The Clarksburg telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926, 1908-06-04

necessarles Of life are dwarfed to
pigmies beside 1t. In view OF the fact
OF the abjcct misery which we see
daily on our streets and elsewhere
In which alcohol figures so wildly, is
II not high time that the medicai pro-
fession should rise in its might and
demonstrate to the world that 1t has
power to remedy these evils than all
other professions or sources COM
bined?
We are tcp prone to delegate to the
clerical profession the task OF settling
this question; but friends. we are the
ones above all other that must take
the lead In this matter IL 1T is ever
settled correctly
We have been quoted too much and
too long as claiming that alcohol isl
both food and a medicine but It has
been plainly demonstrated that the
reverse Is true and that IL Is a poison.
iAet US set ourselves right.
/; From the lowest peasant up to the
most honored king. queen, or poten-
tate we are looked upon as a guide
to daily living. and for one, very
much regret the fact that we have
held up before them q delusion for
ages upon this very important sub
ject. Y ~
In Oliver Wendell Holiness Auto
crat of the Breakfast Table, he says:
You never need think you can turn
over any old falsehood without a ter
rible squirming and scattering of the
horrid little population that dwells
under 1t. Every real thought on ev-
cry real subject knocks the wind out
Of some body or other. AS soon as
his breath comes back he very prob
ably begins to expend 1t in hard
words. These are the best evidences
2 man can have that he has said
something 1t was time to say"
Harvey was exposed to ridicule
when he discovered the circulation of
blood. When Garcia introduced the
laryngoscope 1t was regarded by the
medical profession as physiologic
toy.
Venesection was practiced to con-
troll post-partum hemorrhage less
than one hundred years ago and
many a poor woman lost her ilife on
account Of the practice which we
would not hesitate today to denounce
rs ridiculous
In Thomas's practice of Medicine
published in New York in 1924. and
which was perfectly orthodox ut that
time and for many years afterward,
and whose author boosted of having
been educated in Edinburg. the treat
ment laid down for typhoid fever was
venesection. To quote from this work
we have the following: by neglect
ing to bleed we commit dangerous
error and endanger the life of the
patient. Its effects are. stimulating
and extensive, for they are felt in all
parts of the system I dare say
they would be felt.
In those times the profession was
regarded with great veneration and
no doubt moved about among the
people with great deal of self-im-
portance as much as to say, Be
hold the wisdom of the ages" and If
any one had risen up to question this
practice he would have been branded
hereto. As the hight priest
alone was permitted to enter
the holy of HOLES, SO the physician of
today is taken into the most sacred
family affairs. notwithstanding the
errors he has made in the way of
false teaching and practice. We are
In .large measure the mouldefs of
public thought. hand hope soon to
see our association set the example
of discarding alcoholic stimulants ut
our annual banquets.
ut doth not yet appear what we
shall be-" and when the medical pro-
fession once arises to its possibilities
and where 1t rightly belongs. then 1t
will WELD an influence in the world
of which the most optomistic had not
dreamed.
Right is right since God is God
And right the day must win.
To doubt would be disloyalty,
To falter would be sin.
To show how the liquor interests
regard ourIfprofession, let me direct
your attention to the fact that at a
recent National Convention of the
Brewers Association the question was
agitated and discussed whether in
asmuch as the saloon Is becoming
into such bad repute, it would not he
better to abandon it and depend upon
the medical profession to prescribe
alcoholics sufficiently to keep their
business up.
The following advertisement was
taken from one of the state papers:
Our expert brewers have pro-
duced n beer that is recommended
by physicians on account of IT'S great