The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1899-07-14

| said delay. gentlemen. because,
however much we may be allie to re-
lieve pain. to miti gate suffering or to
prolony life. We must pause before the
inexorable decree: Dust thou art and
unto dust thou shalt return. 1t has
been said by the old English Poet
Quarles that:
"Our life is but Il winters day,
Some break their fast and so away,
Others stay to dinner and depart full fed.
The deepest age but sups, and goes to bed
Our province then. gentlemen, is not
in "thc great beyond" 1t is only
from the cradle to the grave still
man : term of natura! life, afflicted as
it is with all the ills that tend to hasten
it to an untImely end. gives us 'ample
room and verge enough" for all the re-
sources of our art.
The achievements of science, in
every department, which cluster
around tie century about to close may
truly bc termed marvellous. And in
the domain of me dicine we have kept
full pace with the progress of events.
The Physician of to-day has at his
command methods of diagnosis and
means of treatment undreamed of by
his ancestors. We have discarded the
lancet, but with the hypodermic needle
we give instant relief to the most
frghtful agony. With the clinical
thermometer we measure temperature;
with the opthalmoscope we detect the
defects of vision. The laryngologist
with his rhinoscope and his laryngo
scope illuminateS the hidden recesscs
of the nose and throat, discovering and
removing diseased conditions which
our forefathers could only suspect to
exist Inventive genius has equipped
the surgeon with every instrument
which his steady hand and matchless
courage is willing to use. While the
microscope, the stcthoscopc and pho
neudoscope ;.nd more recent of all the
N-Ray have placed in our hands means
of examination which, if rightly and
scientifically used, afford us informa-
tion of Indispensable value in the treat
ment of disease. Aside from these,
which may, with others of the same
class be called material advances, we
have learned within the century that
with Quininc we can Danish the plas-
modum of malaria from the blood.
With the addition OF the iodides to
mercury we can mitigate the ravaSes
of Sy ,,hilis even to the third and fourth
generation. With anacsthetics we
render the surgeons knife less formid
able, and with antiseptics its use less
dangerous. With the salicylates we
efiectually combat rheumatism and
the rheumatic diathesis. while anti
diptheria less fatal. These, gentlemen,
are but Il 1.-THE Of the benefits and adj
vantagcs which we owe to this century.
Their name is legion. But while by
constant study, by minute investjga-
tion, by patient observation there have
been wrought such great advances and
such brilliant results, yet we must
confess that there are subjects before
which we stand almost hopeless.
The alarming increase fcanccr l"ust
give concern TO every thoughtful ply
sician. since we have not been able to
assign rational cause for the increase
or to find an adequate remedy for the
disease. Tuberculosis, that scourgc of
families, still battles our efforts: while
the demands of society, the competition
of business, the mad rush of life add an
ever swelling multitude to the list of
incurablc nervous and brain troubles.
Duu III all lnlS tHcIc Is no reason lOF
encouragement. Let us rather take
heart that there is so much to be done.
1t is Il trite aphorism that "all that is
not behind us is before us" and in the
science of Preventive Medicine we have
all the world before us. verify be-
lieve that the future phN will be
judged and rewarded not 10y cases
which he cures, but by the diseases
which he prevents, ami that the old
saying An ounce of prevention is
worth pound of cure" will be written
in letters of gold on the diplomas of
the future.
The tendency Of our modern thought
we must rccollcct is not toward pills.
powders and pharmaceutical prcpara-
tions. 1t is a noteworthy fact that
our most recent text books on the
! practise of medicine devote but little
space to drugs compared with what
+ may be termed nature remedies.
Ilyorotherapy ,Balncology, Massage,
Dietetics, Electricity, PhSycology are
being earnestly discussed and are find
ing their proper and important places
in the practise of medicine. Hygiene,
which is but another name for preven-
tive medicine, is claiming the thought
and researches of the most advanced
minds in our profession.
No man will deny that if the ordi-
nary principles of hygiene tas under
stood by the great body OF our profes-
sion of today were universally OBJ
served that even i'll the next generation
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