| Andrew Taylor Still, M.D., D.O. | |
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Andrew Taylor Still in 1914
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| Born | August 6, 1828 Lee County, Virginia |
| Died | December 12, 1917 (aged 89) Kirksville, Missouri |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | osteopathy, medicine |
| Institutions | Baker University, A. T. Still University |
Andrew Taylor Still, M.D., D.O. (August 6, 1828 – December 12, 1917) is considered the father of osteopathy and osteopathic medicine.[1] He was also a physician & surgeon,[2][3] author,[4][5] inventor and Kansas territorial & state legislator.[6] He was one of the founders of Baker University,[7] the oldest 4-year college in the state of Kansas, and was the founder of the American School of Osteopathy (now A. T. Still University), the world's first osteopathic medical school, in Kirksville, Missouri.
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Still was born in Lee County, Virginia, in 1828, the son of a Methodist minister and physician. At an early age, Still decided to follow in his father's footsteps as a physician. After studying medicine and serving an apprenticeship under his father, he entered the Civil War as a Hospital Steward,[8] but would later state in his autobiography that he served as a "defacto surgeon." This is consistent with US Army military medical history of the time. Military medical historians record that "Provision was made for the enlistment of intelligent men from civil life into the (Hospital) corps, and for the organization of companies of instruction in which the training of the men in all the details of hospital service as cooks, nurses, attendants, litter-bearers, etc., is perfected under the supervision of the medical officers. Certain of these men are selected for assignment as acting hospital stewards after an examination to determine their proficiency in pharmacy, materia medica and the management of medical and surgical emergencies; and after a year, at least, of service and a further examination on these subjects, together with minor surgery and the elements of practical sanitation, they are eligible for promotion to the position of Hospital Steward…The Hospital Stewards of the Army were originally appointed to take charge of hospital stores, furniture and supplies for the sick, and to receive and distribute rations at hospitals; but as no pharmacist was provided for hospitals, the duty of making up prescriptions and having general charge of the sick in the absence of the medical officers fell to the lot of the Hospital Steward, and came by degrees to be regarded as his most important work."[9] Promotion to Assistant Surgeon and Surgeon were the reward of military service.[10] Given his background, Dr. Still entered service in the Union Army as a Hospital Steward.
After the Civil War and following the death of three of his children from spinal meningitis in 1864, Still concluded that the orthodox medical practices of his day were frequently ineffective and sometimes harmful. He devoted the next thirty years of his life to studying the human body and finding alternative ways to treat disease. During this period, he completed a short course in medicine at the new College of Physicians and Surgeons in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1870.[11]
A.T. Still was active in the abolition movement and a friend and ally of the infamous anti-slavery leaders John Brown and James H. Lane.[12] He became deeply embroiled in the fight over whether Kansas would be admitted to the Union as a slave state or a free state. The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 provided that the settlers in those two territories would decide the question for themselves. Civil war raged in Kansas as both sides tried to gain control of the territorial government. In October 1857, Still was elected to represent Douglas and Johnson counties[6] in the Kansas territorial legislature.[13] Still and his brothers took up arms in the cause and participated in the Bleeding Kansas battles (between the pro and anti-slavery citizens).[14] By August 1858, a free-state constitution had been passed; Kansas was admitted to the Union as a free state on January 29, 1861. Dr. Still would serve a total of five years in the Kansas legislature.
Still was fascinated by machines, and whenever faced with a mechanical problem, his answer was always to devise a better approach. In the 1870s, he patented an improved butter churn.[15] He made improvements to a mowing machine designed to harvest wheat and hay, but before a patent could be submitted, his idea was stolen by a visiting sales representative from the Wood Mowing Machine Co.[16] In 1910, he patented a smokeless furnace burner[17] but had “some difficulty producing a full-sized working model. Heartbroken after his wife, Mary Elvira's, death in May 1910, he did not have the will to pursue the matter further, and the invention was never successfully marketed.”[18]
A. T. Still and his family were among the founders of Baker University, the first 4-year university in the state of Kansas. Between 1854 and 1856, the general conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church appointed three commissioners, Elder Hood, A.B. Dennis and A. T. Still' s father, Abram Still, to purchase a site for Baker University. A.T. Still recalls, "I lived in Palmyra (now Baldwin City) at that time, took an active part in rushing the scheme on, and was appointed by the commissioners of the general conference as agent with my brother Thomas, J.B. Abbott, Daniel Fry, James Blood and others, to select and locate a spot for the university building. We gave the church 640 acres of land, all in one body. Myself and two brothers donated 480 acres of land for the town site of Baldwin to assist in the establishment of Baker University. We-myself, brother and two men named Barricklow-purchased and erected a forty horsepower steam sawmill, and sawed all the lumber for the university and the other buildings at Baldwin...I was ground agent of the work and was five years engaged in sawing, building and doctoring the sick through small-pox, cholera and other diseases, and representing the people of Douglas County in the Kansas Legislature, during which time we washed and ironed the last wrinkle of human slavery out of the State...I was called a good doctor, a faithful legislator, a sober, sound and loyal man, abounding with truth and justice and a heartful of love to all. But...when I asked the privilege of explaining Osteopathy in Baker University the doors of the structure I helped build were closed against me."[7]
A. T. Still defined osteopathy as "that science which consists of such exact, exhaustive, and verifiable knowledge of the structure and function of the human mechanism, anatomical, physiological and psychological, including the chemistry and physics of its known elements, as has made discoverable certain organic laws and remedial resources, within the body itself, by which nature under the scientific treatment peculiar to osteopathic practice, apart from all ordinary methods of extraneous, artificial, or medicinal stimulation, and in harmonious accord with its own mechanical principles, molecular activities, and metabolic processes, may recover from displacements, disorganizations, derangements, and consequent disease, and regained its normal equilibrium of form and function in health and strength."[19]
When asked, "Why did Osteopathy come before the world as a healing art?" Still said: "One says, or has said, that necessity is the mother of invention. It becomes necessary to have some method or system of the healing art based upon a philosophical foundation, because all authors who have written on diseases when their philosophy was carefully read, practiced and weighed, proved itself to be a lamentable failure. All writers have simply given us the effects minus cause after all their theorizing, experimenting, diagnosis and treatment. We have found that all of their theories do tremble when we ask the writer to show us the cause of such diseases as shaking palsy, asthma, pneumonia, consumption, goitre, gallstones, spasms, diseases of the heart, locomotor ataxia, facial neuralgia, rheumatism, and the whole list of diseases of which the human is heir to from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot. This necessity is the mother of this invention or discovery, known as the mechanic's remedy for disease known as Osteopathy. Thus you see that the mechanical healer or Osteopath is the legitimate child of the mother of inventions. Her name is necessity."[20]
He was one of the first physicians of his day to promote the idea of preventive medicine and the philosophy that physicians should focus on treating the disease rather than just the symptoms.[21]
Still said, "It has been the object of myself and also of my teachers to direct and be guided by the compass that points to nothing but demonstrative truth. Nothing disgusts me so quick or makes me so furious as to listen to a long lecture on religion, science, government or any other subject – to sit and listen until I'm worn out physically and mentally. Hoping that the talker will say something practical instead of winding up with “however,” “possibly,” etc. He says “this is a authority,” “that is authority” because of its antiquity; its long adoption and so on. There I sit for a morsel of truth that can be demonstrated; but alas he uses that old phrase “possibly this is true” and I quietly think you had better demonstrate and that demonstration be the fact that should stand side-by-side with every assertion as the voucher of for its truthfulness. Give me anything but a theory that you cannot demonstrate. My motto is now, and has always been, to work and work hard and obtain knowledge much or little... My work for over 30 years has been confined to the study of man as a machine designed and produced by the mind of the Architect of the Universe. I hope I have by my study discovered and been able to give to the world some of the Truths of Life and the laws that operate to keep the body in healthy condition."[22]
At the time, these beliefs formed the basis of a new medical approach known as Osteopathy. Based on this philosophy, Still founded the first school of osteopathy – the American School of Osteopathy (now A. T. Still University of the Health Sciences) in Kirksville, Missouri in 1892.[23]
In a December 7, 1907, interview with the Topeka Daily Capital newspaper, his son, Charles Still, DO, summarized his father's philosophy as this: "Osteopathy deals with the body as an intricate machine which if kept in proper adjustment, nourished and cared for, will run smoothly into an old useful age. As long as the human machine is in order, the same as the locomotive, it will perform the functions for which it was intended. Every living organism has within itself the power to manufacture and prepare all chemicals, materials and forces needed to build and rebuild itself, producing the only substance that can be utilized in the economy of the individuals."[24]
"Let us not be governed today by what we did yesterday, nor tomorrow by what we do today, for day by day we must show progress."[25]
"I do not want to go back to God with less knowledge than when I was born. I want my footprints to make an impress on the field of reason. I have no desire to be a cat and walk so lightly that it never creates a disturbance. I want my footprints to be plainly seen by all..."[25]
"The best osteopath is the best engineer; the best engineer is the best osteopath."[26]
"An osteopath is only a human engineer, who should understand all the laws governing his engine and thereby master disease."[27]
"I have always advocated that a woman had as much sense as a man, or she would not have been called to be his help-meet and companion. A question: What man wants to spend his days with a woman fool? I think she is in as much danger of spending her days with a fool as he is. I opened wide the doors of my first school for ladies. Another and a much greater reason I will offer and emphasize. Why not elevate our sister’s mentality, qualify her to fill all places of trust and honor, place her hand and head with the skilled arts. I know no reason she should not study anatomy, physiology, chemistry and all the machinery and laws of life…I will say by way of encouragement that all ladies who have graduated from this school and gone out in the world, have done well financially, and are made the guests of the best society in the land. They are well received and honored as ladies, and well paid for their skill. Places are open and ready for all that have a diploma from this school. And for the first time I will say, come on and qualify yourselves to take your places of usefulness. Do your part well, and a feast awaits you."[28]