The Press., 1914-03-18
A Doctor s
 p' ., Story
By H. sANBORN BROWN

When 1 began to practice medicine
 was inclined to give my patients
 diagnosis of their cases, but when l
 had been. detected in a number of
 errors I found what reputation I had
 gained as "one of those frank, out
 spoken doctors. with no pretense about
 him." gone That I had diagnosed whooping cough as a bad cold and
 measles as eczema, with a number of
 other blunders, got abroad, my prac- tice dropped away, and was obliged
 to pull up stakes and begin over again
 in another locality.
 In my new field l looked wise and
 said, nothing, or if I did say anything
 1t was that the case had not suff1-
 ciently developed to admit of diag-
 nosis. This would have done very
 we'll had l stuck to 1t stoically. Un- fortunately, patients or those interest
 ed in them need at times to be buoy
 ed. This fact got me into trouble again. Called in to see a little child
 who showed plainly the symptoms of diphther1a, when looked into the mothers eager, questioning eyes had not the heart to tell her of her dar- ling's danger, so I told her 1t was case of sore throat.
 All went well with the child. and the diphtheritic membrane in the throat was breaking down when the child's' grandmother came to the house. The old woman had seen a case of diphtheria and on looking into the throat saw that which she recognized.
 Heavens she exclaimed to the mother-''the child has diphtheriar'
 The mother tainted. The gFandmoth- CT ran to the telephone and, ignoring me, called on one of my fellow prac- | titioners to come in hot haste. ,t He at once pronounced the case one of diph- theria, but, learning that was treating it, returned to his office and called me up by telephone. explained the mat ter; but, realizing that had lost the confidence of the family in question. l begged him to take up the case where had left off and finish it. He did so, and the child. who was already nearly well. recovered.
 That young mother soon knocked my practice into smithereens by telling every one of her acQuaintances that I didn't know a case of diphtheria from one of sore throat
 Considering that my crime had really been nothing more than a tenderness of heart, this was hard to bear. Wo- men are apt to accept statements with out question. and was tabooed with out an opportunity for defense The, husband of the lady in question asked l me about the matter and when I ex- plained it tried to pacify his wife. But no such excuse would be accepted by her. Any doctor not fit to treat a cat could get of with such an excuse as that" she said.
 This time I made up my mind to stand my ground. If I fled from the tongues of the laity would not be worthy ofsa place in the profession. After all. whatever success a physi- elan attafns, his real intrinsic standing Is fixed by his fellow workers. They may not agree with him, but they will not deny his ability. For long while was dropped out of practice almost entirely. But gradually other doctors got into the habit of calling me in for. consultation and recommending pa- tients to me in cases coming within my especial province, and at the end of about five years I found myself again making a living. In ten years I stood at the head of my profession in the city in which practiced.
 But by this time my work as a general practitioner had given way to surgery. There were but few recognized sur geons in the place, and this was of great advantage to me
 iOne would suppose that a woman who had been indignant at my calling a case of diphtheria one of sore throat and in consequence had ruined my practice for several years would never again have any use for my services But the child upon whom l was SUD- posed to have made such a blunder, when twelve or thirteen years of age contracted a bad case of appendicitis. An operation was considered necessary by the family physician. He was not a surgeon and would not operate him. self. When the mother asked him to nominate a surgeon for the case he recommended me.
 Meanwhile the tongues she had set Wagging to my discredit had gradually got to swinging in my favor. The esti- mate of my coworkers in the profes- sion. together with the testimony of patients had helped, had reached the lady's ears. and, although she still be- lieyed that at the time I treated her child didn't know, a case of diphthe- | ria from sore throat, affected by the l praise of me she heard. she greatly i desired that I should perform an oper- at1on involving life or death upon her son. A physician as such should have no accounts to settle with those who have injured him. I undertook the service required of me with no more feeling than if l had never known her or her child But her former error forced her on the second occasion to hear the truth. When the operation had been Performed-and while performing it forgot whose case it was-and the mother asked me if her boy would live replied:
 "Do you wish me to speak pIainIyT'
 "Yes." she faltered. "Tell me the worst What chance is there for him to recovefr' | ITO the best Of my belief, one in ! ten" [ But the boy recovered.
 A Chinese Story.
 A Chinese barber while shaving ! customers head drew blood and put , one of his fingers on the place. Again he made a cut and put down another finger, and so on until he had no more fingers free. "Ah,' said he as he paus- ed in his work, "a barber's trade is diff fcult. We ought to have a thousand a.v,