The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1897-05-07

the market If he is aware of it. Thorough
cooking will destroy the bacilli. but large
amount of meat is eaten improperly cooked and
thus the live germs may be received into the
body aAd there continue their work. Is il mol
well that a Christian nation should have strin.
gent inspection laws ID protect the innocent
and weak against this small but formidable
enemy of the huma1 race?
Churches, as is well known, are apt to be
imperieetly ventilated The miracle of the
Bleeding host has puzzled the priests time and
again, the cOnseerated wafer left over night in
the moist and bacteria laden air has been found
covered with bright red drops. The good men
knew no human being could have come near to
place the red drops there, and was it not the
hand of Gods How many lives were sacrificed
through that most innocent of ecclesiastical de-
lusions. Now it would be useless even to sug-
gest the Bleeding Host as the cause of these red
drops, for modern science has proved them to
to Lave been caused by bacteria. Not only has
the scientists discovered bacteria 10 be one of
greatest causes of disease, but he has also made
discoveries and inventions which enable him
to battle them aud thus TO triumph over disease
and pain.
Indeed great improvements have been made
in every branch of medical science Fifty years
ago people believed hydrophObia was durable
only by the application of the maidstone, but
now it is known to be durable by incubation
also.
Considering the rapid growth of medical
science it is almost impossible to confine it
within limited areas 1t is, however the pOpu-
lar belief that nothing is impossible of triumph
when skill with the knife is called to battle
with what formerly seemed incurable maladies.
The first discovery in American surgery was
American etherization which was achieved
conjointly by Morton, Jackson and Wells. In
til that time, the patient who became the
subject of a surgical operation suffered pain be-
you'd expression. But to-day such Ordeals of
agony are changed into peaceful sleep and this
transformation has won for American surgery
triumph to be compared with no other. If
America had made but this one discovery for
the relief Of suffering humanity would she not
be entitled to the lasting gratitude of mankind?
Ephraim Mcdowell was the first who dared to
use the knife to remove a tumOr. Even when
the operation was being performed an angry
crowd waited to mob him If his attempt failed.
but the undertaking was 9 victory for both sur
geon and patient and now what would be the
spirit aroused If surgical operations were not
performed when life depended upon them?
The art of recOnStruction has caused trans
posed ska flaps to grow in new places. Fluh-
erer succeeded in removing q bullet which
penetrated the BRAIN by trephining the skill.
Asceptic surgery was advocated by the re-
nowned Scotch surgeon Sir Joseph Lister.
During visit to America in 1876 he explained
his doctrine and proved its wonderful results.
| In consequence of Listers brilliant achieve
ment every operator throughout America be-
came very Jealous in the practice of the prinei-
Piles which he advocated. And America was
the first to feel the real impulse for the benefit
which this discovery made evident Truly it
may be said that cleanliness in surgery has
marked an epoch second only to that associated
with the discovery of Anaesthesia." By means
of cleanliness surgeons are capable of perform
ing operations that were never before dreamed
of. And the results obtained by the applica-
ton of these principles have been so satisfae-
tory that the temptation to be enthusiastic as
to the future is well nigh irresistible"
The progress in the science of dental surgery
is exceedingly Interesting Let US look for a
moment at the remedy which our ancestors
applied for an aching tooth. They would en-
dure the pain a very long while before enough
courage could be aroused to submit to the bar
barOus manner in which the teeth were treated
Often in rural districts to remove a tooth q
chisel and hammer were used, and even the
physicians used only rude instruments. But
now we do not need to debate whether we will
endure the aching tooth or submit to the treat
ment because our dentists so thoroughly I'M
deIstand their work as to perform it with very
little pain. Dental surgeons have now acquired
such skill aud have such improved instruments
that very much diseased tooth may be pre-
served for years.
The application of electricity in tracing and
healing diseases is great step in the progress
of Therapeutics. The Rays enabled DR..
Roberts to take photographs of the brain of the
late murderer, ex-milliSnaire Duestro, whose
relatives were endeavoring to prove insanity
the photographs showed that his brain was in
a normal condition and his insanity merely
mock, aud he was sentenced to be hanged.
In the large cities all over this country hos
pitfalls have been established in which nurses
and physicians devote their whole time strug-
Cling for the mastery over disease and pain.
During the late war Howard Letterman and
Dalton invented the ambulance which swiftly
and tenderly carried the wounded over the
toughest roads from the danger and turmoil of
the awful battle field to the security and quiet
Of the peaceful wards for rest and recovery.
| THUS the American ambulance is the model
of its kind and challenges every criticism
against an almost world wide adaptability."
In reviewing the progress of medical science 1t
is interesting to know that the names of so
many Americans have become famous in the
history of this science and we point with pride
to their achievements.
Buck, Post and Sabine in their skill OF recon-
structiOn; Mcdowell in the removal of tumors;
Gurdon Buck in his successful treatment of
fractures; Little with his application of the
plaster-of paris splints; Parker in his treatment
of appendicitis; Horace Green with his applica-
ton of the medicsted probang, these with many
others assure us that America holds her own in
medical science and promises still more for her
future.
THOMAS ALVA EDISON.
HERBERT r. GosHoRS.
No man within the realm of science stands
forth more prominently than Thomas A. Edi-