Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/364

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352 MEDILL MEDINA cal chemists of the active principles of various drugs, has not only rendered those drugs more certain and less nauseous, but has enabled us to exhibit necessary doses which the stomach otherwise would be unable to retain. 8. Not only lias the materia medica been benefited in the' manner above mentioned, but by the dis- covery of various other remedies, by which diseases hitherto Tebellious have been render- ed more amenable to the resources of art, and by that of anaesthetics. ECLECTIC MEDICINE is a term used to designate a school of medicine whose distinctive doctrines are the selection of whatever may be thought the best prac- tice of other schools, and the employment of " specific medication." These " specifics " are not directed to symptoms merely, but are de- signed to obviate particular pathological con- ditions. Thus, a certain class of diseases gen- erate similar morbid products, and remedies calculated to remove these through the various excretory organs are termed by the eclectics specific remedies. Dr. Benjamin Thompson of Concord, N. H., the founder of what was at one time known as the botanic or Thomp- sonian practice in America, was one of the older members of the school, and also Dr. Wooster Beach, who many years ago founded in New York the "Reformed Medical Col- lege," which was soon relinquished. Another was established at Worthington, Ohio, which, at the end of 10 or 12 years was also discontin- ued, and another at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1845, under the name of the " Eclectic Medical Insti- tute." This is regarded as the parent school of eclecticism, and has matriculated 5,375 and graduated 1,804 students. The doctrine of spe- cific medication is of recent introduction by Prof. John M. Scudder, the present professor of practice and pathology in the Cincinnati institution. See "American Eclectic Practice of Medicine," by J. G. Jones, M. D., and Wil- liam Sherwood, M. D. (Cincinnati, 1857) ; " Chronic Diseases," by Prof. John King (1867); and "American Dispensatory," by the same (1874). (See HOMCEOPATHY, HYDRO- PATHY, MEDICAL ELECTRICITY, and SURGERY.) MEDILL, Joseph, an American journalist, born in New Brunswick, near the border of Maine, April 6, 1823. His parents, who were Scotch- Irish, removed to Massillon, O., in 1832, where Joseph passed the next 12 years on his father's farm. He studied and practised law, and in 1849 established the " Republican " at Coshoc- ton, 0., as a free-soil whig paper. In 1852 he sold this journal, and founded the "Forest City " in Cleveland, O., advocating the election of Winfield Scott as president, but repudiating the Baltimore platform. In 1853 his paper was merged in the "Leader," and in 1854 he was one of the 12 who formed the republican party in Cleveland: In that year he removed to Chicago, and with John 0. Vaughan and Dr. C. H. Ray purchased the " Tribune," with which he has been connected since May, 1855. In 1870 he was elected to the state constitu- tional convention, and was the author of the minority-representation clause. In 1871 he was a member of the United States civil ser- vice commission, which post he resigned on being elected mayor of Chicago. In Septem- ber, 1873, he resigned the mayoralty and went to Europe. In November, 1874, he returned and purchased a controlling interest in the " Tribune," becoming editor-in-chief. MEDINA. I. A S. W. county of Texas, bound- ed N. E. by the Medina river; area, 1,175 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 2,078, of whom 92 were colored. The surface is rolling and in some parts hilly. Timber and water are scarce. Stock raising is the leading industry. In 1870 there were 42,561 cattle. Capital, Castroville. II. A N. E. county of Ohio, drained by Black and Rocky rivers ; area, 425 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 20,092. The surface is uneven an* the soil fertile. The Atlantic and Great Western railroad passes along the S. border. The chief productions in 1870 were 304,908 bushels of wheat, 393,696 of Indian corn, 537,217 of oats, 148,911 of potatoes, 18,605 of flax seed, 302,- 702 Ibs. of flax, 226,595 of maple sugar, 408,- 890 of wool, 975,938 of butter, 416,958 of cheese, and 48,619 tons of hay. There were 7,588 horses, 24,329 cattle, 69,742 sheep, and 10,719 swine; 5 manufactories of agricultural implements, 12 of cheese, 1 of lead and zinc, 3 of woollen goods, 19 saw mills, 1 planing mill, and 2 flour mills. Capital, Medina. MEDINA (Arab. Medinet en-Nebi, "city of the prophet "), a city of Arabia, in the prov- ince of Hedjaz, situated on the vast plateau of high land which forms central Arabia, about 250 m. N. of Mecca, in lat. 24 50' N., Ion. 39 50 ; E. ; pop. about 17,000. It is the second in sanctity of the three holy cities of the Moham- medans. The sacred area is embraced within an imaginary line forming an irregular circle, of which the town is the centre, and of which the diameter is about 12 m. Medina consists of three parts, a town, a fort, and suburbs. The town proper is walled and has four gates. The streets are narrow and dark, and imper- fectly paved, and the town has a general ap- pearance of decay. The houses are of brick, basalt, and palm wood ; the best of them en- close spacious courtyards and small gardens with wells. The castle joins on to the N. W. angle of the city. The suburbs are S. and W. of the town, and between it and them is the plain of Al-Munakhah. They contain five mosques and the governor's house. The mosque of the prophet is at the eastern ex- tremity of the city. A saying of Mohammed is cited to the effect that one prayer in it is more efficacious than 1,000 in other places, ex- cepting Mecca. The present building, occupy- ing the site of a smaller one existing in the time of Mohammed, is a parallelogram about 420 ft. long by 340 broad. It has a spacious central area open to the sky, surrounded by a peristyle with numerous rows of pillars, surmounted by small domes, and having five gates and five