The herald., 1897-01-03

, ignorance Of the functions of this organ
was a factor in determining the life or
death of a patient, Alexander Gordon,
the victim of q gunshot wound accident
ally received In the stomach. During an
operation the attending physicians came
upon the patients spleen, in the course
Of their cutting. 1--WE don't know what
this is for" they said, land 1t isn't Of
any use to the man, anyhow" So they
cut 1t out and threw it away. The pa
tient died in q few hours. This Incl
dent, incredible as it seems to be, was
told to me for truth and, whether It is
true or not, 1t shows the general ignor-
ance Of tho medical profession as re-
CARDS the functions of this organ Is well
| understood among all classes.
Now. as God made the human body as
1t is, He evidently intended the spleen
to perform some important function. If
it had nothing to do 1t would not be
part Of the human body 1t is certainly
astounding that students of the human
body should remain in ignorance of the
| functions Of this or any other organ or,
being ignorant. should be willing to ad-
| init that ignorance, and should deride
| others for claiming, in good faith, to
possess knowledge upon this subject.
DR.. Foo, in his recent book, which he
Is now sending free to all fully describes
on pages IL and 32 the important func-
tions Of the spleen. 1t would certainly
be more consistent with the character
Of the student to be willing to investigate
the knowledge even of an Oriental and
to determine. by a fair and unprejudiced
inquiry, whether that knowledge is we'll
founded or not.
The Chinese system of anatomy and
medicine explains this matter and many
others upon which our ideas seem to be
indefinite and confused. Dr. Foo has
briefly explained the functions of the
spleen, in chapters from his forthcoming
books already published, and will dis
cuss them more in detail at later date.
The American people are the wonder and
admiration Of all other nations Of the
world for their advance and progress in
everything outside of the care of their
lives and bodies. In matters of trade,
finance, transportation. mining, agri-
culture and everything in which human
ingenuity may be applied to mechanical
or industrial pursuits, we lead the world
But We, as nation, are making no ad-
vances or Improvements upon our own
methods of taking care of our health
and curing our diseases. This neglected
field seems to me the most important Of
all, and think that when a new system
of medicine-or at least ono which is
new to us-is offered to us, we should
crixy a Cor raf,
that the profession of medicine is more
important today than any other profess
sion, and is less satisfactory as compared
with the advances in other professions.
1t is not only in theory that the Chi
nese system Of medicine has shown its
merits and proved it's successes. In re-
suits it is equally satisfactory. 1t is
impossible to explain away this fact
which Is proved by the testimony Of
many living witnesses. There is some
thing in the remedies used or in the dag
noses which cure where other methods
fail. / do not make the absurd claim
that this system always cures, or the
equally absurd claim that no
other system has any good in it,
or that all our own physicians are ig-
norant or incompetent; but I do say that
in many respects. and In the treatment
of many diseases, the Chinese system
has advantages over others. as is shown
by the results of treatment with the
Chinese herbal remedies.
For these reasons 1 am in favor of the
establishment Of an Oriental College
of Medicine in Los Angeles, as suggested
by Rev. Mr.. Bracewell's letter. I be-
leve that a consistent, thorough and un-
biased study of the principles underlying
this system of medicine would benefit
humanity by adding to the sum of hu-
man knowledge upon questions of health,
which are questions of the very highest
importance.
GEORGE w. HAZARD
933 South Broadway.