The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1903-05-19
AN APPEAL TO THE DOCTORS.

AN APPEAL TO THE DOCTORS.
The prevalence of depgne fever dur
ing the past four or five hicntns' ana
even now, demands some practlcai at
tention by the medical fraternity, py
the Board of Health. and by other au-
tborities. The efforts of great DOCTORS
while they never lose sight or the IN
vestigation of human suffering ana tiie
relief of transitory conditions are VI
timately directed to the extirpation OF
the causes of disease, just as the iapors
of great lawyers converge upon the re-
duction. and not upon the increase, OF
litigation. There are quacks in hofh
nrofessions. to whom the dollar, with
out reference to the methods of obtain
ing IT. is the chief object in life. But
contrary to general supposition, these
trayesties upon science and honor, are
scarcer in the Twentieth than they were
in the Nineteeth Century. They still
exist however, and, through their IN
ordinate and reckless cupidity, bring
disrepute upon trained experienced and
faithful, men and upon intelligent COM
munities.
Ignorant people, of whom there Is
less proportion in these Islands than IN
any but the most favored parts OF the
mainland. believe enormously that most
LAWYERS prefer, first, their own inter-
ests. and second, the interests or ther
clients. and that they rarely care
snap for the public at large. Following
out this delusion, there are many VINO
go so far as to hold that doctors, not
only by their lack of concerted efort
but at least by their silence and oc-
casionaly by active means, promote or
fail to retard the spread of serious
disorders. Put money in thy purse
;s nv thousands considered a predomin-
ant inspiration to the legal and medical
professions.
OF course such views are inaccurate,
but they are also mischievous, ana they
derive a certain FEASIBILITY from inert
ness and lack of public spirit. In the
Great Plague of London, in the extra
ordinary visitations of cholera that
Paris experienced in 1881 or 1882, In
numerous epidemics that have occurred
in different parts OF the world, in an
cient and medieval days and before the
normous development of three-quarters
of the last century, healthy men ana
women and even children, were actual |
" inoculated with deadly virus TO SVEN
the roll of patients or to satiate per-
sonal vengeance. But, for nearly elghtJ |
years, such monstrosities, even in par
barous or semi barbarous regions, have
practically ceased to exist, and now-a-
days even quack has to gild his hypoc-
risy by 1.-The Difference which vice pays
to virtue"
The Territory of Hawaii is not behind
the remainder of Christendom in its
respect for the higher civilization, OF
1,,,Tr ttC nj a
materialism, the United States is the
foremost promoter. There is an oppor-
tunity here for our local physicians,
many of whom it is difficult to outrank
to show their disinterestedness and
their combined powers, when vigorous
" backed, to check any injurious con-
ditions, to which scientific methods are
applicable. II not unrivalled, the
climate and diversified adaptation of
Hawaii to the highest standard OF
health and longevity, are not excelled
upon the face of the globe. If there
are any bemishes in this otherwise ac-
curate picture, they should be promptly
removed.
There are leading men who consider
that the useful and important discov-
cries of microbes, bacteria and bacilii,
have produced narrow medical theories
which ignore masses of fact that prop
erly enter into the conservation of
health and the reduction of disease.
Upon such points, laymen are incompe-
tent to judge, but they are probably
worthy of consideration. 1t may be that
Providence has designed the germ prin-
ciple as the basis upon which physical
perfection, freedom from pain, and
finally Immortality, may be automati-
cally secured. 1t seems to be quite OBJ
vious that, in some form, the concep-
ton of Providence has its place in all
investigation, through which the pro-
tracted conflict between good and evil,
physical, intellectual, moral and spiritu-
al, is slowly advancing towards def
mite end. Whether as principals or
agents, however, skilled men are the
instrumentalities through which per-
manent results, steps in the onward
march of humanity, are reached.
Evidently our local progress, fed and
heated by the transmission of facts and |
of thought through electrical currents,
through the rapid movements in which
steam and oil are the energetic fac
tors, and by means of print and illus
tration, demands medical cooperation.
Some doctors tell us that many dis
eases are pfopdsateu py lhhuHleraple
varieties of mosquitoes, of which each
class furnishes an example to human
ity, by exclusively attending to its own
special business. 1t is said, for eX-
ample, in highly responsible quarters. |
that day mosquito. absolutely quies-
cent in the dark, and closely limited to
its own peculiar function, is the sole
distributor of dengue fever. If so, ev-
cry MOSQUITO in the Islands, and the
protoplastic inspiration of mosquito life,
should be assassinated and extermin-
ated in cold blood. Coal oil and other
chemical mixtures will do the business
here. as effectually as in Havana,
where the mosquito occupation has
been abolished and yellow fever has
been passed over TO history. But every
thing should be done decently and in