The funny side of physic, or, The mysteries of medicine, presenting the humorous and serious sides of medical practice. An exposé of medical humbugs, quacks, and charlatans in all ages and all countries / by A. D. Crabtre, M. D.

  • Crabtre, Addison Darre.
Date:
1874
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The funny side of physic, or, The mysteries of medicine, presenting the humorous and serious sides of medical practice. An exposé of medical humbugs, quacks, and charlatans in all ages and all countries / by A. D. Crabtre, M. D. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

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    priests caused the rabble, from first to last, to believe that all disease was inflicted, not from the violation of the laws of nature, but by some angry and outraged divinity, whose wrath must be appeased by bribes {paid to the priests), by incantations, and absurd ceremonies, or else the afflicted vic- tim must die a painful death, and forever after suffer a more horrible eternity. The priests' receiving the pay reminds us of the following little anecdote. A very pious man, recently congratulating a convalescing patient upon his recovery, asked his friend who had been his physician. Dr. Blank brought me safely through, was his reply. No, no, said the friend, God brought you out of this affliction, and healed you, — not the doctor. Well, replied the man, may be he did; but I am sure that the doctor will charge me for it. The offices of priest and physician were united among the Jews, Heathens, Greeks, Egyptians, and Romans. The Druids (from draoi, magician) ruled and ruined the ancient Celts, Gauls, Britons, and Germans. The people of these nations looked up to the priests as though life and death and immortality hung only upon their lips. Among our aborigines we have also examples of the double office of priest and medicine man. And it is an astonishing fact, that notwithstanding the ignorance of the pretenders to healing, or the ridiculousness of the prescriptions, or the exorbitant fees, the rabble of the age relied upon them with the most implicit confidence. If the patient recovered, the priests — embodying the gods — had restored them by their great skill and the favor of some particular divinity, and so were worshipped, and again rewarded with other fees to offer sacrifices to the individual god who was supposed to favor the priest or wizard. If he died it was the will of the gods that it should so be, and the friends lost none of their faith in the abilities of their medical and spiritual advisers.