I have been fascinated by the cranial mechanism ever since I first learned the bones of the skull moved and could be adjusted back into place in the late 1990’s.
I’ve been on a quest ever since to find as much information as I possibly could on this subject. I have found the ability to adjust the cranial bones to be the most valuable skill I have acquired as a chiropractor.
I have always been fascinated with the doctors who pioneered these techniques.
The Osteopathic profession will say it was William Sutherland, DO who was the first to come up with the idea of adjusting the cranial bones. He published his first book “The Cranial Bowl” in 1939.
The Chiropractic profession will say it was Nephi Cottam, DC who published his first book “The Story of Craniopathy” in 1936.
Each of them presented their techniques to their respective professions well ahead of these publications dates. From what we can gather from historical records, each of them presented in 1929, with Cottam being earlier in the year and Sutherland later in the year.
We of course will never know who actually came up with the idea of adjusting the cranial bones back into place, and quite honestly it probably isn’t even anybody we have heard of.
But we can look at who published the first information on the subject.
So, when I stumbled upon this book by I.N. Toftness, DC, which was published in 1932, I was intrigued.
His chiropractic office was a little over an hour away from where I live today. The Toftness name is very familiar in the chiropractic profession, but not for cranial techniques.
Even though he talks in the book about adjusting cranial displacements as the greatest advancement in the history of chiropractic, in 20 years of studying and searching I had never even heard of this book.
He published his book 4 years before Cottam and 7 years ahead of Sutherland.
Calvin Cottam, DC (Nephi’s son) did exhaustive work looking into the origins of cranial adjusting. It’s really quite fascinating all the information he uncovered. Yet, in that body of work, this book by I.N. Toftness, DC was never mentioned.
Was it to protect his father as being the first to publish on cranial adjusting? Or, was the book just never found? We will never know for sure.
We also won’t know if Toftness learned cranial adjusting from Cottam originally, yet published a book first. In those days the seminar circuit wasn’t like it is today. It would take quite a long time to get across the country without the speed of modern cars and the freeway system.
The office would have to be shut down for potentially a few weeks. Cottam lived in Salt Lake City, Utah at the time and Toftness in Shell Lake, Wisconsin.
Whatever the truth may be it’s an interesting piece of history and I can’t believe I stumbled upon it. Each of these men published excellent work on the subject and have helped bring the idea of adjusting the cranial bones to the world.
It makes me wonder what else might be hiding out there.
I have been using doctor Toftness’s technique since 1977, but have not heard of his cranial book. How can I get a copy?
I have no idea. I happened to come across it. I never knew it existed, and nobody in the cranial technique world has ever referenced it.
Dr Larsen, I have been studying and using Chiropractic Craniopathy since my first class with De Jarnette in 1976. I have also collected historical documents as far back as Emanuel Swedenborg from the early 1700s. Even Hippocrates referenced the importance of the cranium in human health. I have been searching for “Craniopathy” by Cottam for decades and you JUST introduced me to the Toftness book! I even went to Logan with one of the Toftness boys and never heard of it. I would love to see these works preserved and made available to the profession. I am working on an historical account of Chiropractic Craniopathy and would love copies for my research. If you are willing I would gladly pay to have these volumes digitized professionally for sharing in the community. Please consider! Joseph Unger DC.
j.unger@sbcglobal.net
314-323-7071
Thanks!
Joe
Steve, I am being granted a loaner copy through Dr Brian Snyder at Logan University. I plan to get it scanned and digitized. Contact me and I will get a copy to you when the project is completed. Attempting to get a copy of Cottam to the same end.