Juliet signal. [volume] (Juliet [i.e. Joliet], Ill.) 1844-1???, 1862-09-09
About Physic--The Doctor.

The true province os the physician
,,h., ba can do and what he cannot, is ad-
,n;rablv set forth in the following aliegori- |
c.I statement BY DR.. Oliver Wendell Holms. |
There are no false pretences here, and the |
rsader who is not the wiser for the Dr.'s |
exposition, must be very dull or wonder
fully clever:
"Men live 10 the immediate neighbor-
hood Of great menagerie, the doors Of
which are always open. The beasts of
nrey that come out are called diseases
They feed upon us, and between their teeth
we must pass sooner or later-aIl but
few. who are otherwise taken care OF
When these animals attack man, most OF
them give him q scratch or q bite, add let
him 90. Some held on lite while: some
are carried about for weeks or months,
until the carrier drops down. or they drop
down, or drop off. BY and by one is sure
TO come alcng that drags down the strong
est, and makes an end OF him.
Most people know little or nothing OF
these beasts until at once they find them
selves attacked by one Of them. They are
therefore liable to be frightened by those
who are not dangerous, and careless with
those that are destructive. They do not
know what will soothe, ano what will ex-
asperate them. They do not even know
the dens of many of them though they may
be close to their own DWELLING.
A physician is one who has lived among
these beasts, and studies their aspects ard
habits. He knows them all we'll. aud
looks them in the face, and lays his hand
on their backs daily.
He knows that his friends and himself
have all got to be eaten up at last by them
and his friends have the same belief. Ye
they want him near them at all times, anC
with them when they are set upon BY am
of these their natural enemies. he goe'
Knowing pretty we'll what be can do anC
what he cannot.
lie can talk to them in quiet and sen
sible way about these terrible beings, CON
corning which they are so ignorant, anC
liable to harbor such foolish fsncies. ii,
can brighten away some among them ofth'
lesser kind with certain il-smelling pre-
parations be carries about him. Once il
while he can draw the teeth Of some o
the biggest. or throttle them. lie cal
point out their dene, and so keep man,
from falling into their jaws.
This is a great deal to promise or per
form, but it is not all that 10 expected o
him. Sick people are very apt to be boil
fools and towards. MaOy OF them comics
the fact in the frankest possible way
Those not over wise human beings calle
patients are consequently a little Lnrea
souable. They come with small scratch
which nature will heal very nicely in
few days, and insist on its being closed a
once with some kind ofjoiner's glue. The
want their little coughs cured, so that the
may breathe at their ense, when they hav
no lungs left that are worth mentioning
They would have called in Luke the phys
clan to John the Baptist. when his bea
was in the charger, and asked for balsar
tina. would cure cuts. This kind Of thin
cannot be done. But it is very proftabl
to lie about it, and say that it can be ton'
The people who make business of this y
Ing. and profting by it, are called quack