The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-09-30
ARE They QUACKs2
Question Raised as to Chris
tian Science ''HeaIers."
They Said "Henry Parsons Was Not Sick at Al
But Had Belief That He Was Sick,
Yet the Little Fellow Died."

bow in New Bern for the lack of medi-
cine, has been read with more interest
than the discussion about the sena-
torial contest The Bulletin of the
North Carolina Board of Health this
month copies the editorials and COM
munications from the News and OBJ
server, and makes a reply to an eX-
tract from a correspondent of the
News and Observer Writing about
the suggestion that some legislation
should be enacted to prevent such oc-
currences as the deplorable death OF
the boy in New Bern, a gentleman
wrote to the News and Observer:
Il do not believe that legislation
will prevent such occurrences. These
people--the Christian Scientists-hold
their beliefs as an expression of their
religion, as they declare, and attempts
to legislate against them will be con-
strued as persecution of them, because
of their religious belief and practices,
and fail of it's purpose on that ac-
count. They holland not without
some show of reason-that each indl-
vidual has right to choose for him
self what method of treatment he
will have in sickness, or whether he
will have any treatment at all, and
that no one may rightly force upon
him a treatment which he does not
want, or deny him a treatment which
he DESIRES" la II
Replying to this position the Bull
letin says:
in regard to the views set forth in
the private letter to the editor, given
above, we would say this: The State,
through its laws regulating the prac-
tice of medicine, does not pretend to
say that the individual citizen shall,
or shall not, call to his aid, when sick,
any particular kind of physician. or
any physician at all. His individual
liberty is not interfered with by the
law He is free to summon a thor
oughly educated physician CT char
acter and experience, or he can place
himself under the care anybody he
chooses-a witch DOCTOR" an ''old
granny,"~a ''conjuror,' a christian
Scientist" magnetic healer, an
''osteopathist,' a root and yarb doc
tor a '.hypnotist," or a horse doc
tor provided he can find him. But
the State, in its wisdom, knowing the
dangers to its citizens incident to
the treatment of their diseases by per-
sons utterly ignorant of the structure
and functions of the human body,
the nature of diseases, and the best
remedies for it, has said that no one
who has not demonstrated his fitness
for such responsible work to the sat
isfaction of an impartial board of
regular graduated physicians" shall
practice medicine or surgery, nor
a.sy of the branches thereof, nor in
any case prescribe for the cure of d.
seases for fee or reward" The law
is necessarily general in character. 1t
does not forbid any amateur to pre-
scribe. provided it be done ''for love-
only, but it does say that no one shall
engage in the business of healing di
seases without a license, as shown by
his charging a Fee No one will take
the time and trouble involved in this
kind Of work long without reward,
and so the danger from that source
is not very great. But very large
measure of protection is afforded by
shutting out the professional quaclls
those who GO intoiit for the money
there is in it, and who. as a rule, are
not only ignorant, but utterly I'M
scrupulous and unprincipled.
against Christian Scientists would not
avail, because they ''hold their be-
liefs as an expression of their relig
ion,'' it seems to us. would have no
weight in the eve of the law. If SO,
all that would be necessary for quacks
to secure immunity would be to form
a cult, or sect, and base their opera
tons nonlinallv on certain texts in
the Bibles On this principle, inasmuch
as the right to worship God according
to the dictates of ones own conscience
is one of the fundamental rights in
this free country of ours, the "medi-
cine man. of the Indians. who is
also the high muck in the
religious line of his tribe, or the immi
grant from Dahomey, with his fetch,
would be equally free to practice his
system. We do not believe that the
|. cry of persecution would be effective
in cases treated for fee or reward
the only cases to which the law would
apply-for the sincerity of those who
use their religion for the purpose of
making money is always discounted.
"The reasonableness of the require
ment by the State of adequate knowl-
edge of the various branches of med
icine of those who propose to practice
that profession is to be found chiefly
in a certain aspect of the case that we
believe to be largely overlooked by
the public. The most difficult part of
the practice of medicine is not the
treatment of disease, but the dag
nosis, the finding out what the disease
is. The accurate diagnosis of diesase
often demands the exercise OF the
highest intellectual facilities. re-en-
forced by very full knowledge of
the nature and history of disease. The
greatest physicians are those who are
the best diagnosticians, for while
some are more slxillful than others in
treatment, the variation is by no
means so great as in diagnosis. The
diagnosis having been correctly made.
the proper treatment can easily be
ascertained by reference TO the best
authorities. The preventable disasters
in the practice of medicine are the
result, nine times out of ten, not of
improper treatment, but of q mistaken
diagnosis. Tt is a statement of simple