Doctors Burt and Breck of Greenfield, Massachusetts, were practicing uroscopy, a practice dating from medeival times of divining diseases by examining a patient’s urine. The doctors describe their methods as “German,” probably a reference to the practices popularized in the 1770s in London by Dr. Theodor Myersbach. Criticism increased in the decades following as uroscopy was denounced as quack medicine, but it served an important purpose: it did not require the physical examination of the patient. In a society where physical modesty was important, especially for women, that kind of “hands off” medical care had appeal.
Burt and Breck, Doctors. Uroscopia. December 3, 1846. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/l01-087/. Accessed on January 25, 2025.
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