Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1886-07-29


what have just heard of the degener-
Tom father: ''indeed, ] may express
Yet, I do not think that the future of
ing as that of medicine. If I saw the
ghost of prospect for my boy as doc
tor. would not have put you to the
trouble you have so kindly taken to come
here and advise me. 1t is my solemn
conviction that In a few years general
practitioners in medicine-and that
means ninety-nine out of every hundred
doctors in this country-will not gain
salt. A few men of supreme ability in
medicine will have that department of
will have the surgical. For the good
old family doctor, there will be no place
in the new house that John Bull is
going to build. You smile, dear friends,
at my smile; but the prospect is not
amusing to me- Uncle John tells us
that his profession is crowded, and that
the cry is still they come Yes, but
they are men that come to the law;
whereas, women are swarming into our
profession. Think of that, good folks!
Realize what it means for the men-doc-
tors of the next generation. All our
practice among children and women
will go to the doctoresses, as matter of
course. Women are naturally fitted for
attending upon their own sex, and are,
if truly feminine. born medicos. Now
that they have proved themselves equal
to all the tests of the continental dis
secting-rooms and to brazen out the
fhot A.
such brilliant degrees, [, for one, throw
up the game, and say, place aur danes!
! 'Just think! there are nearly mill
happy islands, and they are all bound
by my assurance that there is no
one so ambitious and remorseless
in professional competition as a
clever woman! While our male
medical students are dissipating, idling,
fooling, as they have always done since
Hippocrates' days, their lady rivals are
preparing to puzzle John Hunter, a
Claude Bernard, Bichat, or any savant
living or dead. l prophesy that, before
the end of this century, women will sit
in most of the high places of the medi-
cal profession. They have keener wits
than men; they are more moral, more
industrious, and more sympathetic.
But 1 leave this part of the SUBJ
ject for another and more dis
couraging still-people are beginning
to be their o,On DOCTORS! When [ was
young man, few persons were bold
enough to quack themselves! Now;
there are millions swallowing homeo-
pathic pills and tinctures, and diagnos-
ing their own ailments themselves! Add
to them the other millions who feed
themselves on patent medicines, and, l
tell you, the field of operation is alarm
ingly diminishing for doctors of either
sex. Nor have l yet unfolded more
than a fraction of my sorrowful tale.
Other multitudes, who, by all that is
fair in social life. instead of following
the good old plan of sending for the
doctor when they have eaten, drunk.
and worked, or pleasured too freely,
now bolt away to some dydropathic
palace. and positively turn fit of sick
ness into spell of luxury! Talk about
the Sybarites of old! Go rather and
look at our own, packed shampooed,
handled, handled. and fondled in the
vast number of our hydropathic Halls
of Idleness' and sensuous convalescing
sanitaria! Do not stay to deplore these
lapses from the stern old British meth
DDS of phlcbotomy, leeching, purging,
and partaking of all that was nauseous.
but receive my most startling conf
dence-the public don't believe in us as
of old.
"You, my reverend cousin, have dis
suaded us from educating Tom for your
profession; but that profession is still
better than mine, for your benefice will
benefit you to the end of life, while my
fees are growing so steadily less that
they will soon touch zero. You, Uncle
John, draw fearful picture of a non
litigious England; and 1 felt for you as
you drew it. Yet my clients are still
more pig-headed. Yours won't 90 to
law; mine won't 60 to the doctor.
Yes, have at last reached the neither
most depth-the public will not sicken
AS it used to do. When was walking
the hospitals. zymotics were as regular
as the tides; and all the year round,
fevers and agues went their profitable
course. Every body had a bad cold at
least once in the winter. Govt and
rheumatism were solid annuities to
most of us. Broken limbs were fairly
common in most families. In short.
as the proverb ran, the doctor was
never out of the house. Alas, all that
has gone! People take such ridiculous
care of themselves; sanitation is the
chatter of every nincompOop; and the
fuss about clean cowsheds, pure water,
pure air, and the rest is cutting off the
doctors income at the roots. Have I
said enough, dear friends, to prove to
YOU that Tom cannot be doctor?'
Toms father fell into his chair over
come with his own rhetoric; Fom' s
mother furtively wiped two tributory
tears from her eyes; the reverend cousin
looked at the ceiling inquiringly; Uncle
John frowned sardonically.
Uncle Lucas, the farmer, who had
listened in puzzled be tildermentto the
recitals of his relatives, now got leisure
ly on to his feet, and broke it in thus:
''Well, well, it's all over with gentle
folks. too, it seems to me. l thought
that every body was thriving but the
poor farmers, and now | learn that our
betters are no better off than ourselves!
When my father made me a farmer
against my inclination. l thought he
was unfair. He had made YOU elder
lads into gentlemen. and l felt sighted
at being left among clodpoles in the viii
lage. But begin to think [ shall have
the best of it after all am in no trou-
BILE to find careers for my two lads and
three lassies. Since the laborers have
begun tie ask twice as much wages, I
have taken the lads to help me. Well,
we've pulled through troublesome and
disheartening time; and what's more,
we've learned lot. tell you, we've
found out how to make farming pay
by doing it ourselves, the lads in the
fields, and the girls in the house and