Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1866-02-23

Now the medical profession is Gods ap
pointed ministry to this universal human
want, and its objective aims and ends are NJ
less than to remove or annihilate this curs'
and bear our humanity out from under it
blight and desolatien.
Aims which appeal alike to the most in
structiv0 and rational motives of the hu
man mind-worthy of its profoundest learn
ing, its finest culture, its hardest toll, and
its keenest sacrifices, and with which the
mind Of God and angels must ever be in
sympathy. In whom, then, with a hea
breathing at all in unison with his fellow
man, viii not these grand ends, as the object
aims OF his talent and his life, keep his en-
tnisiasm glowing with an unbeatable flame.
But | must not fail to warn you against
the influences now at work upon the medi-
cal mind, to weaken and exhaust this divine
passion Of his soul.
l. The PECULIARLY of his toll.
The labor of the profession, essentially
mental, for its physical toll scarcely over
reaches what may be regarded as a con-
sentative offset to the mental, is widely diff
ferent from that of any other calling, and
characterized by great irregularity, sudden
ness and intensity of thought, and without
any stated, measured intervals of relaxation
and repose. Its calls to duty are not found
by the hand on the dial plate they come
without herald or warning, and demand at
times the most concentrated, vigorous and
unimpassioned activity of all the powers of
thought, when, too, the waves of emotional
excitement are dashing all around him
and then the exigencies of disease and suf-
tering are so capricious and 50 imperative in
their claim upon his hours of rest and sleep
the " balmy restorer" no more needful for
the body than for the mind-as to break
their charm and neutralize their refreshing
and recuperating influences.
Such toll is peculiarly severe and weari-
some, and unresisted, sooner or later entails
enervation of all the powers with its almost
irresistible reutinism, the hopeless maelstrom
OF all professional enthusiasm.
z. Its inevitable uncertainties and disap-
p~ointments.
turb its spell. 1t is Of unexceptional accu-
raey in your professional judgments, and
unqualified success in your therapeutic
administration 1t enters not into your
phantasy that you can err or fail, and most
naturally.
Here is an organ-you nave Just gained
an accurate knowledge of its structure, Office
and relations it is sssailed by disease with
which you have just been made familiar as
to its causes, symptoms and examinations,
and at your hand is your Materia Medica,
"AeA AdAn ICHlCuleS bDtCllCdtl1 duhDIeQ Il
to each and all the phenomena of the case,
and you are fresh from a training which has
made you sble and accurate. Why not cure?
Why fail? Where is the occasion for I'M
certainty or disappointment?
This is your dream and its philosophy.
Nevertheless, my proposition is i%ndisputa-
bic, that with all your learning and culture,
and skill and remedial expedients, disease
will sometimes and often mock you with its
triumphs, Wrestling from your eager grasp
the best, the fairest and hottest of earth,
and alas, the more to teach you a docile and
spirit will spare not the dearest of
your own.
With all the light of modern research
Physiology has many unsettled problems.
Pathology has depths of mystery for which
have no plummet. Therapeutics, seen
the sheen and guidance Of that star
Of truth which dawned upon the world,
the mind of Hahneman, has many
an obscuring cloud, and many-a disturbing
This intrinsic indeiniteness and uncer-
with their logical and inevitable re-
suits Of failure and disappointment, unap+
posed, at first unsettle the judgment of the :
man, then make him distrustful of
ais own opinions and choices, and at last
pear him irresistibly onward to the slough
If infdelity, as to the curative power of {
His professional ardor will surely
ieep pace with his faith and confidence, I
md when these wane and die, it will wane '
md die also! {
Sd, and lastly, The m~eagerness of its pc t
rewards. I
The labor of the medical profession is :
lever rewarded pecuniariiy, as is that of !
lGarly all other callings. The reason is OBJ :
Iious, on reflection. All recompense of toll !
5 measured by its estimated value; there l
5 no other Just standard. On account of G
his, labor resulting in material, tangible, t
learly appreciable products or results, has )
lways the advantage. {
Tit artisans watch and the machinist's
nglne, are noticeable, appreciable wit
lesses to the relue of their toll, and an I'M
rring standard for their reward. !,
The services OF the medieaI man, even in :
heir greatest successes, arc expressed 5
through forces SO subtle, and SO diieately a
elated to the natural powers of cure md }
cooperation, and through results so insep- 0
rably blended with, and never overreach- &
ng EAat, nature, unaided, so often herself i
TOrks out, that their Just value is rarely S
uly apprehended, and, therefore, rarely L
uly rewarded.
Hence the medical man seldom realizes y
lore than sufficient for a plain economical
velihood. True there ARE exceptions, but
hey are rare, and made up mainly of men, l,
tho in their greed of gain rule the unPay- Z
ig poor and lowly off from their ledgers, !
nd cast the burden of their claim upon h
time and skill, upon their hum A
lie and less pretending brethren. Now this n
roverbial scantiness of peeuniary re- v
ard, as ever and irresistibly oontrasted I,
18th the riches, splendor and honor of other Al
ursuits, which involve less talent and cul- Al
fra laec hours of lohor ond mora hnIIra Of y
,isure, less intensity and anxiety of thought, =
powerfully TO shake the doctors COM L
with his toll, his endurance of its j
rOsses, and his patience with its disappoint- II
e.
With these foundations of his professional 81
shaken, the beautiful superstrUc- b
ire of an ardent, rational love for his call b
e will haunt his soul with its ruin. +,
Now against these adverse influences re- =
,ectively, it is of the first importance that y
ere at the Threshold of your life work,
Du pledge yourselves to a pa !"
ent, determined, uneOmpromising resis- d
Lnce. Train your minds, it will be no easy p
lsk, to habits of cheerful accord with, and ii
lady adaptation to, all the peculiarities of b
labor, that whatever its demand, or v
viewer sudden, capricious or importunate,
Our choice may yield a prompt pleasant, a,
ct rational acquiescence.
Again, it is equally important that
gu discipline yourselves to gain FREEDOM
lance in your thoughts and conversations,
what in medical science and art is
now, clear and ~indisputable, in your ex- \
to what is the most agreeable and !
and in the results of your labor, s.
what is the most gratifying and to dwell U
pom the doubtful and unknown, and upon b
our failures, only enough, to draw there O
om motives for interEe studv. closer N
lvestigation, clearer prescriptions, and b
ore discriminating judgments. n
Finally-for your compensstions and re- II
ards, beyond what of %pecuniary gains y
ay be necessary for your own and your
mily's comfort and education, look chiefly y
your cwn consciousness, and to that rec '
d.
Where, they who have loved their fellow ?
en-, nave names whom the love ofGod has ,
- r~0-