The American Practitioner and News. Vol. XXV. No. 3. Feb. 1, 1898 A Semi-Monthly Journal of Medicine and Surgery

In this thoughtful piece a seasoned physician looks back on the longstanding habit of blood‑letting, once a cornerstone of treating fevers and inflammation. He sketches how, half a century ago, medical textbooks and lecture halls urged the routine use of the lancet, while today the practice has all but vanished from many clinics.

The author explores why the shift occurred, noting changes in disease patterns, evolving views on the role of fever, and a growing awareness that patients tolerate phlebotomy far less than their predecessors did. He balances reverence for the old “antiphlogistic” theory with a caution that abandoning the technique altogether may be premature. Listeners will discover a vivid snapshot of late‑19th‑century medical debate, the clash of tradition and new science, and the nuanced reasoning behind one of medicine’s most iconic practices.