The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1886-03-24
Dr. Trousseau in RepIy.


ED. z. G. ADvERTIsER-Dear Sir: mi
this mornings issue you mention my
name as one OF those who advised DR..
Aiming not to abide to the suggestion OF |
the President Of the Board OF Health in /
modifying his report. You say that |
Doctor Aiming has been made tool
OF older and designing men, and
you terminate by the words, "vaga-
ries of professional empiricism and
conceit - These epithets, you viii admit,
give me, as one Of those to whom they
are applied, a right to a space in your
columns, and 1 will now proceed.
did advise, with others, DIR. Aiming
not to change one word in his report.
As far as a medical topic is concerned,
and this report certainly was one, you
cannot deny that the medical profession
as represe nted in Honolulu is a better
Judge on the value OF DR.. Awnings report
than your valued self, the whole of your
able editorial staff AM the Hawaiian
clay Board of Health" l viii 90 some
what further.
The first letter of the President of the
Board seemed to us so extraordinary
that pains were taken to ascertain from
individual members of the Board the
part they had taken in the transaction.
One member was absent, and the others
denied that either the report or the let
ter OF the President had been submitted
to any regular meeting of the Board.
This, therefore, narrowed the situa-
ton to a simple difference of opinion be-
| tween the President of the Board and
ourselves on purely medical and scien-
tifc point.
Now, I say simply that our opinion
could be expected to outweigh that OF
one, richly endowed with natural talent
and acquired knowledge, but who has
no claim whatever TO the one of medicine,
or of those difficult scientific methods
that most of us have not been able to
master We did consider, and consider
now, that DIR. Awnings report is model
of conciseness, clearness, truthfulness,
and as complete as the extent of his in
vestigations would warrant. 1t is a
credit to him, to his professor, Neisser,
to the country where he studied, and to
this country, under whose auspices his
investigations were conducted. The cor
respondence shows how the profession
| in Honolulu has Endorsed our opinion.
How the whole medical and scientific
world will indorse it will shortly be
patent enough to the Board of Health.
This disposes of the first point. Were
we, and for one, designing advisers, OF
! honest, straightforward advisers? Things
would have remained there had the
President of the Board taken no further
steps.
l now come to the second point. Had
Or. Aiming right to publish his report
and the correspondence? emphatically
say yes.
His report did not meet with the APP
prevail of the Board. He was dismissed
in a peremptory manner, and is there
fore no longer in the salaried employ OF
the Board.
Facilities for the continuance of his
studies was refused to him at Kakaako,
and continued to one who it has been as
certained is hardly recognized by his
own countrymen or Government.
DIR. Aiming has to leave the country
with his work unfinished, when it was
offered to the Board to have the work
continued at private expense. Under
these circumstances he had a perfect
right to publish his report and the cor
respondence. / will make no remark al
the snubbing and inuendos thrown al
our profession, this not being the first
time that we have been treated to such
and leave it to public opinion, the SUI
preme judge, to decide between our
selves and the Hawaiian clay Board OF
Health" Yours very truly,
G.. TRoUssEAU.
Honolulu, March %, 1885,