The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-09-19

IL Il
the fact that he is able to interpret and suecor
nature, and in this lies the groundwork OF the
proverb cited above--which is, nevertheless,
confession of the shortcomings OF medical
science-that the best doctors give the least
medicine. The best law of medicine is that
the intelligent man should follow nature, and
should live naturally.
The prophylactic power of medicine is one
of its most important aspects. It is far better
to keep yourself well by simple means than
TO recover health on the most elaborate sys-
tenn. broken vase, though mended, is not
so good an article as the vase unbroken. The
truck that used to carry ten tons, after it has
been repaired can only carry six. There is a
medical theory that if a man will only
take sufficient care of himself, his corporal
mechanism will last out till the wheels volun-
tarily stop through sheer use and duration.
Nothing is clearer than that our frames are
only lent us for a terminable period, and that,
without the Intervention of positive disease,
our life attains its kindly natural pause. How
Tthonus regrets the lot of
"Happy men who have the power to die,
And grassy barrows of the happier dead"
We remember the imagery of Lucretius, that
he who has feasted at the banquet of life
should he contented, as a satisfied guest, to
take his departure. t'Men fear death, - says
Bacon, Gas children fear to go into the dark,
and to die is, after all, as natural an act as to
be born. The real horror of death is quite
independent of physical considerations. Sir
BENJAMIN Brodie says, and the observation of
most medical men comedies with his, that the
physical act of decease is rarely accompanied
with pain. We accept natures kindly law.
We are tenants for life, or rather tenants at
will, and the usufruct, but not the absolute
possession. To quote the noble line OF Lucre-
tius:-
"vitaque mancipio multi datur, omnibus usui."
OF the romance that attends the history Of
medicines there can be no doubt. Many are
the strange events that have occurred before,
to use the quaint language of an old author,
they have passed ''frOm the bowels of the
earth to the bowels of the patient" We are
able to point to positive achievements of me-
dicine, and the fair hope of achievements to
come. "Who can tell the power of the hidden
herb ?" asks Spenser, in the "FaGry Queen"
Much has medical science done in the way of
specifics, the discovery of remedies, whose
exact action may not perhaps, be understood
or explained, but whose healing effects are hap
PLY known. Think of the Jesuits, who hap
PLY for humanity, discovered the bark of the
chinchona tree, which is the sheet-anchor in
ague. There is reason to hope that we may
yet discover specific against other frightful
diseases.
Most persons know the story of Waterton's
wanderings in South America in search of the
secret of the wourali poison-an eminent
example of the enterprise of medical dis
covery. Then take Jenner's discovery
of incubation for smallpox. l am sorry
to hear that there are persons in this country
who violently attack incubation. l heard
of poor woman the other day who, per-
suaded by the talk of ignorant people, re-
fused to have her child vaccinated, and
shortly afterwards the poor little thing
lost its eyesight by smallpox. Our own age
has made several remarkable discoveries.
ooh of of Low
which has saved thousands Of hours of help
| less agony. There is no tale of daring and
| discovery more remarkable than the narrative
of the hours which Professor Simpson and his
friends in Edinburgh spent in testing various
| narcotic agencies, until they become first ex-
| hilarated and then insensible while testing
chloroform, and awoke to the conviction that
they had now become acquainted with the
most powerful anasthetic known or conceived.
The whole history of an@sthetics, from the
days of Sir Humphrey Davy, or rather from
Cavendish and Priestley, form one of the most
remarkable chapters in the history of human
progress. 1t is possible, according to DR.,
Antsey's Narcotics and Stimulants,' that
| the wonderful properties of the Peruvian COCO
may be made extensively useful in this coun-
try. The discovery of cod-liver oil has been a
boon of the most inestimable kind. DIR. Will
lams states that in certain he prescribed il
! in eleven thousand cases, and in ninety-fve
|
known that consumption is durable in its
earlier stages. 1t was stated in the re-
cent Hunter trial, in the Court OF
Queens Bench, that the average length ol
consumptive cases, which used to be two years,
is now prolonged to five years. Even where
medicine cannot heal, it obtains one of its
! greatest triumphs in palliating a disorder.
| There never was a time in the history of me-
dicine when its soothing and alleviating side
| was so assiduously and successfully cult
waited as at the present time.
Then the knowledge of the human frame
daily grows more extensive and exact. Look
at Laennec's wonderful discovery of the stetho.
! scope. 1t is now known that of the three
organs which make the tripod of life-brain,
lungs, and heart (aooording to Bichat's theory,
now generally received, death always issues
! from one of these three avenues)-diseases oI
| the heart, which were once considered ex-
ceedingly rare are the most common, and
probably the least hurtful. 1t is half the
battle with disease to know accurately what
is really the matter with the patient. There
appears to be no reason to doubt that the
average length of human life is more extended
than it used to be- and some share in this is
to be set down to medicine, especially in its
sanitary and prOphylaotic side. The progress
of knowledge, the scientific insight into disease,
form the basis and pledge of subsequent pre-
vention, cure, or alienation. take from Mr..
Bowman's "Address in Surgery (l8G6), state
ments of the facts of medical progress so mar
vellOus that they belong to ''the fairy tales Ol
science''Or the romance Of medicine. "Harvey
had heard the healthy sounds of the heart; but