St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1868-01-10

all, duu He uelllOueu particular CIT
cumstance occurring in his own instance
Il do not mind mentioning to man lik
you," said the doctor, "that that is
sign of the existence of a cavity in tn
lung" A man who had been ailing fo
a long time was persuaded by friend t,
consult an eminent physician. He &C
cordingly went to the consulting-room
and after an examination he was signifi
cantly asked by the physician whethe
he had as yet made his will. am in
formed that he only lived fortnight af
terwards. l hope it was not case il
which he died of the doctor rather thar
OF disease for panic destroys almost a.
much as pestilence. On the other hant
the utmost happiness has been causeC
when men had made up their minds fo
the worst and had then been dsabusec
OF some mistaken notion. Such an oc
currence is not unfrequent. One of the
largest fees ever known in the profession
was given TO Sir Ashley Cooper, wher
he had the pleasure of explaining to some
rich merchant that the latter was quite
mistaken in surprising that he was suffer.
ing from fatal disease. There are seve.
raj bastard diseases, comparatively harm
less, which closely initiate the peculiari-
ties of very serious ailments. 1t is the
most delightful part of the physician.
duty to give the assurance of health, to
diSabuse the patients mind of haras,ing
tears, and to guide him safely on the
pleasant yet often perilous path of con-
valescence.
The limits of our subject might be in
definitely enlarged if we entered on the
personal history of physicians and dis
cussed the incidents, often romantic e.
nough, Of their careers. Sometimes men
look with admiration and envy on the
career OF the great physician. His name
is high on the roll of fame They hear
that he has just been made a baronet
They see his carriage flashing through
the street. They see the portals of the
greatest houses thrown open to him, rs
with the familiarity OF intimacy he pen
etrates to It's most sacred adyttm. For
our own part we lean to the belief that
the profession of medicine is not suffici-
emily rewarded. Why should the peer
asc, SO often conceded to law, and not
denied TO literature, be never conferred
upon medical man There is no 9th >r
profession 30 occupied with incessant
benevoience, and with active scientific
advance. AS Carlyle says, in his own
peculiar way, The profession of the
human healer being naturally a sacred
one, and connected with the highest
prleSthoods, or rather being in itself the
outcome and acme of all priesthoods and
dlvinest conque>ts here below" For the
few who really succeed there are many
who make comparative or a superla-
tive failure. How many there are who
are CONSCIOUS OF high training and great
abilities, who wait on year after year for
the chances which never come, or which
come 50 late. How often has the young
man lett the obscure country town,
where he might have achieved prosper
Gus medlocrty, to try for greatness in
London, and has been worsted in the
trial! Even the great physician is not
Away to be envied. Every guinea has
been hardly earned by expenditure OF
BRAN and nerve; and we must think of
the guneas which he takes. No rich
man should grudge paying his doctor
with most liberal hand, for in the medi-
cal profession is a very large amount of
unremunerated work, and only most
rarely is any tax on benevolence declined.
The successful physician has often iallcn
4 victim 10 his own success. The work
Is enormous and incessant. Early in the
morning he has to transact a laborious
correspondence, where every word must
be diligently weighed. Then the tide of
visitors sets in, and it is calculated that,
with all the rapidity a man has right
to use, the physician can hardly see more
than four patients in an hour. Then he
goes abroad, and can never be quite sure
when he can return home. When at
home he can never be sure that he will
not be called out. He can only Y most
rarely reckon upon holiday, and his
holiday is always liable to he abruptly
cut short. Some men break down under
this excessive strain, especially if they
are men of delicate organization and very
sensitive. There are several cases in
which the distinguished physician has
been found dead in his carriage. A med
ical man who met DIR. Todd in one of
the last years of his overworked life,
seemed to think that he was dying visi-
bly before his eyes. Some men who are
endowed with iron constitutions, firm
nerves, strong will, and excellent tact in
the management of themselves and 9th.
ers, breast the full tide of adverse cir
cumstances, masters of themselves and
their position. But such cases are rare,
and even those afford illustrations of the
hard rule that the rewards of this world
are in inverse proportion to the deserv-
ings
There is much more illness in the world
than the world often thinks of. In the
constant roar and animation of the Lon
don streets we lose sight of this, and are
apt to obtain a false impression of human
life. Here in Cheapside the other day /
marveled at all this buoyant life and ex-
uberance OF health and energy, and was
tempted to think of those who arc ailing
in hushed and darkened rooms as an in
finitesimal minority of miserables but
this is not the view OF the facts. OF this
surging crowd there are not a few who
are carrying about with them malady in
its germ or full-blown existence not a
few who Tomorrow will be on sick
bed; not a few who in few days or
weeks will be in their graves. have
seen it calculated that on an average
every man has ten days illness in the
year. II is as well that the healthy man
sL,a.,ll l.ax, l..EL,,.a i'm those dra.,