The Opelousas courier., 1889-04-20
"EDlToR's BACK STAIRS"
The Interesting Views of the Late DIR. j.
G.. Holland.

In Interesting Views of the Late DR.. j.
G. Holland.
The columns of the appear to
10 flooded with proprietary medicine adver-
.ssements. As we cast our eye over them,
It brings to mind an article that was pub
hshed by the late DIR. Holland in Scribner's
Monthly. He says: Nevertheless, it is a
fact that many of the best proprietary med
iclnes OF the day were more successful than
many physicians, and most of them, it
should be remembered, were at first dis
covered or used in actual medical practice.
When, however, any shrewd person, know
ing their virtue, and foreseeing their pop
ularity, secures and advertises them, then,
in the opinion of the bigoted, all virtue
went out of them"
Is not this absurdl
This great man appreciated the real
merits of popular remedies, and the absurd
ity Of those that derided them because pub
lie attention was called to the article and
the evidence of their cures. If the most
noted physician should announce that he had
made a study of any certain organ or dis
ease of the body, or make his sign larger
than the code size, though he may nave
practiced medicine and been a leader in all
medical ~counsels, Notwithstanding all this,
if he should presume to advertise and de-
cline to give his discovery to the public, he
would be pronounced a quack and ahum-
bug, although he may have spent his entire
life and all his available funds in perfecting
his Investigations.
Again we say, 'absurd.n
If an ulcer is found upon ones arm, and
is cured by some dear old grandmother
outside of the code, it will be prom ounceo
by the medical profession an ulce-.ef little
Importance. But if treated under the code,
causing sleepless nights for u month, with
the scientific treatment, viz, plasters,
washes, dosing with morphine, arsenic
and other vile substances, given to prevent
blood poisoning or deaden pain, and yet the
ulcer becomes malignant, and amputation
is made necessary at last to save life, yet
all done according to the "isms" of the
medical code, this is much more gratifying
to the medical profession, and adds more
dignity to that distinguished order than to
be cured by the dear old grandmother's
remedy.
This appears like a severe arraignment,
yet we believe that it expresses the true
standing of the medical profession in regard
to remedies discovered outside Of their
special stisms.t' One of the most pe%rplexing
things of the day is the popularity of certain
remedies, especially Warmers Safe Cure,
which we find for sale everywhere. The
physician of the highest standing is ready
to concede its merits and sustain the theories
the proprietors have made-that is, that it
benefits in most of the ailments of the hu
man system becauseit assists in putting the
kidneys in proper condition, thereby aiding
in throwing of the impurities of the blood,
while others with less honesty and exper-
fence deride, and are willing to see their
patient die scientifically, and according to
the code, rather than have him cured by this
great remedy.
Yet we notice that the popularity of the
medicine continues to grow year by year.
The discoverer comes boldly before the peo-
pie with its merits, and proclaims them
from door to door in our opinion much more
honorably than the physician who, per-
,hance, may secure a patient from some
catastrophe, and is permitted to set q bone
Of an arm or a finger, which he does with
great dignity, yet very soon after takes the
liberty to climb the editors back stairs at Q
o'clock in the morning to have it announced
in the morning paper that sDr. So-and- SO
was in attendance thus securing for his
benefta beautiful and free advertisement.
We shall leave it to our readers to say
which is the wiser and more honorable.