50, 100 & 150 Years Ago: Prescription Faith, Flying Rebuttal and Medical Fishing

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AUGUST 1955
PLACEBO MEDICINE--"Society has never completely divorced the physician from the witch doctor, and for many patients the notion that the doctor lacks omniscience in his domain is extremely disturbing. When the patient expects or demands some tangible evidence of therapeutic capability, it is usually simplest (and wisest) for all concerned to prescribe a harmless pill or liquid. The well-known illegibility of the prescription scripts frequently makes it impossible for a curious patient even to guess at the nature of the medicament. To guard against the possibility that the patient will ask the pharmacist about the contents of the prescription, physicians should steer clear of milk sugar or other well-known ingredients. Names such as ammoniated tincture of valerian can safely be revealed without upsetting the psychological applecart."

AUGUST 1905
RISE OF GALVESTON--"The completion of Galveston's great sea wall marks the successful culmination of one of the most unique and gigantic engineering undertakings in recent years--a solid concrete wall 4 ¿ miles in length and seventeen feet high and the elevation of the city's grade to the level of the top of the wall. The wonderful nerve of Galvestonians is more properly realized after considering that in the great storm of September 8, 1900, over 8,000 lives were wiped out of existence, and more than $20,000,000 worth of property was destroyed, and faith in the rapidly growing city so rudely shaken that five years have not entirely sufficed to restore public confidence. The grade-raising necessitates the lifting up of 2,156 houses."

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