The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-07-11

young American, simple, self-cnactng,
Keen of perception. accurate in ac-
counting: the kind Of American We
are proud to think typical.
Dr. MacmtchaeI's Gold Headed
Cane.
In the good old times, a century or
so to the rear Of us. men OF medicine
carried canes, habitually. insomuch
that n stick knobbed with precious
metal or ivory came to be accepted as
n badge of the profession. The knob
was hollow and served as c~ontainer
for various aromatic preparations to
be inhaled as a preventive of conta-
gion. which in those bad old times
stalked through the land with little TO
check its male1cent progress. Fa-
vorite with the E~sculapians was the
vinegar OF the four thieves or
Marseilles vinegar. But that blessed
prop, The Gold Headed Cane. whose
history was written in 1897 by Or.
WILLIAM MAcMICHAEL and is now again
brought before the public tby Paul b.
Hoeber. New York; with Introductory
notices by Sir WILLIAM OsLER and DIR.
. .. " htf"h "a poh
at its top instead Of the customary
knob: a departure from professional
convention attributed to the eccen-
tricity OF DR.. Radcliffe. first carrier
Of the famed relic. Besides Radcliffe.
the cane was swung by doctors Mead.
Askew. Pitcairn and Baillie, before
Mrs. Baillie presented the interesting
memento to DR.. Sir Henry Halford.
who gave II to the New College OF
Physicians, oxford. opened in 1926.
The arms OF these justly celebrated
doctors of medicine are engraved on
the head OF the cane.
The history Of the zane Is a rich
museum of medical memorabilia.
Celebration Of the two hundredth an
niversary OF DR.. Radcliffe's death is
now in order, but. as DR.. Osler says
Eat present oxford has other things
to think Of" The Radcliffe Camera,
one Of Oxford's most beautiful build
ings. was designed for the
dalton OF the scientific section OF the
Bodleian Library, but as the labora-
tories centred about the museum 1t
became increasingly desirable to have
the books Immediately accessible. and
tic oiu DIdDVI = company luTIlsntu
n new and more convenient building
for the Radcliffe library. The Rad
cliffe estate supports various institu-
tions. fellowships and aid funds.
OF DR.. Mead, second in the list,
chronologically. johnson Is said to
have said that he lived more in the
sunshine OF life than any other mar
the Great Bear knew. lie had a re-
markable collection of books. regret
tably dispersed after his death. OF
DIT. Askew the memory fingers upon
a library, Bibliotheca Askeviana. dis
persed by sale in 1775. Eighteenth
century physicians were %blbliophiles.
Their treasures seldom cohered once
the kindly assembling hand was re-
moved. A notable exception was DR..
william Hunters museum Of books.
coins. manuscripts and specimens.
preserved intact in the Hunterian
Library and Museum OF Glasgow.
If the other doctors made the cane
precious, the cane immortalized it's
third possessor. DR.. Pitcairn. Even
Macmichael has little specific Informal
ton to give OF him. 4 a practitioner
he appears to have picked up Syden-
hams success, the free use of OPIUM
DIR. Macmichael speaks of his GURUS
t~riumphalis opii." Baillie was a
nephew OF John and William Hunter,
and, says DR.. Osler. "to him more thar
to any other man is due that close
combination of pathology with clinical
medicine, still the distinguishing fea-
ture of the English school, of which
splendid use was made by Bright,
Addison and Hodgkin." DR.. Mac
michaels book il "A treasure of the
doctors, and of rare interest to those
OF their possible or actual patients
who cherish the antique.
DR.. William Macmichael, To sketch
the biography of the biographer, was
born at %Bridgenorth In Shropshire in
1884. was master of arts Ovonian
in 1907 and was doctored in medicine
in 1916. In 1911, on the Radcliffe tray
cling fellowship, he started on a long
tour Of Russia. Turkey, Greece and
Palestine. His first published volume,
1919. vas the fruit of his peregrlna-
ton: "a Journey from Moscow to
Constantinople. in the Years 1917 and
1878" After serving as physician to
Lord Londonderry, Ambassador at
Vienna, be began the practice Of
medicine in London, and in 1918 was
elected fellow of the College of Physi-
clans of London. He made the friend
ship of Sir Henry IIalford. president
OF the college. Sir Henry ,his real
name was Vaughan, changed to Hal
ford by act of Parliament in 1900 was
nicknamed the eel backed baronet."
thanks to his possession of a profitably
courtly manner. He has Il legend: is
said TO have galloped from the death
bed of George ", out to Bushy Park
bearing the news TO the new King.
william "; was present at the OPEN
ing of the coffin of Charles l., in 1913,
and published an account of the pro-
ceedings. lie has been accused" of
keeping part of Charles's fourth GER
vical vertebra, through which the axe
passed, n displaying il at his dinner
table AZ n relic. We trust il had "A
better fate than h tooth ,was il of