QUEEN ELIZABETH, M.D.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 775, 26 March 1910, Page 11

QUEEN ELIZABETH, M.D.

I BELGIUM'S NEW SOVEREIGN. Queen Elizabeth of Belgium, like Queen Marie Amelie of Portugal, is a full-fledged physician; and entitled to practiso as such; also to add tho mystic letters "M.D." to her name. She holds a diploma of doctor of medicine, conferred upon her by tho University of Leipsic, after passing the necessary examinations. She was one of the most skilled assistants of her father, the late Duke Charles Theodore of Bavaria, celebrated as an oculist. .But nothing has been said, so far as I have seen, of her being not only able but also, officially qualified to perform' operations as an oculist, and also as an ordinary surgeon.' .', It is perfectly true that she has not practised sinco her marriage, but 'the experience which she gained through her very thorough medical studies and through her work as assistant to her father, both in his profession as an oculist and in the management of-his free hospital and dispensary at Kreuth, has enabled her to accomplish' much good in her role as a very active patroness of the various hospitals and analo-gous-institution in Brussels.

Of Queen Mario Amelia's excellent work in the land of her adoption, where she has done so much to abate the ravages of diphtheria, which is one of_ the most cruel scourges of Lisbon, subjecting, both herself and' her sons to antitoxin inoculation; in order to remove the popular prejudice against this form' of preventive,' mention has frequently been made.' If ; the bubonic post was restricted to relatively .. few cases -in Lisbon,irictead of becoming epidemic there, as was feared, it was due mainly to Queen Marie Amelie, who herself nursed one of the hospital physicians who succumbed to the malady, contracted while endeavouring to relieve its victims.- : Indeed, Queen Marie Amelie has done so much good in this way, besides founding, endow*, ing, organising, and personally manag-.

ing all sorts of institutions, for. the relief of suffering, that she ought to be almost idolised by the Portuguese, instead of being abused as : a foreigner, incapable of understanding or appreciating them.,

' To Queen Elizabeth of Rumania the people of that prosperous kingdom are indebted for the wonderful institutions for the blind.which she created;in various parts of her husband's dominions, where ailments of theeyeia're very frequent. While she has no medical degree, she has made a thorough study of everything relating to ophthalmology, in addition Jo', which she knows all about the management of hospitals, and especially about the caring for the •wounded,, holding, a diploma as a trained army nurse. ' ',-

. This is a distinction shared by. Queen Eleanor of Bulgaria, who, as Princess of Reuss, was in personal charge of the hospital train out in Manchuria throughout the war between Japan and Russia, and who, since her marriage to King Ferdinand, has started all sorts of philanthropic enterprises, including institutions for the blind and for crip-' pled ch2dren_ at Sofia,, as well- as a scheme of visiting, nurses, who care for the poor in • childbirth and in .sickness in their own homes, without remuneration. It would be difficult, indeed, to find, on any throne or in any niche of history four more useful queens—queens who have done more to ! relieve suffering among their fellow creatures—than Elizabeth of Belgium, Marie Amelie of Portugal, Elizabeth'-of Rumania, and Eleanor of Bulgaria. •