Transactions of the National Eclectic Medical Association

Select papers on botanical medicine and sundry from the annual convention reports, 1881-2, 1882-3, 1888-9, 1895-6 (vols. 9.10, 16 and 23)

Illustrated Phytotherapy by Thomas Deschauer, D.Sc, N.D., D.C.

An enigma, Deschauer wrote a number of self-published books, maintained a practice and ran an herb and vitamin business in Maywood, Illinois up until, I gather, the late 1940s. It would seem, from his exhaustive knowledge of rural German plant names, that he was one of the German nature-cure charismatics that immigrated to the United States in the 1920s and 1930s. Others include Benedict Lust, Arnold Ehret and Otto Mausert. Going by the appearance of Dr. Deschauer in his photograph in volume one, he was already an aged man, and perhaps he died before finishing the planned third volume of this series. As a former printer, I presume that these (as well as his other) books were published on a small press (an A.B.Dick or Multilith, most likely) and bound by hand, with staples and binding tape…Old-School desk-top printing. The illustrations appear to have been carefully cut out of existing books (I know most of them by sight), photographed and burned into metal plates for in-house printing. I know nothing more about the good doctor (he is quoted several times by John Christopher in HIS books) except that the first volume has been reprinted a few times over the years by others and that his several other books are unknown by anyone I have contacted. Nonetheless, except for some peculiar latin names (retained) and several (noted) misidentifications of American plants (understandable if one were of German training), there is a sure and experienced hand at work in these two books and they deserve to be available.

Volume one (1945) , 113 pages, 147 illustrations of about 150 distinct plants, bookmarked Acrobat (.pdf) file, 2.4 MB

Volume two (1945) 116 pages, 155 illustrations of about 160 distinct plants, bookmarked Acrobat (.pdf) file, 2.7 MB

A Therapeutic Guide to Alkaloidal Dosimetric Medication by John M. Shaller M.D.

Acrobat file, 282 pages, 532K

In the early 1860’s, Professor Adolph Burggaeve, of the University of Ghent, conceived of a model of medicine that used small, frequently dispensed granules of refined drugs administered to control inflammation and its resultant damage. This was in direct opposition to the conventional model of heroic, confrontational medicine that was current then (and, to some degree, is current still). This was mostly a philosophical concept, with many followers but few practitioners (at least in the U.S.) until the Chicago physician/pharmacist Dr. Wallace C. Abbott began manufacturing unique small-dose water-soluble granules of drugs in 1888; this enable “Dosimetry” to explode, amongst both regular-school and eclectic American physicians. The Abbott Alkaloidal Company had great success, often unable to keep up with demand, changed its name to Abbott Laboratories and, by the late 1920s had begun to phase out its “granules” business and change into the run-of-the-mill pharmaceutical giant it is today.

For a few decades, this model of medicine flourished, both in North America and Europe but as the physicians got older, none replaced them and it is a sadly forgotten medical paradigm. It has two practical problems: it is very labor-intensive (bad news these days) and the granules are no longer manufactured. Still, it is intriguing…the monographs in this, the best-known of the American Dosimetric manuals, are articulate and practical…there is even an extensive section on cancer salves and their recipes

Whether theories are right or wrong, this one fact will remain-your patients will get well speedily and safely. It might seem that too much prominence is given to the one symptom, fever. But the fact is, that if fever can be controlled and can be reduced at will, the disease that produces the fever is virtually under control. By keeping track of the fever alone, a very excellent and tolerably sure index is obtained of the progress of the disease. The slightest decline is favorable and may show that treatment is effective, while the slightest increase shows advancement of pathologic conditions and that the remedy used has so far failed to impress or control the disease. – Shaller

The complete bookmarked manual (1907) – Acrobat file, 282 pages, 532K

Transactions of the National Eclectic Medical Association

Papers on botanical medicine and sundry from the annual convention report

Transactions 1881-2 – VOL 9 – Acrobat file, 37 pages, 148K
NEW REMEDIES.
RHUS AROMATICA.

Transactions 1882-3 – VOL. 10 – Acrobat file, 88 pages, 220K
GELSEMIUM IN OBSTETRIC PRACTICE. – ASCLEPIADACEAE (Milkweed Family). – SANGUINARIA CANADENSIS. – CHELIDONIUM MAJUS. – GELSEMIUM SEMPERVIRENS. – MANGIFERA INDICA. – NEW REMEDIES. – THE MEDICAL FLORA OF KANSAS;

Transactions 1888-9 – VOL. 16 – Acrobat file, 24 pages, 80K
WHY PHYSICIANS SHOULD BE LIBERALLY EDUCATED. – POSSIBILITIES OF UNITING THE SEVERAL SCHOOLS OF MEDICINE – MEDICAL EXCERPTS. (JOHN KING, M. D.) – COLLINSONIA CANADENSIS. – DOSIMETRIC MEDICATION.

Transactions 1895-6 – VOL. 23 – Acrobat file, 25 pages, 80K
THE EPIDEMIC REMEDY. – PASSIFLORA. – MEDICINAL VALUE OF THE SARATOGA WATERS. – CIGARS AND CIGARETTES (their dangers).
I will add more of these as I can obtain them (locating them is a tad dicey). A pattern does emerge, however. The first 10-12 Transactions deal heavily and gleefully with an almost adolescent joy at existence…new remedies, new methodologies, growing members and many new schools, a sense of purpose and intent. As the years go on, fewer joys, longer discourses on how to stay afloat as a movement, against the country-wide pressure of “regular” medicine to push the American School (Eclectic) physicians into oblivion…long discourses by the various state delegations of the rigours of survival…grim, trench politics dominating over content. As the body of compared information, experience and sophistication of Eclectic Medicine increased, its numbers dwindled. As mentioned elsewhere, the last Eclectic Medical School closed in 1939.

The Cascara Tree in British Columbia by John Davidson

The revised version of the booklet, published in 1942 by the Ministry of Agriculture of British Columbia, offers a remarkably reasonable methodology for the sustained harvesting of Rhamnus purshiana for the world’s drug trade, assessing and correcting damages and defining methods for planting an over-harvested botanical…plus revealing the little-known fact that the WOOD is equal in strength to the “official” bark. This even-handed and humane approach (…sooo Canadian) is one that should offer a model to eleviate some of the current problems of herb overharvesting.

Acrobat file (.pdf) 32 pages, 10 illustrations, legislative regulations and a sample picker’s tag. 470K

Ginseng and Other Medicinal Plants by A.R. Harding

Written in 1909 and 1912, from the final revision of 1936, this was THE book on Ginseng and Golden Seal cultivation for many decades. I have added a few better plates to the last few chapters…reprinted for so many years, I can just imagine the dried ink caked on the 17-year-old zinc plates in the ancient galleys…some things even might Photoshop not repair digitally.

Section 1 – I. Plants as a Source of Revenue, II. List of Plants Having Medicinal Value, III. Cultivation of Wild Plants, IV. The Story of Ginseng

Acrobat file (.pdf) 31 pages, 9 illustrations 640K

Section 2 – V. Ginseng Habits, VI. Cultivation

Acrobat file (.pdf) 28 pages, 16 illustrations 336K

Section 3 – VII. Shading and Blight, VIII. Diseases of Ginseng, IX. Marketing and Prices

Acrobat file (.pdf) 39 pages, 14 illustrations 372K

Section 4 – X. Letters from Growers, XI. General Information, XII. Medicinal Qualities, XIII. Ginseng in China, XIV. Ginseng- Government Description, Etc.

Acrobat file (.pdf) 47 pages, 7 illustrations 308K

Section 5 – XV. Michigan Mint Farm, XVI. Miscellaneous Information, XVII. Golden Seal Cultivation, XVIII. Golden Seal History, Etc, XIX. Growers’ Letters, XX. Golden Seal-Government Description, Etc.

Acrobat file (.pdf) 47 pages, 17 illustrations 1.3M

Section 6 – XXI. Cohosh-Black and Blue, XXII. Snakeroot- Canada and Virginia, XXIII. Pokeweed, XXIV. Mayapple, XXV. Seneca Snakeroot, XXVI. Lady’s Slipper

Acrobat file (.pdf) 17 pages, 9 illustrations 368K

Section 7 – XXVII. Forest Roots, XXVIII. Forest Plants, XXIX. Thicket Plants, XXX. Swamp Plants

Acrobat file (.pdf) 33 pages, 19 illustrations 552K

Group 8 – XXXI. Field Plants, XXXII. Dry Soil Plants, XXXIII. Rich Soil Plants, XXXIV. Medicinal Herbs, XXXV. Medicinal Shrubs

Acrobat file (.pdf) 39 pages, 26 illustrations 672K