Forty Years in the Wilderness of Pills and Powders Cogitations and Confessions of an Aged Physician

"Forty Years in the Wilderness of Pills and Powders" by William A. Alcott is a reflective autobiography of an elderly doctor looking back at his extensive career in the medical field during the 1800's. The story starts by portraying his upbringing in the New England countryside, where he witnessed how medicine and education were poorly understood, with people relying on strange beliefs and ineffective treatments. His narrative explores his early experiences and what propelled him to pursue medicine, despite the clear issues in a society that uncritically accepted medical practices; stories of his early medical education, a terrible accident involving his brother, and the questionable treatments show his ultimate commentary about the growth of medical know-how and action.