The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-04-19

our profession Ia> been pressing TOT
waI. with 30 many new discoveries
An. made 80 many changes. both in
tic :nrtlcal and surgical departments,
thai g, are kept at swift gallop to
krr., pacc with the medical centres Of
tl~ country: and so anxious is the
Nct;cal man to keep abreast Of the
tines that all Of his thoughts and
studies seem to be on some new RENE
dy, some new work, some new surgical
instrument G. some new operation.
TO this shall urge no objection
provided we do not carry it SO far as
to entirely discard all Of the teachings
of our older brethren. 1t is all right
SO far as it goes. but some times, when
We chase the butterfly, we lose valua
bic time and gain no hcadway, cspc
cially in our profession. We must
also remember that there is much to
be learned outside Of our medical
books and periodicals in the daily pur
suit OF our profession. We must not
forget that it is not only the college
faculty before whom We must pass our
examination, for they have trained US
and will often bear with our short
con.ings, but we have more cxacting
faculty to pass before the people,
the public and while they will
give US credit for what is due rs they
will neither condonc or excuse our
shortcomings. Let nc illustrate this
idea by an incident that occurred at n
medical college Just before the final
examination some years ago. 1t was
during professional visi. Of one of
the faculty to the bedside Of sick
medical student. After he had exam
incd and prescribed for the sick stu
den, several of his fellow students
said to the Professor: Eve arc study
inr hard, Professor, for the final cx-
animation, and we hope you will be
easy with us. We hope to get your
vote in our favor. The Professor re-
piled We'll. that is all right, young
gentlemen. always vote to graduate
my students never blackbnll them.
I send them home with diploma, and
if they are damn fools their neigh
bors will soon ind it out
Therefore, my professional brethren,
I would ask your indulgence to-day
while | call you back to one Of the
duties of our profession that we meet
with almost every day. l refer to the
"Physician at the f1roner'x Mqucst."
This may seem to many Of you to be
OF very little Importance to the gen.
cral practitioner. This, however, is
great mistake, as We will sec further
on. Let me at this point speak Of the
Inquest and the parties concerned
from legal standpoint. In all civil
lied countries there is one branch Of
the government termed the judicial.
Among its other duties is that of the
trial Of parties charged with the COM
mission of crime. Before, however, a
party can be arraigncd for crime it is
necessary for the crime to exist, cspe-
cially that Of death by violence or
from other than natural causes. Now,
in order to bring this matter in
proper manner before the Judicial
Court for trial, department Of the
judiciary, called the Court Of the
Coroner, is provided, consisting of the
Coroner and his jury. will not 60
into the details Of the duties Of the
Coroner in other countries, but will
'confine this essay to the Coroner and
the Inquest as it exists in this State.
The Coroner is an elective officer and
before entering upon the duties Of his
Office he takes solemn oath to per.
form the duties appertaining to his
office to the best of his ability, and
also gives bond Of screra' thousand
dollars for the faithful performance Of
the same. Under the old law it was
the duty Of the Coroner, upon being
notified of the death of any person in
the County from other than q natural
cause, to Immediately investigate the
cause Of the death and to summon his
jury to assist. At recent session of
our Legislature, however, this law was
amended so that when a death occurs
other than from natural causes, the
Coroner can only hold an Inquest upon
the request Of two or more reputable
citizens or after personal cxamina
tion of the matter by himself The
Coroner on such notice and request
Immediately orders the sheriff, or
some other officer, to summon jury
Of twelve men; he also summons one
or more Physicians to be present and