The Philosophy and Mechanical Principles of Osteopathy

Andrew Taylor Still

Description

This antiquarian volume contains Andrew Taylor Still’s 1902 treatise, "The Philosophy and Mechanical Principles of Osteopathy". Within this text, Still explores the principles that differentiate osteopathy from allopathy - and explains how to treat a variety of ailments and diseases. This detailed and accessible book written by the father of osteopathy himself is highly recommended for those with an interest in the subject. It will be of special utility to massage therapists and practitioners of allied treatments. Contents include: “My Authorities”, “Age of Osteopathy”, “Demand for Progress”, “Truth is Truth”, “Man is Triune”, “Trash”, “Osteopathy”, “Nature is Health”, “Our Relation to Other Systems”, “Important Studies”, etcetera. Many antiquarian books such as this are increasingly hard to come by and expensive, and it is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition. It comes complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.

Sujets

• Osteopathy
• Alternative medicine

Informations

• Publié par: Read Books Ltd.
• Date de parution: 08 janvier 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528765022
• Langue: English

Extrait

THE PHILOSOPHY and MECHANICAL PRINCIPLES of OSTEOPATHY .

By
ANDREW TAYLOR STILL ,
Discoverer of the Science of Osteopathy; Founder and President of the American School of Osteopathy, Kirksville, Adair County, Missouri .
Copyright 2013 Read Books Ltd. This book is copyright and may not be reproduced or copied in any way without the express permission of the publisher in writing
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Andrew Taylor Still
Andrew Taylor Still was born on 6 th August 1828 in Lee County, Virginia, United States.
Still was the son of a Methodist minister and physician, and decided to follow in his father s footsteps by studying medicine and serving as his apprenticeship under him. When the Civil War broke out, in 1861, Still became a Hospital Steward - a role in which he often acted as a defacto surgeon , as he later stated in his autobiography.
After the Civil War and following the death of three of his children from spinal meningitis in 1864, Still concluded that the orthodox medical practices of his day were frequently ineffective and sometimes harmful and he began looking for alternative treatments with fewer side effects. Still investigated ideas such as hydropathy, diet, bonesetting, and magnetic healing. Eventually, he came up with the practice of osteopathy which he claimed could treat a vast array of ailments through the manipulation of the musculoskeletal system. In 1892, he went on to found the American School of Osteopathy (now A. T. Still University) in Kirksville, Missouri. He published four books on the subject: Autobiography of Andrew Taylor Still with a History of the Discovery and Development of the Science of Osteopathy (1897), Philosophy of Osteopathy (1899), The Philosophy and Mechanical Principles of Osteopathy (1902). and Osteopathy Research and Practice (1910).
Along with his career in medicine, Still was active in the abolition movement and was elected to represent Douglas and Johnson counties in the Kansas territorial legislature in 1857. Kansas became a free-state the following year. Still also had a career as an inventor, patenting an improved butter churn, a smokeless furnace burner, and designing a moving machine to harvest wheat (an idea stolen from him by a salesman from the Wood Mowing Machine Co.).
Still and his family were among the founders of Baker University, Kansas, the first 4-year university in the state. He and his brother even donated 640 acres of land to be used for the university campus.
Andrew Taylor Still died on 12 th December 1917.
Preface.

In taking up a pen at my age, and assuming the responsibility of writing a book on the causes and treatment of diseases, philosophically and in a comprehensible manner, with words and forms to meet the demands of this enlightened age, I feel it is a very great undertaking, and ask that the world give me its friendly criticism. Read and adopt, or reject, as you may feel disposed when you have perused what I may write. I start out on this journey alone, with no compass except my reason, and if I fail, no one will suffer for the trip excepting myself.
A. T. S.
J ANUARY 1, 1902.
CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION
My Authorities
Age of Osteopathy
Demand for Progress
Truth Is Truth
Man Is Triune
Trash
Osteopathy
Nature Is Health
Our Relation to Other Systems
CHAPTER I.-I MPORTANT S TUDIES
Anatomy
Physiology
Chemistry
Principles of Osteopathy
Symptomatology
Surgery
CHAPTER II-S OME S UBSTANCES OF THE B ODY
Two Hundred Bones
The Brain
Cerebro-Spinal Fluid
Spinal Cord
What Are Nerves?
Nerve Powers
Three Conditions of the Blood-Corpuscles
Fluids of the Body
Blood
Disease Defined
The Fascia
An Illustration of Conception
Lymphatics
Universally Distributed
Definition of the Word Treat
CHAPTER III.-D IVISIONS OF THE B ODY
Mission of the Doctor
Five Divisions
CHAPTER IV.-H EAD , F ACE , AND S CALP
Causes of Effects
Erysipelas
Baldness
Treatment of Erysipelas
CHAPTER V.-T HE N ECK
Organized Substances of the Body
Treatment of the Neck
The Arm
Structure of the Neck
Croup, Diphtheria, Tonsillitis
Treatment of Diphtheria
Whooping Cough
CHAPTER VI.-T HORAX
Inhibition and Stimulation
Lungs-Place, Power, and Use
Pneumonia
Consumption
Its Description
Effects
The Cause
Miliary Tuberculosis
Variety of Births
Lung Diseases
Found Effects
Digestion
Its Philosophy
The Heart
Development
Heart Disease
Causes
A Few Facts
Aneurisms
Rheumatism
The Internal and External Mammary Arteries
CHAPTER VII.-D IAPHRAGM
New Discoveries
Medical Doctors
Importance of Splanchnics
The Diaphragm in Health
Out of Position
Location
Nervous Prostration
CHAPTER VIII.-A BDOMEN
Inhibition
Thoracic Duct
Feast of Reason
The Pancreas
Importance of Pure Blood
Function of Viscera
The Mesentery
Omentum
Appendicitis
What Are Abdominal Tumors?
Prolapsed Viscera
Liver
Kidneys
Stomach
Process of Digestion by Electricity
Constipation of the Bowels
The Treatment of Constipation
CHAPTER IX-P ELVIS
Diseases of Bladder
Rectum
Uterus
Effects of Wounds
Tumors
In Health and Disease
Gynecology
Importance of a Healthy Womb
Nature Our School
Anatomical Differences
Our Instruments
Machine Gives Out
Examination
Normal and Abnormal
Treatment
Whites, Leucorrh a
Dropsy
Cause of Uterine Disturbances
Less Haste with the Knife
Tumefaction
CHAPTER X.-F EVERS
What Are Fevers?
Drugs a Failure
An Array of Truths
Begin with Facts
On Fire
Perfection in Nature
Degrees of Heat
Potter s Definition
Fever s Only Effects
Result of Stoppage of Vein or Artery
Fevers Are Fevers
Go to the Spine
Congestion, etc
Look for Lesions
Summer and Winter Diseases
Pedigree of Fevers
Most Dreaded
Temperature
CHAPTER XI.-B IOGEN
Development and Progress
Origin of Action
Forces Combined
Matter in the Atom
The Visible and Invisible
Man Is Eternal
Advent of Man
Survival of the Weakest
Mental Dwarfs
CHAPTER XII.-S MALLPOX
Origin of Contagious Diseases
The Use of Vaccine
Jenner s Command Not Heeded
Credit Where Credit Is Due
Dangers of Vaccination
Stand Ready for the Fight
Victory in a New Germicide
What Smallpox Does
Treatment of Smallpox
Good Nursing
Measles
A Comparison
Scarlet Fever
CHAPTER XIII.-O BESITY
CHAPTER XIV.-E AR -W AX AND I TS U SES
Nature Makes Nothing in Vain
CHAPTER XV.-C ONVULSIONS
Old Systems Unreliable
Fits
Rib Dislocations
CHAPTER XVI.-O BSTETRICS
Morning Sickness
Cause
Treatment
Development of F tus
Preparation
Caution
First Examination
Second Examination
Care of Cord
Severing of Cord
Dressing Cord
Delivery of Afterbirth
Care of Mother
Post-Delivery Hemorrhage
Treatment
Diet
Treatment of the Breast
Introduction.

M Y A UTHORITIES .
I quote no authors but God and experience. Books compiled by medical authors can be of little use to us, and it would be very foolish of us to look to them for advice and instruction on a science of which they know nothing. They are not able to give an intelligent explanation of their own composite theories, and they have never been asked to advise us. I am free to say that only a few persons who have been pupils of my school have tried to get wisdom from medical writers and apply it to any part of osteopathy s philosophy or practice. The student of any philosophy succeeds best by the more simple methods of reasoning. We reason for necessary knowledge only, and should try to start out with as many known facts and as few false theories as possible.
Anatomy is taught in our school more thoroughly than in any other school, because we want the student to carry a living picture of all or any part of the body in his mind, as an artist carries the mental picture of the face, scenery, beast, or anything that he wishes to represent by his brush. I constantly urge my students to keep their minds full of pictures of the normal body.
A GE OF O STEOPATHY .
In answer to the question, How long have you been teaching this discovery ? I will say: I began to give reasons for my faith in the laws of life as given to men, worlds, and beings by the God of Nature, in April, 1855. I thought the swords and cannons of Nature were pointed and trained upon our systems of drug doctoring. Among others, I asked Dr. J. M. Neal, of Edinburgh, Scotland, for some information that I needed badly. He was a medical doctor, a man of keen mental abilities, who would give his opinions freely and to the point. The only thing that made me doubt that he was a Scotchman was that he loved whisky, and I had been told that the Scotch were a sensible people. John M. Neal said that drugs were bait for fools; that the p