Brewster Historical Society Talk - The State of Medicine When Brewster Became Brewster

The state of medicine in Brewster at the turn of the 19th Century will be explored from the perspective of both the patient and physician. Three “cases” from the autobiography of Capt. Elijah Cobb will be examined. The first case is his injury as a boy, the second is the injury of his brother and the third is fever, with the subsequent deaths of his friends in a foreign port. The cases provide examples of general medicine, emergency medicine, and causes of death. The general state of medical knowledge of the time will be reviewed and the effectiveness of the medical care available will be discussed.