progress in the Mid-nineteenth century

• Barriers to progress:

  • By 1848 there were many different bellies of disease, but most believed in:

  1. the miasma theory
  2. The theory of the four humors (blood, phlegm , Yellow bile, black bile )
• Reasons why correct causes of disease had not been discovered:

  • Lack of funding for research

  Doctors were paid by patients for diagnosis and treatment. Hospitals were mostly Charity funded so there was very little money for research

  • limited technology prevented discovery

  It was not until 1850 that microscopes were developed that were capable of seeing extremely tiny organisms

  • Beliefs and attitudes

  people were Slow to accept new ideas and many believed the theories of the time were correct, and there was no need for a new one

  • Lack of understanding of the body

  Dissection was uncommon