Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1895-07-05
A Sedative.

Ia tine temporary absence 81 the sl-
,aut ii the Standard. it- editor tries
the effect OF drastic dosing prescribed
oy DR.. Novel; and administered 10y
that most acquiescent and accommo-
lating Of nurses, the Olpmpida.
The savant's" sole otien>e appears
to consist OF an endeavor to explain
Dir. Novels pedantic article on the
scum that forms on the plaza lakelet,
which had appeared in a previous issue
OF that paper. The doctor, through
the use OF sanitary engineers hypothct
ical t,chnicalities, had succeeded in /
making his subject about as clear as
mud" and savant very innocentlv re-
marked that the four words decOm-
position OF organic matter would have
conveyed much more thorough un-
derstanding OF the cause.
The doctor diagnosed this effort to
add to the sum OF human knowledge
to he an attack OF cdcoethes carpendi,
which it was his duty to combat by the
ancient formula OF collecting; and
he takes savant to task for using
word which he declares does not ex-
press the meaning that was intended.
He writes:
The sayant of the STANDARD may yet get wis
dom if he will. decomposition is the act of re-
solving compound into its elements and is APP.
piled 10 wood. rock, etc, Putrefacti on Is the
offensive decay of albumenous or other matter
always accompanied by. and without doubt
caused by bacteria: hence putrefaction is form
of fermentation. Putrefaction is not possible
under conditions that preclude living organ
isms.
Now let US see If savant is so far
wide Of the mark after all. Webster
defines putrefaction to be "the often
sive decay of albuminous compounds"
and fermentation to be ." that change
OF organic substances by which their
starch, sugar and gluten albumen
are, under the influence Of air, water
and warmth, decomposed, usually with
the evolution OF gas and heat, and
their elements are re-combined into
new compounds. 1t will be noted that
the doctor seems to think that bacteria,
the iring organisms whose develop
ment must exist under conditions that
develop putrefaction, is kind of fish,
while the International Dictionary,
which is very fair authority, defines
it to be Ga microscopic vegetable or
ganism, belonging to the class Alga."
Now it does not seem that savant
was very far from using the proper
word in the right place. The word
decay" if substituted for "decompo-
sirion," might have obviated an oppor-
tunity for captious cavil, but we main
tain that he CAME much nearer ex-
pressing his meaning than the doctors
sometimes do in selecting the precise
ingredients for prescription, nor is it
possible for such an error to be attend.
ed by the grave results which some
times follow a slip of pencil in writing
the hieroglyphical characters which
conceal more than they reveal. Much
more might be written in support OF
the savants four words, as expressing
the precise idea intended, but this is
quite enough to show that the doctor
is talking through pill-box when he
affirms that the four wise words of
the wise man of the very wise STAND
ARD do not explain at ALL"
But let us see, doctor, how it is with
your language. 1t is, of course, adj
mitted that you are an adept in use of
the scalpel and that your knowledge
OF boluses and blisters dates back to
the pyramids, but that does not give
you license to murder the Queens En-
glish, as you do when you admonish
savant to "get" wisdom. Why bless
your soul! don't you know that that
is a an endowment which cannot be
"got" the same way as you would Or
der bottle Of cholsgogue You may
"get" material objects, such as dose
Of ipicacuanha or a section of porous
plaster, but you cannot "get" wisdom
unless you have brains to base it upon,
and that commodity you would doubt
less feel inclined to deny to either
savant or the writer-under present
circumstances, while your pulse has
risen considerably over its normal
beat. And then if it is to be "got,"
there must be a source to "get" it
from, and as the inference is that it is,
in this instance, to be derived from
your teaching, it must be evident that
we have very unsubstantial basis for
supply. Wisdom is an abstract quail
ity, not a concrete quantity, and the
admonition to "get" it would be
about as rational treatment az an at.
tempt to cure fesh-wound by ad-
ministering a purgative.