Evening star., 1932-01-21
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES Il. TRACEWELL.

to make 1t plain that he was not in
any way "slamming" the doctor in
question or the medical profession in
general AL he was attempting to do
was to point out that the physician
was, after all, human being and
that his verdict might not be infallible.
There might be another way out.
Every one knows how 1t is. The doc
tor is busy man. When a patient
comes to him he diagnoses the case
and gives the best advice that he
knows That he knows it all, he would
be the last to claim. That there
would be no other solution to the
problem he would not claim. He sim
ply gives one or two.
The man who advised the parents, In
this case, to try certain other solu-
ton 0ater tried with success, and with
the fun approval and cooperation of
the physician) pointed cut that In his
own childhood one of the best chill
drens doctors had forecast small
chance of survival for him.
Yet not only HAD he gained greatly
in health after the age Of 30 years
(Which period had been marked off rs
his life probability, but he had out
grown" as it were, ailments which
gave the eminent physician the right
to make such a prediction, based on
the laws of probabilities.
The interesting point is that nature
tends to take care of her children. It
Is only the unobservant person who has
no faith in her, immortal mother.
Faith in human beings Is fine, up to
a certain point, but beyond that It is
an insult to the great powers which,
for purposes known and unknown, carry
on the processes of the universe.
Just as the fear of God is the begin
ming of wisdom, so certain amount
of interest and faith In the healing
power of Nature" is essential to q
proper beginning of an understanding
of life. Mote that we say "a beginning
of an understanding, for we do not
know whether there is any complete
understanding. All the dispute lies
there)
Any one who watches small cut on
the finger heal up has made begin
ming in this simple wisdom OF the
everyday life. What is 1t which hap
pens when a scab begins to form, the
extra formation drops off. and the finger
Is left as white and complete as ever?
Nothing that the human being has
been able to do has been more than
an aid toward this interesting, and, If
we view 1t properly, this amazing, proc
ess Of healing.
The healing powers of nature" as
the ancients SO well said, did it all.
Whether one applied an antiseptic to
ones self, or called a skilled physician
and permitted him to apply it. made
not the least bit of difference to this
astounding power. The white corpus
cles knew nothing of all that, one way
or the other. The blood stream was in
complete ignorance of who presided,
who took charge, or who didn't preside
or who didn't take charge.
Then out of these mysterious powers
came complete healing. The patient
deserved credit, the mans ancestors
deserved credit for giving him good
clean blood, the doctor deserved credit
for doing the right thing"-but, above
all, nature deserved credit
In the face of such mysteries the
Psalmist in many utterances voiced all
that can be said. This faith Is whole
some, and the physician, more than
most men, comprehends 1t. He works
with it. His success is built upon its
success. The best patient is he who
co-operates with both medical science
and Gods science, and who, in his
faith in the one does not lose his faith
In the other.