The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1857-09-26
Quacks and Quackery.

Quacks and Quackery.
The profession of medicine imposes oner-
Gus duties upon those who practice it. Its
calls upon them are only to be discharged by
the exercise of GOODNESS. self-sacrifce, and
heroism, not common in any other profession.
We believe so much benevolcncc, fortitude.
patience, and courage. as physicians and sur
gcons are every day exhibiting, are rarely
met with in any other class Of men. Their
position demands it of them. 1t compcls
them to minister to the dcspairing; to visit
the poor without the hope of reward; to pen
citrate the abodes of squalid misery ard abject
wretchedncss; to shrink from no plague
struck howell or presidential street. They
must bear with the whims and unreasoning
caprices of the sick they must cheer the
hopeless, and meet petulance with smile:
they must pasa from one scene of misery to
another, and even while crushed with the
fearful responsibilities of life and death. arc
expected to appear as cheerful and ANNA
ted as the most hypochondriacal patient could
ask. This is demanded of them night and
day, and every day. The common divisions
of time arc not for IT, m Their lot is one
of protractcd sclf-ahncgation. seldom amply
rewarded. and never onc-half appreciated
Thus much for the estimate We place upon
the physician as 4 man. and the duties en-
Joined by ms profession.
1t will be apparent from these remarks that
it is cur opinion an individual has no right
to assume the profession of medicine unless
he is willing to give :, his life to its demands.
He should be above all mcrcenarv consdera-
tons. OF course. the labor"r is worthy ofhis
hire: but what we mean is. that he should
engage in the profession. Eot as 4 Spcculator
who makes a new venture. hut as 4 soldier
who trusts to- his courage and skill to defeat
the enemy Apply this test to all who as
sumo any skill in the treatment of disease.
and VIC can readily see who are honorable
and honest practitioners. ard who are de
signing knaves. impoS:crS and quacNs.
1t is a har,' thing. We have SAID. to be
physician. 1t is an easy thing to be a
cheat. Il quack. a humbug. And Il is an cy-
cry day occurrence. almost. that az impo>tcr.
a designing and ignorant knavc. is accorded
the public honor, and allow =, to ru; an ava
ricious hand into the public parse. when the
long tried and -kill;ul PIN >i,,r. who l.
known TO be above c,iarlatanrv and the trans
parent tricks that gull the crcdulouS. is neg
lcct"d. There is al unarc'',,a",'- Ir",,,m-
sity i'll some pcaplc to be humbu.gcd They
seem to be really unhappy unless they are
swallowing from day to day some vile dccoc-
ton of "yarhS." or pills coated with soft soap
no matter how thick fthc vcnder Of ,hcs"
dclicacics makes more then the usual cxtrav-
agant assertions. and blows his own trumpet
a little louder than his predecessor in the
same line. then his victims are hv so much
the more numerous. The very holiness of
his prctcnsions, nay. even their utter imposS-
bility. makes more dupcs than a modest
course would. \ great many people are
more ready to believe marvellous lies. than
to credit sober truth. They are Ike the Sui
tan Hassi Goobcc. who believed every word
the sailor told him of making a VOYAGE across
the ocean on whales hack. but when the
sailor related how he had seen fish thu,
could fly. he had him punished for telling a
falschood
The pretcnce that succeeds best in imposing
upon the public. is the prctcncc of being able
to describe ones disease accurately without
asking any qucstions.' That seems to some
the height of knowledge. and the Inference
is made that if the disease can be diagnosti
Gated so easily its cure must be equally GER
tain!
The pretence Of being "natural phvsi
clan perhaps stakes" nearly as we'll If
the assertion is made that, "at the age of
nine years they excited the scientific and con-
founded the whole fraternity throughout the
country by their faculties in the healing art.
it brings them more custom than a dozen d.
plomas from the best medical institutions in
the world. If they go on to say "thcy are born
with predisposition to cure the worst form
OF disease" and pretend to see into the in
side of people by clairvoyancy, nothing more
is needed. Armed with these potent weapons
the most ignorant blockheads dare to "defy
the whole medical world"
But really, laugh as We will at the haste
people show to be humbugged, fooled.
doscd, and robbed. when the victims are our
ow1 neishbors it is verify pitiful. When ar
rosant quacks come amongst us, why can't
we, in all decency, let them alone? Why do
we hang around them, as if, perchance, we
might but touch the hem of their garment,
and so be healed' What need is there for
intelligent men and women, in TIL; age of
abun liant information, to ruin their health by
nauseus indictments, and waste their money
on persons who are bad enough as quacks,
and may be worse as individuals?
These are plain words that have long need
ed to be pronounced. We utter them