A BIT OF THE TRUTH.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6521, 26 June 1899, Page 1

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 (radi- ' cals and coine-outers of various sorts) fancy ! that in this, the tail end of a rather braggart i and conceited century, they have H a fair-sized covey of truths by jring r specu- _• lative shotguns into every jraysfde bush and bog;.- ■::■: - - ' ;:j v-Jv .-;.->-<■■■ ■ , .But ..have they doric it? , : No, gentle': reader,- -ho. They'^haye put up: crows and sparrows that sold two for a farthing in bones of the cave dwellers, 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 j electuaries of viper's flesh and re- ' commended poinegrc.>uate seeds for toothache because i those seeds re- ' semble human teeth. Veay 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.couhTshow you where to look. •On my table. l have a list of. about 300 new "remedies" introduced to a suffering world within the 1 past .twelvemonth; ; "Must be some good ones among them,'* do you say? Possibly. Time will tell- Meanwhile, let us stick to whatever we are sure of. "We Jearn ' 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 wopan, thousands of stories have been told' and letters, written. Here is an example : — . ' - " F?r many years I have suffered from indigestion and weakness. I seemed, to have no energy f or 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 and unnatural rush of bloody to the head. The pain iwhich T was called upon' to 'bear was often very severe ;it affected all parts of -my body, and at night r got little proper and refreshing sleep on account bf.it.. • ; _. . " As time went on and the' compliant grew used upoji.me, J came to he. exceedingly we.ak, and now and again was qbligqd to take to._.my bed. I lost' flesh and became quite ;th.m,, : living, as I did, only on njilk, beef tep., and other kinds of liquid food It wil] be understood, of course, that I had medical care, besides' attending tiie South London Dispensary, Yet I received no benefit from what was,: done for me. ! • "It happened that in January^ 1889, a 'fl-iend, Mr Pullen, told me he had suffered in a similar manner and had been cured by a remedy called Mother SeigePs Syrup. Acting on his suggestion J got a bottle, and after having token it I found great relief. Presently my appetite returned arid food no longerdistressed me. Convinced that Mother Ssigel's Syrup ; was adapted to my| ailnient;i! continued the use of it until, it wad no longer needed; My. health and strength were reestablished, and I have since been well. This medicine had done what no others hadbeen able/to do. My husband, who suffered from biliousness, vised it with tlie same result. Yb\i have my : free consent;to publish this brief statement if you desire; to do so." —(Signed) Mrs Julia Massey, 133, Lorriniqre Roadj Kannington, London, S.E., '■ January SOth, 1898. . I 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 disnoveriesiare 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 as old as the earth or was picked up yesterday in the fields by a child. That Mother Seigel's Syrup • cures is, proved by a cloud of witnesses. It is a -bit. of the truth. Therefore it? will not die out, and nothinc can take"its nlace. 'i ' : .