A BIT OF THE TRUTH.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1424, 15 June 1899, Page 52

A BIT OF THE TRUTH.

The most pertinent and startling question ever asked is this':—‘‘What is truth ?”

A Roman Governor propounded it once, under circumstances which greatly worried and perplexed his official mind. And he was not the first man or the last —not by myriads. So far as I know', there has been no satisfactory answer. Some people (radicals and como-outers of various sorts) fancy that in this, the tail end of a rather braggart and conceited century, they have flushed a fairsized covey of truths by firing speculative shot-guns into every wayside bush and bog. But have they done it P No, gentle render, no. They have put up crows and sparrows, the same crows that picked the bones of the cave-dweliers, and the same sparrows that, sold two for a, farthing in 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 vipers’ 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 near matching them in modern practice, I could show you where to look. On my table I have a list of about 300 new “remedies” introduced to a suffering world within the past twelve-' month. “Must be some good ones among them,” do you say P Possibly. Time will tell. Meanw'hilo let us stick to whatever we are sure of. “Wo learn how to cure diseases,” said Celsus, “by experience, not by reasoning.” ‘‘Some of the greatest truths in medicine,” said a learned Scotch doctor. “ came by the humblest means; not by synthesis or venesection, but by the observations of peasants and the experiments of motherly women.” Concerning a medicine discovered by one such woman, thousands of stories have been told and letters written. Here is an example : “For many years I have suffered from indigestion and weakness. I seemed to hare 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 shoulders. Frequently I had attacks of giddiness, and when 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 mv body, and at night I got little proper and refreshing sleep on account or it.

“As time went on and the complaint grew fixed upon me, I came to be exceedingly weak, and now and again was obliged to take to my bed. I lost flesh and became quite thin, living, as I did. only on milk, beef tea, and other kinds of liquid food. It will be understood, of course, that I had medical care, 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 similar manner and been cured by a remedy called Mother Seigel’s Syrup. Acting on his suggestion 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’s Syrup was adapted to my ailment I continued the use of it until it was no longer needed. My health and strength were 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 result. You have ray free consent to publish this brief statement if you desire to do so”.—(Signed) Mrs Julia Massey, 133, Lorrimore road, Kennington, London, S.E., January ‘2otli, 1898. There is no royal road to the discovery of truth or knowledge. Anybody may find it anywhere. It is not always he who seeks that finds. Valuable discoveries are usually made by what, for lack of a better word, we call accident. The medicine that cures is the medicine we want, no matter whether it is old as the earth or was picked up yesterday m the fields by a child. That Mother Seigei’s Syrup cures is proved by a cloud cf witnesses. It is a bit of the truth. Therefore it will not die out, and nothing can take its place.