The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1900-07-17

Made -HrCerr Painless.
Passing along the streets or Edinburgh
a feu week after the death OF Sir james
y. SImpson. ] saw the photograph Of the
doctor IN an the Windows OF the shops and
stores. and well might that photograph b.
put in every window. for he first used
chioroform as an ansesthetic agent. r.
Other days they tried 90 duh human pain
by the hashheesh OF the Arabs and the
madrepore OF the Roman and Greek; hut
10 vas LETT 90 DR. James simpson 20 intro
duce chlorOform as an anaesthetic- Alas
for the wfithine subjects OF surgery in
other centufjesi Blessed be God Tor that
Wet sponge or vial In the hand of the
operating surgeon in the clinical depart
ment ~ the medical college, or IN the sick
room Of the domestic circle. or on the bat
tle-ield amid thousands Of amputations.
Napoleon after a battle rode along the
line aud saw under tree, standing in the
now Larrcy. the surgeon. operating upon
the wounded. Napoleon passed on. and
tweniy-four hours afterward came along
the same place. and he saw the same sur
ceOn operating In the same place. and he
had not left IL. Alas for the battlo-trlds
without ChlorofOrm. But now. the soldier
boy takes a fcW hreaths from the sponge
and forgets I'll the psngs 81 the Eunshot
fracture, and while the surgeons OF tho
field hospital are standing around him. he
lies there dreaming Of home, and mother,
and heaven. No more parents standing
around suffering child, struggling TO get
away from the sharp instrument but mild
slumbeT instead OF eXcruciatiOn. ana the
chile wakes up and says. Father. what's
the matter What's the doctor here to-
IN 1 g. TH.v.n
Simpson and the heaveE-descended merctes
Of -hOrOfOTn.
THE medical profession steps into the
8 courtroom, and after conflicting witnesses
have left everything In a fog. by chemical
analyses shows The guilt OF innocence of
the prisoner. as by mathematical demos-
stTatiOn, thus adding hOnOrs TO medical
/ juTisprudence
VicIors Over PesTiIence.
This profession has done wonders for
public hvgienel How often they have
stood between the nations and Asiatic
cholera. and the yellow fever! The mon
uments in Greenwood, and Mount Auburn,
and Laurel Hill tell something Of the story
Of those men who stood face TO face with
pcstilence IN Southern cities, until stag
gering IN their own sickness they STUN
bled across the corpses OF those whom
. they had come TO save. This profession
has been the successful advocate Of VEN
tilation sewerage. drainage and fumiga-
ton until their sentiments were expressed
by Lord palmersten, when he said 10 the
English nation at the time fast had been
/ proclaimed 10 keep off a great pestilence:
. Clean your streets or death will ravage,
/ Notwithstanding all the prayers Of this
nation. Clean your streets, and then call
. OF God for help
/ "See what this profession has done for
human longevity. There was such a fear
3 full subtraction from human life that there
was 4 prospect that within a few centu-
ries this world would be left almost inhab-
! itantleSs. Adam started with a whole eter-
nifty of earthly existence before him; but
/ he cut off the most of It and only compar-
! atively few years We're left-only seven
. hundred years of life. and then five hun
bred, and then four hundred. and then two
/ hundred, and then one hundred, and then
| fifty. and then the average of human life
| came to forty, and then il dropped to
| eighteen. But medical science came IN,
and since the sixteenth century the aver
age OF human life has risen from eighteen
years 10 fOrty-fOur: and il will continue
I 10 rise until the average Of human life
will he fifty. and il will be sixty. and IL
will he seventy. and man will have no
] y
! ecv OF Isaiah will be literally fulfilled:
( And the child shall die hundred years
/ old The millennium for the souls OF
/ men will be the millennium for the bodies
/ Of men Sin done. disease viii be done
! the clergyman and the physician getting
/ through with their work al the same time.
Best Friends ofthe Poor.
| But Il semes TO me that the most beau
/ tiful benedictiOn of the medical profession
/
| cuse now for any ones not having scien-
| tific attendance Dispenssries and mfr
maries everywhere. under the control Of
I the best doctors, some of them poorly
| paid. some of them not paid at all A
! halfstarvet woman comes out from the
low tenement house into the dispenSdry
| and unwraps the rags from her babe a
| bundle of ulcers, and rheum. and pusiules
| and over that little sufferer bends the ac-
! Cumulated wisdom of the ages. from ES-
| CulapiuS down 10 last weeks autopsy
| In one dispensary. in one year, lJD,UlO
| prescriptions were issued. Why do | show
you what God has allowed this profession
| TO do Is il TO stir up your vanity? Oh,
no. The day has gone by for pompous
| doctors, with conspicuous gOld-headed
| canes and powdered wigs which We're
! the acCOmpanlments in the days when the
| barber used TO carry through the stree
/ of London DIT. Brockelsbys wig, 10 the
admiration and awe of the people, say
ing: Make way! Here comes DR.. Brock
I elsbys wig No, | announce these things
: not only 10 increase the appreciation of
l laymen in regard TO the work OF physi-
clans but TO stir in the hearts of the men
! of the medical profession feeling of
I gratitude 10 God that they have been al
lowed To put their hand 10 such 4 mag
nifcent work. and that they have been
called into such illustrious company.
Have you never felt a 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 ser
mon may be appropriate 10 you: 'Physi-
! clan, heal myself
| Another reason why think the medi-
cal profession ought to be Christians is
I because there are 50 many trials and an
royances in that profession that need pos
itive Christian solace. l know YOU have
the gratitude Of a great many good pcO-
pie and | know il must be a grand thing
10 walk inIelligontly through the avenues
of human life, and with anatOmic skill
poise yourself on the nerves and fberS
which cross and recross this wonderful
physical system | suppose a skilled eye
can see more beauty even in malformation
than an architect can point out in any Of
his structures. though il be the very tn
Umph Of arch, and plinth, and abacus.
But how many anpoyances and trials the
medical profession have Dr. Rush used
10 say. in his yalediCtOry address 10 the
students Of the medical college: Young
gentlemen, have TWO pockets small
pocket and a big pocket; a small pocket in
which To put your fees, a large pocket in
which 10 put your annoyances.'
Trials ola Doctors LIFE
"In the first place, the physician has no
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
horehouud candy until Sabbath morning
comes and then they say: 1 must have a
doctor And that spoils the Sabbath
morning church service for the physician
Besides thai, there are great many men
who dine bur once a week with civ "a n