Chapter 16 Chapter 16 Medical Superstitions

In no other field do pseudoscientists flourish as they do in medicine.The reason for this is not difficult to understand.First of all, a quack doctor can often make a lot of money as long as he shows his face.Second, if he was sincere, or even a little sincere, his medical results would certainly be deceptive.Of course, some people are inherently deceitful quacks.And other quacks are as sincere as Piazzi Smith was to the Great Pyramid.Then there are those whose sincerity is mingled with deceit, of the type that the minds of bigoted eccentrics often belong to. There are two secrets to the success of quack doctors.One is that many diseases of the human body, including some of the most serious diseases, can go away without any treatment after a certain stage of development.For example, Mrs. Smith cannot eradicate a nasty cold.She decides to try out a famous new doctor.This doctor does not use orthodox medical skills, but someone recommends him vigorously. This doctor is dignified and speaks medicine well.There were certificates from several medical schools on the wall, and several degrees attached to his name (Ms. created by me).

Mrs. Smith decided that she would suffer no harm.Moreover, she feels lonely and likes to tell the doctor about her troubles.So she took off her shoes and socks and had the doctor shine infrared rays on her feet for ten minutes.It only cost $5, and of course she would have to come back for two or three treatments.After more than a week, her cold was cured.Unbelievable as it may seem, Mrs. Smith now believes that the disease is cured by infrared rays.She became a loyal advocate of the doctor.Within a year, he had taken hundreds of dollars out of her bank deposit. Charles Ford made a simple generalization. "There was an eclipse, and the savages panicked. The healer waved his wand, and it was to his credit that the sun rose." Half the success of the quack was in this.

The other half is that many diseases of people are completely or partly caused by psychological reasons.As long as the patient believes in a doctor, he will often find it effective, no matter what bizarre remedies he uses.Moreover, the more people who seek medical treatment from this doctor, the greater the patient's confidence.Not only that, but if dozens of Mrs. Smith's friends are talking about the healing properties of infrared, she's all the more willing to discuss the fad, to be an insider who can talk about her own experience.When everyone sees a flying saucer, you certainly want to see one yourself.If everyone is cured with infrared, you want to be cured in the same way.No matter what her knowledgeable friends or even her family doctor told her, Mrs. Smith had a simple and irrefutable answer: It worked.

And it works.Whenever the federal government brings a quack to court, he can easily find dozens of people to testify that they have been miraculously cured, like a restored evangelist, no matter how peculiar his dogma may be , every modern witch-doctor, despite the absurdity of his methods, finds a patient he can cure. This chapter outlines four world-famous medical superstitions, all created by pseudoscientists and gaining millions of followers in the United States.The next three chapters will discuss some quack doctors, health fanatics, and Dr. Bates and his eye exercises that are not "schools".

The No. 1 medical superstition with considerable status in the United States - homeopathy, was pioneered by a German doctor, Samuel Hahnemann.In 1810 he published his masterpiece "The Law of Reasoning".According to Hahnemann, there is a "Law of Similarity" which states that "like heals like".To put it in more detail, if a healthy person develops symptoms similar to a certain disease after taking a drug, then this drug can cure the disease. Hahnemann and his disciples "tested" more and more new treatments.It is done by giving healthy people a drug and gradually increasing the dose until symptoms appear.These symptoms were then compared to those of various diseases.If a similarity is found, the drug is considered effective for that disease.Although some diseases have specific symptoms and require specific drug treatment, in fact each person should be regarded as a unique individual and should be treated according to the symptoms presented, not just according to the name of the disease.

Homeopathic medicines are used in very small doses.Hahnemann was convinced that the smaller the dose, the greater the effect.Drugs are often diluted to the 10th power of one millionth of a valley.A homeopathic doctor has verified the curative effect on 1349 symptoms with the 10th power of one millionth of the valley salt.Diluted to this extent is like dropping a drop of medicine into the Pacific Ocean, stir well and then take a tablespoon.Hahnemann believed that the more a drug was freed from its "materiality," the more "spiritual" it would be to heal, and in many cases it was best to dilute the drug so that not a single cent of the substance remained!Only in this way can a drug with extremely high curative effect be produced.In addition, the doctor also believes that the effect of this drug may not be fully exerted until 30 days after taking it.In some cases, the effect lasted until day 50.Hahnemann also told people that seven-eighths of chronic diseases are various variants of scabies.However, this view of his was soon abandoned by his followers.

Homeopathic doctors debated the exact nature of "homeopathic medicines," and as a result, the movement split into two factions: those who followed Hahnemann and those who believed that at least some (if only a few molecules) of the original active ingredient The "low potency" faction.Modern traditionalists have abandoned Hahnemann's "spiritual effect" theory and replaced it with the mysterious "radiation" theory.This radiation persists after matter disappears, and has an unknown physical basis.Just as the "law of similarity" has something in common with the principle of vaccination, the principle of extremely small doses also has a little factual basis, but this only involves a small number of drugs.The mistake of homeopathy is to exaggerate these two limited truths to an absurd degree, and then apply them generally to all medicines.

Homeopathy naturally uses a much wider variety of medicines than "allopathic" medicine (the name given to orthodox medicine by homeopaths, which is no longer used much).About 3,000 different drugs have been "validated" and new ones are constantly being discovered.The Homeopathic Research Foundation, headed by Dr. William Gutman of New York City, recently "proven" that extremely dilute doses of the metal cadmium can cure certain types of severe periodic migraines. One homeopathic remedy (which is no longer used) is called "children's tears" and its ingredients are maiden tears.Other outlandish remedies were made from powdered starfish, skunk secretions, crushed live bedbugs, powdered anthracite coal, powdered oyster shells, and uric acid extracted from human urine or snake excrement.Most homeopathic medicines are derived from plants, although in recent years there has been a tendency to test metal medicines.Any substance, whether organic or inorganic, can be a homeopathic medicine.A doctor announced that he had verified a new medicine, tried by his colleagues, and the patient was cured, so this new medicine joined the ranks of homeopathic medicines.Research by reliable pharmacologists has shown that all such strange drugs are completely harmless when administered to patients in diluted form - neither causing symptoms nor curing diseases (except, of course, for effects due to psychological reasons) .

Sure enough, millions of people benefited enormously from taking tiny doses of these worthless drugs. "Of course a few patients died. But even allopathic doctors couldn't save them all." This medical superstition spread rapidly in Europe in the 1820s, and in the 1840s. Britain and the United States, reaching the peak of success in the United States around 1880.Emerson and William Bryant were followers of this superstition, but Oliver Holmes gave the movement its earliest and most effective in his book Homeopathy and Similar Delusions (1842) hit.By 1900, there were 22 homeopathic medical schools in the United States, which had accumulated a large amount of literature and published dozens of publications.A huge monument to Hahnemann was erected on Scott Circle in Washington, D.C., and still stands there today.

After 1900, the movement began to decline and the American schools of homeopathic medicine disappeared one by one.Some of the more prosperous schools, such as the New York School of Medicine in Manhattan and the Hahnemann School of Medicine in Philadelphia, gradually evolved into convincing first-class medical schools after reducing their homeopathy courses.There are no homeopathic medical schools in the United States today, although a few institutions, such as the two mentioned above, offer postgraduate courses in homeopathy.However, there are still thousands of physicians who consider themselves homeopaths, the largest number being in Philadelphia.These guys all have standard MD degrees and make good use of orthodox medicine in diagnostics, surgery, etc.They just follow the homeopathic tradition in medicine, and even on this side there are thriving specialty pharmacies in several large cities that supply homeopathic medicines.The Journal of the American Homeopathic Association, published in Philadelphia, the premier publication of this superstition, contains an article on the use of various types of cobwebs and spider venom in the manufacture of medicines.

In the United States, homeopathy continued to decline, although prominent figures such as Marlene Dietrich (who also believed in astrology) remained enthusiastic patrons.In Europe, however, there was a clear revival after World War II, especially in Germany and France.In France, where there has been a recent revival of interest in "acupuncture," homeopathy and acupuncture have competed among the fads.Homeopathy continues to be respected in England, where the royal family retains a homeopathic doctor and the Royal Homeopathic Hospital in London is one of the best in the world.This superstition has always been popular among the nobility of England and continental Europe.In addition, the movement flourished in India and South America. Quacks pervert similar laws in many eccentric ways. Thirty years ago Dr. Loyal Rogers of Chicago advertised his method as "no drugs, no worms."Rogers' drug was made by "thinning, dissolving, brewing and strengthening" a few drops of the patient's blood.His book "Autologous Blood Therapy" was published in 1916.In New York City, Dr. Ziles Duncan went one step further.In his book "Self-cure" (1918), he said that he treated abscesses by giving his patients extracts from their own abscesses, tuberculosis with extracts from patients' sputum, and dysentery by injecting fluids filtered from feces, etc. Naturopathic medicine, like homeopathy, is a worldwide medical superstition that originated in Europe.However, unlike homeopathy, naturopathic medicine does not have a single founder.It developed naturally.In other words, it relies entirely on "nature" to treat diseases, using as little or no medicine and surgery as possible.This movement has hundreds of exotic remedies, so it is difficult to say exactly what the principles of naturopathic medicine are. The earliest European doctors in the eighteenth and eighteenth centuries.Advocating natural remedies.Vincennes Presnitz and Father Sebastian Knapp were pioneers of hydrotherapy.Adolf Just, in his book Back to Nature, advocates sleeping on the ground, walking barefoot on wet lawns and sand and using mud packs.Louis Kuhn's book "New Therapeutics" opposes all drugs and recommends steam baths, sunbathing, vegetarianism and whole-food bread instead.Heinrich Rahmann objected to salting food and drinking water while eating.Antoine Bechamp favored the idea that disease produces bacteria rather than bacteria causing disease. An early pioneer of naturopathic medicine in the United States was rebirthist John Kellogg, who founded the Battle Creek Sanitarium.Because of his role, naturopathic medicine occupies a very important place in the tenets of modern resurrectionism.Another American, Henry Lindlar, "discovered" that disease is not the result of the body being invaded by harmful bacteria.Rather, the body is treating certain ailments in a natural way.Finally there is Benedict Luster, a protégé of Father Nappe, who should be considered perhaps the most important figure in the early days of American naturopathic medicine.Luster established a school in New York and opened sanatoriums in Butler, New Jersey, and Tangerine, Florida.He also wrote many books, ran several publications (one of which was "Nature's Way"), and was arrested 16 times in the fight against the "Drug Trust."His advertisements were often placed in Bernal McFadden's Health Magazine. McFadden himself was a strong promoter of natural healing.His massive five-volume Encyclopedia of Physical Education (subtitled Reference Book: Containing a Complete Guide to the Treatment of All Diseases by Physical Therapy) was a formidable piece of pseudo-medicine, published in 1912.The fourth volume contains 572 pages of alphabetical introductions to major diseases, including Bewright's disease, polio, cancer, and more, along with McFadden's home remedies, including special diets, exercise, and hydrotherapy.For example, cancer treatment uses a period of fasting followed by exercise and a "vigorous regimen."McFadden does not advise patients to seek medical attention.In fact, there is a "caution" at the beginning of this section: "Remember, the method recommended in this book cannot be used in conjunction with internal medicine. Trying to take medicine while carrying out the treatment advocated in the book may lead to extremely serious consequences, so in Drugs should not be relied upon under any circumstances." To be fair, McFadden's medical views have since been tempered.But not much has changed.For example, he is a firm believer that limiting his diet to grapes alone will cure cancer, and a few years ago offered a $10,000 reward to anyone who could prove that this was not true (the idea that a diet of grapes can cure a wide variety of diseases theory, which was popular in European grape-producing regions a long time ago, and there are as many literatures in this regard as can be compared with the literature touting the "efficacy" of goat milk). At the beginning of this century, hundreds of schools teaching naturopathic medicine were established in various places.As you can imagine, they are very crude.Most schools are just a few rooms in an apartment with a lift, classes are held in the evenings, and certificates are handed out in fine print at the end of the short term.Sometimes several certificates are issued bearing the names of different schools all occupying the same building and teaching students at the same time.These certificates are impressive framed on the walls of graduate clinics.There is little unifying belief in these schools.In addition to their outlandish diets, massages, and hydrotherapy, there are dozens of outlandish treatments on the program.Let's briefly review two of them: iris diagnostics and body zone therapy. Iris diagnosis is based on the appearance of the iris of the eye to diagnose diseases.This great science was discovered by a Budapest physician, Ignaz Petzzei, who published a book on this method in 1880.This practice found immediate response among homeopaths in Germany and Sweden.It was introduced to the United States by Henry Lang, who wrote the first English-language book on the diagnosis in 1904.Lan's protégé, naturopathic doctor Lindell, published an authoritative book "Iris Diagnosis and Other Diagnostic Methods" in 1917, and some new works have appeared since then. According to Lindlar, Petzzei discovered the new science when he caught an owl at the age of 10 and accidentally broke its leg.Lindlal writes, "Looking directly into the owl's large bright eyes, he noticed that at the moment the bone snapped, a dark spot had appeared in the lower middle of the iris, which, he later found, coincided with the site of the broken leg. ’” Little Ignatz raised the owl as a pet bird.After the bird's leg healed, a white border appeared around the black spot, indicating scar tissue had formed on the bone. According to iridologists, the iris is divided into about 40 zones that run clockwise in one eye and counterclockwise in the other.These areas are connected to various parts of the body through nerve tissue, and like the theory of massage therapy, they connect the body to various parts of the spine.The spots on the iris are called "lesions".They indicate a malfunction of their corresponding parts of the body.Haskell Kritzer, in his Textbook of Iris Diagnosis (fifth edition, 1921), explains in detail how to spot false eyes to avoid embarrassing long diagnoses based on them . It would be a mistake to think that there is no school of medicine more ridiculous than iris diagnosis.Body zone medicine is worse than that.The body zone therapy school believes that the human body is divided into 10 zones longitudinally, with 5 zones on each side of the body, and each zone ends with a finger and toe.Exactly how the various parts of each area are connected is the mystery of this superstition, because the division of 10 areas completely ignores the nervous system and circulatory system.Body zone therapy doctors suspect that some as yet undiscovered, microscopic meshwork is at work. Doctors of body zone therapy do not know the truth, but believe that by squeezing the finger or toe or some other part corresponding to the affected area, it is possible to stop almost every kind of pain in the body and, in many cases, to eliminate the cause of the pain. reason.Squeezing can be done in a variety of ways, mainly with a rubber band (that goes over a finger or toe until it turns blue), a spring clothespin, or pressing the teeth of a metal comb into the muscle. Body zone therapy was invented by Dr. William Fitzgerald, a graduate of the University of Vermont.He was for many years an Attending Physician in Nose and Throat Surgery at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut.The new science was first introduced in a series of popular articles by his colleague Edwin Bowles in Popular Magazine, also enthusiastically sponsored by the journal's editor, the late Bruce Barton.Then, in 1917, Fitzgerald and Powers co-authored a book called Body Zone Therapy.Many other authors followed, most notably Body Zone Therapy by Benedict Luster, the father of American naturopathic medicine. Luster described how to treat most common diseases, including cancer, polio, and appendicitis.The treatment of goiter requires squeezing the thumb and index finger, but if "the goiter is extensive and reaches the 4th area, the 4th finger may also be squeezed...".Eye pain and disease also require squeezing the thumb and index finger, but deafness requires squeezing the 4th finger or 3rd toe.Luster wrote, "The most effective treatment for hard of hearing is to place a spring clothespin on the tip of the index finger on the side of the affected ear." Pressing the backs of both hands with a metal comb can eliminate nausea, and the mother can hold a comb in each hand and press each fingertip on the teeth of the comb to give birth painlessly."Rubber bands on the big and second toes also work satisfactorily," Luster continues. For dentists, body zone therapy is invaluable.Without the use of anesthesia, simply wrap a rubber band tightly around the finger corresponding to the area where the diseased tooth is located, and the pain of this tooth can be relieved. For alopecia, Luster recommends a "very simple" approach.This includes "using the nails of both hands to quickly rub against each other horizontally, 3 to 4 minutes each time, and repeating several times a day. This will stimulate the nutrition of all areas, promote blood circulation throughout the body, and of course reflect the blood circulation of the scalp." The tongue, throat, and roof of the mouth are also divided into 10 zones, so many treatments include pressure on these areas.For example, pressing the roof of the mouth with your thumb can cure a headache.Pressing certain points on the tongue can relieve menstrual irregularities.Pertussis can be cured within 3 to 5 minutes by pressing a point on the back of the throat.Fitzgerald and Powers wrote, "We have not had a single failure in the correct application of body-zone therapy in hundreds of cases of pertussis." It seemed inconceivable that such a superstition could attract a following.But hundreds of naturopathic doctors take the art seriously and claim amazing results.The writings on this medical art are accompanied by a large number of medical records.The patient's severe pain was relieved immediately, and the long and serious illness was finally cured. Today, some of the more astute naturopathic sects have abandoned iris diagnosis, body zone therapy, and other whims of the movement, but they all agree that the main cause of disease is not invading germs from outside the body, but a violation of the principles of life. natural law.And they generally believe that drugs are harmful.Robert Wood, former president of the American Naturopathic Federation in Illinois and a naturopathic doctor in Chicago, expressed their belief in the following words: Naturopathic doctors do not use drugs of any kind, nor do they use inorganic substances that could damage the body.They rely on vitamins, mineral water, chlorophyll, vegetable juices and fruit juices, raw milk, and a balanced diet.For all diseases, allopathic doctors can only suppress, but not cure.Their sole purpose is to relieve pain and provide temporary relief.They suppressed various fevers with antipyretics such as quinine, aspirin, salicylates, and other coal tar products.These medicines suppress the fever, but leave the toxins that cause the fever in the body.On the other hand, naturopathic doctors use natural methods to solve or alleviate fever physiologically.These methods are distilled water with lemon juice, plenty of fresh fruit juice, wrapping the body in moist and warm bath towels, and enema, although this method is mentioned last, it is the most effective of all antipyretic methods. Naturopathic doctors like to administer enemas to rid the body of toxins.Apparently, they felt it "natural" to have a tube inserted into the rectum to flood the intestines with copious amounts of water.Taking drugs, on the other hand, is "unnatural," and most of these drugs are nothing more than compounds found in nature that have been purified to enhance their potency. According to Dr. Wood, more than 85 percent of appendicitis cases can be cured by short-term fasting, cold-water enemas for four days, and special diets.He said that the use of drugs to treat syphilis, not only cannot cure, but will cause movement disorders.In an article published in the May 1950 issue of the American Courier, from which the above opinion and quotation are quoted, he boasted of curing a 65-year-old patient from syphilis.The man has not been treated since he contracted the disease at the age of 16.He claimed, "I have not used mercury, nor have I seen any other dubious drug of allopathic medicine." In another case, Dr. Wood treated a 5-year-old boy with pelvic tuberculosis.The disease had eaten away two cavities in his bones.Dr. Wood writes, "Other than the hollow tuberculosis, mild curvature of the spine, and one leg being shorter than the other, he is doing fairly well. The patient's diet is given priority, with natural foods supplemented with natural calcium. In addition Sitz baths, sunbaths, cold baths, heat wraps, infrared rays, vibrations, exercise, manual techniques, enemas, and other natural remedies. Recent x-rays show he is fully healed." Naturopathic doctors oppose the germ theory of disease and are naturally endorsed by many religious groups.The most sympathetic are Christian Scientology, New Thought, and Unity, not forgetting the Jewish Scientology founded in 1922 by Rabbi Maurice Lichtenstein of New York City.He is the author of many works on the subject, including The Science of Judaism and Health.The work is an exact imitation of Mrs. Eddie's famous version.George Bernard Shaw is probably the most famous of the prominent figures who opposed the germ theory.One of the last books he wrote was A Guide to Popular Politics (1944).In this book he makes a witty defense of natural healing.Drugs, he wrote, can only suppress symptoms.The patient can maintain a certain degree of health after taking medicine, and let nature heal him, otherwise the disease will often relapse.Shaw, like Pasteur's contemporary, the French chemist Antoine Bechamp, rejected the theory that disease was caused by airborne bacteria.According to Bechamp, Shaw, and most of those mentioned in this chapter, germs are the product of disease.Bacteria develop inside diseased human cells.However, once mature, they are contagious.George Bernard Shaw indeed.It is believed that most epidemics can be traced to the laundry room, where germs from sick people's handkerchiefs and clothes are transferred to other people's clothes.It's not hard to imagine Shaw's lifelong opposition to vaccinations, vivisection, meat consumption, caesarean sections, and removal of tonsils and appendixes. Prominent socialist and labor leader Eugene Debs died at the Lindell Naturopathic Sanitarium in Elmhurst, Illinois.Maurice Fishbein tells the sad story in his Fads and Quacks in Medicine (1932), from which much of the material in this chapter is quoted.Debs, who had recently been released from prison, found himself ill and entered the nursing home to recuperate.One day he visited Carl Sandberg, who lived nearby, and suddenly fell into a coma on the way back to the hospital.After two days of treatment at the nursing home, Debs' brother asked Dr. Fishbein to check on the labor leader.Fishbein found Debs in a coma, with a dilated pupil in one eye and a constricted pupil in the other.Nursing home medical staff failed to notice this fact, which suggested he had a brain disorder.His body was severely dehydrated.Because he was unconscious, he did not ask for water for two days and was not given water.He was malnourished because he was on the fasting regimen recommended at the time by Bernal McFadden and Upton Sinclair.When Debs' heart began to fail, the "doctors" gave him an ineffective natural remedy made from opuntia.When that failed, they tried electrotherapy, which severely burned Debs' skin.In the end they desperately tried to inject digitalis in a panic.This medicine, if properly used, can produce beneficial effects.But Debs became ill and died the next day.Fishbein reported that he was treated with typical natural remedies. It is difficult to say exactly how many naturopathic doctors practice medicine in the United States today, and there are probably no more than a few thousand.Several health magazines took a naturopathic approach, and dozens of mail pharmacies continued to supply mineral salts, vitamin mixtures, yeast foods, herbal preparations, and other "natural" remedies.Many of these firms operate in a semi-public manner, accusing the AMA and the "medical cartel" of "repression" of them. Likewise, it is difficult to estimate how much harm natural remedies actually do.Fortunately, their anti-vaccination attitude has not affected too many people enough to prevent the amazing health achievements of vaccination in recent years.In another 10 years, smallpox, diphtheria, and whooping cough may be completely eliminated as endemic diseases in the United States.Tens of thousands of people used to die each year from these preventable diseases.Drinking raw milk has reignited epidemics of scarlet fever, typhoid, tuberculosis, and other diseases for which pasteurization has made enormous strides.The refusal to use sulfa drugs and penicillin (which subdue the bacteria, not eliminate the symptoms) has probably killed countless naturopathic patients for whom enemas would do nothing but harm. Dr. Wood's August 1950 letter to the American Courier may provide a glimpse into the medical knowledge of naturopathic physicians.He writes, "If germs in the environment cause disease, as family medicine claims, why do millions of Indians ... bathe daily in the germ-laden, dirty Ganges? ... As far as I know, There have never been any serious epidemics." To this, Dr. Joseph Wasersag replied politely, pointing out that India has a higher death rate due to infectious diseases than almost anywhere in the world, and at the same time, the deadly Epidemics of cholera, in some cases so severe that they spread worldwide, have been traced directly to the festival of bathing in the Ganges.Yet this new knowledge about India doesn't motivate naturopathic doctors to stop douching their colons and ransacking their pockets. Exaggerating the health effects of poor posture and poor muscle coordination has also given rise to a number of superstitions.Although not strictly speaking part of the naturopathic movement, it is appropriate to mention them here.The late philosopher John Dewey, who lived to be 92, always attributed his longevity to practicing the highly dubious theories of a self-taught Australian, Frederick Alexander.Alexander was a professional rhetorician until his voice became hoarse for no apparent reason.After orthodox medical treatment failed, he began to experiment on himself, resulting in the restoration of his voice and the development of a complex technique of exercising his senses and muscles. In 1904 he opened a school in London and won the trust of many eminent figures, including Aldous, Huxley and the late Sir Stafford Cripps.The school moved to Stow, Massachusetts at the outbreak of World War II, and returned to England a few years later.Alexander later opened a school near Bexley, Kent.He has written four books explaining his method, three of which have impassioned forewords by Dewey.A form of German gymnastics invented by Beth Mensendijk also became popular in the United States in the 1930s (see The Mensendijk Way of Exercise, and Mabel Todd's similar theory, The Body Thinks). There is also a theory that human diseases come from not being able to relax the body properly. There have also been a lot of books and a large number of followers in this regard.Edmund Jakobson's Gradual Relaxation (1929) is the most important document representing this point of view.The idea became popular again with the reprints of Jacobson's more popular work You Must Relax (1934) and Dr. David Funk's Relief of Nerves (1943). Thirty years ago, a Chicago physician, EH Pratt, determined that failure to relax certain openings in the body would cause many common diseases.He is said to have relieved the ailments of thousands of people by applying what he called "acupoint therapy". The third medical superstition in the United States is osteopathy.The cure was invented by a quack named Andrew Steele.Little is known about his life, although he published a lengthy autobiography at his own expense in later years.This autobiography is a rambling, contradictory, egotistical work, one of the funniest autobiographies ever written by a self-styled genius.It is hard to imagine how an osteopath with a sense of humor could go on to practice that profession after reading this book.Although most osteopaths considered the book to be a true account of the author's life, almost all of the material in the biography was found to be false. There is no evidence that Steele had any early medical education other than helping his father, a Methodist missionary, care for sick Shawnee Indians.He claimed to have served as a cavalry officer in the Union Army during the Civil War.A picture in the book shows him riding a faithful mule in a battle, leading a charge with a saber in hand.A bullet pierced the lapel of his vest during the charge.The image was captioned: 'Osteopathic in crisis'.Another all-inclusive depiction of a peacock spreading its tail is titled "The Peacock Professor".Caption: From the feathers of this bird, people can learn how God controls the human body. There was a 10-year gap in his later life, about which he kept silent, and then he wrote, "In June 1874, I unfurled the banner of osteopathy to the wind." The Swedish massage movement was in vogue at the time , likely gave rise to his basic idea, although Steele says his idea was inspired by God.He coined the term osteopathy, which literally means "sick bone."According to Steele's theory, the disease was caused by a malfunction of the nerves or blood supply, which in turn was mainly caused by the dislocation of the small bones of the spine.This dislocation is called a "vertebral subluxation".Their compression of nerves and blood vessels prevents the body from producing its own therapeutic agents.It is the osteopath's job to find these subluxations and "reset" them, but how they stay in place is one of the mysteries of osteopathy.In fact, subluxations are as elusive as canals on Mars.Only believers in this theory can find out where they are.Other doctors thought that was complete nonsense.Rarely, the small bones of the spine may become displaced, but even this rarely causes any symptoms or illnesses that osteopaths describe. In his autobiography, Steele recorded the amazing results he had obtained using osteopathy.In one case, he made a bald patient grow 3 inches of hair in a week.还有，他在密苏里州汉尼巴尔“一天之内就治好了17例髋关节脱位。”读者无从得知，当时只有七千人口的汉尼巴尔，怎么会有那么多髋关节脱位病人。 1894年，斯蒂尔66岁时才在密苏里州柯克斯维尔开办了他的第一所学校。他82岁时才写出该校的第一本教科书。在书中他阐述了按骨的手法。他用这些手法“治愈”了黄热病、疟疾、白喉、软骨病、痔疮、糖尿病、头皮脱落、便秘和肥胖症。他从不承认细菌的存在。“我不理睬关于微生物的实验室故事”，他写道。“我们几乎没有时间去化验尿、淋巴液或任何其它体液，因为我们认为生命太宝贵了，不能浪费在实验室工作上……。” 斯蒂尔经过认真考虑得出这样的结论：他“可能是在世的最杰出的解剖学家。”他的自传中最吸引人的插图之一是斯蒂尔坐在他后院的一颗树下，研究一张解剖图并向他的妻于进行口述。一根人臂骨盖在一条腿上。这架骷髅的其它部分靠在树上或挂在树干上。 这部书用大部分篇幅讲述宗教思想。斯蒂尔曾经改信米勒主义（耶稣再生论的先驱），虽然他后来又回到原来的信仰卫理公会派。 按骨疗法在外国的发展甚小，但在美国却很快就传遍整个大陆。斯蒂尔学校的每一名毕业生似乎都想开办自己的学校。现今大约有11000名开业医生。除洛杉矾人数较多外，他们大多在小城市有兴隆的生意。正如菲什拜因医生所说，在大城市他们遭到声誉卓著的医业的抵制，而在小城镇他们又缺乏知识去处理急症。然而，在小城市他们可以悄悄地行医，招徕患有轻病和身心疾病的患者。按摩对这类病人或许有益。实际上，轻快的散步或温水浴对血液循环更有好处，不过按摩背部能给病人快感。 由于按骨医生试图（用菲什拜因的话来说）从后门进入正统医学领域，在斯蒂尔的时代之后，按骨疗法的学说发生了相当大的演变。他们现在按摩的已不是脊柱，而是身体的别的部位，他们施行水疗和电疗，使用麻醉剂，投用药物，甚至进行简单的外科处理，如用力拉扁桃腺或接生。近年来，他们把注意力转向精神疾患。按骨疗法有一项研究表明，精神分裂症是由于上部颈骨的半脱位所造成！现今较有知识的按骨医生认为药物有其作用，但只起到一半效果，需要靠推拿以恢复身体在“结构上的完整”。在6所所谓“合格”的按骨疗法学校中，现在教授4年基础医学课程，而全国只有8个州允许其毕业生使用药物和施行手术。 按摩疗法是美国在医学方面的第四种，也是最大的一种蠢事。这种疗法是在按骨疗法出现约20年之后兴起的，它大量地抄袭按骨疗法。如同原来的按骨医生一样，按摩疗法医生也着重于调正脊柱半脱位，他们认为这种脱位引起大多数人体疾病，而且他们和自然疗法医生一样，反对药物和疾病的细菌学说。与按骨疗法不同的是，它几乎没有什么花样变化。今天，应用这一疗法的约有20000名医生，几乎全在美国。 这种疗法的创始人丹尼尔·帕尔默原来是衣阿华州达文波特的杂货商和鱼贩子。1895年他发现他能够用“动物磁性”治愈病人，于是他关了自己的买卖，搞了IO年磁性治疗。后来，他又作出更大的“发现”。下面就是他儿子BJ帕尔默在威斯康星州的一个法庭上叙述的有关这件事情的经过： 哈维·利拉德来诊时完全耳聋。父亲检查了他，发现背部有一块很大的半脱位。哈维说他的脊柱鼓起一块后，两分钟之内就耳聋了，自那时一直耳聋17年。父亲认为，如果脊柱发生某种毛病而引起耳聋，那么使这个半脱位复位就应该能够治愈它。鼓块复位了，哈维在10分钟之内恢复了听力。 这是小帕尔默的说法。然而，那些研究过按摩疗法的人怀疑这种说法是编造的，他们认为老帕尔默大概是从接骨医生那里抬来的半脱位这个概念。他的教科书《按摩疗法的科学、医术和哲学》的内容，很少有独创的推论。毫无疑问，是他的儿子小帕尔默把按摩疗法发展成今天这样兴隆的事业。 小泊尔默和许多按摩疗法医生一样，只受过9年正式教育。他于1895年在达文波特创办的学校，最初只讲授两周的课程。现在该校的授课时间是18个月。美国各地还有几百所这样的学校，它们的理论和方法各不相同。例如，小帕尔默讲授说，白喉是由于第6脊椎骨半脱位引起的。而芝加哥的一所学校的教科书中说，治疗白喉必须按摩第3、5和第7颈骨，第1～5、7、10和第12脊椎骨，以及第5、9、10和第11头部神经。同一教科书说治疗猩红热“必须特别注意第2至第5颈骨和10至和12脊椎骨。”根据小帕尔默的说法，猩红热的病因是第6至第12脊椎骨的半脱位。 如果你是按摩疗法的信徒，你可以作一次如下的的简单试验。找一位按摩医生，说出几个症状，记牢他认为产生半脱位的准确部啦，然后在他给你治疗之前，再找另一位按摩医生，说出另几种症状，看他是否指出脊柱上的同样几个部位需要复位。如果他没有指出同样部位，再找第三位医生，如此继续下去，直到你得到完全相同的诊断。这可能是代价高昂的试验，却能令人恍然大悟。 最近一版曼哈顿《名人录》上载有200多名按摩疗法医生（他们的执照不是在纽约领取的）和约80名按骨医生。有一幅广告画着人们熟悉的脊柱图，脊柱的各部分用签条标明它们所控制的身体各部位。这些图和现代解剖学的关系，就好比颅相学的颅骨隆起图和现代对大脑的研究的关系一样。帕尔默的学校的毕业生通常在广告中标明自己的学历，并提请读者注意他们备有神经热量计。 神经热量计是小帕尔默最赚钱的发明之一。这是一种电气设备，据说能对脊柱作出诊断。然而，全国按摩疗法联合会却不甚重视帕尔默和他的神经热量计。全国按摩疗法联合会出版一份杂志，销售量远比小帕尔默的杂志为大，同时，他们也没有将帕尔默的学校包括在他们所列出的“合格的”学校之内。 在帕尔默的诊疗所里，为按摩疗法发明的另一种设备占了一整间房。我不知道它的用途是什么，但它的名称却颇为惊人，叫做“电脑神经精神测定仪”（electroencephaloneuro mentimpograph）。 克莱斯本来和杜威是朋友，但后来他又强烈敌视杜威的观点，遂出了一本怒气冲冲的书信集《杜威被抑制的心理》（1928年）。克莱斯的432页的著作《科学的罪恶》（1925年）是对所有重要的科学家和思想家的攻击。