# Quackery Unmasked/Chapter XXIII

CHAPTER XXIII.
FEMALE INFLUENCE.
When important effects are produced by physical force or other direct and obvious means; both the effects and the power by which they are produced, are readily understood. But when important results are brought about by means which operate silently and quietly, the public may not be aware of the causes by which such effects are accomplished. When we witness political, judicial or financial gatherings, and see no form and hear no voice but those of men—when we urge our way through the busy street, amid the rude trampings and loud greetings of men, it seems as though everything was managed by our own sex. But if we enter the parlor or take a peep into the nursery, we shall soon find our mistake. We shall see that the power itself which moves the thousand wheels without, resides within—not a physical, but amoral power ​—not a power to be feared and dreaded, but a power to be admired and loved—not a power which binds with chains of iron, but with slender, silken cords. This power may be hidden in savage life, or crushed out by despots, but in enlightened and refined communities it never ceases to operate. Here woman has her share of influence in society, and when that influence is discreetly exercised, we think no one should complain, although misguided individuals are sometimes clamorous for what they call "woman's rights." We believe that, in refined communities, the influence of the mother in forming the character of the man is greater than that of the father, and that the unobserved influence of the nursery is more potent than that of the college. Abundant examples show that without the softening and refining influence of female society, men become rude barbarians. But this influence, like every other human power, is liable to be perverted or misemployed. Confined to its own appropriate sphere and directed to proper objects, it is salutary. When it promotes moral, Christian and social virtues—when it softens ​masculine ferocity and tames the turbulent passions—when it pleads the cause of the needy and comforts the afflicted—when it adorns and beautifies humanity and sheds a halo of loveliness on everything around,—then, indeed, it becomes the greatest of earthly blessings. Nowhere is the strength of that influence more apparent than in New England—nowhere else are family ties more sacredly observed—and nowhere in the wide world are the endearments of the parental hearth so strong and so holy.
Several causes have contributed to give American females a very large share of influence in medical matters, and it must be acknowledged that that influence has often, either directly or indirectly, promoted empiricism. For good or for evil, it is evident that this power is of no trifling importance. Every one knows that no young physician can succeed without the approbation of the maids and matrons of his particular precinct. He is held amenable to their tribunal;—their approving smiles give him life, and hope, and prosperity; or their disapprobation, like the frowns of some angry deity, drives him to ​despair. His ultimate success may be measured by the degree of favor which this board of conservators bestow upon him. He may pass the most rigid examination at Boston, New York, Philadelphia or London, yet if he cannot gain the approbation of this last board, every other testimonial must pass for nothing. If he gives full satisfaction here, nothing more is required—all other diplomas are useless, for no one is allowed to go behind a judgment thus rendered by a court of matrons.
This is the avenue through which most kinds of quackery make their entrance into society. The public cannot always judge correctly of the truth or falsehood of the numerous schemes and plans set up by pretenders. The husband rarely meddles with medical matters in his own family—he takes good care of all his money matters, and seldom trusts his notes or accounts with his wife; but the business of selecting a medical adviser in case one is required, is too small business for him, and indeed the wife holds that to belong to her own exclusive province. Therefore the wife and daughters, with the rest of the females in the neighborhood, manage that matter ​as best suits them. It is not strange that whatever is most pleasing in appearance, and least repulsive in practice, meets with the most ready approval. They cannot fathom the mind nor measure the intellectual attainments, but are apt to take upon trust whatever fancy prefers. Testimonials of character, acquirements and experience, are of little amount here. If the candidate for favor pretends to possess a knowledge of some very new, very easy, very safe and very sure method of treatment, and if he reprobates and denounces every other method, and boasts much of his own skill, he will be likely to be allowed at least to make a trial of his skill. Prudent business men are not so easily imposed upon in matters of pecuniary interest. Before the tailor will trust the dandy with a coat, he wants some reliable security; neither the word of the customer nor the guaranty of a half dozen matrons in the neighborhood will be deemed sufficient. Before the merchant will buy a ship, he must see her register, and ascertain from inspectors, builders and owners, if she is every way sound and seaworthy; he will not be satisfied with a new coat of paint, and a flowing pennant ​with its radiant swallow's tail. Nor will he entrust the command of his ship to an inexperienced navigator, or any one who casts aside the old compass and quadrant, and offers to conduct the voyage upon an entirely new plan, and steer his course by some new star or nebulous meteor. In all that relates to money matters, men are generally wise and prudent; small matters are not considered beneath their notice—even the expenses of the nursery are often calculated with penurious exactness. But upon whatever concerns the life and health of themselves or their families, they manifest a culpable apathy and indiscretion.
The sagacious charlatan is aware of this state of things, and seizes every opportunity to gain the favor of all the gossips in town, and to enlist them in his service. Officious individuals may sometimes pay all their own medical bills in this way, and perhaps get some presents to boot. Even hags of a low order often accomplish much in their way: common sense and common decency are confounded by their babbling, reason falls before their flying artillery, and empiricism and fraud triumph over truth and reason.