Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-05
FACULTY OF MEDICINE
In Paris It is a Veritable
Aristocracy.
HIGH PRICES ASK ED
PHYSICIANS WHO ARE FAMED
FOR THEIR sPECIALTIES.
Many of Them Have Their Own Pri-
vate Serums-Outside the
Magic Circle.
HIGH PRICES ASKED
special Correspondence Of The EvenIng Star.

Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
PARIS, October %, 1904.
In the very week when official London has
been honoring French medicine, French
medicine has been under storm and stress
at home in Paris.
Thus the attendtion of the world is d.
rected to the great Partisan doctors in two
ways - by the Crocker-Doyea controversy
and by the visit to the Londcl hospitals
oil the delegation of the Paris faculty.
true idea of this celebrated body Of
men must be sought between the two ex-
tremes. Even the King of England, who
ought to have been posted, made gigan-
tic break in sending his congratulations
to the delegation at the Hotel Metropole
banquet.
The kings letter was read aloud at des-
sert, when the great ones of the faculty
were best disposed to f1attery:
tine king remembers with pleasure it
concluded, after expressions of welcome,
that at an international medical congress
held few years ago in London, he had
occasion to make the acquaintance of the
eminent French Doctor Pasteur.'
The representatives of the Paris faculty
sat a moment in astonished silence. Pas
teur had not even been a Goc,ori Then,
being men of the world, they pIiled them
selves together and applauded; neverthe-
less they came back from London saying
to themselves in pardonable Paris argot
that lie ro en- de BONES! (The king
has good ones now then!)
The Paris faculty of medicine, it must
not be forgotten, constitutes a veritable
medical ariStocracy. Each one OF its great
personages is prince of some disease or
operation, and in the same order Of ideas
it is amusing to note how universally Pari-
slams, when speaking of them, add as a
title the names of their most il.uStrious
patients-even when the patients died
Poirer, 1.-The doctor OF Waldeck Eousseau;
Berger. 1.-The surgeon of the Princesse Ma
thilde," and Chantemesse, who was called
in for the son of Hughes LIE RoHx.'
Costly Serums.
Cantonese stands for something curious
in this respect, that he bridges over what
ever gulf there might remain between the
faculty and the Pasteur Institute He is of
the Pasteur Institute-an outside concern
whose late director, Duclaux, was no more
a doctor than Pasteur himself. and at the
same time he is professor of experimental
and comparative pathology AT the univer-
sity. He is a big, heavy half-Sald man.
with puffy jowls, short mustache, eye
glasses and humorous kind of discon-
tended look. When Dr. Doyen was so Sc
verely criticised by his brethren for ask
ing 100000 francs from Mr.. Croker for
few unsuccessful injections of his anti-can-
Ger serum, ne replleQ lDdl tneTe were OtnerS
who charged high for their serums. Cham
tennessee, he said, assures US that he has
found a serum against typhoid, ana treat
ment with it has been paid as high rs 10000
francs.
There is no doubt that the Chantemesse
serum remains practically the private rene
dy of Chantemesse, as the Doyen serum re-
mains the private remedy of Doyen. Both
physicians made more less clear descrip-
tons of their process of manufacture in
communications to the Academy of M3di-
cine, but, practically, no other physician or
chemist has ever made or attempted 10
make a drop of either. Prof. Cornil re-
Gently said in favor of Prof. Chantenesse
that the latter is waiting until a thousand
typhoid fever patients have been treated by
his serum. in order to compare the pro-
portion of cures with thouSdn1 treated
by other remedies.
Now, if DIR. Doyen is correct in estlmat-
ing 10000 francs as the price OF Chante-
messe serum treatment, you need only
multiply 1000 patients by 10000 francs TO
get 10 100000, or $2,O00,OO0, as the sum that
Professor Chantemesse will realize before
he comes out squarely and states in an
official way that his serum is an absolute
cure for typhoid and that he recommends
all other doctors to make and use 1t.
Experimental Stage.
The serum for the nerves, discovered and
made for his own private practice by the
eminent Dr. Richet is in the same costly
experimental stage. Without doubt the
impression in Paris is that these are i'm
mensely valuable discoveries. Take rich
man with typhoid. When the case begins
to look very dangerous. it is ten to one
that they will stampede to the Chante-
messe serum; and one hears on every side
of marvellous cures All this does not pre-
vent on the other hand, that the son OF
Hughes LIE Roux died under treatment by
it the other day at st. German. Doubt
less, also. there are many who pay less
than 10000 francs.
Ought one pay great deal more FOR
treatment by a brand-new Serum-whoSe
discovery has acquired long experiment
than for treatment, let us say, by advice?
The late DR.. Gruby, who in his day re-
ceived very heavy fees, did no laboratory
experimenting. Thus he charged $500 to
a neurasthenic duke for ordering him to get
up every day at am. and walk down and
up five flights of stairs backward. He cured
the duke thus. The son of reigning SOW
ereign gave him magnificent diamond for
having cured him of dyspepsia by a re-
gime which consisted in walking every day
three times to the Place de la Concorde and
there, after walking around the place
three times eating apple very slowly.
An actress, one of the glories of the
Theater Francois, desired to grow thinner.
Gruby ordered her to get up at 9 am and
go on foot to the big Halles market. There
she must buy the materials for two meat
own hands make those two soups, each
different from the other. in two separate
rooms of her apartment. The actress got
thinner.
Question Of Fees.
This question of fees Is certainly a very
diffuse and delicate one in Paris. 1t is the
surgeons who have had the most criticism.
For instance, there is an eminent one. not
a member of the faculty, whose case was
recently ventilated in the papers. The
wife of a small grocer in the suburbs was
on the point of death for need of a certain
operation. The grocer, desperately regard
less, called in the great man tmperiously.
He came, operated and the patient did
well. Then he sent in a bill for 81 600
But my entire grocery store would not
bring that much!' replied the poor grocer.
''Then you had no business to call me
in" replied the eminent surgeon. Il can't
discuss my price. Pay"
The court nevertheless cut down his bill
to about $3.50, telling the surgeon that the
social position and manner of living of the
little grocer must have been obvious TO
him the moment he set his foot upon the
door sill.
Ought have returned without operat-
ing?' inquired the eminent surgeon. 1.-THE
grocer refused to bring his wife to be OPP
Grated in my hospital"
Here is the other side Of the medal The
idea that the eminent surgeon might re-
turn without operating, on seeing the pa