Philosophy of OsteopathyStill, A. T. (Andrew Taylor)
Philosophy
Philosophy of Osteopathy
Still, A. T. (Andrew Taylor)
Osteopathic medicine
Before you leave that wisely constructed neck, I want to press and
imprint on your minds in the strongest terms that the wisest anatomist,
and physiologist, the oldest and most successful Osteopath knows only
enough of the neck, and its wondrous system of nerves, blood and muscles
and its relation to all above and below it, to say, "From everlasting to
everlasting thou art great, O Lord God Almighty!" Thy wisdom is surely
boundless, for I see that man must be wise to know all about the neck,
for we find by a twist of neck, we may become blind, deaf, spasmodic,
lose speech and memory, and all that is known as the joys of man. On
that division of the body all action of arms, legs, chest and all
muscles get their life--power and motion. Think for a moment of the
thousands and tens of thousands of large and small fluid vessels that
pass to and from heart and brain, to every organ, bone, fibre, muscle
and gland, both large and small, receiving and appropriating the
substances as prepared in the chemical laboratory; so wisely situated,
and so exact in all its works in the production and application of all
substances in the body.
ORDER OF TREATMENT.
The reader will begin with the brain or head because I want to start
with the head; first give such diseases as belong to that division of
the body. Then the neck, chest, abdomen and pelvis. Thus we have five
divisions in regular order, beginning with the head and finishing with
the sacrum. The reader will find diseases of eye, ear, tongue, nose,
face, scalp and hair under the chapter treating of the head. Next in
regular order will be the division of the neck, with diseases of tonsils
and glands of neck, swallow, trachæ, nerves, blood vessels and muscles,
fascia and lymphatics, superior cervical ganglion and other nerves of
the neck, as they affect vitality in diseases. Then we pass on to third
division, with diseases of lung, heart, pericardium, and pleura, with
all parts of chest. Then abdomen, liver, stomach and bowels, and all
organs with resisting power of diaphragm. Fifth, pelvis, with its great
supply of nerves, blood and other fluids. These give us cause to halt
and seat the mind for a long season of observation. A great field opens
at this point for the observing thinker.
THE PELVIS.
In the pelvis we find a system of nerves and arteries with blood for
local supply, besides blood to construct womb, bladder, rectum, colon,
cellular system and all the muscles of that cavity (the pelvis) all of
which comes from arteries and branches above. We think it is not
necessary to name them only in bulk, to a student versed in anatomy.
Perhaps less is known of the pelvic system and its functions than any
division of the body, and for that reason I have felt that we should
know all that is possible to be learned. I believe more ignorance
prevails to-day of internal causes of diseases than would if we reasoned
that the pelvic nerves and vessels had much to do in forming the
abdominal viscera.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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