THERAPEUTICS Gk. Ocpa1evroc6s, therapeutikos, relating to medical treatment, from &pavan-7)s, therapeutes, attendant, serv ant). The branch of medicine which has as its object the cure of disease. The conception of dis ease which is found among primitive races is associated with the idea of demon possession. The earliest therapeutic measures were devoted to driving out these demons from the bodies of their victims. Two methods were employed: one consisted in the recital of charms or magic oter the ailing part, or over the sick person: and the other consisted in the internal administration or the external application of certain aromatic or bitter herbs. In the early history of both East ern and Western nations there was a blending of the office of priest and physician. Among the an cient Egyptians the treatment of disease had ac quired a character which was by no means un scientific. They used many remedies of vegetable, mineral, and animal nature, a number of which are of acknowledged value. Careful directions are to be found as to the administration of drugs as well as the indications for their use. Egyptian physicians' knowledge of hydrotherapy, dietet ics, and hygiene was far advanced. Among the Hebrews the infliction and cure of diseases is on various occasions in Scripture ascribed to tho direct interposition of God. Their methods of treatment consisted principally of strict hygienic means, careful attention to diet, ablution. sepa ration, and combustion of garments. A large list of remedies is mentioned in the Bible. The Babylonians had no practitioners of medi cine; they exposed their sick in public places in order that travelers might communicate their ex periences as to the best mode of cure. In As syria the sick were similarly exposed, and purges, emetics, and blisters were employed as matters of routine for three days successively each month. We know also that they used salt and alum, as well as fumigations with mixtures of various drugs. The Chinese assert that with them the study of medicine was coeval with the foundation of their empire. They possess ex tensive works on treatment which are of great antiquity. Ginseng they regarded as a panacea, and also employed opium, mercury, and a num ber of other drugs of value. The Greeks may have borrowed something from the Eastern na tions of their knowledge of medicine and treat ment; but researches have shown that under the scientific spirit of Hippocrates they had evolved a system which commands respect. Hippocrates
ascribed disease to alterations of the humors of the body (the blood, phlegm, and yellow and black bile). He employed baths, diet, exercise, blood-letting, the actual cautery, and other sur gical means, and also an extensive series of medicines derived from mineral, vegetable, and animal sources. The Alexandrian School, which succeeded the Hippocratean, opposed bleeding and returned to simple remedies. This sect was followed by the Empiricists, who followed ex perience as their sole guide. Then came the Methodic School, which rejected all previous theories and explained all normal and abnormal processes by the contraction and relaxation of the pores of the body. They regarded all medi cines as possessing astringent or relaxant quali ties, and their choice of remedies depended upon which effect upon the pores they aimed to se cure. Galen represented the highest develop ment of Greek medicine. He explained the operation of drugs by reference to their elemen tary qualities, heat, cold, dryness, and moisture. In the early periods of Roman history medicine was practiced by the slaves and freedmen and its highest development was reached under the influence of the Greek School. In the Dark Ages medicine was practiced by the monks. Magic and astrology were potent influences. During this time the doctrine of 'signatures' arose. Accord ing to this idea a remedy was chosen on account of its fancied resemblance in form or color to the organ affected. To this doctrine we trace the introduction into medicine of such drugs as the bloodroot and liverwort. The old Galenists used only organic drugs, but in the fifteenth century under Paracelsus and his followers there was an overthrow of the older methods. Be first introduced chemical agents (employing mercury in syphilis) and substituted tinctures, essences, and extracts for various disgusting preparations. Toward the middle of the eighteenth century the practice of therapeutics had reached a most complicated stage. There were theories and counter-theories and physicians were prescribing huge doses of unpleasant mixtures in the hope of securing the good from all the remedies recommended. A natural reaction set in which resulted in the establishment of boniceophthy, an outgrowth of the reactionary doctrine of 'vital ism.' Later there arose the therapeutic nihil ists, prominent among whom were Van Swieten and Skoda. This school rejected drug treatment altogether.