Philosophy of Osteopathy, Andrew Taylor Still [best book club books for discussion TXT] 📗

Gender of the Liver—Productions of the Liver—A Hope for the Afflicted—Evidences of Truth—Loaded With Ignorance—Lack of Knowledge of the Kidney—How a Purgative Acts—Flux—Bloody Dysentery—Flux More Fully Described—Osteopathic Remedies—Medical Remedies—More of the Osteopathic Remedy.

Let us abruptly assume that the liver is the abiding placenta of all animated beings. If this position be true we are warranted and justified in the conclusion that the germs necessary to form blood vessels and other parts of the body must look to the liver for the fluids in which they would expect to construct in form and size. It seems to be nature's chemical laboratory, in which are prepared by receiving chemical qualities and quantities to suit the formation of hard and soft substances, which are to become the parts and the whole of any organ, gland, muscle, nerve, cell, veins and arteries. In evidence of the probability of the truth of this position, we will draw your attention, first to its central location between the sacral and cerebral nerve centers. There it lies between the "stomach" the vessel which receives all material previous to being manipulated for all nutrient purposes, and the heart, the great receiving and distributing quarter-master of all animal life. It supplies squads, sections, companies, regiments, battalions, brigades and divisions—to the whole army, and all parts that are dependent upon the nutrient system.

The liver seems to be able to qualify by calling to itself all substances necessary to produce gall. Its communications with all parts of the body is direct, circuitous, universal and absolute. If pure it produces healthy gall and other substances, and in fact when healthy itself all other fluids are considered to be pure, at which time we are supposed to enjoy good health and universal bodily comfort. With a diseased liver we have perverted action which possibly accounts for impure and unhealthy deposits in the nasal passage and other parts of the body in their own peculiar form. Polypus of the nose, tumefaction of lungs, lymphatics, liver, kidneys, uterus, and even the brain itself. Suppose such deposits, composed of albumen and fibrin, prepared in the liver should be deposited in the lining membranes of veins leading to the heart, and by some other chemical action this accumulated mass should come loose from the veins, would we not expect what is commonly called clots enter the heart, and shut off the arteries, supplying the lungs, stop the further circulation of blood and cause instantaneous death called heart failure, apoplexy and so on? Is it not reasonable to suppose that under those deposits that softening of arteries has its beginning, which results in aneurisms and death by rupture of such abnormally formed arteries? Are the lungs not liable to receive such deposits and form tubercles to such proportions as to become living zoophytes capable of covering all of the mucous membrane of the lungs, air passages and cells, and establish a perpetual dwelling of zoophytes and absorb to themselves for their own maintenance and existence, blood and nourishment of the whole body unto death? This being the result of one chemical action of the body and all by and from nature, is it not reasonable to suppose that the provision by nature is ready to produce of itself the chemicals of kind, quality and quantity equal to the destruction of this enemy of life?

I think before all diseases pass the zenith, after which the decline is beyond the vital rally, they are curable by the genius of nature's own remedies, and believe the truths of this conclusion have been supported abundantly by daily demonstrations. I believe there is hope for the consumptive equal to one-half if not greater when taken in proper time, which is at any period of the disease, previous to breaking down by ulceration or otherwise, lung tissue, and even after this period, hope is not altogether lost.

Nature and good sense are terms that mean much to persons who are used to set aside all else for facts. A fact may and often does stay before our eyes for all time powerful in truth, but we heed not its lessons. Instances, at least a few, would not be amiss at this time. Electricity, the most powerful force known, was never able with all its works to get the attention of man's thoughts, more than to call it thunder and lightning, and let it pass from his mind from time to time, till brighter ages woke up a Franklin, Edison, Morse and others who heeded its useful lessons enough to make application of its powers for its force and speed. By the results obtained, they and others have used its powers and gotten truths as rewards, that they did not know even existed in or out of electricity or in any of the store-houses of all nature. But as the winds of time have blown open a few leaves of nature's book, and their brilliant pages and useful lessons have found a lodging place in such persons as were endowed with wisdom to see, and patience to persevere, by their energy and wisdom to-day we have many pages to add to our books of useful knowledge. We can now talk around and all over the earth by the power of the dreaded thunder and lightning. By it we travel, by it we see at night, by it we search on land and sea for friend or foe; in fact, it is dreaded no more but sought, used and loved by all who know of its uses in civil life. Thus our enemy has become our footstool. By the speed of man's ability we know and use the comforts that nature holds in store for us until we call for and use them.

Other and just as useful questions as electricity await our attention. Parts and uses of the human body, to-day are to us as little understood as electricity was at any time. The lung to-day is an unknown mystery, as to what its power and uses are; we only know that air goes in and out of the lungs; farther than that we are at sea. We have just as little knowledge of the heart as the lungs, we find a hollow fibrinous tank receiving and discharging blood; we are not prepared to say whether the corpuscle is formed in the heart or not; all else is conjectural and speculative on the subject the corpuscle. We see channels leading to and from it, to and from all parts of the body, muscles and glands. We know it moves when we are alive, we know it is silent in death.

We pass from there to the liver loaded down with ignorance, from what we know, cannot tell whether it is male or female, we simply know its size, location and something of its form and action, but nothing beyond conjecture. It stands to-day one of the wonders to him that tries to reason.

We will leave this organ of many pounds with an open confession of our ignorance and take up the kidney. At what time was the man and woman born that knew and left on record a true and reliable knowledge of the renal capsule. We do not know whether that is the organ that makes our teeth, our hair or generates a powerful acid by which lime is kept in solution, so as