SUPERSTITION
IN MEDICINE

SUPERSTITION
IN MEDICINE

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BY
Prof. Dr. HUGO MAGNUS

AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION FROM
THE GERMAN, EDITED BY
Dr. JULIUS L. SALINGER
Late Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine, Jefferson Medical
College; Physician to the Philadelphia General Hospital, etc.

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FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY
NEW YORK AND LONDON
1908

Copyright, 1905, by
FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY
[Printed in the United States of America]
Published, April, 1905

[v]

PREFACE

The history of medicine is closely interlinkedwith the development of theology. The errorsof one are for the most part reflected in the mistakesof the other. No matter how obscure anddark the origin of either, whether derived fromignorance and superstition or not, the ultimateachievement alone must be taken into consideration.We do not reject chemistry because itoriginated in alchemy, we do not disregard astronomybecause its roots are entwined with theteachings of astrology, and so in theology andmedicine we look to the final issue. The statementsset forth in this book should not be construedas reflecting the development of theologyor medicine at the time, but as the belief of thepeople existing in these periods. Philosophymay have been pure, but if the mind of man wasfaulty the responsibility must not be laid at thedoor of science. It is the function of the historiantruthfully to depict the thought and spiritof the time of which he writes. This has beenattempted in the present work. It is not a criticismof a system, but a criticism of man.[vi]There can be no doubt that absurd superstitionsare still existent for which the twentieth centurywill be severely criticized in time to come.Thus the words of our martyred President maywell be used as a motto for this book: “Withmalice towards none, with charity for all.”

The last chapter of this book has been addedby the translator, as it seemed necessary for thefull discussion of the subject.

Julius L. Salinger.

Philadelphia, Pa.

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CONTENTS