A Bit of the Truth.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 3103, 29 September 1899, Page 8

A Bit of the Truth.

: .--.;■ ,-.■■.:■ .— — - ■' /♦ v ' "■;• '; : -- •■■ ■- -/ i The- most pertinent and startling; question ever aakedia this :—" What is iruthV ' ; ' j A Roman Governor propounded itj laniße/ under circumstances whioh greatly i worrried and perplexed his official mind.^ Arid he was not the vfirat man 6r thej last— not by myriads; So Jar as Ij kno# there has- been ho satiafaetory \ answer- Some people (radicals and; come outers of various sorts) fancy that \ in this, the tail end of a rather braggart) and century, they have] flushed a fair-sized convey of truths byj firing speculative shotguns into every wayside bush and bog. | But have they done it ? No, gentle : reader, no. They have put up crows ; aud sparrows, the same crows that picked the bones of the cave dwellers, and the same sparrows that sold two for a farthing ia the time of Pilate. There were plenty of fools of old, and, there are plenty now. The ancient doctors, indeed, prescribed some horrible stuffs as medicine : — They used electuaries of viper's flesh and recommended pomegranate seeds for toothache because those seeds resemble human teeth. Very shallow and silly, to be sure, this sounds to us. But if you wanted to find things that come very nearly matching them iv modern practice, I could show you where to look. On my table I have a list of about 300 new " remedies " introduced to a Buffering world within the past twelvemonth. " Must be some good ones among them," do you say ? Posuibly. Time will tell. Meanwhile let us stick to whatever we are sure of. " We learn how to cure disedaasi," said Celsus, " by experience, not by reasoning." " Some of tha greatest truths in medicine," said a learned Scotch doctor, " cumy by the humblest means; not by synthesis or veneaecbion, but by the observations of peasants and the experiments of motherly women." Concerning a medicine discovered by one such woman, thjnaands of stories have been told and letters written Here is an example : — " Fur many years I have suffered from indigestion and weakness. I seemed to have no energy for anything. I had a poor appetite, and what little food I ate caused me violent pains at the chest and between the shoulder-. Frpquently I had attacks of giddiness, and whea I stooped I suffered from an unnatural rush of blood to the head. The pain which I was called upon to bear was often very severe ; it affected all parts of my body, and at night I got little proper and refreshing sleep on account of it. "As time went on and the complaint grew fixed upon me, I cama to be exceedingly weak ; and now and again was obliged to take to my bed. I lost fle^h aud became quite thin, living, as I did, only oa milk, beef tea, and other kinds of liquid food. It will be understood, of course, that I had medical c*re, besides attending the South London Dispensary. Yet I received no benefit, from what was done for me. " It happened that in January, 1889, a friend, Mr Pullen, told me he had suffered in a similiar manner and been cured bj a remedy called Mother Seigei's Syrup. Acting on nis suggeption I got a bottle, and after having taken it I found great relief. Presently my appetite returned and food no longer distressed me. Convinced that Mother Seigel'B Syrup was adapted to my ailment I continued the use of it until it wa3 no longer needed. My health an! strength wera reestablished, and I have since been well. This medicine had done what no others had been able to do. My husband, who suffered from biliousness, used it with the same rosult. You have my free consent to publish this brief statement i? you desire to do so." — (Signed) Mrs Julia Masaey, 133, Lorrimore Road, Kennington, London, S.R., January 20i.1i, 1898. There is no royal road to the die covery of truth or knowledge. Anybody may find it anywhere. It is not always he who seeks that fiuds. Valuable discoveries are usually made by whar,, for lack of a better word, we call accident. The medicine that cures is the medicine we want, no matter whether it it old as the earth op was picked up yeaterday in the fields by a child. Thao Mother Seigei's Syrup cures is proved by a cloud of witnesses. It is a bit of the truth. Therefore it will not die out, and nothing can t»ke its place.