PREFACE
 

Preface to the Sixth Edition

It is a pleasure to present this sixth edition of this work.  We trust that it will meet with approval as the former editions have.  Special attention is called to the new article on Spanish Influenza.  This science has been very effective in the treatment of that disease.  In reading the descriptions of diseases and their treatments various numbers are referred to.  These are paragraph numbers found on pages 23 to 63.  These paragraphs refer to the illustrations as Figs.  The illustrations are grouped together.

Chas. H. Murray

Elgin, Illinois

Preface to the Fifth Edition

We trust that, wherever English is read, this edition will meet the hearty approval of doctors, as did former editions.

Special attention is called to the new treatment for Partial Deafness and Deafness and Hay Fever.

Chas.  H. Murray.

Elgin, Ill.

Preface to the Third Edition

When after the brief space of two and one-half years I had the pleasure of being informed by the publisher that a third edition of my Textbook of Practice of Osteopathy was called for, I resolved to make it in every respect as perfect as was in my power.  The entire work has been carefully and thoroughly revised, considerable new material has been added, bringing the work up to date and fully in the forefront of all recent but proven investigations.  Many new illustrations have been added.

By these improvements I have tried to make the book worthy of the kind reception accorded it by the medical and Osteopathic profession and the medical press.  The second edition was largely taken by Osteopaths.  The writer has been pleased with the way medical doctors have been successful in obtaining splendid results from the treatments herein described.

Chas.  H. Murray.

Elgin, Ill.

Preface to the First Edition

Osteopathy was born in the fertile mind of Doctor Andrew Taylor Still in 1875.  Like other good gifts from God it hearse evidence of being sent by Divine providence.  Drugs having proven of no value in serious cases in the doctor's own household he was led to look for something better.  Osteopathy had its necessary growth and development amidst surroundings that tested its right to existence at every step.  The science withstood the fire of merciless criticism, but the scientific truth, that God made the human machine perfect, and as long as it is kept in order it will perform its proper functions and keep in good health to a ripe old age, came out more than conqueror.

No one but Doctor Still and his devoted family will ever know the hard and bitter struggle, when deserted by many relatives and friends he bore the brunt of the battle which was waged after he stepped out of the medical profession and declared for Osteopathy.

So successful was he in curing those whose diseases had resisted all other forms of treatment that he was compelled to teach the science that others might treat suffering humanity.

There have been a number of other schools started, both East and West, which have also been sending out graduates until thousands of practitioners are now practicing the science in the United States, and there are representatives in nearly all parts of the world.  So the work has grown and prospered and is rapidly making its impress felt for good among all schools of healing.

While the above is true, those in the field can not do a tithe of the work that is necessary.  Many in the smaller towns and in the country must go without the treatment, while very many are attempting to practice who know comparatively little of the science.

The object of this work is to meet this very urgent need on the part of practitioners of all schools, and to present the practical side of Osteopathy in a very plain and simple manner.

To the many practitioners of the science who have not taken the regular work in colleges, yet who will continue to practice, it will prove of the greatest value.  While the work does not deal with the theory of Osteopathy to any great extent, the practical side of the science is presented and emphasized in such a manner as to be of great assistance to medical doctors who have not time nor the inclination to take a regular course in Osteopathy, and who will here receive a knowledge of the science that will be of value to them an d to their patients.

Thousands in every walk of life will be helped by the general treatment as indicated in this work.  They will live longer and feel more like living while they live if the various ligaments of the spine and joints are not allowed to become hard and stiff and short, thus creating a tension and stiffness in parts that should be soft and pliable to permit a good nerve supply and circulation.

The author believes that all that is good in medicine should become common property; that there is too much ignorance among the people con-cerning the healing art.  He fully believes that Osteopathy is the very best in medicine, and in helping to make its use more universal he is helping humanity.

Chas.  H. Murray.

Elgin, Illinois.