Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1889-06-28
FEMALE DOCTOR IN CHINA.
The Good Work an American
Woman Has Accomplishe d In the
Celestial Empire.

! The Indiana Medical Society dld
rather unusual thing at its session on
last Thursday, says the indianapolis
Journal. 1t elected woman TO hon
orary membership. The lady so hon
ored is Miss Kate Corey, NJ. d., a
graduate OF the University OF Michi-
gan, who for four years was principal
surgeon in charge OF the hospital at
Foochow, China, and who has, as was
stated in the convention by DR.. +. 5.
Elder, performed almost every sur
gical operation known, from pulling n
tooth to ovariotomy" The lady re-
Gently returned TO her home at Van
Buren,, Grant county, this state, great
ly broken in health, by reason OF her
arduous labors, an is now un lcr med
ical treatment. The hospital of which
she was in charge is for the treatment
of native women and children. 1t was
established (and is supportedD by the
Woman's Foreign Missionary Society
of the Methodist Episcopal Church ten
years ago. Miss Corey was there four
years, and DIR. Mary Carleton, of New
York, is now at the head of the insti-
tuition in her absence.
"Iiow many persons are treated
there each yearP" inquired the re-
porter who visited DR.. Corey recently.
From 5000 to 5000 yearly. There
would have been more, but with only
one physician that was all that could
| be done. There are from seventy TO
eighty patients in the wards, and the
hospital is equipped in every way with
| drugs and instruments quite as well as
most of the hospitals in this cou ntry.
We have private rooms in which the
better class OF Chinese are cared for,
and who pay for the treatment they re-
ceive; the large wards are for the com
mon people. The dispensary practice
runs from fifty to eighty persons daily.
These. like those who are patients in
the wards, are women and children;
occasionally IA man.
81 made 800 10 900 outside visits a
year. going to the homes OF the
/ Chinese The better class of
Chinese are now looking toward
| Christian lands for physicians TIL It
| is. women physicians their wives
and children. Last year entered the
homes of more of the high caste peo-
pie than ever before. Even the doors
of the palace OF the governor of the
city were opened to me, and / had
| frequent calls TO the houses of other
officials"
"How do you do in surgical cases?
IL death follows an operation are you
not blamed or threatened?"
1--WE undertake no case in surgery
until the utmost confidence is expressed
and the patient is willing to take the
risk of death. As indicating the con-
fidence we inspire, mandarin came
| to me and pleaded with me TO ampu-
tate his wife's leg. 1t would have to
be amputated at the hip joint, but the
case had gone too far for surgers,.
Chinese women are ready TO take the
! chance Of death. If "A Chinese woman
feels that she is dying with any i'm
! perfection, "a tumor or anything OF the
kind, she will insist that the attempt
be made TO remove it before she dies,
even though the operation kill her, for
! she believes that if she dies with the
| tumor unremoved her gods will not re-
! ceive her, and her only chance Of
! heaven is that she be received by the
gods, SO that she may be reborn into
/ the soul OF man. The Chinese know
nothing about surgery, because they
know nothing of the cadaver, for they
believe it TO be sacrilege to cut or mar
| the human body after death. They
have many remedies, few OF which
are efficiently and wisely used in some
cases, but there is no such thing as
science in Chinese medicine. The
larger part of Chinese medicine con-
sists of sorcery, incarnation and sacri-
flee TO idols
what are some OF the strange and
barbarous remedies they employ"
"They administer insects of various
kinds: finger nails are sometimes Civ
on all sorts of foul decoctions. Tigers
teeth is one Of their medicines. They
regard disc Use Us being communicated
by evil spirits, and SO the most out
rageouss remedies, with sacrifices to
idols. are employed Their knowledge
of mercury in its various forms is very
complete, and | think they use it eff
fectively. Often the first thing done
with n newborn babe is to give il a
dose of cinnabar Ced sulphuret of
mercury TO purge it of evil spirits
Sometimes because of an overdose the
child may be poisoned. have had few
such brought 10 me with almost every
joint in the body displaced Nothing
could be done for them. and death fol-
lowed. Fortunately such cases are
few Conformation is universal in
cases OF pain or cramps, the burning
being done with hot irons CauteriZa-