Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-09-24

TO vail iOr wears Tor chance TO PRINT nls
VI Ne. and he usually was modest enough to
! sav ;bat he knew that his invention would not
I OF have It's immediate effect This feeling of
! ,Cur~e made men less ambitious. but it led to
more accurate results, for there was no catch
/ I.Ent business about invention In those days.
4 x,-ays we're quietly launched upon the world
= containing the most remarkable truths or
| theories that created little no attention. and
I vet those same remarks would today plunge
the medical world into controversies that would
make tue ghost of Harvey smile, 'if. indeed"
added DIR. Mitchell. I'm that other world there
I = Cyc- any smiling"
Then followed diagrams showing old-time
| Thermometers that were worked by the action
oi the breath Of the patient. Iittcd with great
b,!i-lAe Openings into which the breath was
! sent gains; ths hUid in the tube. This fluid
vaEitd ~ the progress Of invention uncovered
better methods. At first water was the sole
medium for she expression of heat figures
| Then lIusced o. il heard Of as the contents of
I the tubes. and 81 = remarkably late day mer-
curry was suggested. though not ~ first used.
/ There was an old doctrine that held to a day
80 recent that one wonders that Tor every dis
care there Was specific heat, % different
scr; from all others and to he distinguished by
means % the thermometer. Ills belief, how
ever, gradually shaded away.
COUNTING rur PULSE.
Mex: came the story Cf the pulse and the ef-
forts 20 count it. The first note of counting
Tn" pll'e would place it before 1900. and to
Calico again belongs the credit. He is said to
have used tie beats oi his own pulse to note
The swinging Of that bronze lamp in the Pisan
cathedral that has set the whole world to
vibrating in sympathy. Then later he went on
/ 30 thin. ont his first pulse measure. which he
called the ''pulsyiogon." 1t was a most remark
able nlstramcnt, simply graded scale, near
| which hung pendulum ball OF lead with a white
/ line PAINTED across its middle. The directions
| were 10 set the ball swinging ard then to note
The pulse. II the beats OF the ball were quicker
shan the beats of the pulse the string by which
/ the former was held should be heightened; if
| slower they were shortened, and when there
/ was al exact coincidence the mark on the scale
opposite the white line was TO be noted, and
! this gave standard for the pulse of that day
! The next day the same operation was gone
| through with. and So remarked the astronomer
in his directions it could be told whether or
| not the patio mt was better.
When one thinks of the great good done to
| the world by these two simple inventions of
Calico one cannot help wondering what he
might not have achieved had his career been
| but heightened bit.
There were some earnest writer's in those
days and they had their hands full for the ten
dcEcy of the times vas not toward respect for
the profession of the healer. Wrote Sancto-
r1ous IN one of hiz ESSAYS: TO scott at medicine
Il not only sacrllese but the work of bad
heart Medicine was regarded as something
! nearly holy by Its devotees, but as the art of
| th. sorcorer ty the world.
vailed. One writer mentions it as beating uE-
evenly IN different persons. the records vary
ing. he SAYS. from 1000 to 1000 in the half
/ hour. The minute had not then been born.
/ IL was creature Of a later time. and the hour
suincc't as a STANDARD of all measures of time.
I The siNtIeth Of an hour expressed all that was
needed for the purposes of the old observers.
/ The second was vet 10 be heard OF in noting
pulse movements.
The doctrine of specific pulses as of specific
heats yyaIlpt "A late Al nv The fhanry
vas thdt the blood surged differently through
! the VEINS aad arteries with each different dis
/ ease. and early efforts were made to catch the
| lines of pulse motion. Some OF these lines
| we're shown on the walls by DR. Mitchell. They
| resembled sections of distorted gas pipes
In conclusion the speaker called attention to
| the moral contained In this record of the adj
vance ct thought. that the true rate of medical
progress IL not to be measured by the excel
lelce of individual effort. but by the capacity
OF the Mass of the profession for absorption.
IL = not the city physician, with his new nstru-
ments and his accessories, his hospitals and his
/ Ien edlcs At easy reach, who sets the pace, but
the country doctor, with his more old-tash-
toned tools and ideas. The standard Of pro-
gress must be established to conform with the
rate at which the best thought is accepted by
the plodders much as the speed of squadron
Is measured by that of the slowest ship.
A STROLL THROUGH THE MUSEUM.
After Dr. Mitchelrs address the audience
filed out of the hall in two directions. Some
went straight to the armory of the National
Rifles. where the reception of the congress was
held, and others s.rolIed ffst through the
Army Medical Museum, which was lighted
brilliantly for the reception OF the guests
The most of the visitors to the museum had
seen such sights before. and the lines of Jars of
alcohol that formed the main feature of the
landscape were common sights. Yet there
were come there-ladies, the wives and daugh-
tiers OF the physicians, who were greatly in
terested in the ''horrid things that thew saw
They shud1ered AT the picked hearts and went
into stacies of reyulsIon before the specimens
OF dcformity. They admired the neatness with
which everything was arranged, and indeed
the more professional part of the crowd ex-
pressed itself as being more than well pleased
with the system and the completeness Of the
collection of specimens.
RECEPTION AT THE RIFLES ARMoRY.
The reception at the srmory began Just as
soon as DIR. Mitchell could be whisked from
the National Museum. This was in plenty of
time for him to get well stationed at the door
| OF the hall before the guests began to arrive.
There were hall thousand people in the hall
| by 10 o'clock and not half a dozen there half
| an hour later. The cause of this exodus Law in
| the presence in the drill room below of a great
| quantity OF refreshments that were served a.
! 1880
| Dr. Mitchell was assisted in the reception OF
| The phy-lcHins and their ladies by Mrs
| Mitchell. Lady Mace Ormac, Mrs. Busey. Mrs
] Billings and Mrs. Clymer. The first part of
| the evening WIS devoted TO the exchange OF
| conn liments between the men, who predom-
! mated III about the proportion OF fifty to one,
| ami the making Of pretty speeches by the
ladies. vino compensated for their small num-
4 bcr= by their pretty clothes.
| Coz and Mrs Robert represented the District
| government aud Sgpt- Porter held up the ad-
I ntialslratlOn. Vie was frequently addressed as
! Doctor In fact, every one was called doc
I tor. Ii he WAS not one he should have been
I and there was end Of it. Mr.. Porter did
not object 10 being called doctor but some Of
! ni& acFuaIrtdnces asked INN at last why he was
4 80 called. He replied: II don't know unless
J II l. that ] am sort Of doctor Of figures" and
/ there was general smile and the group ad-
J iOurned TO the refreshment hall.
! 1t was expected that the President would at
| tend. and the band had been properly in
I strdcted to play Hail to the Chief" at the
\ proper time. but word was received early in
the evening that the President found himself
/ too busy at his desk TO be able TO get away
Most of the people began leaving soon after
| the serving OF the refreshments, and by ll:SO
| the hall WAS but thinly occupied.
| SHic,de of Ex-C;ov. Morehouse
4 Ex-Gov. \. p Morehouse of Missouri COM
miIted suicide at Marysville yesterday morning
! at o'clock Tuesday night he was out driy-