The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-09-14
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE.
The Case of Miss Fannie Green of
 Rochester.

In spite of all thai mas peeH "Il1toH on the subject of Christian Science practice, there still remains q more or less general misunderstanding of what constitutes Christian Science treatment, which is evidenced by a dispatch to your paper, from Rochester, quoting the coroner there as finding that Miss Fannie Green twas attended only by so-called Christian Science headers. " The word "only' indicates the nelief of the coroner, or of the reporter, that Christian Science treatment Is mad equatc, and that the only adequate treatment Is the drugging system. Christian Scientists who have had any long experience with medicine, and who have also tested Christian Science, krow that Christian Science is fully as reliable, that Its effects are as certain, and that it's percentage of cures is as high, to say the least, as any other healing system, and they are not dis couraged by a single failure. If the few failures of Christian Science are to be considered as arguments against the system, what shall we conclude re- garding the thousands of failures of materia medica?
 Christian Scientists would not feel that they were doing justice to the practice of Christian Science by trying to define it in a half dozen words. It is true the treatment consists of pray CT, but that simple statement needs to be amplifed to convey an adequate conception of Christian Science treat ment It would be unfortunate if your readers gained the impression that Christian Science treatment was noth- ing but blind faith, or that 1t savosed of the fanatical.
 It is reported that the Rochester coroner desires to proceed against the Christian Science practitioners under a city ordinance for neglecting to report dangerous disease Christian Scier- lists have no Intention of violating any of the laws which govern their fellows, and if they do so at any time 1t Is done unwlttlngly, and In this respect they do not differ in their status before the law from the thousands of non- Christian Scientists who occasionally make mistake, unintentionally Even the trained physician has been known to err, now and then. The fact of the matter is, there has never vet been an instance when Christian Science has been responsible for the spread of disease. With all the excited talk on the subject, the history of Christian Science fails to confirm the fears of its critics.
 Tn this particular case, 1t is denied that failure to report the case has en- dangered the community, although Christian Scientists do not wish to bubble about such things. It is by no means a settled fact thaticerebro spinal meningitis is communicable disease. We have taken the pains to obtain medical opinion on the question, a part of which we submit.
 A well known physician in Brooklyn, New York, says;
 Upon Inquiry and observation find that there is no uniform practice in large hospitals as regards the isolation of cerebro spinal meningitis cases, At St. Peters I personally have seen them in the general ward, ,. e., No one could give me an instance of any of the patients In general ward in which cases had been cared for con trGcting the disease As regards treat ment drugs avail nothing Even. nor phine, says Koplik. seems to add to their sufferings"
 The following is taken from the Report of the State Board of Health of Massachusetts, 1898, pp. 162, 165, pre- pared by Dr. w. T. Councilman, Shat tuch Professor of Pathological Anato- my at Harvard University:
 How the organism gains access to the meninges is not actually known" :" (In other words, how the disease is communicated is not actually knOwn.) Reports as to the contagiousness of the disease vary but the general opionion is that the disease is not pro- pagated by contagion"
 The assertion which is so often made bS GllllLS lll1l AIliISkldA DNlCliliplS ignore disease and allow their patients to mingle with the public is neither in keeping with the facts nor with the teaching of Christian Science, for, though Christian Scientists differ from others in their understanding of the nature of disease, and in the cause of its communication, they none the less recognize that until the law of con- tagion is broken the public must be protected, and, furthermore, 1t Is on tho basis of Christian Science that a patient is not permitted to mingle with the public, for the Christian Scientist recognizes that carelessness In respect to quarantine would occasion un- necessary risk and extra labor, If, per- chance, a Christian Scientist should occasionally fail to detect contagious disease, he would err no less and no oftener than those laymen who are not Christian Scientists and who are not in the habit of sending for a physician ev- cry time there is an ailment inthefam- fly. I have known many instances where physicians have failed to report cases even when they were convinced that the disease was contagious For ex-
 ample, case of scarlet fever in a hotel, where it was likely to create a panic, was not reported My iudg- ment is that in this case 1t was wise not to report that the child had scarlet fever, but it was none the less a viola tion of the law, though no evil conse-
 quences followed therefrom. Since l members of the medical fraternity rc,,n tin,nnr ...irtnlrn .i,. SIn =