Neuralgia and kindred diseases of the nervous system : their nature, causes, and treatment : also, a series of cases, preceded by an analytical exposition of them, exemplifying the principles and practice of neuro-dynamic medicine / by John Chapman.

  • John Chapman
Date:
1873
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Neuralgia and kindred diseases of the nervous system : their nature, causes, and treatment : also, a series of cases, preceded by an analytical exposition of them, exemplifying the principles and practice of neuro-dynamic medicine / by John Chapman. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    rpetis out. lie docs not Rhrink froto saying that hero vce have a key to disnrderlj- actions of muscles, Toluntai-y and involuutarj', to morbid actions of glands, to disorders of local nutrition, &o.; that his method is a method not only of interpreting and curing neuralgia, but of commanding a vast number of very various maladies. Indeed, although no vital function deiends primaiily and in its simplest terms upon the nervous system, yet in man this system has gained so great a control over all actions in the economy that to command this system is practically to command the whole body. Er. Chapman's Kystem is therefore something like a panacea, and he asks to have it regarded in that light, and to have it called the doctrine of'neuro-dynamic medicine.' He chooses at present to work this out on the ground of neuralgia, but he does not conceal that his ambition has a far higher flight in contem- plation. . . . Dr. Chapman himself, however, speaks not as a mere theorist. He publishes in adequate detail a Tery large number of important cases, which together make up a large mass of evidence in favour of his views—evidence which cannot be disregarded. . . . These numerous examples of positive success cannot be without great weight; many of them, indeed, are very striking. We do not shrink from saying that these cases are really very striking, for Dr. Chapman relates them in cautious and temperate language; indeed, his whole book is very ably and systematically written, and reads like a trustworthy treatise. . . . Granting Dr. Chapman's therapeutical results to be good, there are several important stages in his superincumbent arguments which as yet are far from secure, though we are unable of course to deny their possible validity. In conclusio]i, we consider that Dr. Chapman has written a very able book, based on observations and arguments which have evidently cost him much labour and time. We consider that in this book he makes a very strong claim upon the attention of his professional brethren, who are now bound to prove or disprove his allegations; we have therefore given the subject the space and the serious attention in our columns which so large and temperate a work fairly demands. We cannot now do more ; but it is evident that if Dr. Chapman establishes any great part of his thesis, he has made one of the most remarkable therapeutic discoveries in the history of the art.—Medical Times and Gazette, June 14,1873. The work before us, from the pen of Dr. Chapman, presents an elaborate analysis of the symptoms of the whole group of neuralgic diseases, and an interpretation of those symptoms according to the theories of neuro-pathology to which the author has been led by observation of the effects of the particxilar system of treatment in connection with which his name is chiefiy known to the Medical Profession. The careful study of the natural history of the disease, and of the complications which it presents, evinces both careful and continued observation, and a thorough acquaintance with the literature of the subject. The facts and opinions of every writer on neuralgia, English and foreign, past and con- temporaneous, are laid before the reader fairly but critically, and in a manner which renders the work a useful contribution to Medical literature, quite apart from the tenets, the presentation of which is its special object, and which we consider it the duty of the profession to put to the test. It is, indeed quite time that the remarkable generalization long since arrived at by Dr. Chapman, and now supported by the vast arra3' of facts and arguments contained in the volume before us, should receive the thoughtful consideration of all those engaged in the treament of disease. His theory not only explains many morbid phenomena, bitt suggests a rational mode of treating the diseases on which they depend This mode has been applied in hundreds of cases with such success that Dr. Chapman is entitled to ask his brethren either to try it in their own practice, or to state their reasons for not doing so, and we venture to assert that those who carefully read this volume will hesitate before they measure swords with the author. The work is an elaborate and well-sustained argument for the truth of the author's theorj', and constitutes so important a contribution to rational therapeutics that we proceed to furnish our readers with a detailed account of its contents.—Medical Press and Circular, Ajml 30,1873. This work, though an exhaustive treatise on neuralgia and kindred diseases of the nervous system, puts forth claims which, if conceded, would involve nothing less than a revolution in both pathology and therapeutics. A critical sketch of 'Pathological Theories of Neuralgia' is given in chapter ii. ; in chapter viii. Dr. C. B. Eadcliffe's ' Theory of the Genesis of Pain' is subject to a searching critical analysis ; and in chapter xi. Dr. Anstie's ' Pathology and Etiology of Neuralgia' is also elabo- rately summarised, while every argument in support of it is submitted to merciless scrtttiny. The significance and bearing of every pathological fact adduced by these physicians in support of their respective and, indeed, kindred theories, are carefully examined, and after weighing the whole of the evidence presented in favour of these theories, our author sums up its value in each case in a concluding paragraph, and gives judgment against them. As examples of critical analysis, logical acumen, com- plete masteiy of the subjects dealt with, and crushing confutation of the doctrines discussed, the chapters deserve special attention. The wide range of subjects strictly cognate, however, and having a direct bearing on the main theme, which are discussed in this chapter [on the Pathology of Neuralgia], and the thoroughly exhaustive and scientific way in which they are handled, present striking evidence of the author's extensive knowledge, profound as well as logically consistent thought, complete familiarity with every aspect of the problem dealt with, and of his power of skilfully arranging all the facts and arguments relating to it, so as to converge them to one issue, and thus to lead his readers irresistiblj- to the conclusion, which it is the aim of this chapter to establish. A glance at the topics discussed under the head of one group, namely, Group vi, for example, will suffice to give an idea of the extent of area traversed, though, of course, it can convey no notion of the thoroughness and originality with which the work is done. We have only to add that the work, as a whole, reflects credit on the Medical literature of the day. In a lucid style, and with logical precision. Dr. Chapman has expounded a theory that every practitioner ought carefully to weigh, and has enforced his doctrines with a mass of evidence that en- titles him to a foremost place among those accurate clinical observers who are helping to advance scientific therapeutics.—The Doctor, Ajvil 1, 1873. Dr. Chapman's work, while intended in the first instance for men of science, is written is so lucid a style that it will be found not only intelligible, but interesting, to all who desire to see the develop- ment to its fullest extent of remedial power, and a,n important step gained, towards the conquest of disease and pain.—Morning- Post, April 11,1873. LONDON: J. & A. CHTTRCTTTLL, NRAV BITRLINrrTON STREET, W.