Historical Newspaper Articles
[Communicated.]
Persons who know but little of the theory or practice of Dr. P. P. Quimby, are constantly misrepresenting both. The Doctor has received hundreds of testimonials as to the permanency and wonderful nature of his cures. The following statement from Capt. John W. Deering, of Saco, written by himself, will have great weight with those who know Mr. Deering, and it is published as much to refute statements made by some interested persons to the effect that the Doctor acts as a spirit medium and mesmerizer, as for the testimony it offers in support of the healing power which the Doctor claims to exercise, even in cases of diseases called chronic, and given over by old school physicians:
Early in August, 1862, I was attacked with a slight pain in the small of my back, and immediately my right leg commenced drawing up, so that in ten days, while standing on my left foot, I could but just touch my right foot on the seat of a common chair. All this time I suffered great pain in my knee pan. I was attended by two of the best Physicians in York County, who applied blisters, leeches and cuppings to my right thigh, with no effect except to increase the pain.
I had become nearly discouraged, when I heard of Dr. P. P. Quimby, and after many solicitations on the part of my friends, I yielded to their entreaties and visited him. After an examination, he told me that the cause of my difficulty was a contraction of the muscles about the right side. Physicians that I had previously consulted had treated me for disease of the hip. Almost despairing of a cure, but willing to gratify the wishes of my friends, I remained in the Doctor's care. Without calling on the spirits of the departed for aid - without mesmerism and without the use of medicines of any kind, he succeeded in completely restoring the muscles of my side and leg to their proper functions, and, I am now as well as ever. I visited Dr. Quimby under the impression that he was some mysterious personage who had acquired a great reputation for curing diseases, and who must exercise some kind of mesmeric control over the will and imagination of his patients. But I am convinced that he is a skilful physician, whose cures are not the result of accident, but of a thorough knowledge and application of correct curative principles.
Saco, Jan. 8, 1863. JOHN W. DEERING.
