THE ROMANCE AND HUMOUR OF MEDICINE.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXIV, Issue 4871, 24 January 1903, Page 7 (Supplement)

THE ROMANCE AND HUMOUR OF MEDICINE.

(“Public Opinion.” The annual Ixarvcfan oration, delivered on October 18 by Ur. David -terrier, rs n reminder of one item in tne romantic history of medicine. Medical .science, in the matter of the blood, can add lit do to v, lint Harvey mroie tm-i years ago, and Dr. Furrier appropriately styled him the Newton .of Physiology. -No profession probably supplies the student with mere remarkable and interesting experiences than the medical, and to norm is it given, with the exception of tho lawyer, to obtain so full an insight into the lives of men and women as to tile doctor—“the good doctor,” as he is usually ended. His experience is wide as society itself: his sway is unrivalled. K« brings us into' the world, and lie generally sees ; s . He can make or unmake towns by a shako of tho head, and sovereign and subject alike hang upon ids words and yield obedience to his behests. What stories he could tell if ho would, of human frailties, human wrongs, human suffering, human resignation, and human virtue I Tho _ conscientious doctor is like tho conscientious lawyer, in that lie never betrays ti\c secrets which inevitably come to him in .the pursuit or Iris profession. Ho is, to some extent, pic modern confessor. Often facts reach his ears which would never otherwise be known beyond tiro patient himself. And what a generous and brave follow _be is! What thrilling narratives might be written of his pluck equally on the battlefield and in the noisome alleys of great cities! His mission is frequently one of life and death, and his duties arc seldom of lilio pleasantest. Hut bo faces thorn with a cheerfulness characteristic of tho faculty. Many people are ready to declare their want; of faith in doctors as a body, but they arc generally tho first, when they have any ailment, from a fingor-aclie 10 rheumatic fever, to seek tho doctor’s aid. On such occasions one usually iias an object-lesson of his power. "Watch tho patient’s face respond to every look on tho doctor’s. An expression of the most ordinary opinion makes the. patient happier for hours, and robs tho acutest pain of something of its sharpness. In health, the doctor’s influence is too often nil. Wo disregard the warnings he volunteers for our physical benefit, hut when wo are ill, his power is more than physical—it is moral. Indeed, so great is it that, some years ago it was gravely proposed that the doctor should unite to his ordinary duties those of tlie clergyman, and become a 'sort of D.D. as well as M.D. Whatever THE MERITS OF THE PROPOSAL, the fact that it should have been publicly advocated is a striking tribute to the reality of the good doctor’s influence. Tho searcher after anecdote would find a rich store in the lives of medical men. Many excellent stories have boon told of the late Sir Morell Mackenzie. Friend of tiro great and the small, the old and tho young, he was credited with having prolonged tho life of a Crown Prince so- that he might become an Emperor. His action influenced the history of an Empire. In another direction a doctor was certainly responsible for tho tiny beginnings of Empire. Among tho heroes who assisted the foundation of English power in Bengal was one Dr Boughton, who, in tho middle of the seventeenth century, was able to render service-,, to a lady of Shuja’s harem in. a tr-üblo which bad baffled the native doctors. Preference for English-trade'and special protection of the English were the result. In his devotion to patients from whom ho could expect no foe, and to wee mites of humanity in whose dailylives bis appearance was the brightest spot, Sir "Morell Mackenzie was not singular among doctors. Though it is not always the man who can afford to do a generous action -who does it, some of tho stories of tho kindness shown by doctors who have made money are among tho most notable annals of good deeds. The action of Dr. Lettsora towards the end of the eighteenth century is one of these. A patient had lost, bis fortune in consequence of the American War of Independence; bis home was to he taken away from him, and his reason was fast giving way under tho strain. His medical man came to tho rescue of both mind and fortune. Ho purchased his patient's house and home, gave him free use of them during his life, and made him a small allowance. Readiness to play the part of the modern Samaritan does npt rest alone with doctors who have made their way in the world. Ono who had had nothing but ill-luck, and who despaired of ever securing a competence, was one evening summoned tohis door, and found that a serious accident had just occurred, demanding immediate and most earnest attention. A man had been thrown from a cab and sustained concussion of the brain. The doctor thought at that moment of nothing hut tho needs of Ixis patient, whom by skill and care ho

RESTORED TO HEALTH. It was then discovered that the man ho had helped was a,' well-known public character. The event proved the foundation. of an immense practice. One of the most successful of London physicians . to-day had his opportunity in a visit paid him by a weil-known novelist and publicist, who believed he was going to die of Bright’s disease. The young medico did not believe so, and succeeded iu dispelling the gloomy foreboding of his visitor. V. nen the latter left bis house tho serious face with which ho had entered had disappeared. The young doctor by bis optimism and knowledge, had made the novelist a happier man, and taken a first step on tho road to brilliant success. Sometimes tho doctor is called on to play a part as sharp as that of the most accomplished rascal, and there can be small question that he has been instrumental in many cases in circumventing murderous design. The most suggestive case wo ever heard was that in which a woman of. means married a man who had been married twice before to women of means. Her predecessors bad lived a very short time after tho union. The third wife had not boon married long before she also began to feel ill, and a doctor was called in. Ho was puzzled, but asked one or two shrewd questions, which elicited the fact that the husband brought her a nip of brandy morning in bed Taken on an empty stomach, brandy is said to bo a slow but sure poison. Tho doctor made no comment, but simply advised her to always cat a biscuit' before she drank the brandy. She followed Ins advice, and was socn well. In his own mind the doctor had no doubt that the man poisoned his two first wives, and would have poisoned the third in tho same insidious way. Tho curious and the ridiculous enter into the life of the doctor quite as much as. if not more than, tho tragic or riie pathetic. Some fow years ago a writer on this subject declared that he knew

a medical man whose duty it was to take luncheon every day at a great castle belonging to a noble lord. "The household is immense,” said the writer, ■'and there is just the chance that there may ho some case of_ indisposition demanding attention, lie gets sonic of tho best company and best luncheons in England, and duly charges a guinea lor each attendance. A friend of mine, a young medieus, had a standing engagement of four hundred a year to look alter the health of an old lady. She required to be inspected three times a day, and make an exhibition of tmigue and pulse. What made matters so ngI graveling was that she was as strong as a horse, while tho doctor was a delicate man.” Quite

THE ODDEST ARRANGEMENT sorely over entered into was the following, cited by the same authority: “A medical man had been attending a patient several years, and yet had never seen the patient. Tne gentleman firmly believes that he has an oesophagus of peculiar construction, and that ho is accordingly liable at any moment to be clicked. That help may bo at hand whenever any sudden emergency may occur, ho has a physician in tho house night and day. The physician, being human, must needs take his walks abroad, and it becomes necessary to pre•ido a substitute for him two hours a day. Accordingly, a doctor attends daily from twelve till two, fills up his time by disposing of an admirable lunch, and finds tho gold and silver coin, in their usual happy combination, neatly put by the side of ids plato in tissue paper. "Up to tho present date bo lias never had the pleasure of exchanging words with bis interesting patient.” Amusing in another way, and suggestive of the effect which the mind lias on bodily ills, is a story related half a century or more ago of Dr. Beddocs, who, believing that, nitrons oxide was a specific for paralysis, arranged to make an experiment. “.Previous to tho administration of the gas,” wo are told, “bo inserted a small pocket thermometer under the tongue of the patient, as lie was acous'tomed to do upon such occasions, to ascertain tho degree of animal temperature, with a view to future comparison. Tho paralytic man, wholly ignorant of the nature of tiie process to which he was to submit but deeply impressed, from tho representation of Dr. Beddocs, with the certainty of its success, no sooner felt the thermometer under his tongue than he concluded the talisman was in full operation, and in a hurst of enthusiasm declared that bo had already experienced tlie effect of- its influence throughout bis whole body,” The worthy doctor saw what had happened, abandoned bis experiment, so far as this jiarticular patient was concerned, refrained from disillusioning him, and told him to como tho next day, when tho thermometer was again placed under his tongue. In a fortnight the man went away perfectly well, tlie cure having boon effected entirely "as the result of faith.”