Bradford opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1874-1881, 1877-07-07

lowing interesting remarks concerning
some OF the duties Of tho physician Il
his patients
Not only should the medical attendant
zealously guard his patients secrets-hs
should DO equally careful never to OK
pose any flaws or weakness Of character
which illness may hetray. Though he
passes his life am, tragedies, the
farce underlies them all. II he has any
sense of humor he will wear out sleeves
inuumerable with secret laughter. An
excellent woman once complained to MIR.
Beecher because he said such funny
things in the pulpit by which her moral
sense was shocked. "Ah T. said tho
divine, "if you only knew the number
of funny things that come into my head
in the pulpit which l resist and don't
say, you would think me saint" And
something in the same way, il the laity
had any conception of the funny things
which come daily under the PHYSICIANS
notice and which he resists they would
accredit him with works Of supereroga-
ton innumerable. There are two forces
that sometimes gain access to the sick
room-wit and humor. The former
should have no place there, for it is in
cisive, vindictive, bitter and destructive;
it laughs, but it laughs ut you. The
latter, literally moisture, wells up from
the depths of human sympathy, and is
always loving, generous and kind; it
laughs, but it laughs always with you.
A physician may carry humor with him
as n garment, and if worn with propriety
it will do good like medicine, and il
lumine dark recesses of human suffering
where otherwise the genial light might
never come. For humor is the twin
brother of love, AMI n laugh is akin to
sob, smile to tear. Humor is n
teniril OF the heart, and clings lovingly
TO human infirmities. And it was the
mother OF Goethe who said that He
who laughs can commit no deadly sim.
In the relation of physician and patient
An important point is to be determined
in reference TO the frequency of visits.
As this is matter that must be left to
the honor of the medical attendant, it is
incumbent on him to decide it strictly
according to the golden rule. While he
should never omit to make visit that
he deems necessary, he should scrupu-
lousy avoid imposing unnecessary ex-
pense on his patient. Nor should he
play on the fears of the sick and encour-
age them to solicit more visits than are
necessary He should announce def
nitely what he considers necessary in
this regard. If, however, the patient or
his friends, through excess OF anxiety,
demand extra visits, not only should the
physician make them, but in my judg-
ment it would be cruel in him to refuse.
Let it, however, be distinctly understood
that these extra visits are made Mt the
request and on the responsibility of the
family--not as necessity, but as a lux
ury 1t is much to be regretted that as
profession we do not study more the
charm of manner which, if properly Gull
tivated, is irresistible. To do thing
well is commendable to do it well and
gracefully is much more meritorious.
When Frederick the Great was on his
bed of death the celebrated Zimmerman
was brought to his chamber. "You
have, presume, sir" said the king,
"helped many man into the next
world" Not 50 many as your majesty"
replied the accomplished doctor, "nor
with SO much honor to myself. The
manner of the physician should not only
be graceful-so far rs nature will permit
but it should lead into the sick room
those most welcome guests, good cheer
and hope. If there is any object that
the natural man abl,ors it is gloomy
doctor. A medical man with the air of an
undertaken on the verge of bankruptcy
has no business to cumber the profession.
The physician should never set himself
up as n scarecrow, and even in those sad
cases where it may be necessary to warn
the sufferer that he is about to cross the
insuperable threshold" the announce
ment should be made by q iudicious
friend or discreet clergyman, never by
the medical adviser. He bears the rela-
ton of subordinate Providence to the
sufferer; it is to him that he looks for
hope and succor. A death-warrant from
him leaves the box of Pandora absolutely
void of contents. I have heard of drear,
dismal old maid in Massachusetts, who
objected to her clergyman because he
was cheerful man. "Ah," said she,
81 don't like such cheerful sermons.
What I want is sermons in which there
is no hope" But the physician, unless
he is the sleeping partner of m under
taker, cannot afford to preach such SER
mons as this fell spinster demanded.
Even the non-medical Byron recognized
the danger of destroying hope:
Despair of all recovery spoils longevity,
Andmakes meri's miseries OF alarming brevity.
How can we begin to estimate the
moral effect of confident manner in a
doctor? The feeble, sick, distrustful
patient wants everything but doubt from
his attendant. My lamented father told
ME, after half century of intelligent
medical observation. that the effect on
the patient was, in his Judgment, due
quite as much to tire manner in which |
the medicine was administered as to the |
drug itself And he was wont to say in |
his lecture-room ut Dartmouth: Gentle |
men, whatever else you give your
patients, give them no doubts. What II
sick man wishes to hear from his physi- |
clan is: Oh, king, live forever.