The Monitor-register., 1897-06-11

TO LIZ. James simpson To lutrOuuC6 oH1o-
reform as an anasthetio. Alas for the
writhing subjects of surgery Ill other
centuriesl Blessed be God for that wet
sponge or vial in the hand of the oper-
ating surgeon in the clinical department.
of the medical college or in the SICK
room of the domestic circle or on the
battlefield amid thousands of amputa-
tions.
NAPOLEON after battle rode along the
line and saw under tree standing IN
the snow Larrey, the surgeon, oper-
ating upon the wounded. Napoleon
passed on, and "a hours afterward came
along the same place. and he saw the
same surgeon operating in the same
place, and he had not left it. Alas for
the battlefields without chloroform. But
now the soldier boy takes few breaths
from the sponge and forgets all the
pang of the gunshot fracture, and
while the surgeons of the field hospital
are standing around him he lies there
dreaming of home and mother and heav-
en-. No more parents standing around
suffering child, struggling to get
away from the sharp instrument, but
mild slumber instead of excruciation,
and the child wakes up and says: ia
ther, what's the matter? What's the
doctor here today for?" Oh, blessed be
God for James Y. Simpson and the
heaven descended mercies of chloroform.
The medical profession steps into the
courtroom, and after conflicting wit
nesses have left everything in fog, by
chemical analyses shows the guilt or in
nocence of the prisoner, as by mathe-
matical demonstration, thus adding
honors to medical Jurisprudence.
This profession has done wonders for
public hygiene. How often they have
stood between this nation and Asiatic
cholera and the yellow fever. The mon
uments in Greenwood and Mount Au-
burn and Laurel Hill tell something Of
the story of those men who stood face
to face with pestilence in southern cit
les, until staggering in their own sick
ness they stumbled across the corpses of
those whom they had come to save.
This profession has been the successful
advocate of ventilation, sewerage,
drainage and fumigation, until their
sentiments were well expressed by Lord
Palmerston, when he said to the Eng
lish nation at the time "a fast had been
proclaimed to keep off a great pesti-
lence: "Clean your streets or death
will rayage, notwithstanding all the
prayers of this nation. Clean your
streets and then call on God for help. "
See what this profession has done for
human longevity. There was such
fearful subtraction from human life
that there was a prospect that within a
few centuries this world would be left
almost inhabitantless. Adam start
ed with a whole eternity of earthly ex-
istence before him, but he cut off the
most of it and only comparatively few
years were left only 700 years of life,
and then 500, and then 400, and then
300, and then 100, and then 30, and
then the average of human life came to
40, and then it dropped to IS, But
medical science came in, and since the
sixteenth century the average of human
life has risen from IS years to A, and
it will continue to rise until the average
of human life will be 80, and it will be
60, and it will be 70, and a man will
have no right to die before 80, and the
prophecy of Isaiah will be literally full
filled, "And the child shall die 100
years DID," The millennium for the
souls of men will be the millennium
for the bodies Of men. Sin done, disease
will ho dnnn tho a1o k1o
physician getting through with their
work at the same time
Doctors For the Poor.
But it seems to me that the most
beautiful benediction of the medical
| profession has been dropped upon the
poor. No excuse now for any ones not
| having scientific attendance. Dispense
ries and infrmaries everywhere, under
the control of the best doctors, some of
them poorly paid, some of them not paid
at all. A half starved woman comes out
from the low tenement house into the
dlspensary and unwraps the rags from
her babe, a bundle of ulcers and rheum
and pustules, and over that little sufferer
bends the accumulated wisdom of the
ages, from Asculapius down to last
weeks autopsy. In one dispensary il
one year 100, 900 prescriptions were is
sued. Why do show you what God has
allowed this profession to do? Is it tt
stir up your vanity? Oh, no! The day
has gone by for pompous doctors, with
conspicuous gold headed canes and pow.
dered wigs, which were the aooompani
ments in the days when the barber usec
to carry through the streets of Londor
DIR. Brockelsby's wig, to the admiration
and awe of the people, saying: "Make
way! Here comes DR.. Brockelsby'
| wig" No; announce these things moi
only to increase the appreciation Of
| laymen in regard to the work of physi-
| clans, but to stir in the hearts of the
men of the medical profession feeling
of gratitude to God that they have beer
allowed to put their hand to such g
magnificent work and that they have
been called into such illustrious com
pany. Have you never felt spirit Of
gratitude for this opportunity? Do you
not feel thankful now? Then. / am
| afraid. doctor, you are not a Christian
and that the old proverb which Christ
quoted in his sermon may be appropri
ate to you, Physician, heal thyself. "
Another reason why think the med
ical profession ought to be Christians is
because there are so many trials and
annoyances in that profession that need
positive Christian solace. I know you
have the gratitude of a great many good
people, and | know it must be grand
thing to walk intelligently through the
avenues of human life, and with ana
tonic skill poise yourself on the nerves
and fibers which cross and recross this
wonderful physical system. l suppose q
skilled eye can see more beauty even in
malformation than an architect Car
point out in any of his structures,
though it be the very triumph of arch
and plinth and abacus. But how many
annoyances and trials the medical pro.
fession havei DR.. Rush used to say in
his valedictory address to the students
of the medical college, "Young gentle
men, have two pockets-a small pocket
and big pocket, small pocket in
which to put your fees, large pocket
in which to put your annoyances.
In the first place, the physician has nc
Sabbath. Busy merchants and lawyers
and mechanics cannot afford to be sick
during the secular week, and so they
nurse themselves along with lozenges
and horehounl candy until Sabbath
morning comes and then they say, 81
must have a doctor" And that spoils
the Sabbath morning church service fol-
the physician. Besides that, there are
great many men who dine but once a
week with their families. During the
secular days they take hasty lunch at
the restaurant, and on the Sabbath they
make up for their six days. abstinence
lE lSnanI al