The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-04-13

FRAN III. .>cm yori Ercnny i~>t.

'~SlcSS Ol US All b'IoI' tH' foNlol. y
wife may plead with IN obstinate llus-
band. a mother may argue with an i'm
prudent ,laucl.tcr or Il rockies, son,
and fin. that her efforts have no more
rc>ul; ,han thar which spray may
l.ay. upon a New ENGLAND rock. but
-, "A medical man get his hand upon
HI. pulse or his trained ear over the
l.ncs. and the whole face Of things Is
hanged. No more late hours, no
more dancing in thin gowns, no more
nightly revealing. 1t is a study worth
pursuing, this yielding of the strong,
this SOLDERING Of the frivolous, this
checking of LIES waste, II The bid
ling OF Il ma whose only authority
lies in respect for his profound knowl-
circ and confidence in his truthful
slccch. If eve one needed Il demon
>tration that knowledge was power,
here it Is. 'Thc Son of Sirach'
CONS to have had many thoughts up
on the subject Of physicians. rs he
put hi, >hrcwd IIcbraic lessons into
shape. Honor the physician with
tie honor due unto him. he says en-
%l.hatically. but he adds with grim s,,y-
g~"stion that he had at times suffered
many things Mt the hands of the mcdi-
cal men Of his time: 'IIc that sinncth
against his Maker, let him fall into
the hands of the physicians. There
is an indispensable force in these last
words which leave many possibilities
amusinrly open to Imagination, and |
fear me that there arc American, 18th
century, atfirmations Of the preacher
idea Of condign punishment easily OBJ
tanned.
E%agerncss of research and thirst for
r~rovings have altered somewhat the
course Of medical thought. 1t has be-
come possible for the man best fur
nishcd to be least able to take the du-
ties Of a family physician How
and why rule too rigidly his contact
with disease: investigation becomes
the almost absorbing influence of his
life. Men become specimens in his
eyes. and he is less eager to p%rolong
the beatings Of a laboring heart than
10 know why it threatens to stop its
work. Experiment, which teaches, is
TOO dear to the %discovcrcr, the oppor-
tunity Of research too precious in his
eyes. to leave room for ministry to the
agony Of hearts whose only disease is
grief. while they await his decision.
Unless rumor is false to the core.
much hospital practice is touched with
danger through the Ec!dncss of pro-
grcssivc scientists. who dare too much
rather than forfeit the proving Of Il
theory.
But my bent to-day is far from
critical; my mind turns with delight
rather to the expression Of gratitude
We owe to the men whose coming is
the harbingcr of comfort if it cannot
DC of cure, and Of whom VIC can say
without irrcvcrcncc that their COM
passions fail not"
The "Hippocratic oath covers as
with a shield the laying bare of the
secret family histories which the fami-
ly physician knows as no one else but
God can know. This solemn promise
Of secrecy is unnecessary to the man
most fitted for the confidence reposcd
IN him, but it binds those of lower
character By Il stern repression. Not
infreuucntly the doctor knows what
the husbands love is guarding from
his wifc's anxious eyes, sparing her
while he may; and, perhaps, at the
same time holds her secret, too. No
skeleton can be closed in a locked
closet from his eyes. If the mother
strength fails aud her cheek grows
pale without any token of disease, he
has TO know that wakeful, fearful
nights over a child's misdoings are
sarping her vitality. If a business
mans strength fails and his hand
t%rcmblcs, he has to find out that it is
a closed mill or Il false debtor that is
shaking his nerve power. If n youth
is brought to him for cure, he must
learn whether he is poisoning himself
with alcohol, or draining his strength
by dissipation. Nothing can be hid
den. Men and women come and go
and the fair surface of exterior life is
as beautiful and sparkling in the
worlds eyes as if nothing was wrong
beneath: but if the doctor should
chance to have time to minglc with
the other guests. he wonders at the
Spartan courage which upholds the
harrassed man and half-despairing
woman on whose shoulders the order