Litchfield enquirer. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1829-current, 1856-01-03

ton There has been hitherto no shoI
cut to professional success and fame rec
ognized within its canons. Any ma
departing from the beaten road laid dow
for his guidance has been invariably treate
as an outcast, and stigmatised as quaek
The result has been, that whilst the medi
cal profession has been reduced TO a clos,
monopoly. it has extended but little IL
sphere of knowledge. and has consequently
conferred less benefits uponthe human rae,
than it might otherwise have DONE
One of the barriers by which, the profes
sion has endeavored to fence itself around
has been the prohibition or encouragement
| held out to all attempts CD the part of its
| members to enter into direct communication
with the public. A medical man may ad.
dress himself through the medium of book.
and under the cover of technicaliiies to bis
own profession, hut he must not appeal to
the common sense and natural int lligence
of the uninitiated members Of the comlnu-
nifty, lest the arcana of the healing art
should cease to be, like the Eleusynian
mysteries. an exclusive and profitable pos
session. The effect of this jealous and
narrow minded system on philanthropic
ard high spirited men may readily be con-
ceived. They have had to chafe in silent
indignation under restraints, the direct
hearing Of which has been to protect the
privileges of the senior members Of the
profession, and keep down and discourage
as much as possible all evidences of rising
talent
We are rejoiced to find that one man,
and that practitioner. whose professional
merits and skill cannot for moment b.
questioned, has had the moral courage to
break through the trammeIs imposed upon
him by the old routine Of his art DR.
Hunter wisely. and in time, arrived at the
conclusion that if such requirements as he
possessed were worth anything, the more
extensive the circulation he gave TO the
results of his researches and experience
the greater benefits he would not only con-
fer upon himself but upon the community
Between the limited publicity afforded him
by the usual professional resource of book
publication and that offered by the news
papers it is not surprising that he chose the
latter. 1t presented the advantages of "a.
pidity, comprehensiveness and popularity,
objects which to a man ambitious of fame
in his profession, were the readiest and
surest elements OF success. We have had
personal experience Of the happy results OF
the Doctors mode Of treatment, and can
vouch for its success. Owing to The se-
we're drudgery incident to our pursuits, and
that tendency to bronchial diseases with
which the peculiarly Of our climate afflic,s
such large proportion OF our population,
We have been suffering for several years
past from throat affection, which all the
medical remedies that we had formerly APP
piled failed TO cure. We can truly say that
We have found more relief and greater hope
Of ultimately getting rid of the naiady from
that of any other medical man TO whom We
had previously submitted our case.
The lesson afforded by this brief sketch
Of D.. Hunters career is calculated TO be
useful to the medical profession. Here is
a man who, chained down by the conven-
tional pr.judices and usages Of his medi.
cal brethren. might have toiled on for half
his life without arriving at the results to
which his requirements entitled him to as.
pire 1t cost him an efor, Of moral courage
and no doubta sacrifice Of some professional
pride, to emancipate himself from the
thraldom of associations in which they
bound him. BY having sufficient indepen-
dence Of character To shake loose these ties,
and devote his talents to the general good
Of the community, he has, within an un-
precedently short space Of time, won the
highest prizes within the reach OF a medical
practitioner.