The Midwest pioneer, his ills, cures, & doctors - University Library ...

all classes of people, than among us." The passing of the
99
years made this true in the West as well as in the East.
Much has been written of the country doctor. He was
an important figure in pioneer life. An individualist in an
age of individualism, he conformed to no set type, but in
general has fared well at the hands of history. Like the
preacher, he often was a jack of several trades—he might
farm, hunt, or do some smithing in odd hours. In the early
days wolves and wildcats kept him company on the solitary
night journeys through almost trackless woods, but
his nerves were steady, and he knew that weird cries were
not so dangerous as overhanging branches, hidden holes, and
swollen streams. Like the judge and minister, he sometimes
rode circuit over his territory. Tireless, fearless, often
gruflf, yet sympathetic, the doctor maintained a personal
relationship with his people more intimate and vital than
that of minister or lawyer. Though frequently short of
learning, intolerant of rivals, and given to petty quarrels,
he was abundantly possessed of those qualities which made
his humanity triumph over both nature and human selfishness,
and himself usually a figure at the same time feared,
loved, and venerated.
The equipment of the country doctor was simple: mortar
and pestle, a set of balances, some home-made splints
and bandages, a few drugs, possibly a small assortment of
instruments, perhaps a pewter bedpan, a few simple syringes,
and pewter or crockery hot-water bottles. Occasionally
a doctor had a pulsometer, a glass, dumb-bellshaped
container about six inches long filled with colored
liquid; when the patient held one end in his closed hand,
air bubbles would rise to the other end. This result was,
of course, a simple physical rather than physiological action,
and bore no actual relation to the pulse, but served to convince
the patient that he had had a more thorough and
accurate diagnosis. By the late 1830's most of the better
equipped doctors also carried a stethoscope^, a set of tooth
forceps, and a few obstetrical instruments. Naturally the
doctor had a horse and saddle bags. In the absence of com-