The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-11-01
ALWAYS DID LIKE SURGEONS.

Z Il
TUESDAY NOVEMBER /, 1910
ALWAYS DID LIKE SURGEONS.
The Surgeons are in town this week.
and they are Very welcome. 1t is
hoped they. will not "cut up too much.
although that is their business
The origin OF surgery is prehistoric.
but there has been a wonderful devel-
opment of the modern science during
the last sixty years. In ancient tines,
surgical knowledge and skill were con-
fined chiefly to the priesthood Hips
Hpocrates and CELSIUS were both skilled
surgeons. Nesalius, VINO lived i'll the
early part of the sixteenth century, has
been styled the founder of modern
surgery but If 5vesalius were in Rich
mond this week he would confess, we
are sure. that he did not know any
thing about his business. At one time
the BARRIERS and surgeons We're incor-
porated in the town of London as one
company and as long as bleeding was
regarded the one and only panacea
for nearly every ailnent. the BARRIERS
knowledge of surgery was ample.
Things have changed greatly since
those days, and 1t has now become one
of the most exact Of ali the sciences
more exact by fur than medicine ITSELF
for careful experiment has shown that
one man is very much like another in
his general makeup, and having cut
Eoff one Of Smiths legs successfully,
the surgeon knows that he could do
the same thing for Jones with equal
or greater facility There is abun-
Bdant authority for the use of the knife
In the treatment of human ailments.
for we are told in the Gospel according
TO st. Mark: .'If thy hand offend thee.
cut 1t off" IF thy foot offend thee cut
1t off, it Is better for thee to enter halt
into life than having two feet to he
cast into hell" We are not quite sure
{ that this is an orthodox application Of
these texts, but the doctors will APP
preciate their pertinency to the situa-
ton that confronts us in Richmond this
week.
Strange things are happeningsin the
medical world all the time, and the
surgeons have digged out good many
things from the human form divine
for which they could not possibly see
any use. For example, there Is the
vermiform appendix, which. from the
creation of our First Parents down to
something like twenty-five years ago,
doubtless made a great deal of trouble
for mankind until some live-wire
among the surgeons discovered that
the best thing to do with the appen-
dix was to. cut 1t out, and from that
& day to this the surgeons have gone on
constantly improving in their work,
i until the operation for.' appendicitis is
one Of the simplest and easiest Of their.|
daily tasks
"A new discovery has been made by a
distinguished surgeon Of Texas touch
1 ing the treatment Of the jejunum as
the seat of diseases resulting from the
Il use of alcoholic drinks. OF course, the
surgeons who are here all know that
the jejunum lies between the duode-f
NUN and the ileum, and, before the
work of the present convention is fins
ishcd it is hoped that this subject Will
receive careful consideration The
surgeon in Texas has found that by cut
ting out the jeiunum the taste for
liquor can be wholly destroyed. If the
surgeons who are now in Richmond
agree upon this proposition, 1t might
be possible for them to suggest a plan
for the destruction Of the iejunum in
all the male children Immediately az
ter birth. SO that in the course Of a
generation or So we should have new
sort of man in this country, and thus a,
radical solution of the liquor question.
The surgeons who are here come
from all parts of The world. They have
richly earned the gratitude of the hui
man race of all lands and tribes and
+ tongues for their service to humanity.
:=--=.:=---= ------=--
MORE asouTHERN MAN. TALK.
The Washington correspondent Of
the New Orleans picayune says that
sslf bob" Taylor, United States sena-
tor from Tennessee. who is now. rum
4 ming for Governor OF that State shah
q be elected to the latter Office cit Will
& BIO noted that he has not given up the
ssenatorahip until the gubernatorial
n race is decidedD, he will probably be
1 the choice OF the South for the Demo
cratic e-fresidential nomination IN
\ isI2.
What FOR? What has no ever done
to make anybody think that he could
h pe elected Vices President, or that he
should be- if he could He is q very
nice man doubtless, a good man on
the stump, entertaining 10 degrea
3 pn the lecture pla form, and a. perfect
freak with the fiddle; but these are
i mot qualities which, in our opinion.
3 .nouid Mt him for the office Of Vice.
Prcsident sor MAKE any one think that
a no should be elected because OF their