The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-01-10

Tout the aid Of a lawyer. But this Act, if
valid, would make it punishable by law
to charge fee for treatment OF amy dis
ease, real or imaginary, mental or ply
isical by any method whatever unless
the party has been admittd by commit
tee from one school of treatment upon
examination of that system, thus denying
mankind any relief from pain and sur
lferlng, except at the hands of that par
tlcular school OF medical thought. 1t may
be, and probably is, the best system. But
that is q matter which must be decided
| by those who seek, and must pay for, the
relief, not by the NJ. DIS themselves nor
by the courts, judges are lawyers and
are not competent TO decide, except Tor
| themselves as individuals, which is the
! best system OF treatment, and those prae-
| titioners who escheW medicine and sur
gerry have a right to object to leaving
| the question whether medicine and sur
gerry is the only permissible method OF
| treatment, to be decided by the practition-
ers of that method
The defendant is not charged nor shown
to be an osteopath, and disclalms being
one. His learned counsel contends that
the act of 1903. CHI 697, is further uncon-
stitutional because of the following quoted
| from his brief '"There is no provision Tor
| the examination of any but allCpaths ana
osteopaths 1t provides that all persons
except mid-wives, nurses ana those VINO
profess to heal by PRAYER. who MINISTER
| to the sick for fee or reward Nv any
other method whatsoever" shall be CON
strued to be practicing medicine or sur
gerry, and then follows this language;
| Provided further, that applicants not be-
1 1 oil Of Il INr ne
shall not be required to stand ain examina-
ton except upon the branches taught i'll
their regular colleges, to-wt, the osteo-
paths shall be examined only upon des-
criptive anatomy, general chemistry, MS
tology, physiology, urinalysis and tox-
| Zoology hygiene, regional anatomy path
oogy, neurology, surgery applied apat-
omy, bacteriology, gynecology, obstetrics
and physical diagnosis The osteopath is
required to stand an examination III sur
gerry and every other branch that those
belonging to the regular school of medl-
cine are required to be examined in, OK
cept pharmacy, matera medlca. thera-
peutics and the practice of medicine, and,
in addition he is required to stand an
examination in branches that the regular
medical student is not required to be ex-
amined on. as follows: Histology, url-
nalyss and toxicology, regional anatomy.
neurology bacteriology, gynecology and
physical diagnosis but it is remarkable
that he is not required to pass examlna-
ton in the branches that his profession
recognizes and teaches to be OF special
Importance in the practice of asteopathy'
such as principles OF osteopathy, este
opathic manipulatiOns and osteopathic Iii
| agnosis.'
! AS his client is not an osteopath, we
are not called upon in this case to pass
upon the alleged discrimination agains:
osteopaths in the prescribed course OF
study. But if it be objected that we have
only shown that the defendants practice
did not call for the examination required,
as above set out. for an allopath, it may
be as we'll to say that the acts of which
he was convicted OF doing "for fee
to-wit: using massage baths. physical cul
ture. manipulating muscles. bone spine
and solar plexus, and advising his pa
tents as to diet-could be done as safely
to the public, so far as shown, without
an examination on Histology, urinalysls
and toxicology, bacteriology. neurology and
gvnecology,'' which are some of the things
added to the course by the aforesaid act.
for the comfort and convenience of those
wishing to obtain license to practice os-
teopathy, and of course only to protect
the public against incompetents IN that
line of practice. 1t is possible. however,
that an expert knowledge of gynecology
J is not essential in administering baths
and there is room for serious doubt wheth-
t er bacteriology and toxicology are con-
nected with massage in any way.
LAW CAN REGULATE AND SAFE
| GUARD.
The term ''practice of medicine and
surgery embraces probably the larger
! and certainly by far the most profitable
part of the treatment of diseases, but
! is not co-extensive with the latter term
and cannot be made so, unless surgery
and medicine are adopted as the state
system of treatment, a monopoly, and al
other methods are made lndictable. On
the other hand the state medical society
would hardly wish to broaden out so as
to take in all methods of treatment of
diseases, for this would be to take IN
practitioners and practices which they
would not wish to recognize. All t. e
| law so far has done or can do is to re-
quire that those practicing on the sick
with knife and drugs shall be examined
and found competent by those "of like
faith and ORDER Doctor Oliver Wendell
Holmes, in an address before the Medical
Society In Massachusetts, said: IF me
whole materia medica was sunk to the
bottom of the sea it wocld be all the
better for mankind and all the worse
for the fishes" An eminent medical au-
thority in this state has said that out of
twenty-four serious cases of disease, three
could not be cured by the best remedies.
three Others might be benefited, and the
rest would get well anyway. Stronger
statements could be cited from the most
eminent medical authorities the world has
/ known. Medicine is an experimental
and not an exact science. All the laws
can do is to regulate and safeguard the
use of powerful and dangerous remedies
like the knife and drugs, but it cannot
forbid dispensing with them. When the
Master, who was himself called the good
physician was told that other than his
followers were casting out devils and cur
ing diseases, he said: FORBID them not
Upon the special verdict the defendant
should be adjudged not guilty.
| Reversed.