Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-09-07
Medical Director Gfhon.

ent, when there Is such sharp competition
on all sides and when certain ones make
advertising particularly profitable. Such a
code as does exist at the present time is
based upon a strong and logical founda-
tion is as much in the interest of the pub
lie as 1t Is Of the profession Mr. Hart
then went on to defend the code Of medi-
cal ethics. comparing 1t with the codes Of
other professions. He told Of his efforts to
learn the merits Of the code Of the legal
profession in England, which is much
stricter than the medical code A friend Of
his on the English bar told him that their
code simply implied that a man should live
and act and practice as gentleman. II
man did not demean himself as such
then other members Of the profession should
have nothing to do with him. The
same holds true of the medical profession.
do not regard the proper rules OF their guild
So there are pariahs in the medical profess
sion.
As to the medical profession it's code in
brief is the divine command: do unto
others as you would they should do unto
YOU" The medical code has been built
upon the experience Of the ages and 1t
would be dangerous for the profession to
cast to one side the results of this valuable
experience and to abandon its code Of
ethics.
Mr.. Hart then went on to give In detail
the rules adopted by the Royal College in
England for the government Of the mem
bers of the profession. These included the
well-known rules against advertising either
the name or any literary work in the COL
umns of the secular press; against consult
Ing with homeopaths; against any connec-
ton with a secret medicine and against
pronering service to a patient who is known
to be under the care of a brother physician.
His View of Homeopaths.
In supporting the different articles Of the
code Mr.. Hart first took up the one that
provides against consultation with homeo-
paths. Homeopathy. he said, was SO re-
moved hor NJ
system that there Is no ground upon which
the two schools can meet by the bedside anv
more than Catholic priest and an aUnostic
couiu meet together to render spiritual con-
spIatlon sp TO dying man. AS to the theory
tnat regular and a homeopath might meet
az least In the matter Of making a diaanoS
Sis OF a case. Mr.. Hart said that the aim ~
the physician was to heal disease, not to
guess at riddles. oS W
what He Means by "Quack.n
In applying the term "quacks" to homeo-
paths MIR. Hart said he did it not I'm the
Objectionable sense. but according to the
oefnition given by DR.. johnson, "boasting
practitioners" Quacks, he said, are the sort
of men who seek newspaper notorietv at
the cost of loss of self-respect. A auack
Is the sort of man who, If he has been
attending In the sick room Of a prize
tighter, a ballet girl or the President of
the United States, will divulge the secrets
OF the sick bed for the sake Of becoming
famous himself. He is the man who is
all the time being interviewed by the news
paper reporter to the merits Of the most
recently discovered albumenoid or other
drug. At this stage of his address Mr.
Hart was frequently interrupted by loud
applause. which showed that he had his
audience with him.
Secret Medicines.
Medicine, said MIR. Hart, is a mission no
less than manner Of living. He then
| went on to make a sharp attack upon the
matter of secret medicines, which he said
are never worth the paper on which their
advertisements are printed. They are
secrets only to the gullibe public and not
to the medical profession, for they have
been examined in laboratories again and
again. and have been found to be either
worthless nostrums or old worn out and
abandoned remedies. Any medical man
who dirties his hands by connection with
secret medicine companies, by recommend
ing such medicines or giving them tcsti-
monials should be treated as he deserves
Any practitioner who would sell the birth
right of his good professional name for
such a mess of pottage should be consider
ed as traitor to his profession and a
traitor to mankind.
Relations With Other Physicians.
Finally Mr.. Hart made a savage criticism
CONTINUED on Fifth paRe.l