Primitive3 man, from the earliest ages, must have been a diligent4 student of medicine; it has indeed been wisely said that the first man was the first physician. That is to say, he must have been at least as careful to avoid noxious5 things and select good ones as the beasts, and, as in the lowest scale, he must have been able in some degree to observe, reflect, and compare one thing with another, and so find out what hurt and what healed him, he would at once begin to practise the healing art, either that branch of it which is directed towards maintaining the health or that of alleviating6 suffering. When his fellow-men were sick and died, he would be led to wonder why they perished; and when other men stricken in like manner recovered, he would speculate as to the causes of their cure. It is probable that at first little attention was paid to the loss of blood when an artery7 was severed8. Soon, however, it would be remarked that under such conditions the man would faint, and perhaps die. In process of time it would be observed that when the injured blood-vessel was by any means, natural or artificial, closed, the man quickly recovered. Then some one wiser than the other would bind9 a strip of fibre or a piece of the skin of a beast around the bleeding limb, and the h?morrhage would cease, and the operator would gain credit and reward. He would then, naturally, give himself airs, and pretend, in course of time, to some importance, and so become a healer by profession. It would soon be noticed that those who, in the search for berries in the woods, ate of certain kinds, more or less promptly10 died, and those who had abstained11 from their use survived. It would be understood that such berries must not be eaten. Or again, a man suffering from some pain in his stomach would eat of a particular plant that seemed good for food, and his pain would be relieved: it might be ages before primitive man would arrive at the conclusion that there was some connection between the pain and41 its disappearance12 after eating of the plant in question; but in process of time the two things would be associated, and everybody would use the curative plant for the particular pain.
It is natural to suppose that many such things would happen, and we know as a fact that they have so happened in numberless instances.
Probably empirical medicine, in the most ancient times and amongst the most savage13 tribes, had an armoury of weapons against pain and sickness not greatly inferior to our own Materia Medica. The origin of the use of most of our valuable medicines cannot be discovered.
“As no man can say who it was that first invented the use of clothes and houses against the inclemency14 of the weather, so also can no investigation15 point out the origin of medicine—mysterious as the sources of the Nile. There has never been a time when it was not.”87
The origin of surgery is probably much older than that of medicine, if by the term surgery we mean the application of herbs to wounds, either as bandages or on account of their healing properties, and the use of medicinal baths the like. Mr. Gladstone, in an address to a society of herbalists, which was reported in the Daily News, 27th March, 1890, said that an accident which occurred to himself, when cutting down a tree, illustrated16 the very beginning of the healing art. He cut his finger with the axe17, and found that he had no handkerchief with him with which to bind up the wound, so he took a leaf of the tree nearest to him, and fastened it round his injured finger. The bleeding stopped at once, and the wound, he declared, healed much more quickly and favourably18 than previous injuries treated in a more scientific manner. There is no doubt whatever that this is a good example of the primitive manner of treating cuts and other flesh wounds. The cooling properties of leaves would be recognised by the most primitive peoples; and as a cut or other wound, by the process of inflammation, at once begins to burn and throb19, a cooling leaf would be the most natural thing to apply. Some leaves which possess styptic and resinous20 properties would staunch bleeding very effectually, and the mere21 act of binding22 round the cut an application like a leaf would serve to draw together the edges of the wound, and afford an antiseptic plaster of the most scientific nature. It was, in fact, by just such means that the valuable styptic properties of the matico leaves were first discovered by Europeans.
If, in the depths of the forest, an Indian breaks his leg or arm (said Dr. Kingston in his address at the British Medical Association meeting at Nottingham, 1892), splints of softest material are at once improvised23. Straight branches are cut, of uniform length and thickness. These are42 lined with down-like moss24, or scrapings or shavings of wood; or with fine twigs25 interlaid with leaves, if in summer; or with the curled-up leaves of the evergreen26 cedar27 or hemlock28, if in winter; and the whole is surrounded with withes of willow29 or osier, or young birch. Occasionally it is the soft but sufficiently30 unyielding bark of the poplar or the bass-wood. Sometimes, when near the marshy31 margin32 of our lakes or rivers, the wounded limb is afforded support with wild hay or reeds of uniform length and thickness.
To carry a patient to his wigwam, or to an encampment, a stretcher is quickly made of four young saplings, interwoven at their upper ends, and on this elastic33 springy couch the injured man is borne away by his companions. When there are but two persons, and an accident happens to one of them, two young trees of birch or beech34 or hickory are used. Their tops are allowed to remain to aid in diminishing the jolting35 caused by the inequalities of the ground. No London carriage-maker ever constructed a spring which could better accomplish the purpose. A couple of crossbars preserve the saplings in position, and the bark of the elm or birch, cut into broad bands, and joined to either side, forms an even bed. In this way an injured man is brought by his companion to a settlement, and often it has been found, on arrival, that the fractured bones are firmly united, and the limb is whole again. This is effected in less time than with the whites, for the reparative power of these children of the forest is remarkable36. In their plenitude of health, osseous matter is poured out in large quantity, and firm union is soon effected.
The reparative power of the aborigines, when injured, is equalled by the wonderful stoicism with which they bear injuries, and inflict37 upon themselves severest torture. They are accustomed to cut into abscesses with pointed38 flint; they light up a fire at a distance from the affected39 part (our counter-irritation); they amputate limbs with their hunting-knives, checking the h?morrhage with heated stones, as surgeons were accustomed to do in Europe in the time of Ambroise Paré; and sometimes they amputate their own limbs with more sang froid than many young surgeons will display when operating on others. The stumps40 of limbs amputated in this primitive manner are well formed, for neatness is the characteristic of all the Indian’s handiwork.
The aborigines are familiar with, and practise extensively, the use of warm fomentations. In every tribe their old women are credited with the possession of a knowledge of local bathing with hot water, and of medicated decoctions. The herbs they use are known to a privileged few, and enhance the consideration in which their possessors are held.
43
The Turkish bath, in a simpler but not less effective form, is well known to them. If one of their tribe suffers from fever, or from the effects of long exposure to cold, a steam bath is readily improvised. The tent of deer-skin is tightly closed; the patient is placed in one corner: heated stones are put near him, and on these water is poured till the confined air is saturated41 with vapour. Any degree of heat and any degree of moisture can be obtained in this way. Europeans often avail themselves of this powerful sudatory when suffering from rheumatism42.
The aborigines have their herbs—a few, not many. They have their emetics43 and laxatives, astringents44 and emollients—all of which are proffered46 to the suffering without fee or reward. The “Indian teas,” “Indian balsams,” and other Indian “cure-alls”—the virtues47 of which it sometimes takes columns of the daily journals to chronicle—are not theirs. To the white man is left this species of deception48.88
Mr. E. Palmer says that there is a tribe of Australian aborigines, called “Kalkadoona,” adjoining the Mygoodano tribe of the Cloncurry, who practise certain surgical49 operations at their Bora initiations of youths. They operate on the urethra with flint knives. The same custom can be traced from the Cloncurry River to the Great Australian Bight in the south. The females are in some of the south-western tribes operated on in some manner to prevent conception. It is supposed that the ovary is taken out, as in the operation of spaying.89
Such operations are sometimes performed with a mussel-shell.
Sir John Lubbock says of the Society Islanders that “they had no knowledge of medicine as distinct from witchcraft50; but some wonderful stories are told of their skill in surgery. I will give perhaps the most extraordinary. ‘It is related,’ says Mr. Ellis, ‘although,’ he adds with perfect gravity, ‘I confess I can scarcely believe it, that on some occasions, when the brain has been injured as well as the bone, they have opened the skull51, taken out the injured portion of the brain, and, having a pig ready, have killed it, taken out the pig’s brains, put them in the man’s head and covered them up.’”90
Massage in one form or another has been practised from immemorial ages by all nations. Captain Cook tells us, in his narrative52 of the people of Otaheite, New Holland, and other parts of Oceania, that they practise massage in a way very similar to that which is employed by more civilized53 nations. For the relief of muscular fatigue54 they resort to a process which they call toogi-toogi, or light percussion55 regularly applied44 for a long time. They also employ kneading and friction56 under the names of Miti and Fota. African travellers inform us that the medicine-men use these processes for the relief of injuries to the joints58, fractures, and pain of the muscles. Our word shampooing is said to have been derived59 from the Hindu term chamboning. Dr. N.?B. Emerson, in 1870, gave an account of the lomi-lomi of the Sandwich Islanders. He says that, “when footsore and weary in every muscle, so that no position affords rest, and sleep cannot be obtained, these manipulations relieve the stiffness and soothe60 to sleep, so that the unpleasant effects of excessive exercise are not felt the next day, but an unwonted suppleness61 of joint57 and muscle comes instead.”91
When we receive a blow or strike our bodies against a hard substance, we instinctively62 rub the affected part. This is one of the simplest and most effectual examples of natural surgery. When the emollient45 properties of oil were discovered, rubbing with oil, or inunction, was practised. The use of oil for this purpose in the East is extremely ancient. Amongst the Greeks there was a class of rubbers who anointed the bodies of the athletes. The oil was very thoroughly63 rubbed in, so that the pores of the skin were closed and the profuse64 perspiration65 thereby66 prevented. After the contest the athlete was subjected to massage with oil, so as to restore the tone of the strained muscles. These aliptae came to be recognised as a sort of medical trainers. A similar class of slaves attended their masters in the Roman baths, and they were also possessed67 of a certain kind of medical knowledge.
Discussing the origin of the operation of trepanning, Sprengel says that “nothing is more instructive, in the history of human knowledge, than to go back to the origin, or the clumsy rough sketch68 of the discoveries to which man was conducted by accident or reflection, and to follow the successive improvements which his methods and his instruments undergo.”92 The name of the inventor of this operation is lost in the night of time. Hippocrates gives us the first account of trepanning in his treatise69 on Wounds of the Head. We know, however, that it was performed long before his time. Dr. Handerson, the translator of Baas’ History of Medicine, says that human skulls70 of the neolithic71 period have been discovered which bear evidences of trepanning.93
The operation of cutting for the stone, like many other of the most difficult operations of surgery, was for a long time given over to45 ignorant persons who make a speciality of it. Sprengel attributes this injurious custom to the ridiculous pride of the properly instructed doctors, who disdained72 to undertake operations which could be successfully performed by laymen73.94
The Bafiotes, on the coast of South Guinea, practise cupping. They make incisions75 in the skin, and place horns over the wounds, and then suck out the air, withdrawing the blood by these means.95
“Felkin saw a case of the C?sarean operation in Central Africa performed by a man. At one stroke an incision74 was made through both the abdominal76 walls and the uterus; the opening in the latter organ was then enlarged, the h?morrhage checked by the actual cautery, and the child removed. While an assistant compressed the abdomen77, the operator then removed the placenta. The bleeding from the abdominal walls was then checked. No sutures were placed in the walls of the uterus, but the abdominal parietes were fastened together by seven figure-of-eight sutures, formed with polished iron needles and threads of bark. The wound was then dressed with a paste prepared from various roots, the woman placed quietly upon her abdomen, in order to favour perfect drainage, and the task of this African Spencer Wells was finished. It appears that the patient was first rendered half unconscious by banana wine. One hour after the operation the patient was doing well, and her temperature never rose above 101° F., nor her pulse above 108. On the eleventh day the wound was completely healed, and the woman apparently78 as well as usual.”96
The South Sea Islanders perform trepanning, and some Australian tribes perform ovariotomy.97
The missionary79 d’Entrecolles was the first to inform the Western world of the method of inoculation for the small-pox, which the Chinese have followed for many centuries.98
In many countries, and from the earliest times, says Sprengel,99 it has been customary to inoculate80 children with small-pox, because experience has shown that a disease thus provoked assumes a milder and more benign81 form than the disease which comes naturally.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
massage
|
|
| n.按摩，揉；vt.按摩，揉，美化，奉承，篡改数据 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
inoculation
|
|
| n.接芽；预防接种 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
primitive
|
|
| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
diligent
|
|
| adj.勤勉的，勤奋的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
noxious
|
|
| adj.有害的，有毒的；使道德败坏的，讨厌的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
alleviating
|
|
| 减轻，缓解，缓和( alleviate的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
artery
|
|
| n.干线，要道；动脉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
severed
|
|
| v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
bind
|
|
| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
promptly
|
|
| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
abstained
|
|
| v.戒（尤指酒），戒除( abstain的过去式和过去分词 )；弃权（不投票） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
disappearance
|
|
| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
savage
|
|
| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
inclemency
|
|
| n.险恶，严酷 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
investigation
|
|
| n.调查，调查研究 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
illustrated
|
|
| adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
axe
|
|
| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
favourably
|
|
| adv. 善意地，赞成地 =favorably | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
throb
|
|
| v.震颤，颤动；(急速强烈地)跳动，搏动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
resinous
|
|
| adj.树脂的，树脂质的，树脂制的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
binding
|
|
| 有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
improvised
|
|
| a.即席而作的,即兴的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
moss
|
|
| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
twigs
|
|
| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
evergreen
|
|
| n.常青树；adj.四季常青的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
cedar
|
|
| n.雪松，香柏(木) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
hemlock
|
|
| n.毒胡萝卜，铁杉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
willow
|
|
| n.柳树 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
sufficiently
|
|
| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
marshy
|
|
| adj.沼泽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
margin
|
|
| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
elastic
|
|
| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
beech
|
|
| n.山毛榉；adj.山毛榉的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
jolting
|
|
| adj.令人震惊的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
remarkable
|
|
| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
inflict
|
|
| vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
affected
|
|
| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
stumps
|
|
| （被砍下的树的）树桩( stump的名词复数 )； 残肢； （板球三柱门的）柱； 残余部分 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
saturated
|
|
| a.饱和的，充满的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
rheumatism
|
|
| n.风湿病 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
emetics
|
|
| n.催吐药( emetic的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
astringents
|
|
| n.收敛剂，止血药( astringent的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
emollient
|
|
| n.镇痛剂；缓和药；adj.使柔软的；安慰性的，起镇静作用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
proffered
|
|
| v.提供，贡献，提出( proffer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
virtues
|
|
| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
deception
|
|
| n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
surgical
|
|
| adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
witchcraft
|
|
| n.魔法，巫术 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
skull
|
|
| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
narrative
|
|
| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
civilized
|
|
| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
fatigue
|
|
| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
percussion
|
|
| n.打击乐器；冲突，撞击；震动，音响 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
friction
|
|
| n.摩擦，摩擦力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
joint
|
|
| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
joints
|
|
| 接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
derived
|
|
| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
soothe
|
|
| v.安慰；使平静；使减轻；缓和；奉承 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
suppleness
|
|
| 柔软； 灵活； 易弯曲； 顺从 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
instinctively
|
|
| adv.本能地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
thoroughly
|
|
| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
profuse
|
|
| adj.很多的，大量的，极其丰富的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
perspiration
|
|
| n.汗水；出汗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
thereby
|
|
| adv.因此，从而 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
possessed
|
|
| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
sketch
|
|
| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
treatise
|
|
| n.专著；(专题)论文 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
skulls
|
|
| 颅骨( skull的名词复数 )； 脑袋； 脑子； 脑瓜 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
neolithic
|
|
| adj.新石器时代的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
disdained
|
|
| 鄙视( disdain的过去式和过去分词 )； 不屑于做，不愿意做 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
laymen
|
|
| 门外汉，外行人( layman的名词复数 )； 普通教徒（有别于神职人员） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
incision
|
|
| n．切口，切开 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
incisions
|
|
| n.切开，切口( incision的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
abdominal
|
|
| adj.腹（部）的，下腹的；n.腹肌 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
abdomen
|
|
| n.腹，下腹(胸部到腿部的部分) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
apparently
|
|
| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
missionary
|
|
| adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
inoculate
|
|
| v.给...接种，给...注射疫苗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
benign
|
|
| adj.善良的，慈祥的；良性的，无危险的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |