What a field
for butchery and for the attainment of fame and money woman has become
to the mercenary practitioner of so-called "modern gynecology." It would
be interesting, were it not revolting, to trace the history of the treatment
of diseases of women by the majority of the medical profession during the
past twenty years. Ever and anon some new theory has been advanced to account
for the weaknesses and inabilities, the neuralgias, pains, sleeplessness,
nervousness and other indications of derangements in the organism of woman.
In man, such disturbances would be traced to various causes, and the special
cause ascertained and overcome. But, alas, for woman, whose procreative
organs differ from those of man! That difference of organization is made
the scapegoat of all diseases, simple or complex, whether they are directly
associated with the procreative organs or remote from them.
The womb has been
an especial object for reproach by the medical profession. It has been
maligned and abused until woman has been led to look upon that poor organ
and its appendages as a curse to her existence instead of the glory and
blessing that Nature manifestly designed they should be. It is true that
the womb, through the nervous system, is closely connected with every other
organ of the body, but it is not true, as modern scientific mutilators
would have us believe, that every distress of the various organ of the
female body should be ascribed to disorders of the womb.
Some of the fads
profitably encouraged by the medical profession are not only absurd but
are almost criminal in their methods. Woman has been led to believe that
in her case Nature blundered or was unable to maintain that destiny for
which she was created, and that it was left to the modern gynecologist,
for a fee, to correct these natural shortcomings. A few of the modern fads
in the treatment of women may be mentioned:
Scraping
the Womb.
This operation is
a tedious and most painful one. It has been indiscriminately resorted to
under the slightest pretexts and has doubtless laid the foundation for
many wrecked lives. But what is a woman to do? She presents herself for
treatment before a physician and expects to follow his advice. If he is
one of the modern gynecologists, it is impossible for him to recognize
any disease or to see any symptoms without the aid of his speculum. He
commences his investigations at once by demanding an exposure and indulging
in manipulations, revolting to a modest woman, and in the great majority
of cases absolutely unnecessary. After this comes the declaration that
the whole trouble lies with the womb; instruments of torture are introduced,
a fee is collected, and frequent repetitions of this treatment are demanded.
By these "treatments"
the inner wall of the womb is literally scraped, liability to hemorrhages
is made probable, and in nearly every case chronic inflammation is established.
It is a fact that in a few absolutely diseased conditions scraping of the
womb may possibly be beneficial; but such cases are few indeed, and in
every instance appropriate treatment would prove far superior. Scraping
of the womb is a needless and dangerous operation and when it is not performed
for mercenary purposes it is performed because the operator has an insufficient
knowledge of the more humane and scientific methods of treating disease.
It has been my personal experience to rescue many such cases from the hands
of modern mutilators and restore them to health by rational means
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