hotel and Surgical Institute.
Respectfully yours, DAVID HARTLEY, P.O. Box 84, Wyoming, Out.
P.S.--I have also received much benefit from taking your "Golden Medical Discovery" for dyspepsia and liver complaint, and being broken down generally. A few bottles worked wonders, and I have been well ever since, and that was quite a number of years ago.
D.H.
RUPTURE.
A GRATEFUL PATIENT'S WORDS OF PRAISE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, 663 Main Street, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--Having been in your Institution as a sufferer from two distinct chronic diseases of years' standing, and having been placed under the charge of your specialists, I was speedily relieved of my afflictions. The Invalids' Hotel is a place as much like home as it is possible for such an institution to be. The physicians and surgeons are all expert specialists and thoroughly efficient; the nurses are very competent, attentive and kind; and, in fact, the whole personnel of the Invalids' Hotel endeavor to do their best to make the patients feel like being at home. I always felt while there as if I was one of the family. I gladly recommend your Institution to all persons who are afflicted with any kind of chronic disease, for from my own experience I know the professional staff will do all which they promise to do. Please accept my thanks for the speedy benefits and perfect cure of my diseases, and I think your Institution is worthy of the highest endorsement.
Yours truly, WILLIAM HENKEL, No. 1917 Congress Street, St. Louis, Mo.
STRANGULATED RUPTURE OR BREACH
IN A CHILD TWO YEARS OLD, CURED.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, 663 Main St., Buffalo, N.Y.:
Dear Sirs--Our boy is, since the operation, quite well and healthier than ever before, so that I presume, the rupture, or a part of it, may have existed since his birth. Even that small lump in the groin has, as much as I can feel by touching, completely disappeared. I take this opportunity of expressing my heart-felt thanks for the kind and christian-like treatment my wife and boy experienced from you and the nurses. God bless you and let you live long for the welfare of suffering men. Dr. Pierce's Invalids' Hotel of Buffalo, N.Y., deserves to be recommended to every sufferer of whatever disease. Eight years ago I underwent a successful operation, saving my body a member. The dangerous outgrowth, which made the operation a necessity, never returned. In regard to your specialist, I wish to remark, that his skillful way of performing operations reminded me very much of Bernard von Langenbeck, professor of surgery in the University of Berlin, where I was a student. He is just as tender and sympathetic with his patients as that famous director of the Prussian Royal Clinical Hospital has been. As to the medicines of Dr. Pierce, I recommended them to members of my congregation, who told me that they did them good. Dr. Bastian, of Dansville, N.Y., a druggist, told me that your medicines are bought by the same persons again and again. I consider this to be the best recommendation. A medicine which is of no effect will not be bought a second time by the same person.
Yours, REV. RICHARD KRAUSE, Portway, N.Y.
Mrs. Mary Krause, the mother of the little boy whose case is above reported, writes: "In respect to your medicines I can only say that they have done me and others much good, especially when I suffered with chronic catarrh and doctored with your physicians. I shall never forget the kind treatment I received from your physicians and nurses during the time I had to stay in your house, while our Herman had to go through that dangerous operation which was necessary to cure his strangulated rupture. I can recommend your Institute and medicines to all suffering people."
HERNIA OR RUPTURE
OF FOURTEEN YEARS CURED "SOUND AS A DOLLAR."
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Dear Sirs--In reply to yours of the 29th ult., in which you kindly make inquiry in regard to my physical condition, I would say, that I am now, I think, as sound as a dollar, and consider that after I had bad fourteen years of suffering with Hernia, and being cured as I was last winter at your Institute, makes me under great obligations to the science and skill of the World's Dispensary Medical Association.
Very respectfully yours, ROBERT GALLAND, Orangeville Mills, Barry Co., Mich.
IRREDUCIBLE HERNIA.
PRESENT FROM BOYHOOD--PROTRUSION OF ENORMOUS SIZE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--I take pleasure in reporting that I have not worn the truss for a long period, and that I have been at work steadily at my business of binding and printing, running a large establishment, for over four years, without any trouble whatever from the rupture. It has remained permanently and perfectly cured. You will remember my case as a most severe one. I am a man of sixty years of age, and the disease had been the source of serious discomfort to me since childhood. The protrusion was the size of a man's head, and could not be replaced. I was forced to give up all exercise, and suffered much at my daily work from inconvenience and pain. Any injury upon the protrusion, which could not always be protected, was followed with much discomfort, and my general health was seriously affected. The passage of the food through the confined intestines was a painful process often times, and kept me in great misery. I am thankful to state that since your operation the rupture has remained sound and well, and I have been relieved of all difficulty of the kind. I now enjoy excellent health, and am at my business daily from twelve to sixteen hours, and on my feet constantly, yet without any manifestations whatever of the re-appearance of the rupture. You have my most sincere gratitude for the skillful operation and the good care received in your Institution while there. I can recommend your nurses and physicians most highly, and think your Institution is unequaled in this country.
With many good wishes, I am, Very truly yours, DANIEL NITSCHKE, 2067 Franklin Ave., Toledo, Ohio.
COMPLICATION OF DISEASES.
Without solicitude or hope of pecuniary reward, with heart-felt gratitude and a desire to aid my fellow-man to health and happiness, allow me to state, that as an inmate for more than a month of the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute at No. 663 Main Street, Buffalo, N.Y., I feel warranted in its highest recommendation. While there I saw and talked with a great number of people who came there as a last resort, to be cured of almost every chronic disease to which flesh is heir, and they were unanimous in their praise of the Institution and the skilled specialists who constitute its professional staff.
ANDREW HOLES, Moorhead, Minn.
HERNIA OR RUPTURE OF 11 YEARS' STANDING.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--Allow me to express my thanks to you for the attention and benefits received at the hands of your skillful staff of surgeons and nurses. I had been a sufferer from Hernia for eleven years and tried everything, but was no better. I finally went to the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, and am now entirely cured and enjoy splendid health. I heartily recommend yours to be the most skillful treatment of the age.
With best wishes, LEWIS CRIST, No. 67 Frankston Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa.
RUPTURE,
AGGRAVATED BY OCCUPATION AS A LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEER--COULD NOT BE HELD IN PLACE--AFTER TREATMENT SUBJECTED TO THE TRYING TEST OF THE CONSTANT JAR OF THE LOCOMOTIVE YET PROVES RELIABLE.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, NO. 663 Main Street, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--It has long been my desire to make a statement of my cure for the benefit of all those persons who have suffered in like manner. I had a rupture that was very large and difficult to hold in place. Trusses of all kinds were tried. They were painful and would not hold it. The rupture would come down constantly when at my engine and give me fearful pain. I was cured at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, Buffalo, N.Y., by a treatment that is safe and certain. My cure has been permanent, although I have worked steadily.
Yours sincerely, JAMES M. KEACH. No. 68 Bissell Ave., Buffalo, N.Y.
FEMORAL HERNIA.
This patient, aged thirty-four years, was always delicate; suffered from malarial fever each year for ten years past. The hernia was caused by lifting her father, who was on his sick-bed, during five different times, causing terrible suffering. The hernia was treated by our Specialist, and in eighteen days the lady was able to return home.
She reports:
Gentlemen--I am grateful to you for a permanent cure of the hernia, and happy to inform you that I have felt no signs of rupture since I was at your Institution.
Respectfully yours, Miss MATTIE V. THOMAS, Albion, Noble Co., Ind.
"A LIVING DEATH FOR YEARS."
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, 663 Main St., Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen--In the hope that some sufferer from hernia may be induced to take your treatment for that disease, I send you this certificate, containing a synopsis of my case and cure of the same. My life was a living death for years. I had almost lost all hope of ever being cured, and was plunged in despair, as I had tried so many trusses, appliances and remedies, each one in successive repetition, a failure. In January and February of the year '89, I entered your Institution for treatment, my malady being an inguinal hernia on the right side, of twenty years' standing--from childhood. I was then impressed with the feeling that it was my last chance, and that it would be my last effort, and to be candid I had very little hope that a cure would be effected. To me my condition seemed appalling, as I dare not eat, drink, laugh, exercise or perform any of the functions of life without having to reduce my rupture, frequently as often as forty or fifty times per diem, while on occasions the reduction would occupy hours of untold agony. No truss or appliance that I could get would retain the rupture, and I had tried all sorts as fast as they came to my knowledge. Marvelous as it may appear to all sufferers from this distressing affliction, I was discharged from your Institute in thirty days, a well and sound man, and only from memory and the record do I know that I was ever ruptured. I have at times since performed some of the hardest kinds of work for long periods, but no sign of weakness has ever appeared. I do not consider the necessary operation performed as attended with any danger; it is no comparison to the chances a person takes who in the daily walks of life is tortured with a rupture.
While an inmate of your Institution, I was accorded the kindest and most considerate treatment from all members of your staff and employees with whom I came in contact. I consider the appointments and cuisine of the establishment as perfection. You are at liberty to make the fullest and freest use of this testimonial you may see fit in your judgment, and I will cheerfully answer any communication from any sufferer referred to me for more explicit testimony.
I am, Sincerely yours, HENRY WOOD. Mason Valley, Nev.
* * * * *
CROUP, MEMBRANOUS AND SPASMODIC.
Every family should be made acquainted with the symptoms and treatment of this disease. Especially is this true in the case of those living remote from a physician. From the lack of this knowledge on the part of parents, many a little one has perished before medical assistance could be obtained. In some of its forms its progress is very rapid, and, unless relief is obtained in a few moments, or hours at the most, death ensues.
There are several quite distinct pathological conditions of the vocal and respiratory organs which have, in popular parlance, been designated as croup. But two of these are worthy of consideration here. These are true or membranous croup, in which a false, semi-organized membrane is formed, and spasmodic croup. Both may result fatally, but the former is much the more dangerous.
MEMBRANOUS CROUP is supposed to originate in the trachea, from which, as it progresses, it often extends upward to the larynx, and downward to the bronchial tubes. It is the result of severe inflammation of the mucous membrane, and is characterized by the formation of a false membrane, which covers or lines the inner surface of the true structure (see Fig. 1). It is formed of a coagulable, semi-fluid exudation from the mucous membrane. On being brought to the surface and into contact with the inspired air, this substance grows thick and tough, or leathery, as we find it. It is the obstruction in the respiratory canal which this foreign matter causes that gives rise to the labored breathing, and the ringing, brassy cough, together with the crowing or whistling inspiration characteristic of croup. Before recovery can take place this membrane must be detached and expelled. The cough is nature's effort to accomplish this work.
The formation of this adventitious membrane in the larynx is attended with more danger than when it is confined to the trachea. In most cases in which the disease has had a very speedily fatal termination, an examination has shown that the larynx was its chief seat.
SYMPTOMS. True croup is generally preceded by what is known as "a cold." The child coughs, sneezes, and is hoarse. It is the hoarseness and the peculiar character of the cough which indicate the tendency to croup. This has been already described. In addition, the child is restless, fretful and feverish. The disease makes rapid strides. Finally the cough ceases to be loud and barking, and is very much suppressed; the voice is almost gone; the face is very pale; the head thrown back; the nostrils dilated and in perpetual motion, the pulse at the wrist very feeble, great exhaustion, more or less delirium, and, finally, death comes to the relief of the little sufferer. Convulsions sometimes occur in the last stages, and soon terminate fatally.
TREATMENT. No time should be lost in commencing treatment. Hot fomentations should be applied to the throat and upper portions of the chest. The free inhalation of steam should be employed early. The following treatment has been found very effectual in membranous croup, and is recommended by the highest authorities: Yellow subsulphate of mercury, or turpeth mineral, three to five grains, depending upon the age of the child, for one dose. If it does not cause vomiting in fifteen minutes, give a second dose. This, however, is seldom necessary. If the turpeth mineral cannot be obtained, sulphate of copper or sulphate of zinc may be given instead, as directed under the head of Emetics, in Part III, Chapter II. If there be a quick pulse, hot skin, a hurried breathing, and an occasional ringing cough, the child should be kept in bed, comfortably covered, but not overloaded with clothes, and the tincture or fluid extract of veratrum viride administered as follows: Take fluid extract of veratrum, five drops; sweet spirits of nitre, one teaspoonful; pure water, twenty teaspoonfuls; mix, sweeten with white sugar, and give a teaspoonful of the mixture every half-hour to two hours, according to the age of the child and the severity of the case. If there be great prostration, with cold extremities, the carbonate of ammonia should be administered, in doses of from one to two grains, every second hour, in gum arabic mucilage. Quinine is a valuable remedy, and is tolerated in large doses. The patient's body should be frequently sponged with warm water in which a sufficient quantity of saleratus or ordinary baking-soda has been dissolved to render it quite strongly alkaline. If the bowels be constipated they should be moved by an injection of starch-water. Beef tea and other concentrated, supporting diet should be administrated. In those cases in which there is a tendency to croup, the Golden Medical Discovery, together with iron and the bitter tonics, should be given to build up the system and counteract such tendency. The treatment which we have advised has been put to the severest tests in the most severe forms of the disease, and has resulted most successfully. If, however, in any case it does not give prompt relief, our advice is to lose no time in summoning a physician who is known to be skilled in the treatment of diseases of children.
SPASMODIC CROUP. In this affection no false membrane is formed. It seems to have a nervous origin. Most frequently the child is awakened in the night by a sense of suffocation. He may cry out that he is choking. The countenance is livid, the breathing is hurried and each respiration is attended by a crowing sound. The child has fits of coughing or crying, and makes vehement struggles to recover his breath. This complaint, unlike croup, is unattended by fever, it being of a purely spasmodic character with no inflammation.
Apply hot fomentations to the throat, and give frequent small doses of tincture or fluid extract or syrup of lobelia, to produce slight nausea; or, better still, an acetic syrup of blood-root, made by adding one teaspoonful of the crushed or powdered root to one gill of vinegar and four teaspoonfuls of white sugar. Heat this mixture to the boiling point, strain, and administer from one-fourth to one teaspoonful every half-hour or hour. Slight nausea should be kept up, but it is unnecessary to produce vomiting. This is usually all the treatment that is required.
WHOOPING-COUGH. (PERTUSSIS.)
This is primarily a disease of the nervous system, involving the respiratory organs through the medium of the pneumogastric nerve. It is considered a disease of childhood, though we have met with it in old age. It is eminently a contagious affection, and occurs generally but once during life.
SYMPTOMS. It is at first manifested by a catarrhal cough, gradually developed. After a while it becomes paroxysmal, generally worse at night. The cough is severe, and long-continued; when a prolonged inspiration occurs, it is accompanied by a peculiar shrill sound, the characteristic whoop, which, when once heard, is never forgotten. The cough is attended by a copious secretion of glairy mucus, which is brought up at the latter part of the paroxysm. During, or at the end of the paroxysm, vomiting frequently occurs, and sometimes nosebleed. The cough is so severe at times, that the patient turns purple, gasps for breath, and presents all the symptoms of suffocation. Bronchitis sometimes is a troublesome complication. Immediately preceding a paroxysm of coughing a sense of impending danger appears to seize the child, and it runs to its mother, or grasps some support, as if for protection. Until the paroxysmal character and peculiar whoop is developed, the disease is diagnosed with difficulty.
TREATMENT. We have found the Golden Medical Discovery to modify the disease and cut it short. The philosophy of its action can be readily understood by its effect on the pneumogastric nerve, as explained under consumption and bronchitis. Jaborandi, described under the head of diaphoretics, often speedily arrests this disease. The employment of an infusion of red clover blossoms, in small doses, is of undoubted value in modifying the irritation of the air-passages, and may be used to good advantage with, or in alternation with the Golden Medical Discovery. Exposure to cold and wet should be avoided.
NOSEBLEED.
Hemorrhage from the nose is commonly the result either of a catarrhal or an inflammatory condition of the nasal mucous membrane. Individuals are susceptible to it who are oppressed by fever or constitutional diseases that reduce the strength. There is also a condition of the nervous system in which there is congestion of the nerve centres which favors manifestations of this somewhat troublesome difficulty.
CAUSES. In some instances an examination of the nose will reveal the presence of a small point of congested vessels, usually about the size of a split pea. Upon this portion of the mucous membrane small scabs form, and at any time when they may be dislodged, by accident or otherwise, a hemorrhage will ensue.
The constitutional conditions that produce the tendency to hemorrhage are most important. In individuals of a debilitated condition, it results from the lack of a proper amount of fibrin in the blood. Where the blood becomes thin, or loses a large share of its red corpuscles, the individual is pale, and hemorrhages are frequent from the mucous surfaces of any portion of the body, the nasal mucous surface being especially liable to such attacks.
TREATMENT. This is local and constitutional. Where there is constitutional imperfection, it should be remedied. Usually in young women there is some difficulty with the ovarian or uterine circulation, and the attack of hemorrhage from the nose is reflex in its character, appearing just before or at the time of the menstrual flow, accompanied with troublesome headache. The correction of this form is by the use of the "Favorite Prescription" and "Golden Medical Discovery," using of each a teaspoonful three times a day, taking the "Prescription" before meals and the "Discovery" after meals. If the bowels are constipated, the "Pellets" should be employed, in order to overcome any congestion of the liver which favors the manifestation of nosebleed. In children there is usually a debilitated state of the system, which is best remedied by the use of a half teaspoonful dose of the "Discovery," taken three times a day, after meals, with sweetened water. This treatment should be continued for a month or six weeks. By this means the blood-making organs rapidly improve in their activity and functions, the blood becomes rich in corpuscles and fibrin, thus strengthening the walls of the blood-vessels and tending to prevent a hemorrhage following undue excitement or injury. With men the use of laxatives is of great importance. One or more of the "Pellets," taken on retiring at night, are most beneficial. Where the blood is not up to the standard of purity, even though the individual be fleshy, the "Discovery" should be used, a teaspoonful or two, three times a day, after meals, in conjunction with plenty of outdoor exercise and the best of food. Where the hemorrhages occur in those having too much blood, the diet must be corrected by the use of vegetables and fruit, diminishing the amount of meat and pastries to a minimum. The amount of fibrin should also be increased by the use of the "Golden Medical Discovery."
LOCAL TREATMENT. Of those applied directly to the membrane, Dr. Sage's Catarrh Remedy, used according to the directions which wrap the bottle, is excellent in bringing about a normal condition of the mucous surfaces. Following this, a small amount of Subnitrate of Bismuth may be snuffed into each nostril. Usually the amount required to cover a three-cent silver piece is sufficient. The powder dries the surface and favors the speedy formation of a coagulum, or clotted covering, which effectually checks any further hemorrhage. The application of a firm compress to the upper lip will also diminish the flow of blood through the arteries that run to the anterior portion of the mucous surface. Good effects often follow the use of a small piece of ice applied to the nape of the neck. This, with a reclining posture, will cause contraction of the blood-vessels. If the Subnitrate of Bismuth is not to be readily obtained, the use of any other powder such as starch, finely divided and baked so as to be free from a tendency to form starch paste when applied to a mucous surface, is equally good. Well-browned flour is also serviceable. The use of the contents of a puff-ball, which contains many millions of fine spores, has been employed from time immemorial. The use of such drying powders tends to favor the speedy formation of clots. Where the small points of engorged vessels are to be readily reached, use a solution of the Tincture of Chloride of Iron, one part in four of water, applying with a small pledget of soft cotton wrapped about, or fastened to, the end of a pencil or stick. In this way the solution may be applied in very small amount to the spot where the hemorrhage appears, and will give immunity from future attacks. Any of the styptics (see pages 320-325) can be called into service. Those who have the advantage of the city drug store may use a solution of basic ferric sulphate (Monsell's solution), or the spray of a three or four percent. solution of cocaine. The latter is one of the most pleasant and effective remedies in these emergencies. Before its administration the nasal cavity should be cleansed by snuffing up the nostrils salt and warm water. When washed, immediately apply the spray. If the constitutional condition which led to the hemorrhage continues, the general remedies--of which the "Golden Medical Discovery" is the most efficacious--should be administered. This agent increases the number of red blood corpuscles, and enriches the blood in fibrin, so that the relief obtained is absolutely permanent.
INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH. (GASTRITIS.)
Gastritis is generally defined as an inflammation of the mucous membrane of the stomach. However, the cellular, muscular, and serous tissues are all liable to be more or less affected. Gastritis may be either acute or chronic. Either form is a distinct modification of disease, manifesting peculiar symptoms and requiring special remedies.
Acute Gastritis generally occurs as a result or complication of other diseases. It is an occasional feature In scarlatina, serious cases of bilious fever, and in cutaneous affections of every description. The mucous membrane of the stomach is placed in intimate communication with all the vital organs, by means of the nerves of the solar-plexus, hence the sympathy between the stomach and skin, and the morbid condition of the stomach occasioned by disease of other organs.
THE EARLY SYMPTOMS of acute gastritis are a burning sensation in the stomach, accompanied by nausea and frequent vomiting. The respiratory movements are rapid and shallow, the pulse is hard and short, and as the disease progresses, becomes small, frequent, and thready. The tongue usually retains its natural appearance, but it is sometimes dry and tinged with a vivid scarlet at the tip and edges. Intense thirst and hiccough are occasional symptoms. The facial expression is haggard, and indicative of the most intense suffering. The stomach will not retain the mildest liquids. In the early stages of the disease, the ejections consist of chyme and mucus, streaked with blood. As it progresses, the vomiting becomes a sort of regurgitation, the contents of the stomach being ejected without any apparent nausea or effort. The ejections then consist of a dark-colored granular matter, resembling what is known in yellow fever as black-vomit.
CAUSES. Formerly it was supposed that this was a very common disorder, and the term acute gastritis was applied to every development of symptomatic fever. But late clinical and pathological investigations clearly indicate that acute gastritis is of rare occurrence. It may be caused by the excessive and habitual use of alcoholic drinks, especially if taken without food, by copious draughts of cold water, or by intense emotions. But its general cause is the ingestion of irritating and corrosive poisons.
Where the former causes are known not to exist, the presence of poison should always be suspected. As the cause sometimes becomes a matter of legal investigation, it is very important that the practitioner should be able to determine the real origin. If caused by poison, the disease is very suddenly developed, the patient complaining of a very intense burning sensation in the throat and the lining membrane of the mouth, which will generally show the action of the poison. A diarrhea is also more apt to accompany the disease. If inorganic or vegetable poisons are known or suspected irritants, the appropriate antidotes should be promptly administered. For a list of the principal poisons and their antidotes, with practical suggestions for treatment, the reader is referred to the article in this volume, on Accidents and Emergencies.
TREATMENT. The inflammation should be allayed, and a tea made of peach-tree leaves is very serviceable. Small pieces of ice, swallowed, will generally allay the thirst and vomiting, and a mucilage of slippery-elm is very soothing to the inflamed mucous membrane. This is an important disease, and its management should be entrusted to a skillful physician.
CHRONIC INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH.
Chronic Gastritis is sometimes mistaken for dyspepsia or gastralgia. It is very necessary to discriminate between these diseases, as the appropriate remedies of the latter will often only aggravate and augment the former.
A chronic inflammation of the stomach is a very common affection and has many phases, but the term chronic gastritis is applied only to that species of inflammation occasioned and accompanied by irritation. It is seldom a result of the acute form.
THE SYMPTOMS of chronic gastritis are various and sometimes vague. Among those which are prominent we may mention an irregular appetite. At times it is voracious and the patient will consume every available article of diet, while at others he will experience nausea and disgust at the sight of food. Even when very hungry, one mouthful of food will sometimes produce satiety and cause vomiting. The appearance of the tongue is variable, sometimes natural, at others thickly coated. The desire for drink is capricious, varying from intense thirst to indifference. Another prominent symptom is a sense of heaviness and heat in the epigastric region, after partaking of food. Often a small quantity, as a teaspoonful of milk, will produce a sensation of weight, as a heavy ball lying at the pit of the stomach. This symptom is frequently accompanied by a frontal headache, and a small and wiry pulse. Dull or shooting pains are experienced in the stomach and between the shoulders, and the patient becomes weary, melancholy, and emaciated.
CAUSES. The general cause of chronic gastritis is excess in eating or drinking, and the use of alcoholic liquors. We have known it to be produced by drinking hard cider. Great mental excitement predisposes the system to this affection. Occasionally it is a result of febrile diseases, as scarlatina, typhoid fever, etc. In some families there is a constitutional tendency to its development.
TREATMENT. All medicines which tend to irritate the stomach, should be studiously avoided. The bowels should be kept regular, and the skin clean by frequent bathing. Stimulants of all kinds must be avoided. As a principle article of diet, we would recommend milk and farinaceous articles. If these precautions be observed, nature will sometimes effect a cure. Lime water and the subnitrate of bismuth, in twenty-grain doses three or four times a day, are useful to allay irritation. Other suggestions applicable to its domestic management, maybe found under the hygienic and medicinal treatment of dyspepsia, to which we refer the reader.
NEURALGIA OF THE STOMACH. (GASTRALGIA.)
Gastralgia is a neuralgic affection of the stomach, unaccompanied by inflammation. It is sometimes mistaken for chronic gastritis, although there is a marked difference in the symptoms.
A PROMINENT SYMPTOM OF GASTRALGIA is a paroxysmal pain radiating from the epigastric region, to all parts of the thoracic cavity. The pain is sometimes lessened by walking, lying on left side, or by gentle pressure, and usually abates after eating, but is renewed in a few hours. The patient occasionally experiences a sense of heaviness at the pit of the stomach, nausea, and frequent salty eructations. The tongue is white, the appetite variable, and there is no desire for liquids. The sleep is usually refreshing, and when not suffering from acute pain, the patient is apparently well.
The distinguishing symptom of this disease is a feeling of intense despondency, and, sometimes, a morbid fear of death.
An effectual method of distinguishing between gastralgia and chronic gastritis is by the administration of an alcoholic stimulant. If gastritis be the affection the pain will be augmented; whereas, if it be gastralgia, it will be relieved.
CAUSE. The cause of gastralgia is a local or sympathetic irritation of the nerves distributed to the stomach.
TREATMENT. The pain of gastralgia is sometimes allayed by using half a teaspoonful of subcarbonate of bismuth, and repeating the dose, if the attack is not relieved. The following is a very effectual remedy: take twenty grains of quinine, combined with one drachm of prussiate of iron, and divide it into ten powders, and administer a powder every three hours until the pain is completely arrested. Temporary relief may be given by administering one-quarter of a grain of morphine, or ten to twenty drops of chloroform in a teaspoonful of glycerine, slightly diluted, taken in one dose. One of the most effective remedies for preventing a return of the attacks is that invigorating tonic and alterative, the "Golden Medical Discovery." The patient should be careful in diet, and not eat too much food, which should not only be of a nutritious kind, but easy of digestion. Cleanliness, suitable clothing, bodily warmth, exercise, and rest must not be neglected. Sometimes it is lingering and requires long persistence in hygienic and medicinal treatment. Everything tending to promote the tone of the digestive organs, and improve the functions of the system generally may be considered advantageous in this neuralgic affection.
PERITONITIS.
The peritoneum, or serous membrane which lines the abdominal cavity and invests the intestines, is liable to become inflamed. When this occurs, the affection is termed peritonitis, and may be divided into the acute and chronic forms.
ACUTE PERITONITIS. This form may be circumscribed; that is, confined to one spot, or it may extend over the entire surface of the peritoneum, when it is known as general.
SYMPTOMS. There is headache, quick pulse, tongue coated white, countenance pallid, features pinched, respiration difficult, nausea and vomiting, severe pain in the abdomen, which is extremely sensitive to pressure and becomes very much distended. There is also pain in the limbs, the bowels are constipated, and, in exceptional cases, diarrhea is a prominent symptom. The urine is deficient in quantity, and there is sleeplessness, chilliness, and great general prostration. Vomiting and coughing or sneezing increase the pain. An erect position occasions intense suffering. The patient is compelled to assume a recumbent posture and is inclined to lie on the back, for in that position the sufferer experiences the least pressure of the vital organs against the peritoneum. There is also an inclination to draw up the lower limbs and retain them in a flexed position.
CAUSES. Prominent among these are injuries which have been inflicted upon the intestines, compression of the colon, or rectum, perforation of the stomach or bowels, either by violence or some pre-existing disease, thus allowing the discharge of blood, urine, bile, or fecal matter into the abdominal cavity; also abortion, over-exertion, and exposure to wet or cold. As acute peritonitis is always a grave disease, involving more or less danger to life, it is the wisest course to employ a physician and trust the case to his management. The same remark is equally applicable to the chronic form of the disease.
CHRONIC PERITONITIS. Like the acute, it may be either circumscribed or general. This form is sometimes, though rarely, a sequel of the acute. When it appears independently of the acute, it is generally associated with some cutaneous affection pertaining to the abdominal cavity, and the inflammation is induced by the tumor. If chronic peritonitis be connected with the tubercular diathesis, tubercles may be discovered upon the surface of the stomach and alimentary canal, and may also be found in the lungs and brain.
When the affection is not tubercular there will appear in the abdominal cavity an effusion of serous fluid of greater or less quantity, mingled with blood and pus. When such an effusion takes place, the abdomen gradually increases in size, or becomes smaller than is natural. There is pain, attended by soreness upon pressure, and the patient becomes emaciated.
Inflammation of the peritoneum is frequently an accompaniment of puerperal fever, which is a disease peculiar to childbirth, and which may arise from cold, or be communicated from one parturient patient to another by midwives.
TREATMENT. In the remedial management of acute peritonitis, it is obviously necessary to use some agent which will at once influence and change the congested state and inflammatory condition. One of the best agents employed to make a decided impression upon the vascular system, subdue inflammation, and modify its action, is the fluid extract of veratrum viride, administered in full doses, and repeated until the system shows its effects in a decided manner. Warm fomentations applied to the abdomen are sometimes very serviceable, and are objectionable only because of their liability to dampen the bed-clothes. When the abdomen will bear a thick, warm poultice, apply it, and then cover the entire surface with oiled silk. The tincture of opium, in doses sufficient to relieve pain and quiet the peristaltic action of the intestines, is generally necessary.
EPIDEMIC CHOLERA.
This is an epidemic disease, supposed to be due to an impalpable specific poison, but as to the exact nature of this poisonous matter nothing definite is known.
This plague first made its appearance on our continent in 1834. Owing to its great fatality, it is a disease much to be dreaded.
SYMPTOMS. These are well defined. It is characterized in its earlier stages by pain in the stomach and bowels, especially in the umbilical region, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea; later, the purging is excessive, and the matter dejected resembles rice-water, and contains white, solid, curd-like matter. The patient loses strength, and sinks rapidly. The secretory organs fail to perform their functions normally, the skin is sometimes moist, but oftener cold and dry; but little if any bile is found in the excretions, and the urine voided is very scanty. There is general nervous derangement, as indicated by the spasmodic contraction or cramping of the muscles. This first attacks the extremities, but soon affects the entire body, and gives rise to excruciating pains. The head is affected by singing, roaring, disagreeable noises in the ears, the pulse is feeble, but quick, the nails are of a bluish color, the tongue is coated white, the eyes are sunken, and the patient has a corpse-like appearance; the temperature of the body rapidly falls, the surface becomes deathly cold, and, unless the disease is promptly arrested in its course, speedy dissolution follows. The disease is rarely prolonged beyond twenty-four hours, and sometimes terminates within three or four hours after its first attack.
TREATMENT. The kind of medicine required depends upon the severity of the attack and stage of the disease. In all cholera epidemics, there are premonitory symptoms, such, as an uneasy sensation at the pit of the stomach, and a rumbling of the bowels. This is apt to be followed by a painless diarrhea, which occasions no alarm, and the patient pays but little attention to it. Herein is the great and dangerous mistake. The patient is already in the stage of invasion, which must be promptly arrested, or he will suddenly be precipitated into the stage of collapse. The patient should lie down, and have placed about him bottles filled with hot water, thereby exciting warmth upon the surface of the body. At the same time, administer two teaspoonfuls of the Extract of Smart-weed. If the symptoms are urgent, repeat the dose every fifteen minutes. Brandy, thickened with sugar, may also be given. In either the stage of invasion or collapse, the leading indication is to establish reaction by promoting perspiration. Bathe the feet in water as hot as can be borne, give the Extract of Swart-weed freely, and thus endeavor to excite profuse diaphoresis. No time should be lost, for delays are dangerous. When the reaction is established, the patient should remain quiet, and not attempt to exert himself.
After reaction has taken place, the sweating should be maintained for twelve hours, and the patient should drink slippery-elm tea and toast-water, and partake sparingly of soft toasted bread and chicken broth. The food should be fluid and nutritious, but taken in small quantities. Do not disturb the bowels with laxatives until the third day after the patient begins to improve, and then they may be moved by an injection of warm water. Great care should be taken that the patient does not indulge too soon or too freely in the use of food. When a skillful physician can be had, no time should be lost in securing his services, but since in epidemics of this nature, medical men are generally overworked, and not always easily and promptly to be had, we have been quite explicit in giving full directions for treatment.
CHOLERA MORBUS, also known as sporadic cholera and simple cholera, usually occurs during the summer months. The attack may be sudden, although it is usually preceded by a sensation of uneasiness and colicky pains in the stomach.
SYMPTOMS. Nausea, vomiting and purging are the most prominent symptoms. The discharge from the bowels is at first of a thin, yellow appearance, but finally it becomes almost colorless. Sometimes, after the contents proper of the bowels have been evacuated, the dejections have a bilious appearance. Severe cramps and pain accompany the vomiting. The vomiting and purging usually occur in paroxysms, but finally become less frequent, a reaction takes place, the extremities grow warm, and the patient gradually recovers. It may be accompanied by intense thirst and a quick pulse, yet the surface may be cool.
CAUSES. Cholera morbus is most prevalent in warm climates, and especially in malarial districts. It is generally the result of eating indigestible articles of food, such as unripe fruit or uncooked vegetables. Stimulating drinks, or those articles which furnish the elements for fermentation, also favor the production of this disease.
TREATMENT. If the attack be superinduced by eating unripe or stale fruit, it may be proper to give an emetic or a cathartic, but ordinarily first give a full dose of the Extract of Smart-weed, and, if the vomited matter is very sour, give the patient a weak, alkaline drink, which may be made by dropping a few live, hard-wood coals into a tumbler of water. This will not only assist in neutralizing the acidity of the stomach, but will help to allay the thirst and accompanying fever. If the patient throw up the first dose of the Extract of Smart-weed, a second should be given. Do not allow the patient to drink cold water, and give only tablespoonful doses of the alkaline solution every thirty minutes. If the thirst is great, occasionally give a tablespoonful of a tea made from scorched Indian meal, which not only allays the desire to drink, but also the irritation of the stomach. If to be obtained, give a tea of the leaves or bark of the peach tree. The patient should be well covered in bed and kept warm. Laudanum by the stomach, or by enema, may he necessary in severe cases to relieve the pain and check the purging. Hot fomentations applied to the bowels are very valuable. A mustard plaster applied over the abdomen will assist materially in relieving the nausea and vomiting. It should not be left on sufficiently long to blister. When the affection is promptly treated as we have suggested, the patient generally quickly recovers. If, however, it does not yield to these measures, the family physician should be called in.
ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES.
Accidents and emergencies which require immediate attention frequently occur. Professional aid cannot always be quickly obtained and hence fatal results often follow. It is, therefore, important that all persons should not only know how to proceed under such circumstances, but that they should be able to exercise that deliberation and self-control so necessary in emergencies of all kinds. Most persons are more or less affected by the sight of blood or severe wounds, and it requires an effort to maintain self-possession. One should act resolutely; otherwise he will find himself overcome and unable to render any assistance.
WOUNDS.
Wounds may be classified as incised, punctured, contused, lacerated, or poisoned.
Incised wounds are those which are made with a sharp, cutting instrument, and are characterized by their extent of surface.
Punctured wounds are made with a pointed instrument, and distinguished for their depth rather than breadth.
Contused wounds are those produced by bruises.
Lacerated wounds are those in which the flesh is torn and mangled.
Poisoned wounds are made with a poisoned instrument, or by some poisonous reptile or insect or rabid animal.
In all cases of wounds, the immediate danger is in the shock produced upon the nervous system, and in the liability to hemorrhage.
SHOCK. If severe, the shock is attended with symptoms of extreme prostration, such as a feeble pulse, shivering, partial unconsciousness, fainting, hiccough, vomiting, and involuntary discharges of the urine and feces.
TREATMENT OF SHOCK. The clothing should be loosened immediately after the accident, so that the blood may have free circulation, and the patient should be kept in a recumbent position. He should have plenty of fresh air. Camphor or ammonia may be inhaled. If he can swallow, stimulants may be given, as whiskey or brandy, but with care that they do not run into the trachea, or windpipe. If he be unable to swallow, they may be administered as injections, but should gradually be discontinued as reaction takes place. A warm pillow placed at the back and the use of electricity may be beneficial.
HEMORRHAGE, or bleeding, may generally be controlled by a compress, tourniquet, flexion of the joint, or styptics. A compress consists of several folds of cloth laid upon a wound, the edges of which have been brought together, and made secure by a moderately tight bandage.
A tourniquet may be extemporized by rolling a handkerchief into a cord and tying it around the limb, over a compress, between the wound and the heart. A stick should then be thrust between the handkerchief and skin and twisted around several times, until the pressure is sufficiently great to arrest the circulation of the blood in the wounded part. A representation of this operation may be seen in Fig. 1.
Flexion of the joint, as represented in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, is adapted to many cases of hemorrhage. As water cannot flow through a rubber tube bent at a sharp angle, so the acute flexion of a limb prevents the free flow of blood through the arterial tubes.
In some cases, styptics may be directly applied to the wounded tissues. Cold acts as a powerful styptic, and may generally be made available for arresting hemorrhage.
POISONED WOUNDS. The treatment of these should chiefly consist in the prevention of the spread of the poison. This may be done by tightly applying bandages above the wound and scarifying or sucking the parts. Nitrate of silver may then be used and the ligatures removed. Alcohol, in any form, is an antidote to snake poison. For the stings of insects, apply aqua ammonia, fresh earth, raw onion, plantain, or spirits of turpentine.
FRACTURES AND DISLOCATIONS.
The treatment of injuries received from the fracture of bones and the dislocation of joints should never be attempted by the inexperienced, nor should the management be left to incompetent physicians but skillful surgical aid should at once be summoned.
SPRAINS.
A sprain consists of a sudden and forcible stretching of the ligaments and tendons connected with a joint, without there being any dislocation. It is attended with severe pain and is followed by rapid swelling.
The treatment should consist of measures to prevent inflammation, promote absorption, and restore a healthy action. The affected part should be kept at rest in an elevated position, and hot or cold water applied frequently. If there is much inflammation, fomentations of hops may be used. The Compound Extract of Smart-weed is an excellent application.
When the acute symptoms have disappeared, absorption should be favored by systematic rubbing and the application of stimulating liniments, or by the use of a well-adjusted bandage. Passive motion may be resorted to gradually and the subject may use the joint moderately. Should any stiffness remain, warm salt water douches should be employed and the Extract of Smart-weed applied once a day.
BRUISES.
Bruises or contusions are caused by falls, wrenches, or blows from blunt instruments, without breaking the skin. The soft tissues are lacerated and blood is poured out into them, constituting ecchymosis. The discoloration passes through various shades from a bluish-black to a violet, a green, and finally, a yellow.
If the bruise is severe, the affected part should be kept at rest and frequently bathed with the Compound Extract of Smart-weed or the tincture of arnica. If inflammatory symptoms supervene, fomentations and poultices should be applied.
FOREIGN BODIES IN THE NOSE.
Foreign bodies, such as beads, peas, coffee-grains, and small gravel-stones are occasionally introduced into the nostrils of children, becoming fastened there, and causing great anxiety and alarm. If allowed to remain, they generally cause inflammation and suffering.
Such bodies may generally be washed out by gently injecting a stream of tepid salt water with a syringe or Dr. Pierce's Nasal Douche. In no case should force be used. If these means fail, a competent surgeon should be consulted.
FOREIGN BODIES IN THE THROAT AND AIR-PASSAGES.
Foreign bodies are generally arrested so high up that they may be seen by simply depressing the tongue, and removed with the finger or a pair of forceps. The head should be thrown back in such a position as to cause the chin to project as little as possible beyond the prominence known as Adam's apple, in order that the finger or forceps may be readily introduced and the body released and ejected. When the foreign bodies are so small as to pass out of sight in the larynx, windpipe, or esophagus, it is generally difficult to extract them, and the services of a surgeon are required. Fortunately, however, there is not much immediate danger from suffocation in such cases.
DROWNING.
Recovery from drowning sometimes occurs when life is apparently extinct. The treatment, however, should be immediate and energetic, and should be given in the open air, unless the weather be too cold.
TREATMENT. The patient should be gently placed upon the face with his wrists under his forehead. The tongue will then fall forward and the water run out of his mouth and throat, while the windpipe, or air-passage, will be free. To restore respiration, he should be instantly turned upon his right side, his nostrils excited with snuff or ammonia, and cold water dashed upon his face and chest. If this operation prove unsuccessful, replace the patient upon his face, care being taken to raise and support his chest, turn the body gently on the side and quickly again upon the face. Alternate these movements about every four seconds, and occasionally change sides. When the body is turned on the face, gentle but efficient pressure should be made along the back, between the shoulder blades, to assist in forcing the air out of the lungs, but this pressure ought to be removed before the patient is turned back on his side. Persistently repeat this operation, and success will often be the reward. As soon as respiration is established, warmth may be promoted by the application of warm flannels to the body and bottles of hot water to the stomach, armpits, thighs, and feet. During the entire process of restoration, the body should be thoroughly rubbed upwards. Turning the body upon the back or handling it roughly should be avoided. The person should not be held up by his feet, or be rubbed with salt or spirits. Rolling the body on a cask is improper, and injections of the smoke infusion of tobacco are injurious. Avoid the constant application of the warm bath, and do not allow a crowd to surround the body.
FAINTING.
When a person faints, he should be allowed to remain or be placed in a recumbent posture, and his clothing immediately loosened. The extremities should be rubbed, the patient permitted to have plenty of fresh air, and, if at hand, ammonia or camphor should be applied to the nostrils.
BURNS AND SCALDS.
The danger arising from burns and scalds depends not only upon the extent of surface involved, but also upon the depth of the injury. Burns are most dangerous when occurring upon the head, chest, or abdomen.
TREATMENT. Soothing applications, and those which will exclude the air, should be made. Grated potato, poultices of slippery-elm, sweet oil, cotton saturated in a mixture composed of two or three grains of carbolic acid and two ounces of glycerine, and linseed oil and white lead, are all beneficial for the treatment of burns. If internal treatment be necessary, it should be given under the direction of a competent physician.
SUN-STROKE.
In cases of sun-stroke, the patient should be at once removed into the shade. If the face is flushed, apply cold water to the head and neck, and mustard to the feet. The body should be bathed in tepid water and the head slightly elevated. If the countenance is pale, the symptoms denote exhaustion, and the patient should be kept in a recumbent position, the extremities rubbed, camphor and ammonia inhaled, mustard applied to the spine, and stimulants, such as brandy or whiskey, should be administered.
POISONS AND THEIR ANTIDOTES. ----------------------+-------------------------------------------------- POISONS. | ANTIDOTES. ----------------------+-------------------------------------------------- ACIDS. | | Acetic Acid. | Alkalies--carbonate of soda and potash--also Citric Acid. | lime and magnesia are antidotes to these Muriatic Acid. | poisons. As soon as the acid is neutralized, Tartaric Acid. | mucilaginous teas, such as flax-seed, gum | arabic, or slippery-elm, may be given. | Sulphuric Acid | Soap, in solution, or magnesia will counteract (Oil of Vitriol). | its influence. Water should not be given | as it causes great heat when mixed with this | acid. | Nitric Acid | Lime-water, carbonates of lime and magnesia (Aqua Fortis). | in solution, are the only antidotes. Give Oxalic Acid. | mucilaginous drinks. | Carbolic Acid. | There is no special antidote. Oil, glycerine, | milk, flour and water, white of eggs, | magnesia, and flax-seed tea may be used. | Prussic Acid. | Ammonia, by inhalation or in solution, may Laurel Water. | be used. Apply a cold douche to the head. Oil of Bitter Almonds.| | These agents are | speedily fatal. | | ----------------------+-------------------------------------------------- | ALKALIES. | | Liquor of Ammonia. | Vegetable acids, such as vinegar, lemon-juice, Water of Ammonia. | citric and tartaric acids, neutralize this Muriate of Ammonia. | poison. | Liquor of Potassa. | All the fixed oils, such as linseed, castor Nitrate of Potassa | and sweet oil, also almonds and melted lard (Saltpetre). | destroy the caustic effects of these poisons Carbonate of Potassa | Mucilaginous drinks may be given. (Pearlash). | Salts of Tartar. |
--------------------+----------------------------------------------------- POISONS. | ANTIDOTES, --------------------+----------------------------------------------------- | IODINE. | Starch, wheat flour mixed with water, In its | whites of eggs, milk, and mucilaginous different forms. | drinks are excellent antidotes. | --------------------+----------------------------------------------------- | VOLATILE OILS AND | AGENTS. | | The same antidotes as in case of poisoning Creosote | with iodine may be used in this, or the (Oil of Smoke). | stomach may be evacuated with an emetic or a Oil of Tar. | stomach-pump. Oil of Turpentine. | | --------------------+----------------------------------------------------- | A powerful emetic of white vitriol or mustard | should be given at once, cold should be ALCOHOL. | applied to the head, and the extremities | vigorously rubbed. | --------------------+----------------------------------------------------- ANTIMONY AND ITS | COMPOUNDS. | If vomiting has not occurred, induce it by | tickling the throat and giving large draughts Tartar Emetic | of warm water, after which administer Butter of Antimony | astringents, such as infusions of galls, oak bark, Oxide of Antimony. | Peruvian bark, or strong green tea. | --------------------+----------------------------------------------------- | ARSENIC AND ITS | COMPOUNDS. | | White Arsenic. | Oils, or fats lard, melted butter, or milk Yellow Sulphuret of | should be given, then induce vomiting with Arsenic | sulphate of zinc, sulphate of copper or Red Sulphuret of | mustard; fine powdered iron rust or magnesia Arsenic | may be given every five or ten minutes. King's Yellow. | Mucilaginous drinks should be given as soon Fly Powder. | as the stomach is evacuated. Arsenical Paste. | Arsenical Soap. | Scheele's Green. | Paris Green. | | --------------------+----------------------------------------------------- COPPER AND ITS | COMPOUNDS. | Avoid the USE of vinegar. Give albuminous | substances, such as milk, whites of eggs, wheat Blue Vitriol | flour in water, or magnesia; yellow prussiate Verdigris. | of potash in solution may also be given freely. |
--------------------------+------------------------------------- POISONS | ANTIDOTES. --------------------------+------------------------------------- LEAD AND ITS COMPOUNDS. | In lead, or painters' colic purgatives | and anodynes may be given, together Acetate of Lead | with large doses of iodide of (Sugar of Lead) | potassium. White Lead. | Red Lead. | Litharge. | --------------------------+-------------------------------- MERCURY AND ITS | COMPOUNDS. | Albumen in some form should be | given; if the poison is not Corrosive Sublimate. | absorbed, follow with a mustard White Precipitate. | or lobelia emetic. Red Precipitate. | Calomel. | --------------------------+----------------------------------- ACRONARCOTICS. | | The general treatment indicated for Ergot | this class of poisons, is to Black Hellebore. | evacuate the stomach with a Veratrum Viride | stomach-pump or an emetic composed (American Hellebore). | of fifteen or twenty grains of Aconite. | sulphate of zinc or copper, or large Foxglove. | doses of mustard, repeated every Gelseminum. | quarter of an hour until the full | effect is produced. | Belladonna. | Morphine, sassafras, iodine, and Stramonium. | stimulants. | Nux Vomica. | Large doses of camphor, chloroform, Strychnia. | and tobacco, may all be beneficial. | Poison Oak. | Muriate of ammonia, in solution, may Poison Vine. | be applied externally, and from ten | to fifteen grains given internally; | soda is also useful. --------------------------+----------------------------------- NARCOTICS | | White Henbane. | Sassafras may be used as an antidote Opium. | for henbane. Belladonna is an | antidote of opium; cold water should | also be applied to the head | of the patient, and the extremities | should be well rubbed. --------------------------+----------------------------------- ANIMAL POISONS. | Excite vomiting by drinking sweet | oil. Sugar and water, milk, or Spanish Fly. | linseed tea in large quantities, and Potato Fly. | emollient injections are valuable. |
POSTERIOR SPINAL CURVATURE.
(HUMPBACK.)
Posterior curvature of the spine, sometimes known as Pott's Disease, occurs most frequently in children, and is generally developed before the seventh year. Children of a scrofulous diathesis are especially liable to this affection. It is generally due to disease of the inter-vertebral cartilages and bodies of the vertebræ. It comes on in a slow, insidious manner, hence, it often makes serious inroads upon the spine and system before its character is even suspected.
Generally the first point of invasion is the cartilaginous substances between the bodies of the vertebræ, beginning with inflammation, and finally resulting in ulceration and a breaking-down of the cartilages. It next invades the vertebræ themselves, and producing caries, or death and decay of the bony substance, which softens and wastes away, as shown in Fig. 1. The vertebræ become softened and broken down, and weight of the body pressing them together produces the deformity known as "humpback." (See Fig. 2 and Fig. 3.)
SYMPTOMS. Among the various symptoms present in the earlier stages of the disease, and during its progress, we deem it necessary to mention only a few of the more prominent ones. While the patient is yet able to go around, the disease manifests itself by occasional pain in the bowels, stomach, and chest. Often there is a hacking cough, nervousness, lassitude, and a generally enfeebled condition of the whole system. The patient is easily fatigued; there is apparent loss of vitality, impaired appetite, a feeling of tightness across the stomach and chest, gradually declining health, and loss of flesh and strength, torpidity of the liver, deficient secretions, constipation, and morbid excretions from the kidneys. The victim, in passing chairs, tables, and other objects, instinctively places his hands upon them, and, as the disease progresses, when standing, leans upon some support whenever possible. In walking, he moves very carefully and cautiously, with elbows thrown back and chest forward, to assist the body in keeping its equilibrium. The body being kept in an upright position, the patient bends the knees rather than the back in stooping, as illustrated in Fig. 5, and the body is frequently supported by the hands being placed upon the thighs or knees. Sudden movements or shocks cause more or less pain.
The development of the disease then becomes rapid; suffering increases, and pain about the joints and lower extremities and muscles of the posterior part of the pelvis is experienced; numbness and coldness of the extremities are felt; locomotion becomes more difficult, and a slight projection is observed upon the back. Even in this somewhat advanced stage of the disease, when the symptoms are so apparent, many cases are shamefully neglected because an ignorant adviser says it is nothing serious and that the patient will outgrow it. The pain and tenderness not always being in the back, the inexperienced are very often misled as to the true character of the trouble. This distortion or deformity of the back now becomes painfully prominent; the diseased vertebræ quickly soften and waste away; the pressure upon the spinal cord increases, and paralysis of the limbs supervenes; the power of locomotion is lost, and, at last, the danger is realized and the struggle for life begins.
Thus, through ignorance, neglect, and improper treatment, the poor, helpless victim is doomed to a life of hideous deformity and suffering. We would, therefore, urge upon parents whose children are afflicted with this terrible disease, the great importance of placing them under the care of surgeons who have for many years made the treatment of such cases a specialty, and who have every facility and all necessary surgical appliances for insuring success in every case undertaken.
TREATMENT. The great essentials for the successful treatment of disease and deformities of the spine are first, a thorough knowledge of the structure and parts involved by the disease; secondly, the adjustment of mechanical appliances perfectly adapted to the requirements and necessities of each individual case, and the proper use of our system of "vitalization," applied to the spinal muscles to strengthen the weaker and relieve the undue contraction of the stronger. For many years our specialists have experimented, and have given the various appliances in common use in these cases most thorough and practical tests, and have found them very defective, being generally constructed upon wrong principles. The physician who sends to a mechanic for an appliance, such as are now made in the shops of most instrument makers, and uses the same, is doing himself an injustice, and barbarously torturing his patient by forcing him to wear an apparatus which is heavy, clumsy, and inevitably injurious, instead of being beneficial in its results. In the treatment of diseases and deformities of the spine, there should be no compromising; the appliance that fails to give complete support should not be worn. In our treatment of these maladies we employ only appliances which are constructed under the personal supervision of our specialists, upon principles dictated by common sense and the actual necessities of the case. We do not confine the body in an iron jacket. Our apparatus is light, yet durable, and is worn by the most delicate children without pain or inconvenience. It gives proper support to all parts, and is so nicely adjusted as to produce pressure only upon those points which should receive support, leaving the muscles of the spine freedom of action, thereby assisting in their development. In many hundreds of cases treated by our specialists, the disease has been entirely cured and the deformity removed. After seeing the patients and adjusting the appliances, they can generally be treated at their homes.
LATERAL CURVATURE OF THE SPINE.
(CROOKED BACK.)
This deformity appears more frequently in anæmic persons, in whom the flexibility and elasticity of the muscles are weakened, than in those of a plethoric habit. It is generally contracted during youth, between the ages of twelve and eighteen. Persons of sedentary and indolent habits are especially liable to this deformity, hence, girls are most frequently its victims. It is never seen among the natives of tropical countries who habitually live in the open air, and seldom among the barbarous races of northern latitudes. A distinguishing feature of the American Indian is his erect carriage. The primary curvature is generally toward the right side, as represented in Figs. 6 and 7. Figs. 8 and 9 show the disease in a more advanced stage. The ribs are thus forced into an unnatural position, and the vital organs contained in the cavity of the chest are compressed or displaced, thus distorting the form of the whole upper portion of the body.
SYMPTOMS. The first indication of lateral curvature of the spine is a marked projection of the right scapula, or shoulder-blade. It is sometimes first observed by the dressmaker, or, accidentally, while bathing. The right shoulder is slightly elevated, while the left hip is depressed and projects upward. If not corrected while in its earlier stages, it progresses very rapidly, and a second curvature is developed. The symptoms vary in different cases, and in the early stages are somewhat obscure and undefined, but generally the patient feels a sense of uneasiness, languor, stupor, and nervousness, loss of energy and ambition, general debility, poor appetite, gradually declining health, loss of strength and flesh, and, as the disease progresses, a slight elevation of one of the shoulder-blades is noticed, as well as the deviation of the spine to one side. The curve, or distortion, of the spine increases more rapidly as the body becomes heavier, the spine often assuming the shape of the letter S, and, from compression by torsion of the vertebræ and distortion of the ribs, the vital organs are encroached upon, causing serious functional derangement of the heart, lungs, liver, and stomach, producing, as its inevitable consequence a list of maladies fearful to contemplate.
CAUSES. In rare instances, the lateral curvature of the spine is due to defects of certain bones of the pelvis or limbs. Cases are recorded in which this deformity was caused by diseases of the abdominal organs, but, as we have intimated, it is generally due to a lack of tonicity of the muscles, or, as a late writer has expressed it, "Want of correspondence in the antagonism of those muscles which control the motions of the spinal column." Habitual sitting or standing in a leaning posture, or standing upon one foot, thus constantly using one set of the muscles of the back, while the other becomes enfeebled by the lack of exercise, is a common cause of this deformity. The habit which so many school-girls contract of drawing up one foot under the body while sitting, often produces a lateral curvature of the spine.
TREATMENT. No disease or deformity of the spine is so easily cured and perfectly corrected, if the proper plan of treatment is pursued. To correct this deformity, many ingenious forms of apparatus have been devised and invented by our specialists, which should be carefully adjusted to each individual case. In addition to this, our method of treatment by "vitalization," and by mechanical movements and manipulations, is almost indispensable in these cases. It never fails to give relief, and, if properly pursued, invariably results in a permanent cure.
DEFORMED FEET, HANDS AND LIMBS.
There are thousands whose feet, hands, and limbs are almost entirely useless, besides having an unsightly appearance. Their condition has been helpless so long, their treatment so varied, and their hopes of relief or cure have been so often disappointed, that few can believe the truth of our statement, when we positively assert that we can correct and cure nearly all cases of talipes, club, or crooked feet and deformed hands, and make them as perfect in appearance, and as useful in action, as feet and hands which have never been deformed. While this may seem miraculous, or even impossible, to those who are unacquainted with the wonderful improvements and rapid progress made in this department of surgical science, it is attested and verified by living witnesses whose feet and hands were once deformed and useless, but which have been made perfect by our new and improved method of treatment. We do not make these statements in a spirit of vain boastfulness, but having devoted many years to improving and perfecting surgical appliances and apparatus, and having had practical experience in the successful treatment of thousands of cases, we do say that our manner of treatment is original and employed only by us. We entirely ignore the ineffectual methods usually employed in such cases. Our treatment causes no pain, and little inconvenience, yet the curative results are speedy and certain, and a hundredfold more satisfactory than those obtained by any other course.
We have most thoroughly tested all the best forms of treatment heretofore devised and employed in this class of diseases, and have adopted the best features of all the various methods heretofore pursued. We have combined these with our own improvements and, as the result, we have perfected a thorough and efficient system of treatment, based upon scientific principles.
* * * * *
MECHANICAL AIDS
IN THE TREATMENTS OF
CHRONIC DISEASES.
We have, in different parts of this work, referred to a large variety of ingeniously devised machinery and apparatus employed at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, in the treatment of chronic diseases. Although we can, on paper, give but a meagre idea of the variety and adaptability of these valuable mechanical appliances, yet we will endeavor to illustrate and explain a few of our machines for the application of transmitted motion.
Fig. 1 represents a machine, called the Manipulator, which transmits motion through suitable attachments, which are adjustable by means of the ratchet G, so as to reach all parts of the body. It is equally available for applying motion to the head, feet, or any intermediate part of the body.
B, B are rubbing attachments, with two opposing elastic, adherent surfaces, between which an arm or a leg may be included. These have alternate reciprocating action from the rock-shaft H, and are made to approach each other, and press the included part at the will of the patient. This is sometimes called the double-rubber, and is made detachable if desired.
A is the lever, by which the two parts of the double-rubber are made to compress the arm or leg.
D is a single attachment for rubbing. It may be connected at either side of the machine, so as to present the rubbing surface in four different directions, as may be most convenient. It will act perpendicularly, horizontally, or diagonally, and from below or from above the part receiving the action, according to requirements. The shank of the rubber may have any special form to suit special cases.
C is the foot holder. It communicates to the leg the semi-rotary or oscillating motion of the rock-shaft. It may be attached to either end of the rock-shaft.
E is the hand holder, which, grasped by the hand, communicates motion to the arm, shoulder, and chest; or the hand may be inserted passively, when the effect of motion is more confined to the hand and fore-arm.
In the position shown in Fig. 2, by means of the single rubber attachment, the manipulator acts upon the upper portion of the trunk, neck, head, and arms; by means of the hand-holder, upon the arms; by means of the double-rubber, upon the arms, shoulders, and scalp.
When the acting part or head is lowered to its extreme limit, the machine occupies the least space. In this position, by means of the foot-holder it communicates oscillation to the legs; by means of the single-rubber, it acts upon the feet, ankles, and lower leg; by means of the double-rubber, it acts upon the legs, including the feet, the patient either sitting or lying.
In all of these applications of motion, energy travels from inanimate to animate matter; non-vital contributes to vital energy: and the various processes through which vital power is developed are promoted and carried forward in a degree till the point which constitutes health is attained.
The name, Manipulator, is very naturally applied to the instrument, the action of which resembles so much that of the living operator. It is, however, impossible for the unaided hand to impart the degree of rapidity necessary to secure the effects easily attained by this machine; and, practically, restoration is often secured in cases in which it is quite unattainable by any other remedial agent.
Motion, transmitted by the manipulator, exerts a curative effect in all chronic affections, and is not limited, as is sometimes supposed, to paralytic affections and deformities. In these latter affections it is a great assistance in effecting a cure; while, in chronic affections, whatever the local symptoms, it supplies the additional energy which is indispensable for recovery in all diseases of long standing.
Mode of Operation.--Fig. 4 represents the manipulator in operation. The machine is propelled by steam power at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, but may be worked by hand, as here represented. One arm is inserted between the double-rubbing pads, which are raised to about the height of the shoulders, the patient being seated at the side of the machine; the other hand is placed on the lever, and as much pressure is applied as is perfectly agreeable, care being taken to diminish the pressure at any part which is unusually sensitive. All portions of the arm from the shoulder down are successively included in the rubbers, while a suitable degree of reciprocating or rubbing action is obtained by giving motion to the wheel.
To apply the same operation to the other arm, the patient may either turn in his seat or change his position to the opposite side of the machine.
If any portion of the extremity is affected with inflammation or swelling, it is necessary to apply the action described to the whole of the unaffected portion first; after this the affected part may be beneficially operated on, provided that the sensations are strictly heeded, and that it is so managed that only a comfortable feeling is produced.
In Fig. 5, the patient is so seated beside the machine that he can insert one thigh between the pads of the rubber, and also control the lever with the hand. It is sometimes more convenient to suspend a movable weight from the lever. While the machine is running, he can withdraw the leg gradually, as each portion receives its proper amount of action, till the whole, including the foot, becomes glowing with the effect. The boot or shoe affords no impediment to the effect, and should remain on.
Sometimes, especially in the beginning, or when the feet are habitually cold, it is better to apply the action only from the knees down.
The rubbing-pad (d) may be attached to either side of the machine, according to convenience or effect sought. The action derived from the right end of the rock-shaft is much less severe than that from the left, on account of the shape of the rubber appendage, and at the beginning should be used in preference. In Fig. 6, the patient sits on an ordinary stool, or, if feeble, in a chair, and presents any portion of the chest or abdomen to the action of the rubber. The instrument is raised or lowered to suit convenience, while the patient gently presses portions of the trunk successively upon the rubbing-pad. The degree of the effect is thus always under the absolute control of the one receiving the action. This operation, like the preceding, produces great heat, reddens the skin, relieves pain, and greatly stimulates the functions, not only of the skin, but of the organs contained in the cavities of the chest and the abdomen.
The same operation may be applied also to the legs while the patient is standing.
In Fig. 7, the back is presented to the action of the rubbing-pad. The action will, if desired, be made to reach from the neck to the hips, and even to the thighs. All sensitive portions of the back should at first be omitted, in order that they may be benefited by the counter-irritation or drawing away of the blood. This is easily produced by those familiar with the use of the machine. The rubbing of the back should be deferred till the close of each application, in order that the spinal centers may be relieved of hyperaemia, or excess of blood.
The machine, as represented by Fig. 8, is brought to the desired elevation, about as high as the shoulders, and the hand-holder is attached. One arm is extended horizontally, and the hand grasps the hand-holder, while rapid motion is given by turning the wheel. An alternate twisting motion is communicated to the arm, which causes corresponding pressure and relaxation of all the soft tissues of the limb, combined with slight rubbing or attrition. The action is increased by contracting the muscles, and also by grasping at greater distance from the center. Both hands may grasp at the same time, or the two sides may receive the motion in turn. The effect is similar to that of the rubbing before described, but it is less limited; by grasping firmly, it may extend to the whole chest.
The foot-holder is attached, as shown in Fig. 9, and brought by the means before described to a position to receive one foot at a comfortable elevation, the leg being extended, while the patient is seated in an ordinary chair in an easy position. The action is precisely like that above described as applied to the arm, and extends to the thigh and pelvis. If the knee is slightly flexed, the action is almost entirely confined to the lower leg. Each leg may be operated on in turn.
Mode of Applying Mechanical Movements to Very Feeble Invalids.--Experience demonstrates that no degree of feebleness excludes the beneficial use of these operations. Invalids too weak to stand, or able to help themselves in the least degree are often treated with perfect success. A judicious use of the Manipulator always increases nutrition and strength without any fatigue or exhaustion, however feeble the patient may be. It is only necessary to provide for these cases additional conveniences, so that the applications can be made in the recumbent position, and also that proper intervals of rest be allowed between successive operations. For this purpose couches are provided, each containing a certain portion of the Manipulator. These are operated by means of a short connecting-rod, joining the rock-shafts of the two pieces of mechanism, as shown in Fig. 10. The Vibrator has two small discs, or heads acting through an opening in the couch on which the invalid rests. These impinge with a rapid, direct stroke upon the portion of the body exposed to the action. The top of the couch is adjustable, and is quickly placed at the elevation which secures the proper force of the instrument, as shown in Fig 11. By simply turning and moving the body, the patient brings any part in contact with the vibrating discs. The cut represents the Vibrator, in which the force impinges at right angles with the surface of the body, sending waves of motion through its substance.
The rubbing which is shown in Figs. 4 and 5 may be applied to all parts of the body in a recumbent position. A couch is required of similar construction to the vibrating couch, but with a rubbing-pad instead of vibrating heads acting through the opening and operated by appropriate connections, as shown in Fig. 12. The top is adjustable, and the degree of effect desired is capable of easy regulation. The patient turns different portions of the body to the action of the rubber as required.
KNEADING. Kneading is a process applied chiefly to the abdomen. The purpose of this operation is to increase nutrition, the muscular power and action of the abdominal walls, and the function of the organs which they contain. Three modes of applying this operation by the mechanical apparatus are in use, effected by the Direct, the Rotary, and the Revolving Kneader.
THE DIRECT KNEADER. This resembles in form and action the vibrating instrument shown in Fig. 11. The impinging heads, however, are made broader, the motion greater in extent, and the rate of motion less than one-tenth of that employed for the purpose of vibrating. This slowness of motion seems to increase the action of the muscles.
THE ROTARY KNEADER. The action of the kneading heads in this form of apparatus, as shown in Fig. 13, is inward and upward alternately, and it is eminently well calculated to stimulate the action of the abdominal organs.
THE REVOLVING KNEADER. In the form of kneading apparatus, shown in Fig. 14, two thick rollers, which move freely on axes at the extremities of arms, projecting on either side of a shaft turned by a crank or belt, are made to act alternately upon each side of the abdomen.
In the methods of kneading above described, the degree of force acting on the body is governed by an arrangement for elevating or depressing the upholstered top of the couch upon which the patient rests, and through which the action is transmitted to the body.
If this form of apparatus is driven at a rate ten times more rapidly than is desired for kneading, the effect is vibratory, and it is, in fact, used for that purpose.
THE CURE OF SWELLINGS AND TUMORS.
The application of motion through the Manipulator promotes absorption, and thus all kinds of swellings and non-malignant tumors are made to diminish under its use. In these cases the vessels of the affected part are distended with stagnant blood, and a portion of the fluid passes through their walls, distending the surrounding tissues, which become more or less hardened. By the transmission of active motion to the affected parts, the contents of the vessels are urged forward; the outside fluids are thus permitted to return to the general circulation and become subject to the energetic vital action of the general system, local deficiencies of oxidation being increased to the normal degree, causing destruction of morbid matter and giving place for new and wholesome nutritive materials for vital use. In short, normal functional activity is established, both locally and generally. Scrofulous, dropsical, rheumatic, and other local accumulations disappear, and even tumors are dispersed, by the use of the Manipulator, in cases in which the knife would otherwise be required.
COUNTER-IRRITATION AND REVULSION.
Artificial means have always been employed to produce an energetic flow of blood in different parts of the body, thereby relieving morbid distention of the vessels, and consequent irritation and pain in neighboring parts. Cupping, hot applications, mustard, capsicum, blisters, and other irritants, are resorted to, but their effects, while generally very good in acute cases, are too transient to be of material aid in chronic affections. By the use of the Manipulator, we can produce the most thorough revulsive effects, operating upon large surfaces, and causing large masses of muscle to receive an increased amount of blood, thus drawing it away from parts oppressed by too great a supply, constituting engorgement. No injury is done to the parts acted upon; on the contrary, they are strengthened by the application, which can be repeated as often as necessary till relief is permanent. Thus, the head, heart, digestive organs, liver, chest, or whatever part is oppressed by excess of blood, may be speedily and permanently relieved. By means of this ability to relieve any part of the system from engorgement, and consequent inflammation and its results, are we enabled to permanently cure a large variety of chronic inflammatory, ulcerative, and nervous affections.
Local inflammations by this method of treatment may be speedily cured.
CURE OF NEURALGIA.
By the transmission of motion through the Manipulator and other ingeniously devised apparatus and machinery, we increase the functional power and activity of the muscles, and thereby diminish morbid sensibility of the nerves, which is present in neuralgia. Prolonged and excessive nervous action is attended with too great a rush of blood to the nerve-centers, which can only be relieved by increasing the flow in the muscles. Congestion, or hyperaemia, in the spinal cord or brain, or both, is a condition ever present in neuralgia. The application of motion through the manipulator causes the blood to flow to the muscles, thus relieving nervous congestion and consequent neuralgia.
CURE OF PARALYSIS.
In no single disease has the transmission of motion through the Manipulator proved more thoroughly efficacious than in paralysis. The most prominent requirements in these cases seem to be the following:
Excess of blood in the brain and spinal cord needs to be removed and diverted to parts in which it will be useful instead of obstructive.
The contractile power of the capillaries should be improved.
The quality of nutritive fluids should be improved by the promotion of oxidation through increased circulation.
These and many more wants of disordered nerves, are readily supplied by transmitted motion.
The Manipulator combines, in a single ingenious mechanical contrivance, the several movements best adapted for the promotion of healthy functional activity.
CURE OF DEFORMITIES.
"Deformities arising from paralysis and contractions of muscles and tendons, producing stiffened joints and distorted limbs, are of common occurrence. A rational explanation of the wonderful curative results which follow the employment of transmitted motion in these cases may not be without interest to the reader. The muscles are composed of bundles of little fibers which glide upon one another in every movement. Another set of fibers called connective tissue, holds the fibers together in bundles or separate muscles, and interlaces and crosses them in every direction. Now, if these fibers remain long in a fixed position, or are involved in inflammation, there is danger of adhesions forming between them, producing permanent immobility; gliding movements are interfered with, and the muscle ceases to perform its function. Inflammation gives rise to effusion, or the formation of a kind of cement which binds together the muscular fibers and prevents motion.
Rubbing, kneading, and actively manipulating the affected parts with that intensity of administration secured by the manipulator, rends asunder and breaks up these minute adhesions, re-establishing gliding motions, causes absorption of effused materials, and restores the affected part to a normal condition.
The deformed limb is straightened by the filling out of the muscle-cells, and increasing the length and also the nutrition of the affected muscles. No pulling or forced extension is required. Deformity ceases when the conditions upon which it depends are removed by rational appliances, which are always agreeable. No brace, splints, or other confining appliances are necessary, except in rare cases in which the bones are very badly distorted.
In withered and deformed limbs, resulting from infantile paralysis, the manipulator furnishes the most agreeable, direct, and certain remedy. It restores nutrition, sensation, and power, and dispenses almost wholly with mechanical supports. Club-feet, wry neck, spinal curvature, hip-joint disease, white swellings, and stiffened joints, are all readily amendable to the curative effects of motion administered by the manipulator and other machinery.
Contracted and shortened muscles are gradually lengthened by vigorous, long-continued, and frequently repeated rubbing with the manipulator across their longitudinal fibers; bound-down and confined tendons are liberated and normal movements established.
DISEASES OF WOMEN.
Uterine and ovarian congestion, chronic inflammation, discharges, morbid enlargement, prolapsus, anteversion and retroversion, anteflexion and retroflexion, and other derangements of the womb and its appendages, are radically cured by the vibratory, rubbing, kneading, and other movements, administered through the manipulator and other mechanical appliances employed at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute.
To those who are tired of taking medicine, this mode of treatment commends itself as being both agreeable and efficient. There is no case too weak, nervous, or helpless for the use of this curative agent. It is entirely devoid of objectionable features, being always applied outside the clothing.
CAUSE OF FEMALE WEAKNESS. The true relations of cause and effect are very liable to be misunderstood, when considering the various diseases incident to the organs contained in the female pelvis. Treatment intended to be remedial is therefore very often misdirected and fails to afford relief, positive injury frequently resulting instead. When the nature of these diseases is properly understood, their cure can be effected with comparative ease.
These diseases are always attended with weakness, which is often very great, of the muscles that hold the diseased organs in position. The muscles forming the walls of the abdomen, and the diaphragm, or midriff, all of which are concerned in the act of respiration, become feeble and only partially perform their functions. In health, they act constantly, even during sleep, producing a rhythmical movement, which is communicated to the contents of the abdominal and pelvic cavities. This motion promotes a healthy circulation in the parts. In almost all affections of the pelvic organs, this normal condition is greatly diminished.
Diminution of the motions of respiration is attended with an increase of the amount of the blood in the pelvic organs, constituting an engorgement of the parts, called congestion, or inflammation. This gives rise to enlargement of the womb, ulcerations, tumors, and a multitude of kindred secondary effects, usually considered as the primary disease and treated as such. The contents of the cavity of the trunk, weighing several pounds, are allowed to gravitate down and rest upon the contents of the pelvis, forcing the congested uterus and ovaries down out of their natural positions, and often bending or tipping the womb in various directions. A long list of symptoms follows as the natural consequence of these abnormal conditions.
RATIONAL TREATMENT. Ovarian congestion and inflammation, inflammation of the uterus, ulceration of this organ, deranged menstruation, leucorrhea with the attendant pain, nervousness, and other derangements depending upon loss of supporting power in the abdominal muscles, all result from loss of the natural motions of respiration, and consequent deranged circulation. These several conditions can be cured by removing their cause. When the power of the parts involved in the weakness is restored, all these morbid conditions disappear. Judicious cultivation of power in the weakened supports is attended with certain curative results. This is best accomplished by mechanical motion, by which the normal circulation is restored, inflammations and congestions are subdued, displacements corrected, ulcers healed, and functional activity is re-established.
RECAPITULATION.
Motion properly transmitted to the human system by mechanical apparatus is transformed into other forms of force identical with vital energy, by which the ordinary processes of the system are greatly promoted.
It increases animal heat and nervous and muscular power to the normal standard.
It removes engorgement or local impediments to the circulation.
The electrical induction produced renders it a most efficacious remedy for paralysis of all kinds.
It removes interstitial fluids and causes rapid absorption and disappearance of solid and fluid accumulations.
It is a powerful alterative, or blood-purifier, increasing oxidation and stimulating excretion.
It diminishes chronic nervous irritability and promotes sleep.
Deformities are easily cured without the cutting of tendons, or use of mechanical supports.
It hardens the flesh by increasing muscular development and improves digestion and nutrition.
* * * * *
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
INCORPORATED UNDER STATUTE ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF NEW YORK.
Dr. R.V. PIERCE, having acquired a world-wide reputation in the treatment of Chronic Diseases, resulting in a professional business far exceeding his individual ability to conduct, some years ago induced several medical gentlemen of high professional standing to associate themselves with him, as the Faculty of the World's Dispensary and Surgical Institute, the Consulting Department of which has since been merged into the Invalids' Hotel. The organization is duly incorporated under a statute enacted by the Legislature of the State of New York, and under the name and style of the "WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION," of which Dr. PIERCE is President, and in the affairs of which he will, as heretofore, take an active and constant part.
* * * * *
EUROPEAN BRANCH, NO. 3 NEW OXFORD STREET, LONDON, ENG.
* * * * *
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT.
Dr. R.V.PIERCE, having in the Fall of 1880 resigned his seat in Congress, has since been able to devote his whole time and attention to the interests of the Association, and those consulting our Medical and Surgical Faculty have the full benefits of his council and professional services. That he should prefer to give up a high and honorable position in the councils of the nation, to serve the sick, is conclusive evidence of his devotion to their interests and of love for his profession.
* * * * *
INVALIDS' HOTEL
A MODEL SANITARIUM AND SURGICAL INSTITUTE.
NOT A HOSPITAL, BUT A PLEASANT REMEDIAL HOME,
ORGANIZED WITH
A FULL STAFF OF EIGHTEEN PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS
AND EXCLUSIVELY DEVOTED TO THE
TREATMENT OF ALL CHRONIC DISEASES.
This imposing Establishment was designed and erected to accommodate the large number of invalids who visit Buffalo from every State and Territory, as well as from many foreign lands, that they may avail themselves of the professional services of the Staff of Skilled Specialists in Medicine and Surgery that compose the Faculty of this widely-celebrated institution.
DESTROYED BY FIRE.
On the sixteenth of February 1881, the original Invalids' Hotel was totally destroyed by fire. Although occupied at the time by a large number of invalids, yet, through the extraordinary exertions of the Faculty and employees, all were safely removed from the building without injury to any one. The Board of Trustees took prompt steps to rebuild, for the accommodation of the many sufferers who apply, to avail themselves of the skill, facilities and advantages of treatment which such a perfectly equipped establishment affords. Profiting by the experience afforded by several years' occupancy of the original Invalids' Hotel building, which at the date of its erection was the largest and most complete establishment of its kind in the world, we believe we have, in the building of the elegant structure illustrated herein, made great improvements over the original Invalids' Hotel, for the accommodation of our patients. Although our new building has only been occupied about two years, yet almost immediately our business required the erection of a very large addition thereto, to accommodate our growing practice. This large Annex, which is about the size of the original building, has ever since been kept well filled with patients, hailing from every State and Territory of the United States, Canada and occasionally from a foreign country,
THE INVALIDS' HOTEL AND SURGICAL INSTITUTE IS PLEASANTLY SITUATED AT NO. 663 MAIN STREET,
in the city of Buffalo, just above and outside the business and bustle of this Queen City of the Lakes. It is easily reached from the railroad depots by the Exchange and Main Street car lines (see map on last page of this book). It is a substantially built brick building, trimmed with sandstone, well lighted and provided with a patent hydraulic elevator, so that its upper stories are quite as desirable as any, being more quiet than those lower down. It is well provided with fire escapes, and, in fact, nothing has been neglected that can add to the comfort and home-like make-up of this popular national resort for the invalid and afflicted. Great pains and expense have been assumed in providing perfect ventilation for every room and part of the building.
The surroundings of the Hotel are very pleasant, it being located in the finest built part of the city, among the most elegant residences.
STAFF OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS.
Only men who are, by thorough education and experience, especially fitted to fill their respective positions, have been chosen to serve as physicians and surgeons in this institution. After having spent a very large sum of money in erecting and furnishing this national resort for invalids with every requirement and facility for the successful treatment of all classes of chronic diseases, it is the determination of the Board of Directors that the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons shall be superior in culture, experience and skill.
We have not the space to speak, individually, of the eighteen professional gentlemen composing the Faculty, but will say that among them are those whose long connection with the World's Dispensary and Surgical Institute has given them great experience and rendered them experts in their specialties. Several of them had previously distinguished themselves in both private and hospital practice, had held important chairs as lecturers and teachers in Medical Colleges, and had filled responsible positions in military and civil hospitals; also in some of the most noted Asylums, Dispensaries, and Sanitary Institutions in the land.
With such a staff of Physicians and Surgeons, efficient and trained nurses, and with all the most approved sanitary, medical and surgical appliances which study, experience, invention and the most liberal expenditure of money, can produce and bring together in one institution, the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute affords the afflicted unusual opportunities for relief.
THE GRAND ENTRANCE.
The entrance to the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute is covered by a lofty porch of beautiful design, the roof of which is supported upon heavy iron columns. Above the massive double doors, through which the visitor enters, are large, heavy panels of beautifully wrought stained glass, on which the words "Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute" stand out conspicuously.
FIRST FLOOR.
The first floor of the building is reached through a beautifully finished vestibule, by a short flight of broad, easy stairs, and once inside the visitor is struck by the beauty of design as well as by the home-like appearance of the surroundings. The wood-work is mainly of hard woods, oak and cherry predominating. In a large part of the house the floors are of oak, with a cherry border, neatly finished in oil and shellac, and covered with rich rugs and elegant carpets of the very best quality.
On the first floor is the gentlemen's reception-room, which is thronged with patients from early in the morning until late in the afternoon. It is entirely distinct from the large reception-room and parlors for lady patients, and the utmost privacy is secured throughout the whole arrangement of the Institution. On this floor are the suites of offices, parlors, and private consultation-rooms, some fifteen in all; also a well furnished reading-room and circulating library, for the use of the inmates of the Institution. On all sides are beautifully frescoed walls adorned with numerous choice engravings and other pictures. All the rooms throughout the house are furnished in the best of style, and in a manner to afford the utmost comfort and cheerfulness of surroundings for the sick and afflicted who seek this remedial resort. The Turkish and other baths are elegantly fitted up on the first floor, opposite the reading-room.
THE UPPER FLOORS.
Above the first, or main floor, the building is divided into separate rooms and suites of rooms for the accommodation of patients. All are well lighted, have high ceilings, and are cheerful and well ventilated apartments. On the second floor is the large medical library and medical council-room, for the exclusive use of the Faculty, also the museum-room, which contains a large and valuable collection of anatomical and morbid specimens, many of them being obtained from cases treated in this Institution. On this floor are also suites of rooms, occupied by the Bureau of Medical Correspondence, wherein from ten to twelve physicians, each supplied with the improved graphophone, are constantly employed in attending to the vast correspondence received from invalids residing in all parts of the United States and Canada. Every important case receives the careful consideration of a council composed of from three to five of these expert specialists, before being finally passed upon and prescribed for.
ON THE THIRD FLOOR
are the large treatment-rooms, supplied with all the apparatus and appliances for the successful management of every chronic malady incident to humanity. Electrical apparatus of the latest and most approved kinds, some of it driven and operated by steam-power, dry cupping and equalizing-treatment apparatus, "vitalization" apparatus, numerous and most ingenious rubbing and manipulating apparatus and machinery, driven by steam-power, are among the almost innumerable curative agencies that are here brought into use as aids in the cure of human ailments. Our
ELECTRICAL OUTFIT is the finest to be found in any sanitarium in the United States and, we believe, in the world. There are two forty-cell galvanic batteries with switch boards for controlling the voltage, or force, from the whole power to one-fortieth of this amount, at the will of the physician. Safe-guards in the shape of milli-ampere meters continually indicate to the operator the force of the current. There is a dynamo for charging the storage batteries, which may be used in a patient's room when this method is found more convenient or more comfortable for the invalid. There are two static or Franklin machines. These are used when the milder current is desired, and for spraying, sparking, etc. One of the instruments is of high voltage and furnishes us with the X rays for examining the interior parts of the body. The largest treatment room also contains a powerful ozone generator, operated by a dynamo. This supplies the room with allotropic oxygen and is invaluable in treating diseases of the lungs and air passages. This supplies the patient with vitalized air, equal to the most salubrious atmosphere in any part of the globe.
Beyond this and separated by a court, across which is an iron bridge, are the large dispensing-rooms, stocked with drugs and medical compounds of almost endless variety, and representing every branch of the materia medica. Here all medicines prescribed are most carefully and specially prepared for each individual case. Those to be sent away by mail or express, to patients being treated at a distance, are placed in trays, with full directions for use, and sent to another large room, where they are carefully packed, and shipped thence to their destination.
FOURTH FLOOR.
On the fourth floor are located the surgical operating-rooms and surgical ward. There are also a large number of nice, large, well furnished separate rooms on this floor, used principally for the accommodation of surgical cases. Strong, broad, iron staircases connect all the upper floors with the ground, so that in case of fire, patients need have no fear of being unable to get out safely. In fact, the building has been constructed so as to render the rapid spread of fire through it impossible, all the floors being laid on cement.
A STEAM PASSENGER ELEVATOR
is provided, so that the upper floors are quite as desirable as those lower down. The dining-rooms for gentlemen, as well as those for ladies, are located in the basement, which is reached either by stairways or by the elevator. The kitchen, store-rooms, chill-rooms, pantries, and all culinary arrangements are also in the basement.
FIRE-PROOF VAULTS.
Six large fire-proof vaults are provided in this building in which to preserve, secure from observation, as well as from fire, all records of cases examined and treated by the Faculty.
Throughout all this vast building the visitor is struck with the wonderful order and system with which every detail is carried out.
THE BATH DEPARTMENT.
The Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, as hereinbefore indicated, is provided with Turkish, and other approved baths, with a treatment-room, fitted up with vacuum and movement-treatment apparatus of the most modern and approved style. These and much more ingeniously devised apparatus and appliances are brought into use in a great variety of chronic affections with marvelously successful results. A perfect system of physical training, especially adapted to the wants of the invalid and weak, and most skillfully conducted and applied, is not the least important among the many advantages that the chronic sufferers here find.
THE SURGICAL DEPARTMENT.
In the Surgical Department, every instrument and appliance approved by the modern operator is provided, and many and ingenious are the instruments and devices that the Faculty of this institution have invented and perfected to meet the wants of their numerous cases.
OUR REMEDIES.
In the prescribing of remedies for disease, the Staff resort to the whole broad field of materia medica, allowing themselves to be hampered by no school, ism,pathy, or sect. The medicines employed are all prepared by skilled chemists and pharmacists, and the greatest care is exercised to have them manufactured from the freshest and purest ingredients. Our Faculty probably employ a greater number and variety of extracts from native roots, barks and herbs in their practice than are used in any other invalids' resort in the land. All of the vegetable extracts employed in our practice are prepared in our own Laboratory.
REGULATION OF DIET.
The table is supplied with an abundance of wholesome and nutritious food, especially adapted and prepared to suit the invalid, it being varied to suit each particular case. The Faculty recognize the importance of proper food as one of the greatest factors in the treatment of chronic diseases. While properly regulating and restricting the food of the invalid when necessary, they also recognize the fact that many are benefited by a liberal diet of the most substantial food, as steaks, eggs, oysters, milk, and other very nutritious articles of diet, which are always provided in abundance for those for whom they are suited.
From previous experience somewhere, some people get the impression that they are to be half starved at such an institution as this. If this is the case anywhere it is not so here, as any one who has ever resided at our sanitarium will attest.
TRAINED ATTENDANTS.
A sufficient number of trained and experienced nurses are employed, that those requiring attendance may have the very best of care.
GOOD ORDER.
The institution is conducted in an orderly manner, that the utmost quiet may be secured. The Faculty insist, upon the part of the invalid, while under treatment, on the observance of habits of regularity in eating, sleeping, bathing and exercise. Only by such observance of hygienic laws can they succeed in their course of remedial training, and make the treatment curative.
AMUSEMENTS.
While insisting upon strict observance of rules established for the good of the patient, they do not make their requirements so rigid as to interfere with the comfort and enjoyment of their patients, but, on the contrary, endeavor, in every manner possible, to provide innocent and entertaining amusements for all, recognizing the great importance of pleasant occupation of the mind, as an essential part of the treatment. Hence the introduction of music, amusing games, light reading, and kindred agencies for pleasant entertainment, is not neglected.
UNPARALLELED SUCCESS.
The founder of this institution commenced, many years ago, with little capital, to build up a business in the treatment of chronic diseases and devoted himself diligently to that end. His reputation for skill in his chosen field of practice gradually extended until, to-day, his fame and that of the World's Dispensary and Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, are simply world-wide. As the business increased those eminent for skill have been induced to join the Faculty, until eighteen professional gentlemen, each devoting his attention to a special branch of practice, constitute the Medical and Surgical Staff.
One reason why we excel in the treatment of chronic diseases is the fact that we are supplied with all the modern improvements in the way of instruments, appliances and remedial agents used in the healing art, the expense of which deters the local physician in general practice from procuring, for the treatment of the limited number of cases that come within the circuit of his practice. The treatment of such cases requires special attention and special study to be successful.
A COMMON SENSE VIEW.
It is a well-known fact, that appeals to the judgment of every thinking person, that a physician who devotes his whole time to the study and investigation of a certain class of diseases, must become better qualified to treat them than he who attempts to treat every ill to which flesh is heir, without giving special attention to any particular class of diseases. Men, in all ages of the world, who have made their marks, or who have become famous, have devoted their lives to some special branch of science, art or literature.
LIBERALITY.
We wage no war against any physician, no matter what school of medicine he may represent; but, on the other hand, we invite the co-operation of all regular physicians. We are always ready and willing to impart to them any information or render any assistance that will be of mutual benefit to them and their patients.
OUR PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS
do not travel to solicit practice, having all the business that they can attend to at our institution, nor do we employ any agents to travel and peddle or otherwise sell our medicines. If any one engaged in such business, represents himself as in any way connected with our institutions, he is a swindler and should be apprehended and prosecuted as such. And any one who will give us such information as will lead to the arrest and conviction of any person so misrepresenting will be liberally rewarded.
While not permitting any member of our professional staff to travel and solicit practice, yet we are always willing to accommodate and send a specialist to visit important or critical cases in consultation, or otherwise, or to perform important surgical operations as explained on page 971 of this book.
Let none deceive you by representing that they have heretofore been connected with our institution and have thereby learned our original and improved methods of treatment. We have a large and competent Staff of Specialists and while we have sometimes found it necessary to make changes, yet we always manage to retain the most expert and skillful, as we cannot afford to part with the services of those who excel.
By adopting similar names to those which have long designated our world-famed institutions, some have endeavored to deceive and mislead invalids who were seeking relief. Others have named so-called "Electric" Trusses, "Liver Pads," and other contrivances after our President, thereby expecting to reap benefits from Dr. Pierce's well-known professional standing. Neither the Doctor nor this Association have any interest in any such articles.
NO BRANCHES.--Remember we have no branches except the one at No. 3 New Oxford Street, London, England.
Those desiring to consult us by letter, should address all communications plainly to
<b>World's Dispensary Medical Association, No. 663 MAIN STREET, BUFFALO, N.Y.</b>
* * * * *
WORLD'S DISPENSARY.
The immense building erected and occupied by the World's Dispensary Medical Association as a Laboratory, wherein are manufactured our Dr. Pierce's Standard Family Medicines, as well as all the various Tinctures, Fluid Extracts and other pharmaceutical preparations used by the Staff of Physicians and Surgeons of the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute in their practice, is not inappropriately called the World's Dispensary, for within its walls is prepared a series of remedies of such exceeding merit that they have acquired world-wide fame, and are sold in vast quantities in nearly every civilized country.
The structure, located at 660 to 670 Washington Street, immediately in the rear of the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, is of brick, with sandstone trimmings, six stories high, and 100 feet square. Its most striking architectural features exteriorly are massiveness, combined with grace and beauty of outline, and great strength.
THE BASEMENT.
The basement or first story opens on a level with the Washington Street sidewalk, and is occupied by a plant of two large boilers, which supply the steam to run a huge American engine, of 100 horse-power, built by the American Engine Co., Bound Brook, N.J. It drives all the machinery of the establishment, including drug mills, pill machines, packing machinery, a large number of printing presses, folding machines, stitching, trimming, and many other machines, located on the different floors, and used in the manufacture of medicines, books, pamphlets, circulars, posters, and other printed matter. On this floor is located steam bottle-washing machinery, and also the shipping department. Here may be seen huge piles of medicine, boxed, marked, and ready for shipment to all parts of the civilized world. A large steam freight elevator leads from this to the floors above.
MACHINERY.
In addition to the power engine just mentioned is a 25 horse-power upright engine for running the dynamo for electric lighting, with a capacity of three hundred (300) lights. This engine and dynamo were also manufactured for us by the American Engine Company of Bound Brook, N.J. There is a small dynamo with a capacity of one hundred (100) lights used during the day to light safes, vaults, dark closets and hallways. All the offices and rooms of patients are supplied with electric light, as well as illuminating gas. An automatic Worthington pump is also located in the basement. This supplies the elevator and sprinkling system. The sprinklers come into play only in case of fire, when they are self-acting. This pump at its best is capable of forcing nearly two hundred gallons of water a minute. There is no place in which pure water is more desirable than in the manufacture of medicines. Our New York filter could, if such a large quantity were ever required, furnish the Dispensary with one hundred (100) barrels of pure water a day. Just beyond the south wall and buried several feet under ground is a boiler-shaped tank capable of storing ten thousand (10,000) gallons of medicine.
MAIN FLOOR.
The main or second floor of the Dispensary is entered from Main Street, through a hall leading from the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute. On this floor are located business offices, counting-room, the advertising department and mailing rooms. Large, fire-proof vaults are provided for the safe keeping of books, papers, and valuables, whilst the counting-room and offices are elegantly finished in hard woods, and present a beautiful and grand appearance.
THIRD FLOOR.
On this floor are the Association's extensive printing and binding works. Fourteen large presses, driven by power, with numerous folding machines, trimming, cutting, and stitching machinery, are constantly running in this department. Here is printed and bound Dr. Pierce's popular work of over a thousand pages, denominated "The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser," over 1,200,000 copies of which have been sold. Millions of pocket memorandum books, pamphlets, circulars and cards are also issued from this department and scattered broadcast to every quarter of the globe.
FOURTH FLOOR.
Large mills for crushing, grinding and pulverizing roots, barks, herbs, and other drugs occupy a considerable part of this floor. Extensive drying-rooms, in which articles to be ground in the drug mills are properly dried, are also located upon this floor, as are also thousands of reams of paper ready for printing the different books, pamphlets, labels, etc. In large rooms set aside for that purpose, are stored vast quantities of labels and wrappers, for use in putting up medicines.
FIFTH FLOOR.
On this floor is located ingeniously devised filling and bottling machinery, also rooms for labeling, wrapping, and packing medicines; others are occupied for the storage of crude drugs, glass, corks, and supplies for use in the general business.
SIXTH FLOOR.
This entire floor is occupied with mixing, percolating, distilling, filtering, and other processes employed in the manufacturing of medicines. Every process is conducted under the watchful care of an experienced chemist and pharmacist, and in the most perfect and orderly manner; the apparatus employed being of the most approved character. Here are manufactured all the various medicinal preparations and compounds prescribed by the Faculty, in the treatment of special cases.
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS.
In all departments of this vast business establishment, the visitor is struck with the perfect system which everywhere prevails, and the wonderful accuracy with which every process and transaction is carried on and consummated; hence the uniformity of purity and strength for which the medicines here manufactured have so long been celebrated. To this, also, is due much of the marvelous success attained in the department established for the special treatment of chronic and obstinate cases of disease. In this department the Faculty are not at all limited or hampered in prescribing, and do not confine themselves in the least to the proprietary or standard medicines manufactured for general sale through druggists, but employ a series of curative agents unsurpassed in variety and range of application. They aim to carefully adapt their prescriptions to each individual case.
* * * * *
THE
INVALIDS' HOTEL AND SURGICAL INSTITUTE
SOME OF THE CAUSES THAT LED TO ITS ERECTION, AND THE ADVANTAGES WHICH IT AFFORDS.
The destinies of institutions, like those of men, are often determined by pre-existing causes. The destinies of some men are like those of way-side plants, springing up without other apparent cause than the caprice of nature, developing without any apparent aim, yielding no perfected fruit, and finally, dying, leaving scarcely a trace of their existence. Thus it is with institutions which have their origin only in man's caprice. To be enduring, they must be founded upon the needs and necessities of humanity. Many of the great men of the world owe their greatness more to surrounding circumstances than to the genius within them. The highest genius can be dwarfed or deformed by the force of adverse circumstances; hence the poetic truth of Gray in those exquisite lines:
"Some mute inglorious Milton here may lie, Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood."
Opportunity is the guiding star of genius. Without it, genius would drift hither and thither upon the restless, ever-changing waves of circumstance, never casting anchor in a secure haven. Upon opportunity, too, depends the success of institutions. By opportunity we mean a real and acknowledged public want. Whoever undertakes to supply this want finds himself upon the crest-wave of prosperity. It was to supply such a want that this institution was erected.
A REMEDIAL HOME.
Of the seventy millions of people living in the United States to-day, it is estimated that nearly twelve millions are sufferers from chronic disease. Think for a moment! Twelve millions of people slowly but surely dying by the insidious and fatal development of chronic diseases! This is an appalling fact. And yet this is the very class of diseases with which the general practitioner is least familiar.
As a general practitioner of the healing art, fresh from curriculum, the founder of this institution early realized that the grand unpardonable sin of the medical profession was the neglect to more thoroughly study and investigate this class of diseases.
The profession is diligently cauterizing and poulticing the sores which now and then appear on the surface, but the internal chronic disease, of which these are merely the external signs, is too often overlooked or neglected.
Some years ago we devised and put into practical operation a method of
TREATING PATIENTS AT THEIR HOMES,
without requiring them to undergo personal examinations. We reasoned that the physician has abundant opportunity to accurately determine the nature of most chronic diseases without ever seeing the patient. In substantiating that proposition, we cited the perfect accuracy with which scientists are enabled to deduce the most minute particulars in their several departments, which appears almost miraculous, if we view the subject in the light of the early ages. Take, for example, the electro-magnetic telegraph, the greatest invention of the age. Is it not a marvelous degree of accuracy which enables an operator to exactly locate a fracture in a sub-marine cable nearly three thousand miles long? Our venerable "clerk of the weather" has become so thoroughly familiar with the most wayward elements of nature that he can accurately predict their movements. He can sit in Washington and foretell what the weather will be in Florida or New York, as well as if hundreds of miles did not intervene between him and the places named. And so in all departments of modern science, what is required is the knowledge of certain signs. From these, scientists deduce accurate conclusions regardless of distance. A few fossils sent to the expert geologist enables him to accurately determine the rock-formation from which they were taken. He can describe it to you as perfectly as if a cleft of it were lying on his table. So also the chemist can determine the constitution of the sun as accurately as if that luminary were not ninety-five million miles from his laboratory. The sun sends certain signs over the "infinitude of space," which the chemist classifies by passing them through the spectroscope. Only the presence of certain substances could produce these solar signs.
So, also, in medical science,
DISEASE HAS CERTAIN UNMISTAKABLE SIGNS,
or symptoms, and, by reason of this fact, we have been enabled to originate and perfect a system of determining with the greatest accuracy the nature of chronic diseases without seeing and personally examining our patients. In recognizing diseases without a personal examination of the patient, we claim to possess no miraculous powers. We obtain our knowledge of the patient's disease by the practical application of well-established principles of modern science to the practice of medicine. And it is to the accuracy with which this system has endowed us that we owe our almost world-wide reputation for the skillful treatment of all lingering, or chronic, affections. This system of practice, with the marvelous success which has been attained through it, demonstrates the fact that diseases display certain phenomena, which, being subjected to scientific analysis, furnish abundant and unmistakable data to guide the judgment of the skillful practitioner aright in determining the nature of diseased conditions.
So successful has been this method of treating patients at a distance that there is scarcely a city or a village in the United States that is not represented by one or more cases upon the "Records of Practice" at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute. In all chronic diseases that are curable by medical treatment, it is only in very rare cases that we cannot do as well for the patient while he or she remains at home, as if here in person to be examined. But we annually treat hundreds of cases requiring surgical operations and careful after-treatment, and in these cases our Invalids' Hotel, or home, is indispensable. Here the patient has the services not only of the most skillful surgeons, but also, what is quite as necessary in the after treatment, of thoroughly trained and skilled nurses.
What should be the essential characteristics of an Invalids' Home?
CLIMATE.
Obviously, the most important of these characteristics is climate. Climatology, from being a mere speculative theory, has arisen to the deserved rank of a science. The influence of the climate of a country on the national character has long been observed and acknowledged. The languid but passionate temperaments of the South are like its volcanoes, now quiet and silent, anon bursting forth with terrible activity, flooding entire cities with molten fire; or, like its skies, now sunny, cloudless, an hour hence convulsed with lightnings and deluging the earth with passionate rain; or like its winds, to-day soft, balmy, with healing on their wings, to-night the wind fiend, the destroying simoom, rushing through the land, withering and scorching every flower and blade of herbage on its way. On the other hand, the calm, phlegmatic temperament of the North accords well with her silent mountains, her serener skies, and her less vehement, but chilling winds. The South, too, is the native home of the most violent acute diseases, such as yellow fever and cholera. But, aside from this general climatic influence, there is the yet more restricted one of locality. It has often been observed that certain classes of diseases are most prevalent in certain localities, the prevalence in every instance being due to peculiarities of climate.
EXTREME HEALTHFULNESS OF BUFFALO.
In the published records of the examination for military service in the army, during our late civil war, this fact was clearly and definitely stated, and maps were prepared and presented showing the comparative prevalence of certain diseases in the several States and districts represented. The maps are prepared by a graduation of color, the lighter shades indicating the localities where the special disease under consideration is least prevalent; and it is a very significant and important fact that in all chronic diseases not due to occupation or accident, Buffalo and its immediate vicinity is marked by the lighter shades. Thus, in epilepsy, paralysis, scrofula, rheumatism, and consumption, our city is little more than tinted with the several colors used to denote these diseases.
There is a popular, but unfounded, belief that Buffalo is a hot-bed for pulmonary diseases. This idea could have originated only in an ignorant disregard of facts; for medical statistics prove that in her freedom from this class of diseases she is unrivaled by any city in America, not excepting those on the seaboard.
EVIDENCE OF HEALTH STATISTICS.
Compare, if you please, the statistics of Buffalo with those of the great Eastern cities in this respect. In Boston and New York the death-rate from consumption shows a ratio of about 1 to 5 of the whole number of deaths. In Baltimore and Philadelphia the ratio is 1 to 6, while in Buffalo the death rate from consumption is only 1 to 10--very remarkable difference in favor of our city. Only last summer a gentleman residing in the eastern part of our State collected and compared the health statistics for 1876 of all the prominent cities in the United States. The result showed that
BUFFALO OUTRANKS ALL IN HEALTHFULNESS.
A great deal of precious breath has been expended in blustering about "Buffalo zephyrs," as our delightful lake breezes are sometimes ironically termed. It seems to be a popular belief among our sister cities that old Boreas has chosen Buffalo for his headquarters. When we hear a person dilating upon "Buffalo's terrific winds," we are reminded of one of our lady acquaintances who recently returned from a European tour. She was asked how she enjoyed her sea voyage, and she replied, "Oh, it was delightful, really charming! There is something so grand about the sea!" We were not a little surprised at this enthusiastic outburst, as we had been told by a member of her party that the lady had industriously vomited her way to Hamburg and back again. But the lady's enthusiasm was easily explained. It is fashionable to characterize sea voyages as delightful, charming, etc. Now, we suspect this popular notion about our "trying winds" is traceable to the same source. It has become customary to call Buffalo a "windy place," and so, when the traveler feels a slight lake breeze, he imagines it to be a terrific gale. Whatever may have originated this notion, certain it is that it is utterly, undeniably false; and, in making this denial, we are not alone dependent upon observation, but upon the
FACTS OF SCIENCE.
The issue of July 18, 1874, of the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, contained a series of tables, furnished by the Signal Service Bureau, showing the velocity of the wind at eleven prominent cities for the year 1873. An examination of the table shows that the total velocity for the year was the lowest in Buffalo of any of the lake ports; while Philadelphia and New York showed far higher aggregates of velocity than our city. On this subject, in the issue of August 21st of the same year, the editor pleasantly remarks: "Only the interior and southern seaboard cities, and not many of them, show a lower total velocity of wind than is marked against this city; and as for those places, heaven help their unfortunate inhabitants in the sultry nights of the summer season, when they are gasping in vain for a breath of that pure, cool lake air, which brings refreshing slumbers to the people of blessed, breezy Buffalo."
EQUABILITY OF CLIMATE.
Then, in regard to equability of climate, the great desideratum for invalids in any locality, here again sentiment and science are greatly at variance. An examination of the official records of the Signal Service Bureau, and the statistics of the Smithsonian Institute, showed that out of a list of forty cities on the continent Buffalo ranked highest for equability of climate. Thus we quote from an editorial in the Advertiser of the same issue: "While the aggregate of change for Buffalo stood at 67 for the year, that of Philadelphia reached 204, Washington was 224, Cincinnati 205, St. Louis 171. Winchester, in one of the healthiest parts of Virginia, reached as high as 201. Aiken, in South Carolina, a famous resort for invalids, touched 220. St. Augustine, one of the lowest in the list, showed a much less equable climate than that of Buffalo, being 94 to our 67." The transition from summer to winter, and vice versa, is exceedingly gradual, and, consequently, Buffalonians are seldom afflicted with those epidemic diseases which generally appear in other localities during the spring and summer months. Thus the thermometric readings of the Signal Service Bureau for 1873, show that the average temperature for July and August was 74°. For September it was about 64°, which was again reduced by about 10° for October. The monthly average for November was 73°, and for December 25°, which was also the average for January. Then the readings for February showed an average of 26°, for March 32°, and 43° for April. A more equable and gradual transition from midsummer heat to midwinter cold cannot be shown by any locality on this continent. Seldom does the mercury rise above ninety during our warmest summers, or fall below zero in our most severe winters. In J. Disturnal's work, entitled "The Influence of Climate in North and South America," published by Van Nostrand, in 1867, the climate of Buffalo is thus characterized: "From certain natural causes, no doubt produced by the waters of Lake Erie, the winters are less severe, the summers less hot, the temperature night and day more equable, and the transition from heat to cold less rapid, in Buffalo than in any other locality within the temperate zone of the United States, as will be seen by the following table." The table referred to shows that, "during the summer months, the temperature of Buffalo is from 10° to 20° cooler than that of any other point east, south, or west of the ports on Lake Erie; while the refreshing and invigorating lake breeze is felt night and day." The author further adds that "during the winter months the thermometer rarely indicates zero, and the mean temperature for January, 1858, was 20° above."
A careful investigation into the comparative climatology of the several great social and commercial centers, proved Buffalo to be superior to all others in the climatic requirements for the invalid. Besides, it has the important advantage of being a central point of traffic and travel between the West and the East.
ADVANTAGES OF LOCATION.
The second important consideration in projecting this home for invalids was location. It has generally been customary to locate institutions of this character in rural districts, removed from the advantages of city life, on the plea of escaping the confusion and excitement so detrimental to recovery. The result is well known. Invalids have regarded them more as pleasure resorts than health resorts, spending the summer months there, but fleeing to their homes at the fall of the first snow-flake. The good that was done in the summer is undone by carelessness and exposure in the winter. A location that would combine both city advantages and rural pleasures, seemed to us, upon reflection, to be the desirable one. Fortunately, Buffalo afforded the happy mean. Our extensive parks, our unsurpassed facilities for yachting, fishing, and all aquatic sports, our many sylvan lake and river retreats, our world-famed Niagara,--certainly a more desirable selection of rural scenes and pleasures cannot be found in another locality in America.
A GENUINE HOME.
In erecting the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, our paramount design was to make it a genuine home--not a hospital--a home where the child of fortune would miss none of the comforts of her palatial home, while the poor man would find not only health but his pleasures multiplied a thousand fold.
OUR TERMS MODERATE.
The wholesale merchant's prices are far less than those of the retail dealer. He can afford it, his sales are so much larger. It is on precisely the same principle that we are able to make the rates at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute comparatively low. If we had only a limited number of patients, we should be obliged to make the charges commensurate with our expenses; but our practice having become very extensive, and the income being correspondingly large, we are enabled to make the rates at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute so moderate that all who desire can avail themselves of its medical, surgical, and hygienic advantages.
FACILITIES FOR TREATMENT.
Of the many advantages afforded by the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, in treating disease, we can make only brief mention of a few of the more prominent.
DIVISION OF LABOR.
In the examination and treatment of patients, our practice is divided into specialties. Each member of the Faculty, although educated to practice in all departments of medicine and surgery, is here assigned to a special department only, to which he devotes his entire time, study and attention.
ADVANTAGES OF SPECIALTIES.
The division-of-labor system proves as effectual in the exercise of the professions as in manufactures. In the legal profession this has long been a recognized fact. One lawyer devotes his attention specially to criminal law, and distinguishes himself in that department. Another develops a special faculty for unraveling knotty questions in matters of real estate, and, if a title is to be proved, or a deed annulled, he is the preferred counselor. In a certain manner, too, this has long been practiced by the medical profession. Thus some physicians (and we may add physicians who call themselves "regular," and are specially caustic in their denunciation of "advertising doctors") are accustomed to distribute cards among their patrons, certifying that they give special attention to diseases of women and children. In this institution each physician and surgeon is assigned a special department of medicine or surgery. By constant study and attention to his department, each has become a skillful specialist, readily detecting every phase and complication of the diseases referred to him. Not only is superior skill thus attained, but also rapidity and accuracy in diagnosis.
Thoroughness and efficiency in any branch of learning can be secured only by devoting to it special study and attention. When the faculty of a university is to be chosen, how are its members selected? For instance, how is the chair of astronomy filled? Do they choose the man who is celebrated for his general scholastic attainments, or do they not rather confer it upon one who is known to have devoted special attention and study to the science of astronomy, and is, therefore, especially qualified to explain its theories and principles? Thus all the several chairs are filled by gentlemen whose general scholarship not only is known to be of the highest standard, but who devote special attention to the departments assigned them, thus becoming proficient specialists therein. The same system of specialties is observed in the departments of a medical college. The professor who would assume to lecture in all the departments with equal ease and proficiency would be severely ridiculed by his colleagues; and yet it is just as absurd to suppose that the general practitioner can keep himself informed of the many new methods of treatment that are being constantly devised and adopted in the several departments of medicine and surgery.
PROGRESS IN MEDICINE.
In no other science is more rapid and real progress being made at the present time than in that of medicine. Even the specialist must be studious and earnest in his work to keep himself well and accurately informed of the progress made in his department. Thus it so often happens that the general practitioner pursues old methods of treatment which science has long since replaced with others, acknowledged to be superior. The specialist, on the contrary, by confining his studies and researches to one class of diseases only, is enabled to inform himself thoroughly and accurately on all the improvements made in the methods and means of practice in his special department.
The difference between the practice of specialists and that of general practitioners is aptly illustrated by the difference between the old-fashioned district school, in which the school-master taught all the branches, from a-b-abs to the solution of unknown quantities and the charmed mysteries of philosophy, and the modern seminary, with its efficient corps of teachers, each devoting his or her whole attention to the study and teaching of one special department of learning.
We attribute the success which has attended the practice at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, in a great measure, to a wise adoption of this system of specialties.
ADVANTAGES OFFERED TO INVALIDS.
Obviously, the most important of these advantages is facility of treatment. Of the thousands whom we have cured of chronic diseases, we have probably not seen one in five hundred, having accomplished the desired result through remedies sent either by mail or express, and advice given by letter. Yet in some obstinate forms of disease, we can here bring to bear remedial means not to be found or applied elsewhere.
That thousands of cases of chronic disease, pronounced incurable, have, by our rational and scientific treatment, been restored to perfect health, is conclusively proved by the records of practice at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute. Here, in obstinate cases, are brought to bear all the most scientific remedial appliances and methods of treatment.
A system of mechanical movements, passive exercises, manipulations, kneadings and rubbings, administered by a large variety of ingeniously-contrived machinery, driven by stream-power, has been found especially efficacious and valuable, as an aid to medical and surgical treatment, in the cure of obstinate cases of nervous and sick headache, constipation, paralysis, or palsy, stiffened joints, crooked and withered limbs, spinal curvature, tumors, diseases of women, especially displacements of the uterus, or womb, such as prolapsus, retroversion and anteversion, chronic inflammation, enlargement and ulceration of the uterus, and kindred affections; also in nervous debility, sleeplessness, and other chronic diseases. Mechanical power, or force, is by these machines transmitted to the system, in which it is transformed into vital energy and physical power or strength. This mechanical, passive exercise, or movement-cure treatment, differs widely from, and should not be confounded with, "Swedish movements," to which it is far superior in efficacy. Coupled with our improved and wonderful system of "Vitalization" treatment, it affords the most perfect system of physical training and development ever devised. For the restoration of power to wasted, undeveloped, or weakened organs or parts, for their enlargement, this combined movement and "Vitalization" treatment is unequaled. It can be applied to strengthen or enlarge any organ or part. We also employ both Dynamic and Static electricity, "Franklinism" and Electrolysis, and chemical, Turkish and other baths, in all cases in which they are indicated. Inhalations, administered by means of the most approved apparatus, are employed with advantage in many obstinate lung, bronchial, and throat affections. We have no hobby or one-idea system of treatment, no good remedial means being overlooked or neglected.
A FAIR AND BUSINESS-LIKE OFFER TO THE AFFLICTED.
Reader, are you accustomed to think and act for yourself? Do you consult your own reason and best interests? If so, then do not heed the counsel of skeptical and prejudiced friends, or jealous physicians, but listen to what we have to say.
You perhaps know nothing of us, or our systems of treatment, or of the business methods we employ. You may imagine, but you know nothing, perhaps, of our facilities and advantages for performing cures in cases beyond the reach or aid of the general practitioner. Knowing nothing, then, of all these advantages, you still know as much as the would-be friend or physician who never loses an opportunity to traduce and misrepresent us, and prejudice the afflicted against us.
Now to the point--are you listening? Then permit us to state that we have the largest, the best, and the finest buildings of any like Association, company, or firm in this country. We employ more and better Medical and Surgical Specialists in our Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute than any similar Association, company, or individual, and actually have more capital invested. We have a thoroughly qualified and eminent Specialist for every disease that we treat. We treat more cases, and absolutely cure more patients than any similar institution in America. In addition to those we treat medically, we perform all the most difficult surgical operations known to the most eminent Surgeons, and so frequently do many of these operations occur with us that some of our Specialists have become the most expert and skillful Surgeons on this continent.
We wish to add further that we are responsible to you for what we represent; we therefore ask you to come and visit our institutions; and, if you find on investigation that we have misstated or misrepresented in any particular our institutions, our advantages, or our success in curing Chronic Diseases, we will gladly and promptly refund to you all the expenses of your trip. We court honest, sincere investigation, and are glad and anxious to show interested people what we can do and are daily doing for suffering humanity. Can a proposition be plainer? Can an offer be more fair and business-like? If, therefore, you are afflicted, and are seeking relief, come where genuine ability is a ruling feature, where success is our watchword and the alleviation of human suffering our mission.
Whether arriving in our city by day or night, come directly to the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, 663 Main Street, where you will be hospitably received and well cared for.
Address all correspondence to
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, 663 Main Street, BUFFALO, N.Y.
* * * * *
SUCCESSFUL TREATMENT OF CHRONIC OR LINGERING DISEASES.
For many years the founder of the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute and World's Dispensary has devoted himself very closely to the investigation and treatment of chronic diseases. Some few specifics have, during this time, been developed for certain forms of chronic ailments, and given to the public, but they have not been lauded as "cure-alls," or panaceas, but only recommended as remedies for certain well-defined and easily recognized forms of disease. These medicines are sold through druggists very largely, and have earned great celebrity for their many cures. So far from claiming that these proprietary medicines will cure all diseases, their manufacturers advise the afflicted that, in many complicated and delicate chronic affections, they are not sufficient to meet the wants of the case. These must have special consideration and treatment by a competent physician and surgeon, the medicines and other remedial means required being selected and prepared with reference to each particular case.
In order to be able to offer those afflicted with chronic ailments the most skillful medical and surgical services, Dr. Pierce, many years ago, associated with himself several eminent physicians and surgeons, as the Faculty of the old and renowned World's Dispensary, the consulting Department of which is now merged with the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute.
DIVISION OF LABOR.
In the organization of the medical and surgical staff of the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, several years ago, we assigned to one physician the examination and treatment of diseases of the nervous system; to another, surgical operations and the treatment of surgical diseases; a third had charge of catarrhal and pulmonary diseases and affections of the heart; a fourth attended to diseases peculiar to women; a fifth, to diseases of the eye and ear; a sixth, to diseases of the digestive organs; a seventh, to special surgical cases; to another we entrusted diseases of the urogenital organs; and to others, various other specialties. Now that our practice has become so very extensive as to require for its conduct a greatly increased number of physicians and surgeons. Thus four physicians and surgeons devote their undivided attention to the examination and treatment of diseases of the urinary and generative organs of men. Three physicians give their sole attention to diseases peculiar to women and three to those of the nasal organs, throat and chest, embracing all chronic diseases of the respiratory organs. Thus we have a full council of three and four physicians in these several specialties. In several other divisions we have two specialists. No case is slighted either in the examination or in the treatment. All doubtful, obscure or difficult cases are submitted to a council composed of several physicians and surgeons. Skilled pharmaceutists are employed to compound the medicines prescribed. For the purpose of enabling us to conduct our extensive correspondence (for we have an extensive practice en every part of the United States and Canada, as well as in Great Britain from our London branch), graphophones are employed, to which replies are dictated, recording the words of the speaker. Afterwards the letters are written out in full, generally on a type-writing machine, which prints them in a plain, legible style. These machines are operated as rapidly as a person can think of the letters which compose a word, each operator thus accomplishing the work of several copyists. This system, by which we are enabled to correspond with our patients as rapidly as we can talk, has been rendered necessary by the growth of our business, which has attained immense proportions, giving rise to so large a correspondence that a dozen physicians cannot possibly conduct it all and give each patient's case careful attention, without the employment of graphophones and all other facilities which modern invention has given us. By the adoption of these various means, we are enabled to fully meet the demands of the afflicted, and give every case the most careful attention.
As many persons, particularly young ladies and gentlemen, having catarrh or almost any other chronic disease, especially if of the urogenital organs, are very sensitive and fearful that somebody will know that they are afflicted and employing medical treatment, precautions are taken that none who consult us may incur the least risk of exposure. Although none but the most honorable and trustworthy gentlemen are employed as assistants, yet as a guarantee of perfect security to our patients, that every communication, whether made in person or by letter, will be treated as sacredly confidential, each professional associate, clerk, or assistant, is required to take a solemn oath of secrecy. Great care is also taken to send all letters and medicines carefully sealed in plain envelopes and packages, so that no one can even suspect the contents or by whom they are sent.
ADVANTAGES OF SPECIALTIES.
By thorough organization and a perfect system of subdividing the practice of medicine and surgery in this institution, every invalid consulting us is treated by a specialist--one who devotes his undivided attention to the particular class of diseases to which his or her case belongs. The advantage of this arrangement must be obvious. Medical science offers a vast field for investigation, and no physician can, within the limit of a single life-time, achieve the highest degree of success in the treatment of every malady incident to humanity. A distinguished professor in the medical department of one of our universities, in an address to the graduating class, recently said: "Some professional men seem to be ashamed unless they have the character of universal knowledge. He who falls into the error of studying everything will be certain to know nothing well. Every man must have a good foundation. He must, in the first place, be a good general practitioner. But the field has become too large to be cultivated in its entirety by any individual; hence the advantage of cultivating special studies in large towns, which admit of the subdivision of professional pursuits. It is no longer possible to know everything; something must be wisely left unknown. Indeed, a physician, if he would know anything well must be content to be profoundly ignorant of many things. He must select something for special study, and pursue it with devotion and diligence. This course will lead to success, while the attempt to do everything eventuates unavoidably in failure. Let there be single hands for special duties." Our institution is the only one in this country in which these common-sense-ideas are thoroughly carried out. The diversified tastes and talents of physicians cause each to excel in treating some one class of diseases, to which he devotes more attention and study than to others. One medical student manifests great interest in the anatomy, physiology, pathology, and treatment of diseases of the eye. He becomes thoroughly familiar with all the minutest details relative to that organ and its diseases, and so thoroughly qualifies himself in this branch of knowledge that he is able to cure an inflammation or other affection of the eye in a very short time. Another student is more interested in some other class of diseases, for the study of which he has a liking, and neglects to inform himself in the ophthalmic branch of medical and surgical science. If after engaging in the practice of his chosen profession, he is consulted by persons suffering from diseases of the eye, he tortures them with unnecessary and oftimes injurious applications, clumsily and carelessly made, and, as the result of such unskillful treatment, the inestimable blessing of sight may be sacrificed.
The great majority of physicians allow acute maladies, diseases of children, and the practice of midwifery, to engross most of their time and attention. They manifest an absorbing interest in everything that relates to these subjects, and devote little or no time to acquiring an intimate knowledge of the great variety of chronic maladies which afflict mankind. They acquire skill and reputation in their favorite line of practice, but are annoyed if consulted by one suffering from some obscure chronic affection, usually turn the invalid off with a very superficial examination, and, perhaps, only prescribe some placebo,[6] apparently indifferent as to the result, but really desiring thus to conceal their lack of familiarity with such diseases. The specialist, the treatment of chronic diseases being his vocation, is equally annoyed if consulted by those suffering from acute diseases, but does not pursue the inconsistent course of assuming to treat them. He refers them to those of his medical brethren whose daily dealings with such cases make them, in his way of thinking, more competent than himself to render valuable service to such sufferers. He recognizes the fact that no man is likely to succeed in any line of study or business for which he possesses no talent or relish, nor does he believe in being a "jack-at-all-trades and master of none."
ADVERTISING.
Having thoroughly qualified himself for the practice of some particular branch of the healing art, the specialist sees no impropriety in acquainting the public with his ability to relieve certain forms of suffering. He believes that medical men should possess equal rights with other business men, and that any code of medical ethics which would deprive him of any of the sacred rights guaranteed to all by the liberal laws of the country, is professional tyranny, and merits only his contemptuous disregard. Nor does he display any false modesty in the manner of making known his skill. He maintains that he has an undoubted right to place his claim to patronage before the public by every fair and honorable means. He recognizes the display of goods in the merchant's show-windows as no less an advertisement and in no better taste than the publication of a card in the newspaper. So, likewise, he regards the various devices by which the extremely ethical physician seeks to place himself conspicuously before the public, as but so many ways of advertising, and as not more modest than the publication of cures actually performed, or than his announcement through the public press of his professional resources for treating certain maladies.
The physician who expresses a "holy horror" of the "advertising doctor," liberally bestowing upon him the epithet of "quack," announces himself a graduate, talks learnedly and gives notice to the public in some way that he is ready to serve them. He endeavors to impress upon the mind of the patient and family his skill, frequently exaggerates as to the extent of his practice, rides furiously about when he has no professional calls, keeps up business appearances by driving several horses, or joins influential societies. He may make a great display in style, manner, dress, pretensions, writing for the newspapers, exhibiting literary pedantry, referring to the superior facilities afforded by some particular school or society to which he belongs; or by editing and publishing a medical journal, ostensibly for the advancement of medical science, but practically to display titles or professorships, to publish reports which flatteringly allude to cases he has treated, the number of capital surgical operations he has performed, or the distinguished families he is treating. All these are but modes of advertising professional wares; in short, are artful, though not refined, tricks, resorted to for private announcement. We say to all such adventurers in modern advertising diplomacy, that these indirect, clandestine methods are not half so candid and honorable as a direct public statement of the intentions and proposals of a medical practitioner, who thereby incurs an individual responsibility before the law and his fellow-men.
No good reason has ever been assigned why any well educated physician, trained in the school of experience until he becomes proficient in medical skill, may not publish facts and evidence to disclose it, especially when these are abundant and conclusive. The following extracts from an able article by the Rev. THOMAS K. BEECHER embodies a sound view of the subject of medical advertising. He says:
* * "I am glad that the doctor cured him; I am glad that the doctor put it in the paper that he could cure him. And if any doctor is certain that he can cure such diseases and don't put it in the paper, I am sorry. What a pity it would have been had this doctor come to town with his wealth of science and experience and gone away leaving him uncured! What a pity it would have been if he had been so prejudiced against advertising as to read the responsible certificate of the doctor and give him the go-by as a quack! What are newspapers for, if not to circulate information? What more valuable information can a newspaper give than to tell a sick man where he can be cured? If a man has devoted his life and labor to the study of a special class of diseases, the necessity of his saying so becomes all the more pressing. His duty to advertise becomes imperative.
"When I was in England, I found on all the dead walls of London, placards, declaring that Dean Stanley, Chaplain to the Prince of Wales, would preach at such a place; that his grace the Archbishop (I think) of Canterbury would preach at another time and place; again, that an Oxford professor would preach. In short, religious notices were sprinkled in among the theater bills, and the highest church dignitaries were advertised side by side with actors, singers, and clowns. Of course, I was shocked by it, but in a moment I bethought me--if it be all right and dignified to hire a sexton to ring a bell when the minister is going to preach, it is all the same to silence the bell and hire a bill-sticker to tell the same news, the essential thing being to tell the truth every time. The remedy for the lying advertisements is for honest men to tell the truth. 'When iniquity cometh in like a flood, then the spirit of the Lord lifts up the standard.' A really able man, whatever be his gifts, makes a great mistake if he fail to use those gifts through want of advertising."
If a physician possesses knowledge that enables him to remedy diseases heretofore regarded as incurable, what virtue or modesty is there to "hide his light under a bushel"? In this free country the people think and act for themselves, and hence all have a deep concern in the subject of health. The strong popular prejudice against the doctors who advertise is due to the fact, that by this method so many ignorant charlatans are enabled to palm off their worthless services upon the uneducated and credulous; but the practice of such imposition should not cause a presumption against the public announcement of real skill, for the baser metal bears conclusive evidence that the pure also exists.
Every step in scientific investigation, every proposition which relates to the interest and happiness of man, every statement and appeal involving a valuable consideration, must be submitted to the scrutiny and judgment of individual reason; for every person has the right to form his own conclusions, and justify them by experience. Those claims which are only supported by empty assertion are very doubtful. Misty theories vanish before the sun of truth. He who renders professional services cannot be successful, unless he be sustained by real merit.
TREATING PATIENTS WHO RESIDE AT A DISTANCE.
We can treat many chronic diseases as successfully without as with a personal consultation, as our vast experience enables us to correctly determine the malady from which the patient is suffering, from a history of the symptoms, and answers to questions furnished. We have not seen one person in five hundred of those whom we have cured.
Some may suppose that a physician cannot obtain, through correspondence, a sufficiently accurate idea of the condition of a patient to enable him to treat the case successfully; but a large experience in this practice has proved the contrary to be true, for some of the most remarkable cures have been effected through the medium of correspondence. In most long-continued cases, the patient has thought over his symptoms hundreds of times. The location of every pain, whether acute or mild, constant or occasional, and the circumstances under which it occurs, have been carefully noted. He has observed whether he had a rush of blood to the head, was feverish or chilly, whether troubled with cold hands and feet, whether full of blood, or pale and bloodless; and he states these matters with accuracy and common sense when writing to us, for he has a very good, if not a professional, knowledge of the relative importance of these symptoms. So in regard to digestion, he states what kinds of food agree with him, or whether he is troubled with excessive acidity or a flatulent condition of the stomach. He also informs us whether his tongue is coated and bilious, or clean and healthy, and gives many other particulars too various to enumerate, by which we are enabled to gain a perfect understanding of the case. If his description be not sufficiently complete to enable us to obtain a definite understanding of the case, he is requested to answer a list of important questions which are sent him. The people are far more intelligent in these matters than physicians are generally willing to admit. A patient is often confused while being personally examined by a physician, and gives imperfect or incorrect answers. After he has left the presence of the physician, he finds that he has failed to enumerate many of the most important symptoms. In consulting by letter, the patient is not embarrassed, he states the exact symptoms, and carefully reads over the letter to see if it is a complete and accurate description of his sufferings. In this way he conveys a much better idea of the case than if present in person, and subjected to the most thorough questioning and cross-examination. The timid lady and nervous young man write just as they feel; and one important reason why we have had such superior success in treating intricate and delicate diseases, is because we have obtained such true and natural statements of the cases from these letters, many of which are perfect pen-pictures of disease. As bank-tellers and cashiers, who daily handle large quantities of currency, can infallibly detect spurious money by a glance at the engraving or a touch of the paper, so the experienced physician, by his great familiarity with disease, becomes equally skilled in detecting the nature and extent of a chronic malady from a written description of its symptoms.
URINARY SIGNS.
A careful microscopical examination and chemical analysis of the urine is a valuable aid in determining the nature of many chronic diseases, particularly those of the nervous system, blood, liver, kidneys, bladder, prostate gland and generative organs. This important fact is not overlooked at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, where an experienced chemist is employed to make such examinations and report the result to the attending physicians. Medical authors, professors, and practitioners of all schools, admit and even insist upon the importance of such examinations in diagnosticating diseases. Many practitioners neglect to take advantage of this invaluable aid, while others fear that if they attach much importance to such examinations they will be ranked with "uroscopian" or "water" doctors, a class of enthusiasts who claim to be able to correctly diagnosticate every disease by an examination of the urine. Persons consulting us and wishing to avail themselves of the advantages afforded by these examinations can send small vials of their urine by express. The vials should be carefully packed in saw-dust or paper and enclosed in a light wooden box. All charges for transportation must be prepaid, and a complete history of the case including the age and sex of the patient, must accompany each package, or it will receive no attention. This saves valuable time by directing the examination into the channels indicated, thus avoiding a lengthy series of experiments. As we are daily receiving numerous vials of urine, every sample should, to prevent confusion, be labeled with the patient's name.
There is a natural, definite proportion of the component elements of every solid and fluid of the human body. These proportions have been reduced to definite standards, a deviation from which affords evidence of disease. Thus, there being a fixed standard in a normal proportion of the elements of the blood, any deviation from it, as in anæmia, leucocythæmia, etc., indicates disease. So also the standard proportion of the urinary elements being known, any considerable change, either in quantity or quality of its parts, bears unmistakable evidence of disease. The invention of the microscope has provided increased facilities for detecting diseases by examination of the urine. By the aid of this wonderful instrument, we are enabled to discover with absolute certainty the various urinary deposits characteristic of different maladies; thus in Fig. 1, A represents in a general way the sediment of abnormal urine as seen under the microscope. In division B is represented oxalate of urea upon precipitation by oxalic acid. Nitrate of urea is represented in division C. A deficiency of urea in the urine, with albumen and casts present, is a most important guide in the diagnosis of Bright's disease. The average quantity of urea present during health is 21.57 parts in 1,000. The microscopic examination of the urine, notwithstanding the distaste, and even contempt, which many physicians manifest for such investigations, is pursued at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, with inestimable benefit to our patients. It has revealed the existence of many serious affections, which, with all our other modes of investigation, we might have been unable to detect. It has also thrown light upon many obscure chronic diseases.
We have already spoken of the marked changes effected in the urine by a derangement of the digestive functions. It is a matter of surprise that physicians generally pay so little attention to the urine when dyspepsia is suspected, since all admit that an examination of that excretion furnishes unmistakable evidence of the nature and complications of the disease. In this way we are many times enabled to determine whether the indigestion is caused by congestion or functional disease of the liver or kidneys or by nervous debility. And when such cases are treated in accordance with the indications furnished, increased success attends our practice. In Fig. 2 highly magnified urinary deposits, which indicate impairment of the digestive functions, are represented. The crystals are composed of oxalate of lime and appear in the different forms shown in the five sections, of octahedral, decahedral, round and dumb bell shapes. The latter are formed in the kidneys, and are sometimes discovered adhering to casts.
INVALUABLE AIDS IN DETERMINING DISEASES OF THE KIDNEYS AND BLADDER.
The various forms of gravel, Bright's disease of the kidneys, hæmaturia, inflammation of the kidneys and bladder, diabetes, and other functional and organic diseases of the urinary organs effect characteristic changes in the urine, thus enabling us to distinguish them with certainty and exactness. Some of the various microscopical appearances of the urinary deposits in diseases of the kidneys and bladder, are represented in Fig. 3. In division A is represented pus and mucus, with decomposition, indicating suppuration somewhere along the urinary tract. In B pus globules are alone represented. In the division marked C are shown blood corpuscles as they are arranged in blood drawn from a vein or artery. D represents the same separated, as they always are when present in the urine. In E highly magnified oil globules are represented. If present in the urine, they indicate disease of the kidneys. In F are represented epithelial cells, the presence of which in large numbers is indicative of diseases of the mucous lining of the urinary organs.
Fig. 4 represents the microscopic appearance of phosphates in the urine. These are present in great quantity in cases of nervous debility and kindred affections. By attaching the camera lucida to the microscope we can throw an image of these urinary deposits upon paper. By the art of the engraver this may be faithfully traced, and thus we are enabled to produce an accurate representation of them. Some of the beautiful crystalline deposits shown in Fig. 4 represent less than a millionth part of a grain, yet their forms are delineated with geometrical precision. Earthy phosphates are often mistaken for pus and also seminal fluid. Phosphates are always found in decomposed urine, otherwise they indicate brain affections, acute cystitis, etc. Experience has taught us that the voiding of urine loaded with phosphates is a forerunner of cystitis, or enlargement of the prostate gland, or both. In fact, persons so affected are "prone to serious consequences from mild attacks of almost any and every acute disease."
Fig. 5 represents the microscopic appearance of mixed urinary deposits. In division A is represented fermentation spores as they appear in diabetic urine. Pasteur asserts that the germs of this fungus get into the urine after it has been passed. Urates appear in division B. These indicate waste of flesh, as in fevers, consumption, prolonged physical efforts, etc. Division C pictures urates of ammonia. These appear in alkaline decomposition of the urine; it is isomeric with uric acid in acid urine. In division D is represented urate of soda, which is present in the tissues of persons suffering from gout. The crystals shown in division E consist of the same salt.
In Fig. 6, division A, is represented purulent matter as it appears in the urine. The formation of pus in different parts of the genitourinary system is accompanied by the appearance of pus corpuscles in the urine. When fat globules, represented in division B, are found in the urine, they indicate fatty degeneration. In division C are representations of the cells found in the urine of persons suffering from cystitis or other inflammatory diseases.
Fig. 7, divisions A and B, represent different forms of cystine. Fortunately this substance is rarely found in the urine. When present however it indicates liability to, or the actual presence of, a calculus or stone in the bladder. In division C is a representation of the deposits seen in the urine of those who are greatly debilitated. In division D are seen epithelial cells mixed with mucus.
In Fig. 8, division A, are represented the caudated cells from the deep structure of the bladder. The cells represented in division B are amyloid concretions, found where there is an enlarged prostate gland.
Fig. 9 represents the appearance of spermatozoa as seen in the urine. When present, they afford indisputable evidence of the escape of semen in the renal excretions.
We might add many other illustrations of urinary deposits and state their several indications, but a sufficient number has been introduced to show the importance and practical value of microscopic examinations of the urine in revealing obscure diseases.
Although the microscope is of inestimable value in examining the renal excretion, it does not entirely supersede other valuable instruments and chemical re-agents in determining constitutional changes. By the urinometer we determine the specific gravity of the urine; by the use of litmus its acid or alkaline reaction, is ascertained; while various chemicals, when added to it, produce certain specific changes, according to the morbid alterations which it has undergone by reason of disease. By the application of heat, or the addition of a few drops of nitric acid, the albumen, which is invariably present in Bright's disease of the kidneys, is coagulated. By the employment of other re-agents we may determine the presence of sugar--a characteristic of diabetic urine. And thus we might mention almost innumerable chemical tests by which the several changed conditions of the urine, characteristic of different diseases, may be ascertained with absolute certainty.
THE MOST EMINENT MEDICAL AUTHORITIES ENDORSE IT.
Dr. Eberle, a distinguished allopathic author, thus writes: "Whatever may be the disease, the urine seldom fails in furnishing us with a clue to the principles upon which it is to be treated."
Dr. Braithwaite also says: "We can arrive at a more accurate knowledge respecting the nature of diseases from examining the urine than from any other symptom."
Golding Bird, whose writings are regarded as sound and practical by the most learned of the medical profession, says: "The examination of the urine in disease is now regarded as one of the most important aids in diagnosis, and which it would be injurious alike to the welfare of the patient and the credit of the practitioner to avoid."
The eminent Dr. F. Simon writes as follows: "From the physical and chemical state of the urine, the attentive and observing physician may obtain a great quantity of information for ascertaining and establishing a diagnosis. More than all other signs, the correct examination of the sediment is of importance to the physician. * * * For the medical man it is the compass which guides him in the unlimited chaos of disease and its treatment; for the patient it is the thermometer of his condition, the premonitory indication of the decrease or aggravation of his malady; and for the healthy man it is the regulator of his diet and his life. Every one is aware of the variations of the barometer, and we know that the fluctuations of the column of mercury are closely associated with the variable conditions of the atmosphere; so, to the practical observer, variations of the urine, as well as the elements composing it, point out with certainty the changes in health, and the condition of the organs."
While we recognize the importance of examining the urine as an aid in distinguishing diseases, and have made this old German method of diagnosis a special study, yet we do not claim that all diseases can be unmistakably distinguished by such examinations alone. We take a conservative position and have no confidence in that class of ignorant fanatics whose pet hobby is "uroscopy."
From every person who solicits our professional services, we require explicit answers to numerous important questions, that we may know the age, sex, vocation, etc., as well as the prominent symptoms manifested.
CONSULTATIONS BY LETTER.
Formerly, we published in this book a very extensive list of questions to be answered by those consulting us, but a large experience has convinced us that beyond requiring answers to a few leading questions, which we still retain, it is better to let the patient describe the malady in his or her own way and language. After receiving and considering such a history, if we do not fully understand the patient's malady, we will ask such further questions as may be necessary. The patient should, however, in addition to writing name, post-office, county, and state, plainly, state the name of the town containing the nearest express office. Next give age, sex, whether married or single, complexion, height, present and former weight, if known, and occupation. State also if you have been a hard worker, and whether it is necessary for you to labor hard now, how long you have been out of health, and from what particular symptoms you suffer most. Follow this with a history of your case in your own language. If you find in this volume an accurate description of your disease, state the page and paragraph where it occurs.
FREE CONSULTATION.
We now make no charge for consultation by letter, but, instead of the one dollar formerly charged by us as a consultation fee, as we are desirous of making our facilities for treatment known to invalids far and near, we request that all persons writing to us for advice send us the names of all those within the circle of their acquaintance who are in any way in need of medical or surgical treatment for chronic diseases. If convenient, send the list on a separate piece of paper.
CHARGES MUST BE PREPAID.
Should you send a vial of urine for analysis, about a cupful will do, and all express charges on it must be prepaid. All liquids are excluded from the mails, when discovered, and yet we have received hundreds of samples through the mails safely when put in homoeopathic or other very small vials, well corked and carefully packed in a light tin can or wooden box, or in a light pine stick bored out hollow, the vial being carefully packed in sufficient saw-dust or blotting paper to absorb all liquid should the vial get broken. Letter postage, that is, two cents for each one ounce or fraction thereof, must be paid upon these sealed packages. Send the first urine that is passed after rising in the morning.
RELIABLE MEDICINES.
Next in importance to a correct understanding of the patient's disease, is the possession of reliable remedies for its treatment. Many of the medicines employed by physicians engaged in general practice are prepared from old drugs that have lost all their medicinal virtues, and hence are utterly useless and ineffectual. Many vegetable extracts are inert, because the plants from which they are produced were not gathered at the proper time. To give the reader an idea of the great care which we exercise in the selection and preparation of our medicines, he is requested to read under the head of "The Preparation of Medicines," in "The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser."
OUR TERMS FOR TREATMENT
require the payment of monthly fees, in advance, which entitles the patient to medicines specially prepared for and adapted to his or her particular case, and to all necessary attention and advice. Our fees for treatment are moderate, varying according to the nature and requirements of each particular case, and will be made known at the time of consultation.
WHY OUR FEES ARE REQUIRED IN ADVANCE.
We receive applications from strangers residing in all parts of America, and even in foreign countries, and it is not reasonable to suppose that credit could be dispensed so indiscriminately. It would not be a correct business transaction for a merchant to send a barrel of sugar or a roll of cloth to a stranger living hundreds of miles away, to be paid for when used. Our knowledge and medicines constitute our capital in business, and an order upon that capital should be accompanied with an equivalent. Some applicants refer us to their neighbors for a testimonial of their integrity. We cannot spare the time or employ assistants to make such inquiries for the sake of trusting any one. Should credit be thus indiscriminately given, there would necessarily be losses, and, to compensate for these, and the extra expense incurred by the employment of assistants, our fees would have to be much larger, thereby imposing the burden upon those who do pay. Instead of following this method of procedure, we place professional services within the reach of all, so that a greater number may be benefited. Many invalids say that they have paid large sums of money to medical men for treatment without obtaining relief. Unfortunately our land is cursed with quacks and unprincipled practitioners, who seek no one's good but their own, and it is a defect in our law that it permits such swindlers to go unpunished. Not so reprehensible is the family physician who fails, because his limited and varied practice does not permit him to become proficient in treating chronic diseases.
The following beautiful sentiment of Hood truthfully expresses the sacredness of the physician's trust:
"Above all price of wealth The body's jewel. Not for minds or hands profane To tamper with in practice vain. Like to a woman's virtue is man's health; A heavenly gift within a holy shrine! To be approached and touched with serious fear, By hands made pure and hearts of faith severe, E'en as the priesthood of the One Divine."
We are in regular practice, responsible for what we say and do, and cordially invite those who desire further evidence of our success in curing chronic diseases to come to the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute and satisfy themselves of the truthfulness of our statements.
We are warranted in saying that our responsibility and disposition for fair dealing are known to many of the principal mercantile houses, as well as to all prominent American editors. We also refer to our present and former patients, one or more of whom may be found in almost every hamlet of America. To all who are under our treatment we devote our highest energies and skill, fully realizing that an untold blessing is conferred upon every person whom we cure, and that such cures insure the permanency of our business. On the contrary, we realize how unfortunate it is for us to fail in restoring to health any person whom we have encouraged to hope for relief. We are careful, therefore, not to assume the treatment of incurable cases, except when desired to do so for the purpose of mitigating suffering or prolonging life; for we never wish to encourage false hopes of recovery.
TERMS FOR BOARD AND TREATMENT AT THE INVALIDS' HOTEL AND SURGICAL INSTITUTE
are moderate, varying with the nature of the case and the apartments occupied. At times so great is the number applying to avail themselves of the skill of our Faculty, and the advantages which our institution affords, that we are unable to receive all applicants. To be sure of securing good apartments, it is well to engage them sometime ahead, and make an advance payment of fifty dollars or more upon them, which will be refunded in case acute sickness or any similar cause should prevent the patient from occupying them at the time specified. Complete terms for treatment and board can be arranged only when personal application for entrance to the institution is made, and the nature and extent of the disease and the necessary treatment fully determined by personal examination of the case. If satisfactory terms and arrangements cannot at that time be agreed upon, or if the case be deemed incurable, any advance payments that have been made to secure good apartments will be promptly refunded.
SPECIAL ADVICE.
Those coming here to consult us personally, should bring the money to pay for our services and for board and care while remaining here, in the form of drafts on New York City, Boston or Chicago, and not in the form of checks on a local or home bank. Such drafts can be purchased in the home bank by paying a small amount for the exchange. If more convenient, post office orders payable at Buffalo post office will do.
VISITING PATIENTS WHO RESIDE AT A DISTANCE.
We are frequently asked to visit patients residing hundreds of miles away, that we may personally examine their cases, or perform difficult surgical operations. We can seldom comply with such requests as the time of our professional Staff is generally very fully occupied.
TO PHYSICIANS
wishing to consult us in intricate cases of chronic diseases under their treatment, we desire to say that we shall, as in the past, take pleasure in responding to their solicitations. We have all the necessary instruments and appliances required in executing the most difficult surgical operations, and, as we have had much experience in this department, we are always ready and able to assist physicians who do not practice operative surgery. In this age of railways and telegraphs medical and surgical aid can be summoned from a distance and promptly obtained.
OUR MEDICINES
as put up for sale through druggists, are not recommended as "cure-alls," or panaceas, but only as superior remedies for certain common and easily-recognized diseases. They are our favorite prescriptions, improved and perfected by long study and a vast experience in the treatment of chronic diseases, and have gained world-wide celebrity and sale. We are well aware that there are many chronic diseases that can only be successfully treated and cured by careful adaptation of remedies to each individual case. This is especially true of the ever-varying and delicate diseases of the kidneys and bladder. It is not less so with reference to nervous debility, involuntary vital losses, with which so many young and middle-aged men are afflicted; and we may also include in this list epilepsy or fits, paralysis or palsy, obstinate gleety discharges, and many other chronic and delicate ailments of which our staff of physicians and surgeons cure annually many thousands of cases, but for which we do not recommend any of our put-up, ready-made, or proprietary medicines.
NO RELATIONSHIP WITH HUMBUGS.
Had our put-up or proprietary medicines, as sold by druggists the world over, been adapted to all classes and forms of chronic diseases, there would have been no necessity for our organizing a competent staff of physicians and surgeons to act as experts in the treatment of difficult, obscure, and complicated cases of chronic diseases. That we keep constantly employed, in our Buffalo and London institutions, eighteen medical gentlemen, with such helpers as chemists, clerks, etc., is indisputable proof that the medicines we offer for sale through druggists should not be classed with the humbug nostrums recommended to cure everything. They are the outgrowth of our vast and extended practice in the treatment of chronic diseases; are well-tried, world-famed, and honest medicines. They are not unduly puffed and lauded, but simply recommended for such diseases as are easily recognized and which they are known to cure.
NOT CONFINED IN PRESCRIBING
Our physicians, in the treatment of cases consulting us, prescribe just such medicines as are adapted to each particular case. They are not confined in the least to our list of a few put-up or proprietary medicines (valuable as they are when applicable to the case) but resort to the whole broad range of the materia medica, employed by the most advanced physicians of the age. They are not hampered by any school, ism or "pathy."
OUR MEDICINES PREPARED WITH THE GREATEST CARE.
The medicines employed are all prepared in our own Laboratory by skilled chemists and pharmacists, and the greatest care is exercised to have them manufactured from the freshest and purest ingredients. Our Faculty probably employ a greater number and variety of native roots, barks, and herbs, in their practice then are used in any other invalids' resort in the land. Using vast quantities of these indigenous medicines, we can afford and do not neglect to have them gathered with great care, at the proper seasons of the year, so that their medicinal properties may be most reliable. Too little attention is generally paid to this matter, and many failures result from the prescribing of worthless medicines by physicians who have to depend for their supplies upon manufacturers who are careless or indifferent in obtaining the crude plants and roots from which to manufacture their medicines for the market. While depending largely upon solid and fluid extracts of native plants, roots, barks, and herbs, in prescribing for disease, yet we do not use them to the exclusion of other valuable curative drugs and chemicals. We aim to be unprejudiced and independent in our selection of remedies, adopting at all times a rational system of therapeutics. This liberal course of action has, in a vast experience, proved most successful.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, 663 MAIN STREET, BUFFALO, N.Y.
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PRESIDENT GARFIELD'S
ENDORSEMENT OF THE
INVALIDS' HOTEL AND SURGICAL INSTITUTE
AND ITS FOUNDER.
The following letter from an eminent lawyer of Tennessee, is noteworthy, inasmuch as it shows the estimation in which Dr. Pierce and the institutions which he has founded were held by the lamented Garfield, who was one of the Doctor's intimate friends and colleagues while he was serving as a member of Congress:
OFFICE OF H.F. COLEMAN, ATTORNEY AT LAW, SNEEDVILLE, TENN., Aug. 11, 1884
World's Dispensary Medical Association, 663 Main St., Buffalo, N.Y.
GENTLEMEN:--Your letter of the 31st ult. just received and contents noted. I am perfectly satisfied with the explanation, and ask pardon for the sharp letter written you some days since. The mails are very irregular, as you know, and we are too apt to be impatient and attribute our mishaps to the wrong cause. Your honesty, integrity and ability are not doubted in the least by me.
I have, perhaps, a higher endorsement of you than any other patient under your care, and for your gratification I will give it to you.
Some time since I was in conversation with Congressman Pettibone, of this State, when the following conversation took place: "You say," said the Major, "that you have visited Dr. Pierce's medical establishment in Buffalo, New York?" "Yes, sir, I did." "You found everything as represented?" "Yes, sir, as was represented, and which I assure you was quite encouraging to a man who had traveled as far as I had to visit an institution of that kind." "That man, Dr. Pierce," said the Major, "is one of the best men of the times. While at Washington, during my first term," he continued, "one day I was in President Garfield's room and a fine-looking, broad-foreheaded gentleman came in, and President Garfield arose and took him by the hand and said, 'Good morning, Doctor, I am so glad to see you,' and then turned and introduced him to me as Dr. Pierce, of Buffalo, New York. Knowing the Doctor by reputation, and having seen his pictures, I at once recognized him. He, in a short time, left the room, and Garfield said to me, 'Major, that is one of the best men in the world, and he is at the head of one of the best medical institutions in the world.'"
With this high endorsement, I have unbounded confidence in your integrity and ability.
Very truly yours, H.F. COLEMAN.
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NOTICES OF THE PRESS.
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OUR PROFESSIONAL STAFF.
The Buffalo Evening News says: "Each and every member of the medical and surgical staff of the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute is a graduate in medicine and surgery from one or more legally chartered medical colleges, and several of the members have had many years of experience as army surgeons, and in hospital and general as well as in special practice. One is a licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh; licentiate of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow; licentiate of midwifery, Glasgow; member of the Royal College of Surgeons, London, England; extraordinary member of the Royal Medical Society, Edinburgh, etc. Another is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia; another of the New York Medical College; another of the Buffalo Medical College, and of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York; another of Cincinnati Medical College, and of the University of New York; another from Buffalo Medical College, and diplomas from all these institutions, as well as from many others equally noted, can be seen at the offices of this institution, if any one feels any interest in them."
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FROM THE "ROMAN CITIZEN," (ROME, N.Y.).
THE INVALIDS' HOTEL AND SURGICAL INSTITUTE.
One of the most extensive institutions in this country for the treatment of chronic ailments is the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute at Buffalo, under the control of the World's Dispensary Medical Association, of which Dr. R.V. PIERCE is President. The hotel itself is a wonderful affair, combining all the comforts and conveniences of a luxurious home with the most complete facilities for the successful treatment of all chronic diseases incident to humanity. Dr. PIERCE has a world-wide fame as a skillful practitioner, and his corps of assistants comprises many physicians and surgeons of great ability and large experience in the treatment of chronic and surgical diseases. Those who have been treated by the Association are loud in their praises, and we understand that the number of its patients increases with each succeeding year. The country is full of people who have been "doctoring" year after year without successful results, and the probabilities are that in a majority of such cases a few months spent at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute in the care of its medical experts, would result in material and permanent benefit.
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FROM THE WASHINGTON (D.C.) CHRONICLE.
ONE OF THE ATTRACTIONS AT BUFFALO.
In the enterprising city of Buffalo some eminent and capable professional people have established an "Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute," under the comprehensive direction and control of the "World's Dispensary Medical Association" at 663 Main Street, in that beautiful city. This Institute is organized with a full staff of eighteen physicians and surgeons, and the hotel is exclusively devoted to treatment of chronic diseases. This corps of doctors make a specialty of chronic maladies, and the Institute is reputed to have abundant skill, facilities and apparatus for the successful treatment of every form of chronic ailment, whether requiring for its cure medical or surgical means.
The building occupied is a massive one of five stories.
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FROM THE MISSOURI REPUBLICAN (ST. LOUIS).
A REMARKABLE PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS.
Among the notable professional men of this country who have achieved extraordinary success is Dr. R.V. PIERCE, of Buffalo, N.Y. The prominence which he has attained has been reached through strictly legitimate means, and so far, therefore, he deserves the enviable reputation which he enjoys. This large measure of success is the result of a thorough and careful preparation for his calling, and extensive reading during a long and unusually large practice, which has enabled him to gain high commendation, even from his professional brethren. Devoting his attention to certain specialties of the science he has so carefully investigated, he has been rewarded in a remarkable degree. In these specialties he has become a recognized leader. Not a few of the remedies prescribed by him have, it is said, been adopted and prescribed by physicians in their private practice. His pamphlets and larger works have been received as useful contributions to medical knowledge. He has recently added another, and perhaps more important work, because of more general application, to the list of his published writings. This book, entitled "The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser," is designed to enter into general circulation. For his labors in this direction, Dr. PIERCE has received acknowledgments and honors from many sources, and especially scientific degrees from two of the first medical institutions in the land. His works have been translated into the German, Spanish, French, and other foreign languages.
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FROM THE TOLEDO BLADE.
Dr. PIERCE has now been before the general public long enough to enable the formation of a careful estimate of the efficiency of his treatment and his medicines, and the verdict, we are glad to know, has been universally favorable to both.
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FROM THE ST. LOUIS GLOBE.
THE SUCCESSFUL PHYSICIAN.
Dr. PIERCE is a type of a class of men who obtain success by careful and well-directed effort, not attempting too much, nor creating false ideas as to ability. The only reliable physician, in these days of complicated disorders and high-pressure living, is the "Specialist," the man who understands his own branch of the business. Such, in his line, is Dr. Pierce. He has written a "Common Sense Medical Adviser," which is well worth reading. With strict business honor, high professional skill, reasonable fees, and a large corps of competent assistants Dr. Pierce has made his name as familiar as "household words."
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From the Rocky Mountain Herald.
Dr. R.V. PIERCE, the greatest American specialist, and proprietor of the World's Dispensary, Buffalo, N.Y., has sent us his new book entitled "The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser," which is a handsome, large volume, elegantly got up, with hundreds of wood-cuts and colored plates, and a complete cyclopedia of medical teachings for old and young of both sexes. It has every thing in it, according to the latest scientific discoveries, and withal is wonderfully commomensical in its style and teachings.
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From the Lafayette Daily Courier.
Dr. R.V. PIERCE, of Buffalo, distinguished in surgery, and the general practice of the profession he honors, has made a valuable contribution to the medical literature of the day, in a comprehensive work entitled "The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser." While scientific throughout, it is singularly free from technical and stilted terms. It comes right down to the common-sense of every-day life, and, to quote from the author himself, seeks to "inculcate the facts of science rather than the theories of philosophy." This entertaining and really instructive work seems to be in harmony with the enlarged sphere of thought, as touching the open polar sea of evolution. He considers man in every phase of his existence, from the rayless atom to the grand upbuilding of the noblest work of God. Dr. PIERCE is a noble specimen of American manhood. He has sprung from the people, and with many sympathies in common with the masses, has sought to render them a substantial service in this the great work of his life.
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From the New York Independent.
LAURELS FOR TRUE WORTH.
"A wise physician, skill'd our wounds to heal, Is more than armies to the public weal."
To be honored in his own land is the crowning blessing of the man who has been "the architect of his own fortune"--the man who has made for himself, with his own hands and brain, a princely fortune and an enduring fame. From COMLEY'S History of New York State, containing biographical sketches of the men who "have given wealth, stamina, and character" to the Empire State, we clip the following brief sketch of the distinguished physician, Dr. R.V. PIERCE, of Buffalo: "Every nation owes its peculiar character, its prosperity--in brief, every thing that distinguishes it as an individual nation,--to the few men belonging to it who have the courage to step beyond the boundaries prescribed by partisanship, professional tradition, or social customs. In professional no less than in political life there occasionally arise men who burst the fetters of conventionalism, indignantly rejecting the arbitrary limits imposed upon their activity, and step boldly forward into new fields of enterprise. We call these men self-made. The nation claims them as her proudest ornaments--the men upon whom she can rely, in peace for her glory, in war for her succor. Of this class of men the medical profession has furnished a distinguished example in the successful and justly-celebrated physician, Dr. R.V. PIERCE, of Buffalo, N.Y., and any history treating of the industries of the Empire State would be incomplete without a sketch of his useful and earnest work. * * * Specially educated for the profession which he so eminently adorns, he early supplemented his studies by extensive and original research in its several departments. He brought to his chosen work acute perceptive and reflective powers, and that indomitable energy that neither shrinks at obstacles nor yields to circumstances. In physique, Dr. PIERCE is an ideal type of American manhood. Of medium stature, robust, his appearance is characterized by a healthful, vigorous vitality, while the full, lofty brow and handsomely cut features are indicative of that comprehensive mental power and remarkable business sagacity which have combined to place him among the distinguished men of the age. * * * As an earnest worker for the welfare of his fellow-men, Dr. PIERCE has won their warmest sympathy and esteem. While seeking to be their servant only, he has become a prince among them. Yet the immense fortune lavished upon him by a generous people he hoards not, but invests in the erection and establishment of institutions directly contributive to the public good, the people thus realizing, in their liberal patronage, a new meaning of the beautiful Oriental custom of casting bread upon the waters. Noted in both public and private life for his unswerving integrity and all those sterling virtues that ennoble manhood, Dr. PIERCE ranks high among those few men whose names the Empire State is justly proud to inscribe upon her roll of honor." Dr. PIERCE has lately erected a palatial Invalids' Hotel for the reception of his patients, at a cost of over half a million dollars.
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A MAN OF THE TIME.
Speaking of Dr. R.V. PIERCE, the Buffalo (N.Y.) Commercial says: "He came here an unknown man, almost friendless, with no capital except his own manhood, which, however, included plenty of brains and pluck, indomitable perseverance, and inborn uprightness, capital enough for any man in this progressive country, if only he has good health and habits as well. He had all these great natural advantages, and one thing more, an excellent education. He had studied medicine and been regularly licensed to practice as a physician. But he was still a student, fond of investigation and experiment. He discovered, or invented, important remedial agencies or compounds. Not choosing to wait wearily for the sick and suffering to find out (without any body to tell them) that he could do them good, he advertised his medicines and invited the whole profession of every school, to examine and pronounce judgment on his formulas. He advertised liberally, profusely, but with extraordinary shrewdness, and with a method which is in itself a lesson to all who seek business by that perfectly legitimate means. His success has been something marvelous--so great, indeed, that it must be due to intrinsic merit in the articles he sells, more even than to his unparalleled skill in the use of printer's ink. The present writer once asked a distinguished dispensing druggist to explain the secret of the almost universal demand for Dr. PIERCE'S medicines. He said they were in fact genuine medicines--such compounds as every good physician would prescribe for the diseases which they were advertised to cure. Of course, they cost less than any druggist would charge for the same article, supplied on a physician's prescription, and, besides, there was the doctor's fee saved. Moreover, buying the drugs in such enormous quantities, having perfect apparatus for purifying and compounding the mixture, he could not only get better articles in the first place, but present the medicine in better form and cheaper than the same mixture could possibly be obtained from any other source.
* * * * *
Extracts from Biographical Sketches of New York Senators.
At the age of eighteen, he (Dr. PIERCE) entered a medical school, and proved a devoted student, graduating at twenty-three with the highest honors. A simple knowledge of the routine of practice as then in vogue, was not enough. He sought new means of healing, and explored "schools" of practice that were prohibited by his sect. He denounced errors in the prevailing "schools" and accepted truths belonging to those prohibited. Every one knows how such daring and destructive innovations are regarded by the medical profession generally. Dr. PIERCE was no exception to the rule. But he paid no attention to detraction, pursuing his own way with that energy which proves now to be a most excellent ally of his medical instincts.
The World's Dispensary is to-day the greatest institution of its kind in the world. More than two hundred persons are employed, eighteen being skillful physicians and surgeons, each devoting himself to a special branch of the profession, all acting together when required, as a council. The printing department of the Dispensary is larger than the similar department of any paper outside of the New York Herald.
* * * * *
From The New York Times.
WELL-MERITED SUCCESS.
The author of "The People's Medical Adviser" is well-known to the American public as a physician of fine attainments, and his Family Medicines are favorite remedies in thousands of our households. As a counselor and friend, Dr. PIERCE is a cultured, courteous gentleman. He has devoted all his energies to the alleviation of human suffering. With this end in view and his whole heart in his labors, he has achieved marked and merited success. There can be no real success without true merit. That his success is real, is evidenced by the fact that his reputation, as a man and physician, does not deteriorate; and the fact that there is a steadily increasing demand for his medicines, proves that they are not nostrums, but reliable remedies for disease. The various departments of the World's Dispensary in which his Family Medicines are compounded and his special prescriptions prepared, are provided with all modern facilities.
* * * * *
The New York Tribune says:
"The American mind is active. It has given us books of fiction for the sentimentalist, learned books for the scholar and professional student, but few books for the people. A book for the people must relate to a subject of universal interest. Such a subject is the physical man, and such a book 'The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser,' a copy of which has been recently laid on our table. The high professional attainments of its author,--Dr. R.V. PIERCE, of Buffalo, N.Y.,--and the advantages derived by him from an extensive practice, should alone insure for his work a cordial reception." Price $1.50, post-paid. Address, WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.
* * * * *
From The Boston Daily Globe.
A CURE FOR MANY EVILS.
What can be accomplished by judicious enterprise, when backed up by ability and professional skill, is shown by the magnificent buildings of the World's Dispensary and the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, at Buffalo. While models of architectural beauty and completeness, their real worth and usefulness consist rather in the humanitarian objects they are made to serve. They stand superior to all institutions of their kind, not only in material proportions but as well in the medical knowledge and practical experience of those connected with them. In each department are those and those only who by natural bent and training are specially adapted to combating their particular class of "the ills which flesh is heir to."
VOCABULARY
OF THE
COMMON SENSE MEDICAL ADVISER,
GIVING EACH TECHNICAL WORD EMPLOYED, REFERRING TO ITS IMAGES/ADVISE WHEN POSSIBLE, AND IN CASE THE WORD WILL NOT PERMIT OF A SHORT DEFINITION, REFERRING TO THE PAGE WHERE A FULL DESCRIPTION OF ITS MEANING MAY BE FOUND.
A
ABDOMEN. The part of the body between the diaphragm and pelvis, containing the stomach, intestines, etc. The belly.
ABDOMINAL. Belonging to the Abdomen.
ABORTION. Expulsion of the foetus before the seventh month of pregnancy.
ABSORPTION. The function of taking up substances from within or without the body.
ACETABULUM. The bone socket which receives the head of the thigh bone.
ACNE. Pimples upon the face, more common at the age of puberty.
ADIPOSE TISSUE. A thin membrane composed of cells which contain fat.
ADVENTITIOUS. Acquired.
ALBUMEN IN URINE in chemical composition resembles the white of an egg, and is detected by the application of heat, nitric acid, etc.
ALBUMINOID. Of the nature of albumen.
ALBUMINURIA. A condition or disease in which the urine contains albumen. (See above.)
ALIMENTARY CANAL. The canal extending from the mouth to the anus, through which the food passes.
ALLOPATHY. Allopathic school. Defined on page 293.
ALTERATIVE. A medicine which gradually changes the constitution, restoring healthy functions.
ALVEOLAR PROCESS. The bony structure which contains the sockets of the teeth.
AMAUROSIS. Loss or decay of sight from disease of the optic nerve.
AMENORRHEA. Suppression of the menses.
AMNION. A membrane enveloping the foetus and the liquid.
AMPUTATION. The operation of cutting off a limb.
AMYLOID DEGENERATION. Alteration in the texture of organs, which resembles wax or lard.
AMYLOIDS. Foods composed of carbon and hydrogen; as sugar, starch, etc.
ANÆMIA. Privation of blood. Lack of red corpuscles in the blood.
ANASARCA. Dropsy attended with bloating all over the body.
ANATOMY. The science of the structure of the body.
ANESTHETIC. An agent that prevents feeling in surgical operations, and in some diseases of a painful nature.
ANGINA (PECTORIS). Violent pain about the heart, attended with anxiety and difficult breathing.
ANIMALCULA, ANIMALCULE. An animal so small as to be invisible, or nearly so, to the naked eye.
ANODYNES. Medicines which relieve pain.
ANTEVERSION. The womb falling forward upon the bladder. Illus. p. 716.
ANTHELMINTICS. Medicines which destroy or expel worms from the stomach and intestines.
ANTIDOTE. A remedy to counteract the effect of poison.
ANTIFEBRILE. A remedy which abates fever.
ANTIPERIODIC. A remedy which prevents the regular appearance of similar symptoms in the course of a disease.
ANTISEPTIC. Medicines which prevent putrefaction.
ANTISPASMODICS. Medicines which relieve spasm.
ANUS. The circular opening at the end of the bowel, through which the excrement leaves the body.
AORTA. The great artery of the body arising from the heart. Illus. page 58.
APERIENT. A medicine which moves the bowels gently.
APHTHÆ. Sore mouth, beginning in pimples and ending in white ulcers.
APHTHOUS. Complicated with aphthæ.
APNOEA. Short, hurried breathing.
APOPLEXY. The effects of a sudden rush of blood to an organ; as the brain, lungs, etc. Brain pressure, from rupture of a blood-vessel.
AQUEOUS HUMOR. The clear fluid contained in the front chambers of the eye.
ARACHNOID. A thin, spider-web like membrane covering the brain.
AREOLAR TISSUE. The network of delicate fibres spread over the body, binding the various organs and parts together.
ARTERY. A vessel carrying blood from the heart to the various parts of the body; usually red in color.
ARTICULAR. Relating to the joints.
ARTICULATED. Jointed.
ARTICULATIONS. The union of one bone with another. A Joint.
ASCITES. Accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity.
ASPHYXIA. A condition of apparent death owing to the supply of air being cut off; as in drowning, inhalation of gases, sun-stroke, etc.
ASPIRATOR. An instrument for the evacuation of fluids from the cavities of the body, as water in abdominal dropsy, the contents of tumors, etc.
ASSIMILATION. Appropriating and transforming into its own substance, matters foreign to the body.
ASTRINGENTS. Medicines which contract the flesh.
ATONIC, ATONY. Wanting tone.
ATROPHIED. Wasted; lessened in bulk.
ATROPHY. Wasting away; diminution in size.
AUDITORY NERVES. The nerves connecting the brain with the ears and employed in exercising the sense of hearing.
AUSCULTATION. Diagnosing diseases by listening, either with or without instruments.
B
BALANITIS. Gonorrhea of the mucous surface of the head of the penis.
BENIGN. Harmless; a term applied to tumors.
BEVERAGE. A liquor for drinking.
BILE. A yellow bitter fluid secreted by the liver. Defined on page 80.
BILIOUS. Disordered in respect to bile. Relating to bile.
BILIOUS TEMPERAMENT, VOLITIVE TEMPERAMENT. See page 173.
BIOLOGY. The science of life.
BISTOURY. A small cutting knife.
BLADDER (URINARY). The organ, situated behind the pubic bone, which holds the urine until its expulsion. Illus. pages 206 and 207.
BLEBS. Eminences of the skin containing a watery fluid.
BLOODY-FLUX. A disease characterized by frequent, scanty, and bloody stools.
BOIL. An inflamed tumor which comes to a head and discharges matter and a core. See page 443.
BOLUS. A large pill.
BOUGIE. A long, flexible instrument used for dilating contracted canals and passages.
BREACH. Some form of hernia of the abdomen. See page 862.
BROAD LIGAMENTS OF THE UTERUS. Folds of the peritoneum which support the womb and contain the Fallopian tubes and ovaries. Illus. p. 206.
BRONCHEA. Tubes formed by the division of the windpipe. Illus. page 64.
BRONCHOCELE. Thick neck, goitre.
BUBO. An inflammatory tumor in the groin.
BULLA. A bleb or large pimple containing transparent fluid.
C
CACHEXIA. A depraved condition of the system; as from poor food, syphilis, etc.
CALCAREOUS. Containing lime.
CALCIFICATION. The process of forming of, or converting into, chalk.
CALCULUS, CALCULI. Stones or similar concretions formed by the deposit of solid matter; of lime, soda, uric acid, urates, oxalates, etc.
CALISTHENICS. Healthful exercise of the body and limbs, for purposes of strength and agility.
CANCELLATED STRUCTURE. Cells communicating with each other forming a structure resembling "lattice-work."
CANKER. Ulcers in the mouth.
CAPILLARIES. Very small blood-vessels. Defined on page 60.
CARBONIC ACID. A heavy, poisonous gas. Choke damp.
CARDIAC. Pertaining to the heart. Near or towards the heart.
CARMINATIVES. Medicines which allay pain in the stomach and intestines by expelling the gas.
CAROTIDS. The great arteries at the sides of the neck.
CARTILAGE. A solid part of the body found in the joints, ends of the ribs, etc. It is softer than bone but harder than ligament.
CARTILAGINOUS TISSUE. Parts of the body of the nature of cartilage.
CARUNCULÆ. Fleshy growths.
CASEIN. The part of milk which contains nitrogen. Cheese curd.
CATALYTICS. Medicines which destroy morbid agencies in the blood. Alteratives.
CATAMENIA. Monthly flow of the female.
CATARACT. Opacity of the lens of the eye, or its covering, or both.
CATHARTICS. Medicines which cause evacuation of the bowels.
CATHETER. A hollow tube introduced into the bladder through the urethra for the purpose of drawing off the urine.
CAUSTICS. Substances which destroy animal tissue.
CAUTERIZATION. Burning or searing by a hot iron, or caustic medicines.
CAUTERIZE. To burn or sear by a hot iron, or by medicines which destroy.
CELL. A little vessel having a membranous wall and containing fluid. The whole body may be considered as formed of different kinds of cells.
CELLULAR STRUCTURE. See CANCELLATED STRUCTURE.
CEREBELLUM. Little brain. Base brain. Illus. page 100.
CEREBRUM. The upper or large brain. Illus. page 100.
CERVIX. Neck; neck of the womb. Illus. page 206.
CHALYBEATE. Mineral waters which contain iron.
CHANCRE. A virulent, syphilitic ulcer. Figs. 27 and 28, Plate V., Pamphlet X.
CHANCROID. Resembling infectious chancre. Soft chancre.
CHLOROSIS. Green sickness. A disease of young women attended with a greenish hue of the skin, debility, etc.
CHOLAGOGUES. Cathartics which stimulate the liver.
CHORDÆ TENDINEÆ. Cord-like substances about the valves of the heart. See page 57.
CORDEE.
CHOROID. The dark colored lining membrane of the eye.
CHYLE. Food digested and ready for absorption. See pages 45 and 49.
CHYLOUS PRODUCTS. See CHYLE.
CHYME. Food after being subjected to the action of the gastric fluids.
CICATRIX. The scar or place where parts which have been cut or divided, are united.
CILIA. Small hairs.
CIRCUMCISION. An operation for removing superfluous foreskin.
CIRCUMVALLATE. Arranged in oblique lines, as the prominences on the back of the tongue.
CLAP. Gonorrhea. A venereal disease of the urethra.
CLAVICLE. See COLLAR-BONE.
CLINICAL MEDICINE. Investigation of disease at the bedside.
COAGULATE. To thicken or harden, as heat hardens the white of an egg.
COITION. Sexual intercourse. The act of generation.
COLLAR-BONE (CLAVICLE). A bone at the front and top of chest, attached by one end to the breast-bone and by the other to the shoulder-blade.
COLON. Part of the large intestines. Illus. page 40.
COMA. A condition of profound sleep from which it is difficult to arouse the patient.
COMEDONES. Pimples on the face. See page 412, and Fig. 8. Plate II.
COMPRESS. A soft cloth folded to several thicknesses, so that with a bandage pressure can be applied, or by wetting in hot water, a part can be subjected to the influences of heat and moisture.
CONCEPTION. Impregnation of the ovum; the beginning of a new being.
CONGENITAL. Applied to a disease born with one; from birth.
CONGESTION. An abnormal amount of blood in a part or organ.
CONJUNCTIVA. The membrane which covers the external surface of the eyeball.
CONJUNCTIVITIS. Inflammation of the eye.
CONTAGION. The transmission of disease from one to another by contact, as hydrophobia, syphilis; or otherwise, as measles, scarlet fever, etc.
CONTAGIOUS. Capable of being transmitted from one person to another.
CONTINENCE. Abstinence from sexual intercourse or excitement.
CONVALESCENCE. The recovery of health after sickness.
CONVOLUTED. Curved or rolled together.
COPULATION. Sexual intercourse.
CORIUM. A layer of the akin.
CORNEA. A transparent covering of the front of the eye.
CORPUSCLES OF THE BLOOD. Defined and illustrated on page 53.
COUNTER-IRRITANTS. Defined on page 331.
COWPER'S GLANDS OF THE MALE. Glands situated in front of the prostate gland. Illus. page 207.
COXALGIA. Hip-joint disease. See page 451.
CRANIUM. The skull. The bones of the head.
CRAYONS. Sticks or cylinders made of Cocoa butter and medicated.
CROSS-EYE. One or both eyes drawn towards the nose. Squint.
CRUSTACEOUS. Belonging to the class of animals covered by a crust-like shell.
CUTANEOUS. Belonging to, or affecting, the skin.
CUTICLE. The outer layer of the skin, consisting of small bony scales.
CYSTITIS. Inflammation of the bladder. In chronic form, Catarrh of the bladder.
D
DEBRIS. Broken-down tissue. Waste material.
DECOCTION. Defined on page 303.
DEFECATION. Voiding excrement from the body.
DEGENERATION, FATTY. The deposit of particles of fat instead of the proper muscular tissue.
DEGLUTITION. Swallowing. Conveying food to the stomach.
DEJECTION OF MIND. Despondency. Low spirits.
DEJECTIONS. The matter voided from the bowels.
DELETERIOUS. Destructive. Poisonous.
DENTITION. Cutting of the teeth in infancy.
DEODORIZER. A substance that destroys a bad smell.
DEPLETION. To empty the blood-vessels by lancing a vein or by medicines.
DEPRAVATION. Corruption.
DEPURATING. Cleansing.
DERMATOLOGIST. One who makes diseases of the skin a specialty.
DESICCATE. To dry up.
DESQUAMATION. Scaling off of the skin, after fevers.
DESQUAMATIVE NEPHRITIS, Bright's Disease, in which epithelial cells escape with the urine.
DIABETES. Defined on page 835.
DIAGNOSIS. The determination of a disease by its symptoms or characteristics.
DIAGNOSTIC. The symptoms by which a disease is distinguished from others.
DIAPHORETIC. Medicines which increase perspiration.
DIAPHRAGM. Defined on page 32.
DIATHESIS. Peculiarity of constitution. Predisposition to certain diseases.
DIGESTION. The function by which food passing along the alimentary canal is prepared for nutrition.
DILATATION. Increasing in size by Instruments or other agencies.
DILUENTS. Fluids which thin the blood or hold medicines in solution.
DIRECTOR. An instrument having a groove which directs the knife and protects underlying parts from injury.
DISINFECTANTS. Substances which arrest putrefaction.
DISLOCATION. The act of or state of, being forced from its proper situation.
DISTILLED. Separated by heat from other substances and collected by condensation.
DIURETICS. Medicines which increase the flow of urine.
DOUCHE. Dashes of water. An instrument for washing the nasal membrane.
DRASTICS. Medicines which move the bowels harshly or frequently.
DROPSY. The accumulation of fluid In the cavities or cellular tissue of the body.
DUODENUM. The first portion of the intestines. Illus. page 44.
DURA MATER. A thick, fibrous membrane lining the skull.
DYSCRASIA. A bad condition of body.
DYSENTERY. A disease characterized by frequent, scanty and bloody stools.
DYSMENORRHEA. Difficult or painful menstruation.
DYSPNOEA. Difficult breathing.
E
EAR, INTERNAL. Defined on page 110. Illus. page 109.
EARTHY PHOSPHATES. The white deposit in urine, composed of phosphoric acid and a base.
ECCHYMOSIS. Black or yellow spots produced by effused blood. Black eye Is an example.
ECLECTIC SCHOOL. See page 294.
ECRASEUR. An instrument which amputates by a loop of wire.
ECZEMATOUS. Of the nature of Eczema. See page 430.
EDEMA (OEDEMA). Puffiness of the skin from the accumulation of fluid. General dropsy.
EFFLUVIA. Unpleasant odors or exhalations.
EFFUSION. The pouring out of blood or other fluid.
ELECTROLYSIS. Decomposing or modifying by the application of electricity.
ELIMINATED. Discharged, expelled.
EMACIATION. Leanness in flesh.
EMBRYO. The young of an animal at the beginning of its development in the womb.
EMETICS. Medicines which empty the stomach upwards.
EMMENAGOGUES. Medicines which favor or cause menstruation.
EMPIRICISM. Practicing medicine upon results of experience, generally by a person without a medical education.
ENCEPHALIC TEMPERAMENT. Defined on page 177.
ENDOCARDITIS. Inflammation of the lining membrane of the heart.
ENDOCARDIUM. The lining membrane of the heart
ENDOMETRLTLS. Disease of the lining membrane of the womb.
ENTERIC. Intestinal.
ENTERITIS. Inflammation of the mucous lining of the small intestines.
EPIDEMICS. Diseases which attack a number of persons at the name time: as yellow fever, small-pox, etc.
EPIGLOTTIS. A cap over the windpipe, allowing the admission of air, but preventing the introduction of foreign bodies.
EPITHELIAL CELLS. Cells belonging to the epithelium.
EPITHELIUM. The thin covering upon the lips, nipple, mucous and serous membranes and lining the ducts, blood-vessels and other canals.
ESOPHAGUS (OESOPHAGUS). The food-pipe. Illus. page 44.
EUSTACHLAN TUBE. The tube leading from the throat to the inner ear. Illus, page 109.
EVACUAUT. Cathartic.
EVOLUTION. Defined on page 14.
EXCORIATES. Removes the skin in part.
EXCORIATION. A wound which removes some of the skin.
EXCREMENTITIOUS. Pertaining to the matter evacuated from the body.
EXCRESCENCES. Surface tumors; as warts, piles, polypi, etc.
EXCRETION. The process by which waste materials are removed from the blood, performed particularly by the lungs, skin and kidneys.
EXCRETORY DUCTS. Minute vessels which transmit fluid from glands.
EXHALATIONS. That which is thrown off by the body, as vapor, gases, etc.
EXPECTORANTS. Medicines which promote discharges from the lungs.
EXPIRATION. Expelling the breath.
EXTRANEOUS MATTER. Any substance which finds a place in the body and does not belong there. Foreign substances.
EXTRA-UTERINE. Outside of the womb, but in its vicinity.
EXTRAVASATED. Escaped into surrounding tissues.
EXTREMITIES. Legs or arms.
EXUDATION. Substances discharged through the pores.
EXUDE. To sweat; to pass through a membrane.
F
FALLOPIAN TUBE. The canal through which the ovum passes from the ovary to the womb.
FARADIZATION. The application of electricity by inductive currents.
FASCIA. The white fibrous expansion of a muscle which binds parts together.
FATTY DEGENERATION. The deposit of particles of fat instead of proper muscular tissue.
FEBRIFUGE. A medicine which abates or cures fevers.
FEBRILE. Relating to fever.
FECUNDATION. The ovum uniting with the male germ. Impregnation.
FEMORAL HERNIA. Thigh hernia. Illus. page 863.
FERMENTED. Changed by a process of decomposition.
FERRUGINOUS. Containing iron.
FETID. Having an offensive smell. Stinking.
FETOR. Offensive smell. Stench.
FIBROUS. Composed of fibres.
FIBROUS TISSUE. The texture which unites every part of the body.
FILAMENTS. Fibre; the basis of texture.
FIMBRIATED. Finger-like.
FIRST INTENTION, HEALING BY. Healing without suppuration or the formation of pus.
FISSURE. A crack.
FISTULA: FISTULÆ. Small canals or tubes which carry pus or other liquids through the flesh.
FISTULA, URINARY. The abnormal communication between the urinary passages and the external surface.
FISTULOUS OPENINGS. The outer end of canals or tubes which carry pus to the surface.
FLATULENCY. Wind gathered in the stomach or bowels.
FLEXION OF THE WOMB. A partial misplacement in which the womb is bent upon itself.
FLEXURES. Bending. Motion of a joint.
FLOCCULENT. Combining or adhering in flocks or flakes.
FLUID EXTRACTS. The active principles of medicines in fluid form.
FOETUS. The unborn child.
FOLLICLES (OF HAIR). Small depressions in the skin.
FOLLICULAR. Relating to or affecting follicles.
FOMENTATIONS. Local application of cloths wrung out of hot water.
FORCEPS. An instrument having a motion and use like the thumb and fore-finger. Pincers. Obstetrical forceps embrace the head of the foetus.
FORESKIN. That part of the skin of the penis which is prolonged over the head of the organ.
FORMICATION. A sensation like a number of ants creeping on a part.
FRACTURE. Broken bone. In compound fracture the end of the bone projects through the skin.
FUNCTION. The peculiar action of an organ, or part of the body.
FUNCTIONAL. Pertaining to the specific action of an organ or part.
FUNDUS. The bottom or base of an organ. The fundus of the womb is its upper part, when in its natural position.
FUNGIFORM. Mushroom-shaped.
G
GALVANISM. Electricity.
GALVANO-CAUTERY. Burning or scarring by galvanic electricity.
GANGLION. A nerve center which forms and distributes nerve-power.
GANGRENE. Death of a part.
GASTRIC. Pertaining to the stomach.
GASTRIC JUICE. The digestive fluid supplied by the mucous membrane of the stomach.
GELATINOUS. Jelly-like.
GENERATION. The functions which are active in reproduction.
GENITALS. The sexual organs.
GESTATION. Carrying the embryo in the uterus.
GLANS. Head of the penis.
GONORRHEA. A discharge of mucous from inflammation of the urethra or vagina, caused by impure connection. Clap.
GRANULAR CASTS. Moulds of epithelium found by the microscope in chronic Bright's Disease.
GRANULAR LIDS. Roughness on the inner surface of the eyelids.
GRANULATIONS HEAL BY. See GRANULATIONS.
GRANULATIONS. Flesh-like shoots, which appear in a wound and form its scar.
GRANULES. Small grains.
GRAVEL. Substances precipitated in the urine resembling sand.
GROIN. The oblique depression between the belly and thigh.
GRUBS. Pimples on the face. See page 442.
GYNECOLOGIST. One who makes the Diseases of Women a specialty.
H
HAIR BULBS. The expansion or root of the hair.
HALLUCINATIONS. Perception or sensation of objects which do not exist; as in Tremens.
HECTIC. Constitutional; as hectic fever, in which all parts of the body become emaciated.
HEMIPLEGIA. Paralysis affecting only one side of the body.
HEMORRHOIDAL VEINS. The veins about the rectum which enlarge and form piles.
HEPATIC. Relating or belonging to the liver.
HEREDITARY. A disease transmitted from parent to child.
HERNIA. Defined on page 862.
HOLLOW OF THE SACRUM. The concave portion of the lower part of the spinal column within the pelvis.
HOMEOPATHY. Defined on page 294.
HYALINE CASTS. Glassy appearing substances found by the microscope in urine in chronic Bright's Disease.
HYDRAGOGUES. Cathartics which produce copious watery discharges.
HYDROCELE. Accumulation of fluid in the scrotum.
HYDROCEPHALUS. Accumulation of fluid in the membranes about the brain.
HYDROTHORAX. Accumulation of fluid in the chest cavities.
HYGIENE. The principles or rules for the promotion or preservation of health.
HYMEN. Described on page 687. HYPERSEMIA. Full of blood. Congestion.
HYPERTROPHY. Enlargement, thickening.
HYPOCHONDRIAC. A person, usually dyspeptic, who is unreasonably gloomy, particularly about his health.
HYPODERMIC SYRINGE. An instrument having a very fine tube and needle-like point, by which medicines are lodged immediately under the skin.
HYSTEROTOME. An instrument described and illustrated on page 696.
I
IDIOPATHIC. Primary: not depending on another disease.
ILLICIT. Not permitted; unlawful.
ILLUSIONS. See HALLUCINATIONS.
IMPACTED. Wedged. Applied to feces which have remained in the rectum a long time.
IMPERFORATE. Without a natural opening.
IMPOTENCY. Loss of sexual power.
IMPREGNATION. Imparting the vital principle of the sperm-cell to the germ-cell, by which a new being is created.
INCIPIENT. Commencement; first stage.
INDEPENDENT PHYSICIAN. Defined on page 295.
INDIGENOUS. Native. Grows in a country.
INDOLENT. Painless; a term applied to tumors.
INDURATION. Hardening of a part or organ.
INFECTION. A prevailing disease. A disease spread only by contact, as itch, syphilis, etc.
INFILTRATION. The passage of fluid into the cellular tissue; as in General Dropsy.
INFLAMMATION. Defined on page 398.
INFUSION. Defined on page 303.
INGUINAL CANAL. A canal situated in the groin, through which the spermatic cord passes. The common seat of Hernia. Illus. page 862.
INOCULATE. To communicate a disease by inserting matter in the flesh; as by vaccination.
INORGANIC. Mineral. Bodies without organs.
INSALIVATION. Mixed with the saliva of the mouth, as food.
INSEMINATION. The emission of sperm in coition.
INSPIRATION. Drawing in the breath.
INTEGUMENT. The skin.
INTENTION, HEALING BY FIRST. Healing without the formation of pus.
INTERCOSTAL. Between the ribs.
INTERMITTENT. Having paroxysms or intervals.
INTERNAL EAR. Described on page 110; Illus. page 109.
INTUSSUSCEPTION. One part of the intestines forced into another part.
INVAGINATION. See INTUSSUSCEPTION
IRIDECTOMY. A surgical operation for the removal of the Iris.
IRIS. A curtain which gives the eye its color.
ISOLATION. Separation from others.
K.
KADESH-BARNEA. The holy place in the desert of wandering; the headquarters of the Israelites for 37 years.
L
LABORATORY. The work-room of a chemist or pharmacist.
LACERATION. A wound made by tearing.
LACHRYMAL. Belonging to the tears.
LACHRYMAL GLANDS. Minute organs about the eyes which secrete tears.
LACTATION. The act of giving suck.
LACTEALS. The vessels of the breast which convey milk.
LAMELLA. Layer.
LAMINAE. Thin bones, or the thin parts of a bone.
LANCINATING. Acute, shooting pains fancifully compared to the pierce of a lance.
LARYNX. That portion of the air-passage indicated in the male by "Adam's Apple."
LASCIVIOUS. Lustful; producing unchaste emotions.
LATERAL OPERATION. Cutting through the perinæum into the bladder.
LAXATIVES. Medicines which move the bowels gently.
LESION. Derangement. Tearing or other division of parts, previously continuous.
LEUCORRHEA. Described on page 702.
LIBERAL PHYSICIAN. Defined on page 295.
LIGAMENT. A white inelastic tendon binding bones together.
LIGATION. See LIGATURE.
LIGATURE. A cord or catgut tied around a blood-vessel to arrest hemorrhage.
LINE. One-twelfth part of an inch.
LITHIC DEPOSITS. Sediment or stone formed in the urine by uric acid.
LOBES. Bound projecting parts of an organ; as lobes of the lungs, of the liver, etc.
LOIN. The side of the body between the hip-bone and ribs.
LOTION. A wash.
LUMBAGO. Rheumatism in the small of the back and loins.
LUMBAR VERTEBRÆ. That part of the backbone in the vicinity of the loins.
LYMPH. A transparent fluid, resembling blood, found in lymphatic vessels. It contains corpuscles and coagulates.
LYMPHATICS. Defined on page 49.
LYMPHATIC TEMPERAMENT. Described on page 157.
M
MALARIA. See MIASM.
MALFORMATION. Irregularity in structure.
MALIGNANT. Applied to diseases which threaten life.
MAMMÆ. See MAMMARY GLANDS.
MAMMALIA. Animals that suckle their young.
MAMMARY GLANDS. The breasts or organs which secrete milk.
MANIPULATIONS. Examination and treatment by the hand.
MASSAGE. Kneading, rubbing and stroking the surface to improve circulation and nutrition and to remove effete material.
MASTICATION. Chewing.
MASTURBATION. Excitement of the sexual organs by the hand.
MEATUS. Canal or passage. External opening of a canal.
MEDIAN SECTION. An operation for stone in the bladder in which the perineum and part of the urethra are cut; the prostatic portion of the urethra is dilated to introduce forceps and withdraw the stone.
MEDULLA OBLONGATA. Described on page 90; illus. page 96.
MELANCHOLIA. A mild form of insanity attended with great gloom and mental depression.
MEMBRANOUS. Of the nature or construction of membrane.
MENINGES. Membranes covering the brain.
MENORRHAGIA. Immoderate monthly flow.
MENSES. Monthly flow of the female. See page 686.
MENSTRUATION. The bloody evacuation from the womb.
MENSTRUUM. A solvent; as water, alcohol, etc.
MESENTERIC GLANDS. Glands about the peritoneum which secrete lymph.
MESENTERY. Described on page 49.
MIASM, MIASMA. A poisonous, gaseous exhalation from decaying vegetation, or from the earth.
MIDWIVES. Females who attend women at childbirth.
MISCARRIAGE. Defined on page 682.
MOLECULE. A minute portion of any body.
MONADS. The smallest of all visible animalcules.
MONOMANIA. Insanity on one subject.
MUCO-PURULENT. Composed of mucus and pus.
MUCOUS MEMBRANE. The thin, web-like lining to the canals and cavities which secretes a fluid by which it is constantly lubricated.
MUCUS. A mucilaginous fluid found on the surface of certain membranes which keeps them soft and pliable. See MUCOUS MEMBRANE.
MUSCLE. The structures of the body which execute movements.
MUSCULAR TISSUE. The flesh forming the muscles of the body.
MYALGIA. Muscular rheumatism.
N
NARCOTICS. Medicines which stupefy.
NECROSIS. Mortification or death of bone.
NERVINES. Defined on page 345.
NERVOUS TISSUE. That part of the body composed of nerve-fibres.
NEURALGIA. Described on page 635.
NICOTIN. A poisonous principle of tobacco.
NITROGEN. One of the gases in the atmosphere.
NODES. Hard lumps, principally found upon the bones in syphilis.
NOXIOUS. Injurious.
NYMPHOMANIA. Extreme desire for sexual intercourse in the female.
O
OBSTETRICAL. Relating or appertaining to childbirth.
OCCLUSION. Approximation or closure.
OEDEMA. See EDEMA.
OLFACTORY NERVE. The nerve employed in the sense of smell. Illus. page 111.
ONANISM. See MASTURBATION
OPACITY. Opaque condition of parts of the eye, causing blindness.
OPALESCENT. Reflecting a milky light.
OPAQUE. See OPACITY.
OPHTHALMIA. Inflammation of the eye.
OPHTHALMIC. Belonging to the eye.
OPHTHALMOSCOPE. An instrument for examining the inside of the eye, for diagnostic purposes.
OPTIC NERVE. The nerve connecting the brain and eye, and employed in the sense of sight.
ORGANIC. Pertaining to the structure of an organ.
ORIFICE. Opening or mouth.
OSSEOUS TISSUE. Bony structure.
OSSIFICATION, OSSIFYING. Made into bone by the deposit of phosphate of lime.
OS UTERI. Mouth of womb. Illus. page 206.
OVA. Plural of ovum.
OVARIES. Two ovoid bodies situated either side of the womb. Illus. page 206.
OVARY. The female organ in which the ovum, or germ-cell, is formed. Illus, page 206.
OVULATION. The formation of the germ-cell in the ovary and its release from that organ.
OVUM. Defined and illustrated on pages 12 and 13.
OXYGEN. The vital gas of the atmospheric air.
OZÆNA. Described on page 474.
P
PALLIATIVE. A remedy or treatment which relieves, but does not cure.
PAPILLA, PAPILLAE. Small, nipple-shaped prominences found on the tongue, the skin, etc.
PARAPLEGIA. Paralysis affecting the upper or lower extremities of the body
PARASITES. Animals which live in the bodies of other animals; as the tape-worm itch insect, etc.
PARENCHYMA. The texture of an organ; as the liver, kidneys, etc.
PAROTID GLANDS. These are situated under the ear, just at the angle of the lower jaw, and secrete saliva.
PAROXYSMS. The periodical attack, fit or aggravation in the course of a disease.
PARTURIENT. Bringing forth or having recently brought forth.
PARTURITION. Labor; the delivery of the foetus.
PASTILES. Small medicated lozenges.
PATHOGNOMONIC. A characteristic symptom of a disease.
PATHOLOGY. That part of the Science of Medicine the object of which is the knowledge of disease.
PEDICLE. The stalk or narrow part of a tumor by which it is attached and supported.
PELVIC. Belonging to and relating to the pelvis.
PELVIS. The lower part of the abdomen or trunk, composed of bone, containing the genital and urinary organs; supports the backbone and is supported by the legs.
PENIS. The male organ of generation. Illus. page 207.
PEPSIN. The digestive solvent secreted by the stomach.
PEPTIC. Pertaining to the stomach.
PERCUSSION. Striking the surface and by the sound produced judging of the condition of the internal organs.
PERICARDITIS. Described on page 548.
PERICARDIUM. The membranous sac enclosing the heart.
PERINEAL SECTION. An operation by division of the perineum.
PERINEUM. The space bounded by the end of the spine, sexual organs and the bony prominences on which one sits.
PERIOSTIUM. The membranous covering to all bones.
PERISTALTIC MOTION. A worm-like movement of the bowels by which the food is moved forward.
PERITONEUM. The membrane (serous) which lines the abdominal cavities and surrounds the intestines.
PERITONITIS. Inflammation of serous membrane lining abdominal and pelvic cavities.
PESSARIES, PESSARY. An instrument for holding the womb in its place.
PESTILENCE. A malignant, spreading disease. A plague.
PHAGADENIC. That which corrodes or eats away rapidly.
PHARMACEUTICAL. Anything belonging to pharmacy.
PHARYNX. The cavity back of the mouth and palate through which the air passes when breathing and the food when swallowing.
PHIMOSIS. Elongated prepuce
PHLEGMONOUS. Affecting the cellular membrane. The common boil is an example.
PHOSPHATE. A substance containing phosphorus.
PHOSPHATES, EARTHY. The white deposit in urine composed of phosphoric acid and a base.
PHTHISIC. Consumption. By some the word is used for Asthma, or difficulty in breathing.
PHTHISIS. Consumption. See p. 497.
PHYSIOLOGICAL ANATOMY. The branch of medicine that defines the organs of the body and their particular actions.
PHYSIOLOGY. The science which treats of the phenomena and functions of animal life.
PIA MATER. The internal vascular membrane covering the brain.
PIMPLES ON THE FACE. Defined on page 443.
PLACENTA. Afterbirth.
PLAGUE. A malignant epidemic; begins in Asia Minor.
PLETHORA, PLETHORIC. Full of blood; maybe general or confined to a part.
PLEURA. Defined on page 64.
PLEURODYNIA. Spasmodic or rheumatic pain in the chest muscles.
PLEURO-PNEUMONIA. Inflammation of both the pleura and lungs.
POLLUTION (SELF). Excitement of the sexual organs by the hand or other unnatural method.
POLYP. An aquatic animal, as the coral builders.
POLYPI. More than one polypus.
POLYPOID. Like a polypus in shape or construction.
POLYPUS. Tumors which grow from mucous membranes, commonly found in the nasal and vaginal cavities.
PORTAL VESSELS. The cluster of veins which join and enter the liver.
POTT'S DISEASE. Described on page 898; illus. pages 898 and 899.
POULTICE. A mixture of bread or meal, etc., and hot water, spread on a cloth and applied to the surface.
POX. Syphilis.
PRECOCITY. Prematurely developed.
PREHENSION. Carrying food to the mouth.
PREPUCE. Foreskin.
PROBANG. Soft swab.
PROBE. An instrument for examining wounds and cavities. A piece of wire with a blunt point is a probe.
PROCREATION. Production or generation of offspring.
PROGNOSIS. Opinion of the future course of a disease.
PROLAPSUS. A falling down of an organ through an orifice, as the womb, bowel, etc.
PROPHYLACTIC. Preventive.
PROPRIETARY MEDICINES. Described on page 298.
PROSTATE GLAND. Described on page 778 and illus. on page 207.
PROTEIDS. goods composed Of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen: as the white of an egg.
PROTOZOÖN. First life; life in the lowest scale; as sponges.
PROUD-FLESH. Abnormal growths which arise in wounds or ulcers.
PRURITIC. Itching.
PRURITUS VULVAE. A nervous disease attended with excessive itching of the external genital parts of the female.
PSOAS OR LUMBAR ABSCESS. An abscess discharging at the groin.
PSYCHICAL. The relation of the soul to animal experiences and being.
PSYCHOLOGICAL. The spiritual potencies of the soul.
PTYALIN. The ferment of the saliva which converts starch into sugar.
PUBERTY. The age at which the subject is capable of procreation.
PUBIC. Relating to the pubes, a part above the genital organs, covered with hair at puberty.
PUERPERAL FEVER. Child-bed fever.
PULMONARY. Relating to the lungs.
PUPIL. The circular opening in the colored curtain within the eye.
PURGATIVES. Medicines which cause evacuation of the bowels.
PURULENT. Discharging pus; as an ulcer.
PUS. A yellowish, inodorous, creamy secretion from inflamed parts; contained in abscesses or discharging from ulcers.
PUSTULAR. Belonging to or affected by pustules.
PUSTULE. An elevation on the skin, containing pus or "matter," and having an inflamed base.
PUTRESCENCE. Decomposition, rottenness.
PUTRESCENT. Decomposing offensively.
PUTRIDITY. Corruption.
PYRÆMIA. Blood-poisoning from the absorption of decomposing pus or "matter."
PYLORIC ORIFICE. The lower opening of the stomach; illus. page 39.
PYRIFORM. Shaped like a pear.
Q
QUICKENING. The time when the motion of the foetus within the womb is first perceptible; between the fourth and fifth months of pregnancy.
R
RADICAL CURE. A cure in which the disease is entirely removed, root and branch.
RALES. Noises produced by air passing through mucus in the lungs.
RECTAL. Pertaining to the rectum.
RECTUM. The lower portion of the intestines terminating in the anus.
RECUMBENT. Reclining.
REFLEX ACTION. See pages 93 and 99.
REGURGITATION. The act by which blood is forced backwards in an unnatural manner.
REMISSION. A temporary diminution of the symptoms of fever.
REPRODUCTION. Producing living bodies similar to the parents.
RESOLUTION. The disappearance of inflammation without suppuration.
RESPIRATION. The function by which the blue blood is converted into red blood in the lungs.
RESPIRATOR. Described on page 230.
RETINA. Defined on page 107.
RETROCEDENT. Moving from one part of the body to another; as gout.
RETROCESSION. Change of an eruption from the surface to the inner parts.
RETROVERSION. A change in the position of the womb in which the top falls back against the rectum.
REVULSION, REVULSIVE. Calling the blood away from the diseased part.
RICKETS. A disease in children characterized by crookedness of the spine and long bones resulting from scrofula or poor and insufficient food.
RICKETY. Affected with rickets.
RINGS (HERNIAL). Circular openings with muscular edges through which a vessel or part passes.
RUBEFACIENTS. Medicines which produce redness of the skin.
RUPTURE. Bursting. Hernia.
S
SACCHARINE. Like or containing sugar.
SALIVA. The secretion of the glands of the mouth.
SALPAE. Little sack-like shaped, soft, fleshy bodies, found in the open ocean, and sometimes phosphorescent.
SANATIVE. Curative. Tending to restore lost health.
SANGUINE TEMPERAMENT. Described on page 163.
SANITARIUM. An institution for the treatment of the sick. A healthy retreat.
SCALES. The epidermis or outer part of the skin consists of minute scales. See Fig. 50, page 71.
SCALP. The skin covering the head.
SCAPULA. Shoulder blade.
SCIATIC NERVE. The great nerve of the thigh.
SCIRRHUS. Stony hardness, characteristic of cancer.
SCLEROTIC COAT. The hard, pearly white covering of the eye.
SCORBUTIC. Producing scurvy, a disease caused by improper or insufficient food.
SCORBUTUS. Scurvy.
SCROFULOUS. Suffering from a condition of the system characterized by enlargement of the glands, eruptions, etc., with great susceptibility to contagion.
SCROTUM. The bag of skin which covers the testicles.
SCURVY. A disease due to impaired nutrition.
SEA TANGLE. A water-plant, which in its dried state is introduced into a canal and dilates the canal as it expands by the absorption of moisture.
SEBACEOUS GLANDS. The oil-tubes of the skin. Illus. page 71.
SECRETION. The process by which substances are separated from the blood.
SEDATIVES. Medicines which allay irritation or irritability of the nervous system.
SEDENTARY. Requiring much sitting.
SELF-POLLUTION. See SELF-ABUSE.
SEMEN. The secretion of the testicles which is thrown out during sexual intercourse and contains the principle of generation.
SEMI-FLUID. Half fluid.
SEMILUNAR VALVES. Valves in the heart. See 9 and 17, Fig. 41, page 58.
SEMINAL VESICLES. Reservoirs for the sperm. See Seminal Sac, on page 207.
SEPTIC. That which corrodes or produces putrefaction.
SEPTICÆMIA. Blood-poisoning; usually by absorption.
SEQUEL. That which follows; the condition or malady which follows a disease.
SEROUS. Watery. Pertaining to the serous membrane.
SEROUS TISSUE. The membranes lining the closed cavities of the body, which secrete a watery, lubricating fluid.
SHOCK. Sudden depression of vitality occasioned by injury.
SITZ BATH. See page 367.
SLOUGHING. The process of separating a mortified part from a healthy part, through the agency of pus.
SMELL, NERVES OF. Illus. page 111.
SOLAR PLEXUS. Described on page 104.
SOLVENTS. Those chemicals which break up or dissolve substances.
SORDES. Foul accumulation on the teeth, noticed in fevers.
SOUND. An instrument for exploring cavities or canals for diagnosis or treatment.
SPECIALTY. That to which special attention is given.
SPECIFIC GRAVITY. Comparative weight; as between urine and water.
SPECULUM. An instrument for examining cavities. Illus. pages 717 and 718.
SPERM. See SEMEN.
SPERMATIC CORD. The mass of arteries, veins, nerves, absorbents and their coverings, which passes along the groin and over the pubic bone, to the testicle.
SPERMATORRHEA. Described on page 772.
SPERMATOZOA. More than one Spermatozoön.
SPERMATOZOON. Defined on page 12; Illus. page 13.
SPHINCTERS. Bound muscles which close natural openings.
SPHYGMOGRAPH. An instrument for examining the heart. Illus. page 548.
SPICULA. A small pointed piece of bone.
SPINAL COLUMN. The twenty-four bones, which, situated one above the other, form the backbone.
SPINAL CORD. Described on page 90.
SPIROMETER. A gauge of chest capacity. Illus. page 392.
SPONGE TENT. Compressed, dried sponge previously treated with Gum Arabic, used for dilating the uterine canal.
SPORADIC, SPORADICALLY. A term for diseases which appear frequently, independent of epidemic or contagious influences.
SPRAIN. A straining or rupture of the fibrous parts of a joint.
STAPHYLOMA. Protrusion of the eye, sometimes with loss of sight.
STERILITY. Barrenness. Inability to bear children.
STERNUM. The breast-bone.
STETHOSCOPE. An instrument for examining the heart and lungs.
STIMULANTS. Medicines which increase the vital activity of the body.
STOOL. Evacuations of the bowels. Dung.
STRABISMUS. Cross-eyes.
STRANGULATED. Caught or fastened in the hernial canal.
STRIATED. Grooved or striped.
STRICTURE. A contracted condition of a canal or passage; of the food-pipe, rectum, urethra, etc.
STRUCTURAL. Belonging to the arrangements of tissues or organs.
STRUMOUS. Scrofulous.
STUPOR. Great diminution of sensibility.
STYE. A little boil on the eyelid.
STYPTIC. An external astringent wash.
SUB-ACUTE. A moderate form of acute.
SUDORIFEROUS GLANDS. Minute organs in the skin, which secrete the perspiration. Illus. page 70.
SUPPORTERS (UTERINE). Instruments intended to hold the womb in its natural position.
SUPPRESSION. Stoppage or obstruction of discharges; as urine, menses, etc.
SUPPURATION. A gathering. Formation of pus, as in an abscess or ulcer.
SUTURE PINS. Pins or needles, which are passed through the edges of wounds to bring them together. Thread is then wound around the pin to hold the edges in place.
SUTURES. The ragged edges of bones by which they are joined to each other. Stitches of thread to bring the edges of a wound together for their union.
SYMPATHETIC NERVE. Defined on page 101.
SYMPTOM. A change in the body or in its functions which indicates disease.
SYMPTOMATIC. Pertaining to symptoms.
SYNOVIAL MEMBRANE. The lining of a joint, which from its oily secretion allows the bones to move freely upon each other.
SYNOVITIS. Described on page 452.
T
TAPPING. Removing collected fluid by introducing a hollow tube through the flesh.
TEMPERAMENT. Peculiarities of the constitution manifested by traits which we denominate character.
TENESMUS. Straining at stool.
TENT. A compressed, dried cylinder of sponge, previously treated with Gum Arabic, which enlarges the canal in which it is placed by expansion from the absorption of moisture.
TESTICLES. Described on page 773; Illus. page 207.
THERMOMETER. An instrument for determining temperature.
THORACIC DUCT. A canal which carries the chyle from its repository in the abdomen to the large vein in the chest, near the heart.
THORAX. Chest.
TINCTURES. Medicines held in solution by alcohol.
TONIC. Defined on page 350.
TOPICAL. Local.
TOPOGRAPHY. Description in detail of a place; in hygiene, to determine its adaptability to residence.
TORMINA. Griping of the bowels.
TORTICOLLIS. Stiffness or contraction of the muscles of the neck. Wryneck.
TOURNIQUET. An instrument to stop bleeding. Illus. Fig. 252, page 890.
TRACHEA. Windpipe. See page 63.
TRANSLUCENT. Transmitting light, but not permitting objects to be seen distinctly.
TRANSUDATION. Passage of liquid through the tissues of the body.
TRAUMATIC. Relating to a wound or injury.
TREPHINING. Removing a piece of bone by a cylindrical saw.
TRITURATE. To pulverize.
TROCAR. An instrument for removing fluids from cavities. It consists of a perforator within a cylinder.
TRUNCATED. Shaped like a pyramid with its top cut off.
TRUSS. A mechanical appliance for preventing protrusion or strangulation. Hernial support.
TUBERCLE. See pages 431 and 498.
TURN OF LIFE. The change of life when menstruation ceases.
TYMPANUM. Ear-drum. Illus. p. 109.
U
UMBILICAL. Of the navel; as umbilical hernia. Illus. page 883.
UMBILICAL CORD. A cord-like substance which conveys the blood to the foetus from the placenta or afterbirth.
UMBILICUS. The Navel.
UNSTRIATED. Not grooved or striped.
URÆMIC. Pertaining to blood-poisoning from the presence of urea in the circulation.
URATES. The pinkish deposit found in urine.
UREA. A constituent of the urine.
URETERS. The canals leading from the kidneys to the bladder. Illus. pages 85 and 207.
URETHRA. The canal leading from the bladder outwards, by which the urine is voided. Illus. page 207.
URETHROTOMY. The operation for opening the urethra for the removal of stricture.
URIC ACID. A constituent of the urine.
URINARY FISTULA. Abnormal communication between the urinary passages and the surface.
URINO-GENITAL ORGANS. Pertaining to the urinary and sexual organs.
UTERINE. Belonging or relating to the womb.
UTERINE CAVITY OR CANAL. From the month of the womb to a constriction called the internal orifice, is a cylindrical space called the canal. Above this to the fundus or base is a triangular and flat space called the cavity.
V
VAGINA. A canal, five or six inches long, situated between the vulva and womb.
VAGINAL. Pertaining to the vagina.
VAGINISMUS. Irritable vagina.
VALVES OF THE HEART. See page 58.
VARICOCELE. Described on page 803.
VARICOSE. Veins that are twisted or dilated.
VASCULAR. Belonging or relating to vessels.
VASCULAR SYSTEM. The heart and blood-vessels.
VEINS. The vessels which return the blue blood to the heart.
VENEREAL. Syphilitic.
VENTRICLES. Chambers in the heart. See 5 and 14, Fig. 41, page 58.
VERMIFUGE. A medicine which destroys or expels worms.
VERSION. Displacement of the womb forwards or backwards.
VERTEBRÆ. The twenty-four bones which joined together form the backbone.
VERTEBRATES. Animals having the jointed skeleton within; distinguishes between these and insects, worms, oysters, jelly fish, etc.
VERTIGO. Dizziness Or swimming of the head.
VESICLES. Small bladders or sacs. Pimples.
VESICULAR. Belonging to or containing cells.
VILLI. Minute thread-like projections.
VIRILE POWER. Masculine vigor. Sexual vigor.
VIRUS. Poison. The agent which transmits infectious disease.
VISCERA. (Plural of Viscus.) More than one internal organ.
VISCOUS. Sticky. Tenacious.
VISCUS. Any internal organ.
VITREOUS HUMOR. The fluid in the eye behind the lens. Illus. page 107.
VOLITIVE TEMPERAMENT. See page 171.
VULVA. The external organs of generation in the female, or the opening between these projecting parts.
W
WALLS. The sides of an enclosure, as the walls of the vagina, which to soma extent support the womb.
WHITES. Described on page 702.
* * * * *
HOW TO AVOID SWINDLERS
WHO SOMETIMES INFEST THE CARS AND DEPOTS IN AND NEAR THIS CITY.
* * * * *
WE WARN ALL THOSE WHO CONTEMPLATE VISITING US, that we have the most positive proofs that a gang of confidence men have at different times made it their business to watch for sick and infirm people on the way to our institutions, and divert them into the hands of "sharpers," confidence men and swindlers. These men have watched for the coming of invalids on the cars, in and around the depots, in the offices of the hotels located near the depots, and if inquiry was made for our institutions, or if the object of the visit to the city was made known or suspected from the invalid appearance of the traveler, they at once commenced weaving their skillfully-wrought web to catch a victim.
WE, THEREFORE,
ADVISE ALL THOSE DESIRING TO VISIT US,
FIRST.--TO ASK FOR NO INFORMATION FROM POLICEMEN, OR THOSE APPEARING TO BE POLICEMEN, IN OR ABOUT OUR DEPOTS. CONFIDENCE MEN OFTEN ASSUME A STYLE OF DRESS SIMILAR TO THAT WORN BY POLICEMEN.
SECOND.--LET THE OBJECT OF YOUR VISIT TO THE CITY BE KNOWN TO NO ONE WHOM YOU MEET ON THE CARS, OR IN THE DEPOTS OR NEAR THEM.
THIRD.--IF YOU HAVE A CHECK FOR BAGGAGE, WHEN THE BAGGAGE-MAN COMES THROUGH THE CARS, AS ONE DOES ON EVERY TRAIN BEFORE IT REACHES THE CITY, ASKING IF YOU WILL HAVE YOUR BAGGAGE DELIVERED ANYWHERE IN THE CITY, OR, IF YOU WILL HAVE A CARRIAGE; IF YOU HAVE A TRUNK, GIVE HIM THE CHECK FOR IT, PAY HIM 25 CENTS ONLY AND HE WILL HAVE IT DELIVERED AT THE INVALIDS' HOTEL AND SURGICAL INSTITUTE. 663 MAIN STREET. (Do not forget the number). You had better, also, procure a ticket from this baggage-man, or agent, for a coupe or carriage to our place, for which you will have to pay only fifty cents. (Outside prices are higher.) This saves all trouble and anxiety, as the agent will look carefully after both yourself and baggage, and you are sure of reaching our place promptly and safely. If you have only hand-baggage, such as bundles, traveling-bags, or similar luggage, you can take it with you in the carriage without extra cost.
Mr. C.W. Miller, whose agents solicit on all the in-coming trains for the delivery of passengers and baggage, has an office in every passenger depot in this city, to which you can apply if, by any chance, you miss his agent on the train.
THE INVALIDS' HOTEL AND SURGICAL INSTITUTE IS OPEN DAY AND NIGHT, AND YOU WILL BE CORDIALLY RECEIVED AND WELL TAKEN CARE OF.
THE TABLE IS PROVIDED WITH THE BEST OF FOOD.
NO HOTEL IN THE CITY HAS BETTER ROOMS OR BEDS THAN THE INVALIDS' HOTEL.
THIS INSTITUTION IS NOT A HOSPITAL, BUT A COMMODIOUS AND COMFORTABLE INVALIDS' HOME.
If all we say of our institutions, and our advantages and facilities for the successful treatment of disease is not found, on your arrival and investigation, to be just as we have represented them, WE WILL PAY ALL THE EXPENSES OF YOUR TRIP AND YOU CAN RETURN HOME AT ONCE.
"A WORD TO THE WISE,"
in the nature of advice, to those about to visit us, in conclusion, may not be out of place.
KEEP YOUR BUSINESS TO YOURSELF WHILE ON THE ROAD HERE, ALSO WHEN ABOUT THE DEPOTS, AND ASK NO QUESTIONS OF ANYBODY.
MAKE NO TRAVELING ACQUAINTANCES. THEY ARE DANGEROUS.
Observe the foregoing directions, and any child of twelve years, possessed of ordinary intelligence, can reach our conspicuous place, 663 MAIN STREET, Buffalo, N.Y., without fail.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION.
* * * * *
* * * * *