The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-09-19
7vE ROMANCE or MEDICINE.


raj feeling is that of dismay at the abun-
dance and variety Of my materials, If | can only
vnonage 10 transfer TO my readers the feelings
with which they have impressed myself AT
the outset Of the subject, may say that am
roll nrepared for general sneer against
ynedicne: and with the feeling that prompts
N confess ! have a great sympathy
5on,t beIieve I'm medicine" it may be urged;
GGand the best doctors give as little medicine
as thew can. Voltaire used to say that the
doctors poured medicine, oil Which they kneW
IittIe into body of which they knew nothing.
i.sc, I, in ssy, doctors have not changed much
;aoa tbe times of Cervantes and Moliere,
itIeo,,ob their modes have shifted" Thus
...,oI tbe imapinary obiector; and there is a
GOOD deal of ground for this kind OF imputa-
fion. met a man the other day who was
verv INDIGNANT because his doctor had
knocked of his bitter beer He said he
sbonld keep on changing his doctor until
he met with one who would strongly recon-
mend hitter beer. He did not think he
sbould have far to 60. Now this is a fair
example of the wonderful Inconsistencies
of the medical profession. Take the case of
cold. One man will tell you to drink bottle
of port: another man will tell you to drink
slops: another man will tell you to drink
nothing at all, or restrict you TO three tea
spoonsful of LIQUID in the course of the day.
In reference to this dry system, which has the
eminent authority of DIR. G. J. B. Williams, the
popular belief will be that the remedy is worse
than the disease. This is only taking a trivial
instance of confusion and contradiction. Then
what remarkable revolutions there have been
in medical opinion, of which the conflict
between the lowering treatment and the stimu-
lating treatment is an example.
Again, did you ever know half--adozen
medical men agreed on the treatment of
cholera In medicine, more than any other
direction, science moves slowly, working on
from point to point" 1t wonderfully illus
trates the marvels of our frame, that in the
present day new discoveries relating to the
human body are now and then being made;
that medical men, as in the instance of DR..
Bright, are immortalizing their names by Civ
ing them to the new diseases they have de-
teoted; that medical science is avowedly full of
problems, some of which appear insoluble
while in the case of others we are slowly and
tentatively moving towards a solution. To
speak accurately, medicine is not a science
but an art, the art of the application of many
sciences. 1t is true saying that the surgeon
requires an eagles eye, lady's hand, and a
lions heart. The greater his acquaintance
with the sciences and his own resources and
the habit of intercommunieation with his
brethren, the greater will be the ability of the
medical man to perform his healing office.
Only it is worth while, as a preliminary STEP
to settle our notions of the place of medi-
cine in the order of things. The medical
man requires to be saved from his friends
rather than from his enemies. There is
numerous class, chiefly women, children,
and nervous people, who look on doctor in
the light of a deity. He is their director-the
handspring of a system of lay popery-who
controls their actions with irres ponsible power;
and.it is greatly to his credit that in the pleni
tude of his tyranny, he does not play vagaries
to tax to their extreme limit the principles of
credulity and undue Difference to authority.
Men who see good deal of this sort of thing
become cynical, at least until they become ill.
Let it be fairly understood that medi-
cine is an art beset with limitations
and imperfections; that cases can only gene
rally be referred to classes, but each
case has to be considered in its own cir
oumstances; that medical men are liable to
errors in observation and reasoning; and that
even when these errors are minimized, there
is uncertainty, and limitation, and obscurity
about the medical means employed.
Then take the rational middle view that in
spite of all the empiricism that belongs to
medicine, and all the mere theorizing, there
exist also real principles and a safe expert
ence and mere sneers at medicine are seen to
be ignorant and unphilosOphical. Those are
wise words in the Apocrypha:-"Honor a
physician with the honor due unto him for
the uses which ye may have of him: for the
Lord hath created him. The Lord
hath created medicine out of the earth; and
he that is wise will not abhor them. Then
give place to the physician, for the Lord hath
created him; let him not go from thee, for thou
hast need of him. There is time when in
their hands there is good success"
II is popularity said that after the age of
forty every man is either fool or physician
think, however, that there is a very nume-
rous class who are a little of both. That NAV
not be included in my own limb of the classif-
cation, let me hasten to say that am merely
layman and an outsider, and my remarks
must be taken at their worth. The only
practical advice which | shall venture to give
Is, that If you really understand your own CASE
and it is simple one, don't be in too great a
hurry to send for the doctor; but if you really
feel yourself out of your depth, send for one.
Sir Henry Holland has an essay, "On Points
where Patient may judge for himself" and
little experience and common sense Would
save medical men much trouble. At the present
day there is great deal of general medical dis
cussion, az least among people who havU arrived
AZ a certain time OF life. l think it is Mr., Car
lyle who says that man who has a perfectly
healthy stomach does not know that he has a
stomach, But there comes a time when a man
makes the appalling discovery that he has a
stomach, not to mention liver and lights. and
i0t OF other questionable things. Then men
nd a D"oS ,"aoS; On their smattering of physiology
A. Po,et;.l PSnle. one day the world is discussing
Pa,1Io tIH'ins ana MS triumphant loss in WEIGHT
SolR;t saeM lnarVeuously nervous about
"Hamlet's" lament, 80 that tb;S eonoeu
solid flesh would melt p, WIS 700 TOO
The other day, the Lancet startea ,,o..,.
a diNaFpnf hn