Robert Walter (physician)

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Robert Walter
Born(1841-02-14)February 14, 1841
Acton, Canada West
DiedOctober 26, 1921(1921-10-26) (aged 80)
Reading, Pennsylvania
Occupation(s)Physician, writer
Signature

Robert Walter (February 14, 1841 – October 26, 1921) was a Canadian American physician and natural hygiene proponent.

Biography

Walter was born in Acton, Canada West. As a young man he moved to Danville, New York, where he studied medicine.[1] He graduated from the Hygeio-Therapeutic College of New York in 1873 and the Hahnemann Medical College of Philadelphia in 1888.[2] He worked as a homeopath and hydrotherapist for twenty-five years.[3] He married Eunice C. Lippincott in 1872. They had three daughters and two sons.[1] In 1876, he established the Walter Sanitarium in Walter's Park, Pennsylvania.[4] His book Vital Science makes frequent reference to Biblical literature. Walter was a member of the Society of Friends.[1]

Walter authored the natural hygiene book The Exact Science of Health, in 1903.[5] It was negatively reviewed in medical journals.[5][6][7][8] The book espoused fasting, homeopathic medicine and vitalism.[5] Walter opposed conventional medicine and believed that disease could be cured by people avoiding food and flushing the bowel several times a day. He was an early advocate of colon cleansing. A review in the International Medical Magazine commented that "there are some valuable hygienic suggestions in the book, but they are buried among a mass of platitudes and other unscientific extraneous matter."[5] A review in the American Journal of the Medical Sciences noted that it "bristles with scientific inaccuracies and still more mischievous perversions and misinterpretations of facts."[7] Walter was criticized for not keeping up to date with the progress of modern medical science.[9]

Walter died on October 26, 1921, in Reading, Pennsylvania.[10]

Selected publications

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Anonymous. (1898). Book of Biographies: This Volume Contains Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Berks County, PA. Biographical Publishing Company. pp. 249-251
  2. ^ Montgomery, Morton L. (1909). Historical and Biographical Annals of Berks County, Volume 1. Chicago. p. 504
  3. ^ Anonymous. (1911). Distinguished Successful Americans of Our Day. Chicago. pp. 144-145
  4. ^ Hamersly, Lewis R. (1904). Who's Who in Pennsylvania. New York. p. 765
  5. ^ a b c d Anonymous. (1903). The Exact Science of Health Based Upon Life's Great Law. International Medical Magazine 12: 749-750.
  6. ^ Anonymous. (1903). The Exact Science of Health, Based Upon Life's Great Law. Dublin Journal of Medical Science 116 (383): 351-152.
  7. ^ a b R. M. G. (1904). The Exact Science of Health Based Upon Life's Great Law. American Journal of the Medical Sciences 127: 1086.
  8. ^ Anonymous. (1903). The Exact Science of Health Based Upon Life's Great Law. The Lancet 2: 1786-1787.
  9. ^ Anonymous. (1899). Vital Science Based Upon Life's Great Law. The Medical Bulletin: A Monthly Journal of Medicine and Surgery 21 (6): 237.
  10. ^ Anonymous. (1921). Robert Walter. Journal of the American Medical Association 77 (19): 1590.
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