Ohio History Journal

THE EQUIPMENT, INSTRUMENTS AND DRUGS OF

PIONEER PHYSICIANS OF OHIO

 

BY HOWARD DITTRICK, M.D.

 

In the equipment, instruments and drugs of the Ohio physi-

cians prior to 1835 there was exhibited a wide divergence, depend-

ing on differences in training, financial means, and on contact with

medical supplies as well as with educational stimulation. Nor is

this strange; the same factors operate today in the same directions:

it is only a question of degree. Those few pioneer physicians who

had the opportunity to attend good medical schools of the time,

to visit medical centers of the East and perhaps even to visit

Edinburgh or Paris, these fortunate ones were furnished with all

things needful for the practice they came to seek in Ohio. But

the majority of those pioneer doctors had studied only under a

preceptor, had gleaned some further instruction from a few charts

and text-books, and were familiar with only the simplest tools of

the profession. In addition to lack of broad training and almost

complete lack of means to buy equipment, most of them came from

far off Connecticut, Philadelphia or Virginia, by boat, covered

wagon or horseback, and could bring few possessions. They were

obliged to bring food, clothing, arms and tools to sustain life on the

wilderness journey. Frequently they had even to include in their

limited baggage a small store of goods to sell or barter on arrival

to provide means to live while getting established. Little room

remained for medical supplies.

Probably the origin of these pioneer doctors had a definite

influence on their training, their ability, and their equipment. There

were two distinct main streams of medical penetration into the

Ohio wilderness, the north and the south portals. They came into

northern Ohio through interest in the Connecticut Land Company,

(198)

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PIONEER PHYSICIANS OF OHIO              199

 

usually down the Hudson, overland to Lake Erie, and then pro-

ceeded to settlements at the mouths of rivers, such as Ashtabula,

Willoughby and Cleveland. Some came across Pennsylvania by

horseback, replacing depleted baggage at Pittsburgh by additional

stores of medical supplies. Generally speaking, the group from

New England had less training and less contact with either sup-

plies or further education than had the southern group who had

stemmed from Philadelphia medical culture. They had the ad-

vantage of closer association with university stimulation, that of

Transylvania University at Lexington, Kentucky, which was then

a part of Virginia. Ephraim McDowell (1772-1830) and Ben-

jamin Winslow Dudley (1785-1871) were eminent teachers in

Transylvania, and Daniel Drake (1785-1852), founder of the

Medical College of Ohio in Cincinnati, was an outstanding physi-

cian of that time. The north was tardier in establishment of

equivalent medical instruction.

Unquestionably the acute need for medical care, even such

as the most poorly equipped pioneer physician could supply, was

a factor in short cuts to training. Under the same pressure of

need, the same scarcity of medical schools, Russia is doing the

same today. The population of Ohio in 1800 was only 45,000;

however, by 1820 it was 500,000, but doctors did not increase

in proportion. Lack of adequate means of transportation and

communication made it impossible for each doctor to care for

any great number of scattered families. Hence numbers of phy-

sicians were needed. But medical schools were few, and courses

of the time inadequate, educational standards lacking. It is true

that many of the northern pioneers had had some lectures in the

medical schools of New York, Philadelphia, or New England,

in proof of which some of them kept lecture cards, such as those

of Dr. Leonard Hanna of Lisbon, dated 1827, from the Univer-

sity of Pennsylvania. Some came with letters "To whom it may

concern" from bankers, preachers, or even governors of states.

Again they came with such a certificate as the following, dated

1797, now belonging to this doctor's descendant. It reads:

This may certify that the Bearer Doctor Adam Denison has lived

with Doctor Ebenezer Wright of Plainfield about two years and with

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myself seven Months in the Study of the Theory and Practise of Phisic and

Surgery in which he hath made more than common good Profitiency and do

recommend him with confidence to all those who have occasion to call upon

the healing Art for assistance as one that is well qualified to grant them

relief--with a Bright genius and an unblemished character and his Friendly

disposition to all that he has contact with is what I sincerely Esteem--an

acquaintance with him will prove to all that the above recommendation

is just                           This from

PHINEAS PARKHURST, M.D.

Mark you the requirements of a good physician, never more

skillfully enumerated--"a bright genius," "an unblemished char-

acter," and a "friendly disposition." Who shall say these were

not an important part of his stock in trade?

Let us look over the conditions under which they worked

and the equipment with which they met the challenge of frontier

practice. The doctor's home was his base of operations, his

equivalent of an office. He had very few text-books, because of

expense and difficulty of transport, but among those chosen by

Ohio doctors were Bell's Surgery, Cullen's Practice, Rush on

Fevers, Senac on Fevers, Brown's Elements of Medicine, Burns'

Midwifery, John Hunter on Blood, Inflammation and Gun Shot

Wounds.

Dr. Erastus Goodwin practiced in Burton which was then

in the midst of a wilderness. Although taught only by a preceptor,

one of his descendants states that he possessed a good library.

Furthermore, on his long rides it was his invariable custom to

take along a medical book or journal.

Dr. Gideon Case,¹ who died in Hudson in 1822, had books

valued at $35.25 listed in his estate. Dr. J. J. Tyler² of Warren

has discovered important data on the costs of books, equipment

and drugs used by the doctors of this era. In addition to a few

books, the doctor had usually a mortar and pestle and apothecary

balances, together with his own supply of crude drugs and herbs,

for the drug store being inaccessible, he must provide what he

prescribed.

 

1 F. C. Waite, "The Historian's Note Book," Ohio State Medical Journal (Co-

lumbus, 1905-), May, 1986.

2 J. J. Tyler, "Dr. Luther Spelman, Early Physician of the Western Reserve,"

Ohio State Medical Journal, April, 1988.

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PIONEER PHYSICIANS OF OHIO              201

Some doctors kept a record of prescriptions issued, neatly

set forth in a special book. In account books, such as the one

used by Dr. A. H. Wheeler of Austinburg, we read of current

fees, diagnosis, methods of treatment, and prices of commodities

accepted in barter. These books are of value in learning about

medicine of the period. One neatly kept book included prescrip-

tions and recipes for man and beast, together with formulae for

whitewash, dyes, stains, paints, even methods of restoring the

hair.

Sometimes the doctor had access to pewter bedpans, clysters,

and other forms of syringes. Hot water bottles of pewter and

crockery existed, but more often any container sufficed. Or hot

applications were used, but a heated stone or chunk of wood

could be had in any cabin. For fractures the most convenient

piece of shingle, slab or board was used. However, there are in

the museum at Marietta a few specially prepared splints that

belonged to Dr. J. Cotton of Marietta, who was president of the

Medical Society of Ohio in 1830. Leeches were standard equip-

ment, used even for treatment of fistula and some forms of

blindness. The roller bandage was employed to control swelling

of the extremities and of course the tourniquet to check bleeding

in injuries or amputations.

About the end of the period under discussion, Dr. Erastus

Cushing of Cleveland, unlike Chaucer's doctor, "lovede silver in

special." In addition to his reputation for having a silver door-

bell practice, he devised a silver nipple instead of the proverbial

silver spoon in infant feeding. Such a nipple was connected with a

long slender tube of the same material, which extended down

into the bottle. Naturally it was impossible to keep clean. It was

seventy years before the tube menace was removed from infant

feeding.

Occasionally pulsometers were found. These were dumb-

bell shaped containers made of glass, about six inches long,

partially filled with colored spirits, and fitted into a plush case.

By holding one end in the closed hand, air bubbles would rise to

the other end. It had really no relation to the pulse, and was

connected with physics rather than physic. We have a replica of

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a pulsometer in our Museum of the Cleveland Medical Library.

One such appliance was submitted to us for purchase by a lady

from Texas, who hoped to dispose of it for a sum sufficient to

purchase a home and live in ease the rest of her life.

Pioneer doctors prior to 1835 made their visits on horseback.

Their equipment, therefore, included a good saddle and saddle-

bags. In those days saddles represented quite an outlay. Saddle-

bags were thrown over the horse's shoulders in front of the saddle,

and in them drugs and instruments were carried. Sometimes a

case of instruments was fitted into the bag. One pair of saddle-

bags in our Museum has a note attached recording that they

were made by a saddler in Allentown, Pennsylvania, at a cost of

ten dollars. In crossing swollen streams the bags were hung

around the doctor's shoulders to keep dry. If the doctor was not

able to finish his journey by nightfall he tethered his horse and

slept, pillowing his head on the precious bags. When he had ex-

amined his patient he sat down with the bags across his knees,

exploring their double pockets for appropriate medication.

By far the most important equipment of this old time phy-

sician was his horse. Not infrequently he had two in order to

rest one after a tiring journey to a remote settlement. The great-

est obstacle between doctor and patient was communication. Once

he could reach the patient's bedside with his meager equipment

he was ready to battle any emergency. His horse was the link

with his patient. It had to be a good swimmer for every spring

the trails led to washed out bridges, or the usual ford would be

found swollen in flood. The story is told of Dr. David Long,

Cleveland's first physician, that he once returned at night from

beyond Rocky River by the same road he had taken to reach

there. The next day he was surprised to learn that his horse had

brought him back in the dark over a single stringer of the bridge

which was washed out after he had gone over it on his outward

journey.

When Dr. Peter Allen of Kinsman attended the Medical

Convention in Columbus in 1835 it required more than a week

each way. Tales remain of doctors being out on a round of dis-

tant visits for two weeks at a stretch.

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PIONEER PHYSICIANS OF OHIO              203

The pioneer's thermometer, blood pressure apparatus and

X-ray tube, were all combined in his fingers. Though the stetho-

scope was used in southern Ohio, in the early 1830's, by a few

doctors who were in touch with Transylvania University, it did

not appear in other parts of the state until after 1835. Yet types

of cough, cry, breathing and changes in the voice registered in

the doctor's attuned ear, as signs of certain diseases. Blueness or

pallor of the lips, the jaundiced sclera, the lemon tint or the

greenish-yellow hue of the skin, even the slight passing glimpse

of a rash, did not escape his critical eye. Most uncanny was his

ability to sniff cases of typhoid or measles. If he had no means

to make a chemical test, taste and even smell enabled him to

diagnose the coma of glycosuria. Yes, he lacked equipment which

we use today with such abandon, he had to meet emergencies

with few external aids. But he did have courage, perseverance

and fearlessness, and I shall presently give you an example of

that side of his character.

It is interesting to speculate on the conditions present at

the time, conditions the physician was called upon to treat, and

hence to provide for in the restricted compass of his saddle-bags.

Mothers in childbirth were just beginning to call in male

physicians. There was plenty of dental trouble, for which the only

treatment was extraction. There were bronchitis and pneumonia

in the winter, fevers and dysentery in the summer. Ague, as

malaria was then called, was present in the swampy regions.

Periodic attacks of smallpox, angina of the throat and mem-

branous croup, all required the appropriate treatment of the

period. Among the common surgical conditions were abscesses,

wounds from horse kicks, axe cuts, scalp wounds, fracture of the

skull and extremities from falling timber. In medical cases an

assortment of drugs were used which will be discussed later.

However, the popular treatment for most diseases was blood-

letting, which was accomplished by the spring and trigger lancet,

the phlebotomy knife, or the simple thumb lancet. Another lancet

of special shape was used for the incision of swollen gums. A

procedure frequently employed in this era was cupping, carried

out by a series of glasses, varying in size. A syringe which could

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204   OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

be screwed into the top of the cupping glass provided increased

suction.

Heat was applied externally in the form of poultices, some

of which were crude, even revolting, but always the means at

hand were those employed. Smallpox was a serious scourge be-

fore the days of vaccination (Waterhouse, 1800). But Dr. Peter

Allen of Kinsman used the natural virus after the manner of

Boylston, who first employed this procedure in Boston in 1721.

The thumb lancet for vaccination was carried in a small case and

was protected on either side of the blade by tortoise shell leaves

which rotated back to form a handle.

Fracture of the skull from falling timber, or even from

horse kicks, occasionally required the treatment used by some of

the Indians, namely trephining. We have in the Museum a

trephine which belonged to Dr. Horace Ackley, who came to

Akron in 1835. Scalp wounds or bad cuts were sewn up, and

abscesses opened by means of the spring lancet.

Southern Ohio physicians were doubtless familiar with the

elaborate collections of instruments illustrated in A. H. Barkley's

Kentucky's Pioneer Lithotomists.³ Ephraim McDowell and Ben-

jamin W. Dudley had enjoyed excellent training in Britain and had

visited medical centers on the continent as well as those of our

own Atlantic seaboard. Transylvania University in Lexington

where they taught must have provided inspiration for southern

Ohio men.

In contrast to such affluence in instruments, note the meager

supply which Dr. John L. Richmond4 had at hand when he per-

formed the first successful Caesarian section in Ohio, in Newton,

April 25, 1827. The patient had been in labor over thirty hours,

because of a stenosis in the upper part of the vagina. The story

is best told in his own words.

She had fits and the pains did no good. To prevent the convulsions

and to recruit the system I gave laudanum and sulphuric ether and applied

 

 

3 A. H. Barkley, Kentucky's Pioneer Lithotomists (Cincinnati, 1918).

4 J. L. Richmond, "History of the Successful Case of Caesarian Operation,"

Western Journal of the Medical and Physical Sciences (Cincinnati, 1827-1838), III

(1829/30).

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PIONEER PHYSICIANS OF OHIO                   205

 

flannel with hot spirits to the feet . . . After doing all in my power for

her preservation, and feeling myself entirely in the dark as to her situation,

and finding that whatever was done must be done soon, and feeling a deep

and solemn sense of my responsibility, with only a case of common pocket

instruments, about one o'clock at night, I commenced Caesarian section.

Here I must digress from my subject and relate the condition of the house,

which was made of logs that were green, and put together not more than a

week before. The crevices were not chinked, there was no chimney nor

chamber floor. The night was stormy and windy, insomuch that the assis-

tants had to hold blankets to keep the candles from being blown out. Under

these circumstances it is hard to conceive the state of my feelings, when I

was convinced the patient must die or the operation be performed.

Without anesthetics, without antiseptics, but with sound

judgment and undoubted courage Richmond of the hamlet of

Newton, made Ohio medical history in saving this mother's life.

One of the few medical monuments in Ohio was erected in New-

ton to commemorate the event.

There exists a court record of a list of the instruments which

belonged to Dr. Gideon Case,⁵ who died in Hudson in 1822. This

inventory included a pocket case of instruments, a set of dental

instruments, male and female catheters, lancets and a syringe.

Though the type of syringe is not mentioned, it may have been

pewter, usual at that period.

It would seem that few doctors at that time carried with

them forceps or other obstetrical instruments, for indeed "meddle-

some midwifery" as it was called in pre-antiseptic days, was very

dangerous practice. Dr. John B. Harmon, who came to Warren

in 1808, had three hand-made obstetrical instruments, which,

though crude, showed good craftsmanship. The forceps and

crotchet have walnut handles to which the metal part is riveted,

while the Smellie perforator has ring handles which have been

hammered out over the conical end of an anvil. A walnut case

containing cupping glasses, a very sturdy saw and other amputa-

tion instruments are also attributed to Harmon, together with the

well-known turnkeys for extraction of teeth.

Other turnkeys were those of Dr. Peter Allen of Kinsman

and Dr. Leonard Hanna of Lisbon. Dr. Hanna also had other

 

5 Waite, "Historian's Note Book."

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206   OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

dental instruments, including an elevator and packer, both having

wood handles. Scarificators, numerous spring and trigger lancets,

some nested in ingenious carved wood cases lined with velvet and

covered with leather; gum lancets, thumb lancets, protected by

tortoise shell handles; larger lancets in a brass handle and used

for bleeding horses; many leather cases with emergency instru-

ments such as those belonging to Dr. Gideon Case of Hudson;

all of these types of the period are to be found in the Museum

of the Cleveland Medical Library, most of them having been the

property of early Ohio physicians.

As to drugs, these physicians used many of the drugs of

folk-lore and of course these were indigenous to Ohio. Among

these we find horseradish, skunk-cabbage, sage, thorn-apple,

butternut, elder, thoroughwort, slippery elm, etc. Other crude

drugs of proven worth came from the East, Pittsburgh, as we

have said, being a popular distributing center for Ohio doctors.

A favored method of treatment was hot applications, utilizing

such remedies as hops, wormwood, turpentine, bear's grease, etc.

In addition to bloodletting, and other drugless treatments, sweat-

ing was produced by Dover's powder, blistering by cantharides,

vomiting by ipecac, and purging by calomel and jalap. There were

practically no pharmacies, drugs being obtained in some centers

of population from shops whose signs read "Physician and Drug-

gist," "Chemist and Druggist," or "Druggist and Grocer."

In the first United States Pharmacopoeia published in 1820,

we learn that the Medical College of Ohio was invited to take

part in the compilation, and although the college approved of the

undertaking still on account "of the infancy of their institution

they did not think it proper to appoint delegates." There had been

a pharmacopoeia of the Massachusetts Medical Society published

in 1808 and one of the New York Hospital published in 1816.

The founders of the first U. S. P. saw that their small volume

would become larger with the progress of medical discovery for

they noted "the Materia Medica must soon grow to an unmanage-

able size if its enlargement be not followed by a corresponding

retrenchment of superfluities."

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PIONEER PHYSICIANS OF OHIO              207

 

In the first United States Pharmacopoeia the following drugs

of unusual interest appear--garlic, gold, cinchona, hops, digitalis,

bitter-sweet, geranium, guiac, haematoxylin, isinglass, juniper,

tulip tree bark, musk, opium, prunes, sago, sassafras, amber,

tobacco, tapioca, and yeast. While in the secondary list we note

carrot, wild potato, mayweed, delphinium, parsley, gaultheria,

pomegranate, iris, wild lettuce, magnolia, violet, golden rod, and

spurred rye or ergot. Under official preparations the following

are described--infusion of Peruvian bark, infusion of foxglove,

infusion of tobacco, Dover's powder, paregoric and burnt sponge.

In the United States Pharmacopoeia of 1830, a few rather

ineffective remedies were dropped. Among those of recognized

value we find potassium iodide, quinine sulphate, and morphia

sulphate. In this issue we find in the list of new drugs colchicum,

iodine, oleum tiglii, and in the secondary list hepatica and sesame.

There was at this time considerable discussion regarding change

in names. Muriatic acid was not altered because it could not be

determined whether the change should be to hydrochloric or

chlorohydric acid. The terms chlorinated lime and ammoniated

mercury were retained because of their descriptive character. The

mild chloride of mercury and the corrosive chloride of mercury

were preferred to the protochloride and the bichloride of mercury.

Drugs listed in the Pharmacopoeias of 1820 and 1830 repre-

sent those to which Ohio physicians had possible access. Actually

these were not always available for treatment. Scarcity of drug

shops, meagerness of their stocks and difficulty in procuring fresh

supplies from the East, especially in the winter, must have left

the doctors with recourse frequently to folk-lore remedies of

local materials. An example was the Indian mixture of hickory

ashes and honey for a vermifuge, or white oak bark and

geranium for some of the dysenteries.

Study of the contents of a number of saddle-bags would be

a valuable contribution of pharmacy. We have listed from two

pairs of saddle-bags as many drugs as we have been able to

identify through the co-operation of the staff of the School of

Pharmacy.

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208   OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

The first pair belonged to Dr. Peter Allen⁶ who came to

Kinsman in 1808. Within the bags are many original labelled

packets of drugs and two leather cases of bottles, one for liquids,

the second for powders. The square folded packets of herbs are

carefully wrapped in two papers, inner and outer, each tied with

rough homespun linen thread. The contents are mainly crude

drugs in distinction to the processed drugs of a later era. Each

packet contains the amount necessary for one decoction, and the

dried herbs have preserved well their characteristic form and

taste. The liquid content of bottles has completely vanished with

time, but the bottles themselves are of interest, hand-blown, thin

and light, with slender necks and wide flanges. They are contained

in leather rolls tied with thongs.

We gain an insight, too, into the ailments he was prepared

to meet and for which he carried these precious drugs. Among

the packets there were senna, rhubarb, and calomel for laxative,

while for diarrhoea there was bismuth subnitrate and mercury

with chalk. Quinine was ready for malaria and other fevers.

Serpentaria, iron pyrophosphate, iron and ammonium citrate were

used as tonics and blood purifiers, and valerian as a nerve vital-

izer. A distinctive bottle, unmarked and with well-worn cork, con-

tained morphine, suggesting frequent use in the days of no

anesthetics. Digitalis leaves, well preserved, remind us that bad

hearts were present even then. In one package was a mixture of

senega, Irish moss and sarsaparilla to which he may have added

from the packet of squills or from the morphine bottle to provide

a cough remedy. For the child with worms there was pumpkin

seed, and as vehicles he carried Irish moss and the compound

tincture of cardamom. These drugs appear quite potent today,

and reflect care and precision in handling.

A richer find was made in the second pair of saddle-bags of

Dr. Erastus Goodwin (1784-1869). Goodwin came to Burton in

1811 and in caring for his patients rode a circuit as far north

as Painesville and south to Warren. He had a very liberal supply

of remedies including many powdered crude drugs and liquid

 

 

6 H. Dittrick, et al., Medical Pioneers of the Western Reserve (Cleveland, 1932).

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PIONEER PHYSICIANS OF OHIO                209

 

preparations. In the two pockets of his saddle-bags there were

seventy-seven different packages and containers, some of the

latter being of unusual interest. Several of the crude drugs and

dried up specimens in bottles we were unable to identify, but the

following medicines were readily recognized: aloes, myrrh,

serpentaria, magnesia, senna, camomile flowers, cloves, liquorice,

uva-ursi, rhubarb, cubeb, castor, sarsaparilla, anise, juniper,

squills, gentian, gum arabic, gamboge, opium, benzoin, red precipi-

tate of mercury, Rochelle salts, soluble blue, chalk, mustard, cam-

phor, bismuth subnitrate and balsam Peru.

Dr. J. J. Tyler⁷ gives exact dates of drugs purchased and

prices paid for them. These drugs were bought in Pittsburgh,

Canfield and Youngstown between the years 1811 and 1816 by

Dr. Luther Spelman (1779-1863) who practiced in Youngstown,

Petersburgh and Wayne. His drug supply included opium, senna,

sulphur, castor oil, Glauber's salts, ipecac, lead acetate, orange

peel, magnesia, potassium bitartrate, rhubarb, ginger, calamine,

gingseng, citrine ointment, oil sweet almonds, ferrous sulphate,

guiac, Peruvian bark, calomel, saltpeter, wormwood, rosin,

cantharides, Burgundy pitch, balsam copaiba, mercurial ointment,

gum ammoniac, aloes, camphor, myrrh, sweet spirit of nitre,

serpentaria, zinc sulphate, alum, liquorice, steel filings, gum

arabic, calumba, tartar emetic, white arsenic, silver nitrate,

sponge, jalap, asafetida, anise, gentian, cloves, squills, kino, creta

preparata, juniper, red precipitate of mercury, turpentine, dyan-

thos, peppermint, spigelia, lavender, nitric acid, muriatic acid,

cassia, castile soap, and olive oil.

Referring again to the inventory of the effects of Dr. Gideon

Case8 of Hudson, over forty drugs are listed, including tartar

emetic, iron sulphate, ipecac, flowers of benzoin, balsam capivi,

oil peppermint, oil mint, nitric acid, muriatic acid, balsam Peru,

zinc ointment, calomel, red precipitate of mercury, Peruvian

bark, camomile flowers, orange peel, cloves, sugar of lead, borax,

squills, rosin, rhubarb, gum ammoniac, digitalis, guiac, canthar-

ides, emplastrum stomachicum olivea, magnesia, arsenic, liquorice,

 

7 Tyler, "Luther Spelman."

8 Waite, "Historian's Note Book."

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210   OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

castile soap, asafetida, aloes, white oil, camphor, turpentine, cream

tartar, ammonium hydroxide, laudanum and salts.

At the Ohio Medical Convention held in Cleveland in May,

1839, Dr. S. P. Hildreth⁹ of Marietta in his presidential address

mentioned a number of drugs used thirty years previously. These

included calomel and jalap as cathartics and Peruvian bark and

serpentaria as tonics. For the prevalent fevers, yeast, charcoal,

Fowler's solution, sulphate of quinine (after 1823), and powders

of nitrate of potash and antimony tartrate, were given internally.

We note in passing that already there was a division of opinion

regarding the use of alcohol as a therapeutic measure. However,

additional relief in fevers was obtained by some who wrapped

the patient in a sheet saturated with a mixture of red pepper,

spirits and water. Often in these fevers physicians administered

an alkali, on the theory advanced by Dr. Samuel Mitchell of New

York that "malignant fevers were caused or greatly aggravated

by the generation of septic or nitrous acid in the stomach and

bowels." To counteract this acidosis, they employed the subcar-

bonate of soda as an alkalizer.

We conclude, therefore, that very few doctors of pioneer

days in Ohio had sufficient equipment. Even of the known reme-

dies, their available supply was meager and its replacement un-

certain, probably at all times less than adequate. Because of their

modest training the earliest men were often not even familiar

with some of the instruments and procedures of the period. In

spite of these handicaps they frequently accomplished astonishing

results.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9 S. P. Hildreth, ed., Journal of the Proceedings of the Medical Convention of

Ohio (Cleveland, 1839).

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