The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1897-07-17
PIGEON PRACTICE.
HOW A COUNTRY DOCTOR CON-
NIUNICATES WITH PATIENTS.
Through Winged Messenger the Ply
sician Has Quick News From
the Most Distant of
His Sick.

HR. CHARLES L. LANG, of
Meriden, N. Y, has set the
pace for all other practition-
10 ers by establishing a carrier
pigeon service between his patients
and himself. There is nothing in ma.
terra medica, to be sure, which sug-
gests this method of practice, but it is
such novelty in its way and it proves
. SO successful, that once generally
known it is bound to prove very popu-
lar.
Every man who is o physician and
has practice that takes him about in
the country districts to any great ex-
tent knows how hard it is to keep him.
self thoroughly posted as to the con-
dition of his far away patients.
The city physicians clientele as a
rule is more compactly located, there
not being the opportunity for him to
practice in SO large territory as his
country brother. Now the country
physician pract1ees over an immense
extent of territory, infinitely greater
than nine out of ten of even his own
patients think. he is quite likely to
have two patients critically ill, each
patient between twelve miles apart and
each living like distance from the
doctors own home. Easily it will be
seen that paying daily calls and keep
ing posted with sick persons scattered
about like that becomes almost an i'm
possibility.
These conditions confronted DIR.
Lang for many long year, and he
cudgeled his brain to some purpose in
finding q way to help himself and Mt
the same time prove benefit to his
patients. The homipg pigeon solved
the problem. In other words, the
doctor is the producer, the pigeon is
the midd]e-man and the patient the
consumer-of medicine. In this par
ticular instance, however, the middle
man benefits both producer and con-
sumner, state of affairs as singular as
DIR. Lang's project.
There is nothing difficult about il at
all. The method of procedure is this:
In the first place, the doctor keeps in
mind constantly the patients whose
conditions he is very anxious to be
thoroughly posted upon. Then he
sends to each OK these one or more-of
the carrier pigeons, according to the
severity of the case and the necessity
| of frequent communication. The
| nurse, or some member of the family
of the person who is i'll, has blanks
which the doctor has left and these
must be filled in with a detailed
record of time, pulse, temperature
and respiration. A blank filed, it is
inclosed in an aluminium capsule made
to clasp on the leg. This done, the
bird is released and at once speeds
away to the home OF the waiting ply
stefan, at the rate of mile minute.
! In this connection 1t is we'll to remem-
Der that while to the uninitiated the
words "carrier pigeon" include all
pigeons that carry messages, in reality
they do not mean that. The homing
pigeon Is the carrier pigeon trained to
actual, solid, hard work.
When the pigeon of the medica
reaches his destination, DR.. Lang's
| residence, he flies to the loft which
has been prepared for him and his
comrades. In order to gain this loft,
however, he must pass through what
are called boiling wires. These open
inward into an enclosure about two
feet square. Here the prisoner is held
| until The doctor or some one desig-
mated to perform the service removes
the message. The pigeon then is free
and flies into the loft.
In this way DR.. Lang is enabled to
keep thoroughly in touch with his pa
| tients at distance with about one
fifth the amount of travel he would
have to endure under other circum-
stances. Not only that but he is really
much better posted, because it would
often happen that he would altogether
be unable to pay visits to all the pa
tients he should, and so, perhaps, miss
seeing sick person just at the time
when he most needed to hear from
him, at least. Under the system he
has devised, he can goaway from home
to visit patients and feel sure that
when he returns reports will be await
ing him for others. Should these re-
ports tell him that call from him is
an absolute necessity, why then he
goes, and that is all there is of it.
On the contrary, however, he very
frequently learns from these reports
by pigeons that.a visit from him on a
certain day to the patient would have
been wholly unnecessary and have SIM
ply wasted his time. Thereby, the
doctor has saved the time and trouble
of long and tedious journey and at
the same time knows just how the per-
son is whom he would have gone to see
if it had not been for his pigeons. The
doctor says too, that more than once
the life of patient has been saved by
sudden communication to him Wis
pigeon post. New York Press.
Ouppr C0udHct of a Tree