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[xx: LECTURE ON THE] LUNGS. � Rudiments of thought are [xx: I think] only obtained by studious attention to business. Thus the mind grows in the art of arranging the facts in such order that one truth after another falls in line until doubt gives place to knowledge. Then we are able to demonstrate that our conclusion is no longer debatable, [xx: Thus we reason to disperse][xx: but] and doubt and hope [xx: and?] give place to the newborn truth sought. The man who succeeds never follows any theory. His motto is, �demonstration or nothing�. If we do not know how or why the lungs act, we do know that when the lungs or heart fails man dies. The whole lung system, how it acts and what it does by its action has been one of the unsolved mysteries in the history of man. Man has never reasoned that a lung is a part of a machine, the heart another and it is equally so with all other organs and [xx: that] No atom in whole machine [xx: could] can be taken away and perfect functioning follow in life�s action. [xx: Thus] If we expect perfect functioning we must look for and keep all parts in condition to do the work they can do when in line. I am not writing to tell the reader what the lung is by quoting what great and scholarly authors have said on the lung and its diseases, because with all their recorded wisdom people die, and just as fast today as they have in all time past, but I will [xx: say just what] state my opinion [xx: is], not yours nor his. I want to feel the branding iron of reason, then I will know the truth by the depth of the burn. � [xx: Just here I will say that] The lung, to me, is a most important [xx: subject] organ. [xx: and to the reader I will say, that] I have cut loose for a time to ask all philosophers and [xx: to ask] Nature to unbosom a few of the secrets of the lung. We all know a great many elementary facts pertaining to the lungs, where they are situated, their size and form, that they draw air into them and that they push it out. At this point the needle of our compass trembles and centers on nothing. We know that in good health the lungs [xx: do] act in an undisturbed manner. Where this is the condition and the heart and other organs and parts of the body are undisturbed, we are bold to say that we [xx: do] enjoy and have good health. We know we can look upon the lung as one of the organs, beings or personalities of life. We know [xx: that by] that immediately following a wound from a bullet, knife or any other force that would produce a surgical injury, [xx: such an injury] health suffers in proportion to the extent of the injury. Other injuries are just as dangerous as the surgical, such as inhaling deadly gases or being filled by water, blood or any other substance. The result is death, instantaneous or progressive. Then comes in the natural processes such as [xx: when the arterial supply being] a strong and normal arterial supply [xx: and the] with a venous return [xx: failing] which fails to carry away substances that should be passed off [xx: , if detained] [xx: which] We know the result [xx: would be] is to accumulate [xx: , and all accumulated] bodies which require space [xx: much or little] in proportion to the substances obstructed and retained. Then atmospheric changes, eruptive fevers and many other causes produce retention, stagnation, inflammation, fermentation and a deposit of such substances as are left at the end of fermentation. [xx: Right here the doctor comes to an unqualified cough. He sees the effect and proceeds to combat this effect with any or all of his specifics, but at the end of the combat death notifies him that he has lost his]
Object Description
Collection Name | Andrew Taylor Still Papers |
Title | Lecture on the Lungs |
Accession Number | 2009.10.432 |
Author | Still, Andrew Taylor |
Citation | Still, Andrew Taylor. Lecture of the Lungs. (ca. 1907?). [2009.10.432] Museum of Osteopathic Medicine. Kirksville, Missouri. |
Description | Lecture [ca. 1907] by Andrew Taylor Still on The Action of the Lungs, probably delivered to an anatomy class of the American School of Osteopathy; two slightly different versions. This may be one of the Still lectures listed for inclusion in the Lungs section of the medical lectures series (see table of contents at 2009.10.388). Lectures 2009.10.433 and 434 also deal with the subject of the lungs; all three were later published in Stills 1910 book Osteopathy Research and Practice. In the present lecture, Still emphasizes several points that are consistent with his lifelong philosophy and practices, and repeated throughout his writings: medical philosophers have not been able to explain the workings of the various organs; the body is best viewed as a perfectly designed machine made up of intricately aligned parts; disease results from parts of the bodily machine being out of place due to injury or other causes; the students must have a complete understanding of what constitutes normal structure and function in the human body in order to detect what is abnormal. As usual, he presents his ideas in no uncertain terms; for example: The man who succeeds never follows any theory (p01); I am not giving this advice to tell you where to punch, pull or rub (p04); and I want to feel the branding iron of reason, then I will know the truth by the depth of the burn (p01). The different versions of this lecture shed some light on the editorial process involved in bringing Stills works to press. (Most if not all the changes are in the handwriting of an unidentified person other than Still.) Minor revisions such as changes in punctuation have been incorporated and are not separately noted in the transcript. |
Subject | Still, A.T. (Andrew Taylor); Still, Andrew Taylor -- Philosophy; Osteopathic Medicine; American School of Osteopathy; Osteopathic Education; Lungs |
Date.Digital | 2011-07-17 |
Type |
Personal records |
Sub-Type | Lecture |
Format | jp2 |
Rights | Requests for permission to publish material from the papers should be directed to the Curator. The Museum does not claim to hold the copyright for all material in the Still Papers; it is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of other copyrights. |
Publisher.Digital | Museum of Osteopathic Medicine |
Language | English |
Contributing Institution | Museum of Osteopathic Medicine |
Copy Request | Museum of Osteopathic Medicine ℠, 800 West Jefferson Street, Kirksville, MO 63501; telephone: 660-626-2359 |
Description
Title | Page 1 |
Transcription | [xx: LECTURE ON THE] LUNGS. � Rudiments of thought are [xx: I think] only obtained by studious attention to business. Thus the mind grows in the art of arranging the facts in such order that one truth after another falls in line until doubt gives place to knowledge. Then we are able to demonstrate that our conclusion is no longer debatable, [xx: Thus we reason to disperse][xx: but] and doubt and hope [xx: and?] give place to the newborn truth sought. The man who succeeds never follows any theory. His motto is, �demonstration or nothing�. If we do not know how or why the lungs act, we do know that when the lungs or heart fails man dies. The whole lung system, how it acts and what it does by its action has been one of the unsolved mysteries in the history of man. Man has never reasoned that a lung is a part of a machine, the heart another and it is equally so with all other organs and [xx: that] No atom in whole machine [xx: could] can be taken away and perfect functioning follow in life�s action. [xx: Thus] If we expect perfect functioning we must look for and keep all parts in condition to do the work they can do when in line. I am not writing to tell the reader what the lung is by quoting what great and scholarly authors have said on the lung and its diseases, because with all their recorded wisdom people die, and just as fast today as they have in all time past, but I will [xx: say just what] state my opinion [xx: is], not yours nor his. I want to feel the branding iron of reason, then I will know the truth by the depth of the burn. � [xx: Just here I will say that] The lung, to me, is a most important [xx: subject] organ. [xx: and to the reader I will say, that] I have cut loose for a time to ask all philosophers and [xx: to ask] Nature to unbosom a few of the secrets of the lung. We all know a great many elementary facts pertaining to the lungs, where they are situated, their size and form, that they draw air into them and that they push it out. At this point the needle of our compass trembles and centers on nothing. We know that in good health the lungs [xx: do] act in an undisturbed manner. Where this is the condition and the heart and other organs and parts of the body are undisturbed, we are bold to say that we [xx: do] enjoy and have good health. We know we can look upon the lung as one of the organs, beings or personalities of life. We know [xx: that by] that immediately following a wound from a bullet, knife or any other force that would produce a surgical injury, [xx: such an injury] health suffers in proportion to the extent of the injury. Other injuries are just as dangerous as the surgical, such as inhaling deadly gases or being filled by water, blood or any other substance. The result is death, instantaneous or progressive. Then comes in the natural processes such as [xx: when the arterial supply being] a strong and normal arterial supply [xx: and the] with a venous return [xx: failing] which fails to carry away substances that should be passed off [xx: , if detained] [xx: which] We know the result [xx: would be] is to accumulate [xx: , and all accumulated] bodies which require space [xx: much or little] in proportion to the substances obstructed and retained. Then atmospheric changes, eruptive fevers and many other causes produce retention, stagnation, inflammation, fermentation and a deposit of such substances as are left at the end of fermentation. [xx: Right here the doctor comes to an unqualified cough. He sees the effect and proceeds to combat this effect with any or all of his specifics, but at the end of the combat death notifies him that he has lost his] |