The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-05-10

admitted that ne did not make any strenuouH
efforts to obtain business and confessed that,
after all, the thing WHICH pleased him best
about practising medicine was that he had to
keep a horse aud shay. Mr.. Morse notes further
that IL was OF course. a hlndrance TO be n wit
and a poet, the wise world having made up
It's mind that he who writes rhymes must
not write prescriptions, and he who makes
Jests should not escort people TO their graves.
Mindful OF his own cX perionce. he Rravely Fore
warned his students, medicine Is the most
difficult OF sciences and the most laborious OF
srts. II will task ali your powers Of body and
mind " you are faithful to 1t. DO not dab
BILE in the muddy sewer of politics, nor linger by
the enchanted streams NJ literature. nor dig In
far-on fields for the hidden waters OF allen sci
ences. The great practitioners nre those who
concentrate all their powers on their business"
But, while his practice left much To be de-
sired, Holiness active mind and industrious
temperament would not permit him to BIO idle.
For three seasons he was ono OF the physicians
at the Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1888
he was nightly pleased" as he says, to re-
ceive the appointment of professor Of anatomy
at Dartmouth College. His presence was re-
qulred there only during August. September.
and October. and he held tho place for the years
1880 and 1910. He also wrote successfully for
the Boylston and other prizes. OF these
u tHsa1o VIC 1T tOlu IHhb OHo w =
mittent Fever in New England =" still re-
tnins value as q careful collection of all
the evidence concerning malaria in TINT re-
gion up to that time" The biographer assures
us that tho subsequently, published volume Of
Medical Essays, though unknown to the gen
eral reader" sparkles with cleverness in the
authors best vein. The collection includes nome
papers on homeopathy. and the writer's detesta-
tion of what he always termed a pseudo-science
caused him to utter some of his happlest sem
fences. He admitted that some patients might
have been actually benefited through tho in
nuenco exerted on their imagination" which
must also be conceded Ito every one Of those
numerous modes of practice known to all In
~tclligent persons by an opprobrious title" But.
no went on to say, "the argument founded on
this occasional good would be as applicable In
justifying the counterfeiter in giving circulation
to his base coin on the ground that n spurious
dollar has often relieved q DOOR mans necessi-
ties" Tho defensive argument which homn-
opathists drew from the action of tho tiny par
ticles of vaccine matter. and which they applied
to some OF their minute preparations Of min
erals, he disposed of as follows: Tho thought
lessness which can allow an inference to be eH-
tended from a product Of disease, possessing
the susceptibility of multiplication when con-
veyed into the living body. to substances of in
organic origin, such as slick or sulphur, would
be capable of arguing that a pebble may pro-
duco a mountain because an acorn can be-
come q forest" Later on an argument in
favor Of the homeopathic dose was drawn
from the result of an experiment pub
lished by the French Academy. that the
ten-trillionth part of a drop of septicGmio
poison would kill a guinea pig. DR.. Holiness
ommen was: The argument from the effect
of animal poison in small quantities to medici-
nal substances In general is like saying that be-
cause a spark will burn down a city a mutton
chop will feed an army" 1t is, however, accord
ing to the bioRrapher. his essay on the Con
tagiousness of Puerperal Fever " upon which.
prominently. II not alone, DR.. Holmes must
rest his claim to having made an original and a
greatly valuable contribution to medical science.
paper was roughly handled by leading pro-
fessors of Obstetrics. but its conclusions have
now become accepted and familiar. Referring
to this incident In THE Professor at the Break
fast Table, he said when. by the permission of
Providence. l held up to the professional public
the damnable facts connected with the convey
nnce of poison from one young mothers cham
Der to nnother's-for doing which humble office
! desire to be thankful that l have lived, though
else good could ever come In my life-I
had to bear the sneers OF those whose position
had assailed, and. as believe, have at last demol-
ished, 70 that nothing but the ghosts Of dead
women stir among the ruins"