xt77wm13nh30 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dipstest/xt77wm13nh30/data/mets.xml Lowder, William Lane. [1897]  books b92-45-26783847 English R.H. Carothers, : Louisville, Ky. : This digital resource may be freely searched and displayed.  Permission must be received for subsequent distribution in print or electronically.  Physical rights are retained by the owning repository.  Copyright is retained in accordance with U. S. copyright laws.  For information about permissions to reproduce or publish, contact the Special Collections Research Center. Pilgrimage, or, The sunshine and shadows of the physician  / by Wm. Lane Lowder. text Pilgrimage, or, The sunshine and shadows of the physician  / by Wm. Lane Lowder. 1897 [1897] 2002 true xt77wm13nh30 section xt77wm13nh30 



 

A PILGRIMAGE:

           OR THE


SUNSHINE AND SHADOWS

           OF THE



   PHYSICIAN.





         BY
WM. LANE LOWDER, B. S., M. D.



TYPOGRAPHY AND PRESSWORK
By R. H. CAROTHNRM.,
  LOUISVILLK, KY.

 




























COPYRIGHTED, 1897,
       BY
WM. LANE LOWDER.

 






















           To THE

STUDENTS AND PRACTITIONERS
             OF
  MEDICINE AND SURGERY.

        THIS VOLUME
             Is
   AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED.

 



iv.

 

V



                   PR E FACE.




  The days of long prefaces are past; and it is also too
near the close of the century to indulge in fulsome dedi-
cations. I shall, therefore, only trouble the reader with
a brief synopsis of that which I have attempted to say.
This little volume is the outgrowth of a series of essays,
or papers, read at different times before the following
Medical Societies: Casey Co., Ky., Medical Society;
Lincoln Co , Ky., Medical Society; Tri-Gounty, Ky.,
Medical Society; Russell Springs, Ky., Medical Society,
and at the request of a number of the members, these
papers have been collected, arranged and printed; and
as a result the following pages are presented.  The
writer does not claim that this work is free from errors.
It was not written beneath the still and quiet shadows of
the University, nor in the cool and dusky silence of the
College Chamber; but amid the active duties of a pro-
fessional life. Many of its pages were written during
the dark and silent hours of the night-hours stolen
from sleep-hours usually allotted to the repose of body
and mind. Consequently it is not offered as a classic

 




to medical literature; and to avoid the poisoned darts
of the critic, has not been the aim.
  The reader is requested, however, to observe that
though the plan of this work is entirely that of the
writer, he does not put it forth as altogether original in
every respect, either in language or thought; but some-
times worked up in his own language, and sometimes in
that of others. Or in the language of M. Rollin, the
Historian: "To adorn and enrich my own," says that
celebrated writer, II I will be so ingenuous as to confess
that I do not scruple, nor hesitate, to rifle wherever I
come; and that I often do not cite the authors from
whom I transcribe, because of the liberty I take to make
some slight alterations "
  The wisdom of the present is but the accumulated
knowledge of the past-a public treasure- wherein
every man hath a share "
  In the preparation of this work, it has not been the
object of the writer, to attempt to paint the lily or adorn
the rose, or as Lowell says:
        " Plastering our swallowv-nests on the awful Past,
        And twittering around the work of larger men
        As we had builded, what we but deface."
  But to present the stern realities as they have appeared
to him, has been the chief endeavor Should a perusal
of its pages in any way inspire the "youth," sustain the
"InIanhood," or console the "I aged " of the profession,
this endeavor will not have been in vain.
                                 WM. LANE LOWDER.
HUMPHREY, KY., Sept. 6th, 1897.



Vi.



PREFA E .

 











   A PILGRIMAGE:

        OR THE

SUNSHINE AND SHADOWS

        OF THE

     PHYSICIAN.


 





CONTE NTS.



CHAPTER
CHAPTER



                                 P
I.-Introduction.
11.-Qualifications of the Physician.
   SECTION 1.-Mental .....
   SECTION 11.-Moral ......
   SECTION 111.-Literary. .
   SECTION IV.-Professional ....



CHAPTER 111.-Duties of the Physician.
             SECTION 1.-To the Public
             SECTION 11.-To the Profession .
             SECTION 111.-To Himself . . .



CHAPTER IV.-Influence of the Physician.
             SECTION I........
             SECTION 11. .......



AGE.
  3

  13
  22
  37
  47

  60
  68
  77



 .. 87
  . .101



CHAPTER V.-Professional Friendship ...   . . 116
CHAPTER VI.-Medical Ethics ........ . 127
CHAPTER VII.-Medical Societies .139
CHAPTER VIII.-Pilgrimage of the Physician.
             SECTION 1.-Youth . . . . .    152
             SECTION 11.-Manhood ..     . .165
             SECTION 111.-Old Age. .. . . .178

 





CHAPTER I.



              INTRODUCTORY.
  The career of the Physician begins with
his determination to study medicine and
terminates with his death; or, as is so
beautifully portrayed by the immortal
Gray, in that matchless poem-"The Rude
Forefathers of the Hamlet," when,
" The breezy call of incense-breathing Morn,
The swallows twittering from the straw-built shed,
The cock's shrill clarion, or the echoing horn,
No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed.".
  Then it is and not till then, that his
labors cease and his trials are all ended.
The morning of this life should be com-
menced with aseptic hands and a ster-
ilized heart, that the ambition to realize the
ideal in a profession, " honored in all ages
by all men" will not be infected by skep-
ticism or greed. To do this he must cul-
tivate agreeable relations with physicians
whose precept will be a lesson, and whose
life anl example, to inspire hinw i'th.a 1oft)

 

4        SUNSHINE AND SHADOWS

conception and clear appreciation of the
duties and responsibilities of a trust sub-
mitted to his care, and sacred above all
things else-a human life. In selecting
for his life-work the profession of medicine
the question of success will naturally be
uppermost in the mind of the Physician.
This, while largely affected by natural ap-
titude, is like success in any other field of
labor, more largely determined by the
genius of hard work and the patience that
has " learned to labor and to wait."
  If in statesmanship eternal vigilance is
the price of liberty, in medicine eternal
toil is the price of success. Great natural
abilities, quickness of apprehension, a re-
tentive memory, the logic that correlates
and systematizes, powers of invention that
create new wholes out of seemingly incon-
gruous particles, equip one for the race in
our profession and would appear to make
success assured. Yet, he who is gifted
with a German preseverance often wrenches
from nature her secrets and is seen climb-
ing far up the heights, whilst genius sleeps
below. There are many things that enter
into the toud ensemble of the physician's life

 

OF THE PHYSICIAN.



and career which may make or mar,
though not so perceptibly as his scientific
attainments and technical knowledge or
the lack of what is necessary in respect to
these.
  Life has been called a pilgrimage, and
perhaps no term could be selected more
expressive of its uncertainty, dangers and
hopes. It is indeed a voyage through a
region of varied aspects, beneath a check-
ered sky of cloud and sunshine. Man is in-
deed a pilgrim-one of a goodly company,
as diverse in character and feeling as in
language and complexion. Yet all unite
in one common object, all pressing for-
ward to one common goal-the ocean of
eternity. As the strings of an instrument
responding to the same touch but each
vibrating with its own peculiar tone, pro-
duce one harmonious melody, so all hearts
respond to the touch of the same Divine
Master, each with its own peculiar meas-
ure, yet all uniting to perfect the great
work for which they were created-the
glory of the Creator. The life of the phy-
sician is indeed a pilgrimage joyous to
some, yet wearisome at times to all.



5

 

SUNSHINE AND SHADOWS



  "Yea, hope and despondency, pleasure and pain,
  We mingle together in sunshine and rain,"
in all its stages, youth, manhood and
old age, changing and uncertain. Yet, on
this journey, however dreary to each one,
however desponding, there appear green
spots as welcome as are the oases of the
desert to the panting caravan where the
sparkling waters and cool herbage invite
to refreshment and repose. Here the
weary spirit loves to linger and renew its
vigor for the journey onward. Here, like
the good old Patriarch, we erect a pillar
of rememberance in token that God hath
dealt kindly with us. Work and worry
are ours from the time we begin the study
of medicine until the winter of life has
dusted our temples with the snowflakes of
time.
" So closely our whims on our miseries tread,
That the laugh is awak'd ere the tear can be dried;
And as fast as the rain-drop of Pity is shed,
The goose-plumage of Folly can turn it aside."
  Yet the clouds that are seen as we hasten
through a fruitful experience have many a
brilliant lining, and the shield that may



6

 
OF THE PHYSICIAN.



at times obstruct our vision has both a
silver and a golden side.
" But pledge me the cup-if existence would cloy,
With hearts ever happy and heads ever wise,
Be ours the light Grief that is sister to Joy,
And the short brilliant Folly that flashes and dies."
  Life's pleasures and joys will blend
themselves in a very large measure with
its griefs and sorrows, and the eagles of
victory will perch upon our banners more
often than the vultures of defeat.
  On the long and lonesome ride, "when
twilight dews are falling" and the "even-
ing shades appear" as a token " of 'parting
day," when houses by the wayside are
dark and silent, " and all the air a solemn
stillness holds," where the gloom and soli-
tude of the forest are deepened by the
shadows; along roads that wind by fields
of waving grain, from which the ripening
odor has filled the air with all its frag-
rance; along dusty highways beneath the
scorching rays of a torrid sun, when the
din of the harvester is heard in the dis-
tance and the carol of the lark recalls to
the memory happier days gone by; amid
falling snowflakes, that flutter down in



7

 
SUNSHINE AND SHADOWS



soundless benediction on the dust beneath,
when the earth is clothed in nature's wind-
ing sheet, and the universal chill of the
arctic clime penetrates the heart with a
feeling of desolation, the ability to gener-
alize from observation and experience, or
to awaken the intellect with conceptions
from the masters in literature, will keep
the mind strong and the body erect. On
many a dreary night and prolonged after-
noon the paucity of country thought and
the poverty of rustic knowledge will fill
you with the enneui of solitude, and the
gloomy reflection of thankless labor will
mark you with the ingratitude of humanity.
" The gay will laugh
When thou art gone; the solemn brood of care
Plod on, and each one, as before, will chase
His favorite phantom: yet all these shall leave
Their mirth and their employment, and shall come,
And make their'bed with thee."

  Bleak and barren may be the prospect
around us; the wood, the oak, the aspen
and the willow may be leafless; and not
a thrush may have as yet essayed to clear
the furrowed brow of winter; but this we
know shall pass away, give place, and be



8

 
OF THE PHYSICIAN.



succeeded by the buds of spring and the
blossoms of summer. Chill and cheerless
may be the hope around us; but soon the
wild flowers of joy and sunshine will spring,
as it were, beneath our boyish tread; they
will open in advancement, expand in ma-
turity, and illumine our pathway with the
richness of luxuriance. Poverty and dis-
appointment will appear, at times, to hang
frowning around us, and its apparition
haunt our footsteps; but soothed and
charmed by the fitful visits of the happy
reflection of self-sacrificing deeds done for
the good of suffering humanity, and
crowned,as in a vision,with the holywreath,
we will wanton in a fairy land and view
the Elysian fields of Paradise.
  But the clouds of imagination are gath-
ering, and the picture will soon be dark;
but never, while memory lasts, can it fade
out of the heart. What blessings would
be ours, if only we could hold forever that
exaltation of the spirit, that sweet resigned
serenity, that pure freedom from all the
passions of nature and all the cares of life
which come upon. us amid such scenes and

 
10       SUNSHINE AND SHADOWS



surroundings as these! "Alas, and again,
alas."
  Even with the thought this golden mood
begins to melt away; even with the
thought comes our dismissal from its in-
fluence. Nor will it avail us anything
now to linger at the shrine. Fortunate is
he, though in bereavment and regret, who
parts from duty while yet her kiss is warm
upon his lips-waiting not for the last
farewell word, hearing not the last notes
of the music, seeing not the last gleams of
sunset as the light dies upon the sky. The
labors and the discoveries of the physician
have been the world's astonishment and
delight. Men of talents and of taste,
the most refined, have praised and hon-
ored them; the lofty Prince in his gilded
palace, and the lonely peasant in his
squalid hovel have ever been grateful to
them, and sang hyms of praise, in token
of their appreciation, respect and admira-
tion. The physician of the afflicted (rich
or lowly) is the physician of MANKIND. He
has had its confidences, he has known its
weaknesses and its follies, its faults and
its infirmities, and through all has been

 

OF THE PHYSICIAN.



the soul of honor. No trust betrayed, no
confidence wronged nor duty violated. It
is no wonder that men and women (and
children, best judges of us all) do him
homage, and in their hearts regard him
with an abiding and loving tenderness,
that years cannot deaden nor time destroy
      " To live in hearts we leave behind,
      Is not to die."
  The Physician, who for long years has
visited suffering humanity amid storm
and sleet, through sunshine and rain, who
has stood at the bedside when the cry of
the new-born broke the silence of the
darkened chamber, who has cheered the
lonely sufferer by his presence in the dark
hour of sickness and gloom, who has stood
by loved ones, when human skill availed
not and death came, is the man of all
men, to whom the human heart goes out
in friendship close akin to love. The term
LOVE is a strong one, and I thus choose it
purposely, and with the intent to use it in
all its strength. Though the ideal physi-
cian fall, at home, among kindred and
friends, or may wander for away from his



11

 

12       SUNSHINE AND SHADOWS



natal spot, and far distant may be the
scenes of his early labors, and a foreign
soil "piously covers his remains within
her bosom," mankind will always feel a
deep and abiding thankfulness, that he
lived and wrought, where he did, and as
he did.
      "Oh, blest who in the battle dies,
      God will enshrine him in the skies."
  No lofty monument nor stately column
may tower above his sacred ashes to im-
plore " the passing tribute of a sigh," yet
his silence speaks in solemn tones of a
heritage left to posterity, which will be
fondly cherished, long after polished stones
have crumbled into their primitive dust.
There will be no need of " storied urn or
animated bust," his life-work will be his
enduring monument, and his humane dis-
coveries will be his immortal epitaph.
  " There scatter'd oft, the earliest of the year,
  By hands unseen, are showers of violets found;
  The redbreast loves to build and warble there,
  And little footsteps lightly print the ground."


 

OF THE PHYSICIAN.



              CHAPTER II.


QUALIFICATIONS OF THE PHYSICIAN-MENTAL,
   MORAL, LITERARY AND PROFESSIONAL.


                SECTION I.
         MENTAL QUALIFICATIONS.
  "Our brains are seventy-year clocks. The Angel
of Life winds them up once for all, then closes the
case, and gives the key into the hand of the Angel
of the Resurrection. Tic-tac! tic-tac! go the
wheels of thought; our will cannot stop them;
they cannot stop themselves; sleep cannot stop
them; madness only makes theni go laster; death
alone can break into the case, and, seizing the ever-
swinging pendulum, which we call the heart, silence
at last the clicking of the terrible escapement we
have carried so long beneath our wrinkled fore-
heads."-OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.

  One who presumes to practice medicine
should possess the wisdom of Solomon,
the patience of Job, the eloquence of David,
the devotion of Ruth, and the faith of
Elijah. A glance at any medical society-
a little reflection upon the physicians of



13

 
14       SUNSHINE AND SHADOWS



our own acquaintance, some honest self-
communion as to our own motives and
ability, are more than sufficient to convince
the most sanguine that individuals em-
bodying all the above-mentioned virtues
are extremely rare.
  However widely writers upon mental
science may differ in regard to the nature
of the mind, all agree that the energy and
the effectiveness of all our mental proces-
ses are largely dependent upon the char-
acter and condition of the brain. The
brain is the physical organ of the mind.
Scientists teach that every thought, feel-
ing, or act of will is accompanied by a cer-
tain expenditure of nervous energy, and a
consequent destruction of a certain amount
of brain tissue. As muscular action is
performed at the expense of muscular tis-
sue, so mental action is performed at the
expense of brain tissue. The rapid de-
struction of brain substance may be in-
ferred from the enormous quantity of
blood which flows to the brain to supply
material to repair it.
  This organ, which weighs an average of
491 ounces in men and 44 ounces in women

 
OF THE PHYSICIAN.



-or about one-fiftieth as much as the en-
tire body-receives one-fifth of the blood
of the entire body.
  This fact indicates the dependence of
healthy arnd vigorous brain activity upon
the quantity and nutritive quality of the
blood supplied to the brain. It is only
when the entire body is in vigorous health
that there can be the most effective action
of the mind. The brain sympathizes with
every other organ and is strong or weak as
they are. This is true when brain action
is normal. There is an abnormal condi-
tion often experienced in certain states of
disease in which there is an unnatural ac-
tivity of brain, even when there is great
weakness of the other organs. Also by an
undue exercise of the brain, which is long
continued, it comes to appropriate more
than its share of the blood, and the other
organs are thereby weakened to give
strength to the brain. But these event-
ually react upon the brain and a diminu-
tion of its powers results. It is, therefore,
when the body is in perfect health that
there can be the most healthful and vigor-
ous action of the mind. The old maxim,



15

 

16       SUNSHINE AND SHADOWS



"A sound mind in a sound body," is all
acknowledgment of the truth of this.
Consequently, the physician who would be
active and strong mentally must be heal-
thy and strong physically. To be thus
requires a strict observance of the rules
and laws of hygiene on his part. The size
and quality of the brain are not the same
in all individuals. Mental power is de-
pendent upon the size and quality of the
organ which it employs to manifest itself,
as well as upon the condition of the brain
in respect to nutriment and vigor. The
healthful or diseased condition of the body
will determine theamountof energywhich
the mind can put forth and the length of
time it can sustain it; for the poet says

   " 'Mid pleasure or pain, in weal or in woe,
   'Tis a law of our being, we reap as we sow."

   The brain must be fresh if the mind
shall act vigorously. A tired brain will
serve only for feeble thinking. How shall
we rest the brain The only perfect rest
is untroubled sleep. There are, however,
changes of exercise that afford partial
rest. Prof. Bain, of the University of

 
OF THE PHYSICIAN.



Aberdeen, Scotland, says that memorizing
is an exercise which makes the greatest
demands upon the nervous energies; that
the use of ideas in the making of new com-
binations,-in  new   constructions,-de-
mands a less degree of brain vigor, and
that writing, drawing, anyd searching ref-
erence books for information, and noting
what is found, make the least demands
upon the nervous power. Partial rest is
experienced by changing from one subject
of study to another, provided the point
of fatigue has not been reached. After
this point has been passed, all labor is in-
jurious.
    A vivid imagination i; a mental qual-
ity that the physician should possess. It
gives him influence and impresses person-
ality, which are essential to his success.
Personal magnetism has for its chief in-
tellectual attribute a vivid imagination.
Dr. Wayland says: " Imagination is that
faculty by which, from materials already
existing in the mind, we form complicated
conceptions or mental images according
to our own will."
                   B



17

 
18       SUNSHINE AND SHADOWS



  The action of the mind in gaining knowl-
edge differs much from its action when
communicating. It is imagination which
gives the power thus to go to the stand-
point of another and work from his base.
Says Bain in "Education as a Science:"
" If the early training could be so directed
as to enrich and invigorate the conceptive
faculty [his term for imagination] a time
would come when definite knowledge could
be absorbed so rapidly as to dispense with
the attempts to impart it prematurely."
It is the imagination that gives spring and
vivacity to the mind. Talmage is a mas-
ter of imaginative speech. It is this, rather
than his grotesque extravagance, which
reaches the popular heart. When Bismarck
said, " The cause of Germany is to be
won by blood and iron, and not by parli-
amentary speeches," it was by the heat of
imagination that these thunderbolts of
words were forged.
  The secret of eternal vouth lies in keep-
ing the imagination fresh and active.
" They are the lovely, they in whom unite
Youth's fleeting charms with Virtue's lovely light."

 
OF THE PHYSICIAN.



  The conception of the physician should
be kept clear, strong, alert and active.
And in no way can we do this but by ex-
ercising it upon the imaginative products
of others, or in creations of our own. Sir
Joshua Reynolds says in one of his dis-
courses: " It is by being conversant with
the inventions of others that we learn to
think. "
  The enquirer after new truth stands on
the boundary of the known and peers into
the unknown. His senses are alert, his
memory retentive, his reason strong to
prove the truth or falsity of every propo-
sition presented; but if no propositions
are presented his reason has nothing to
operate upon. Imagination is the great
asker of questions for the other powers to
answer.
  It is not easy to learn to think; nor is
it easy to think after learning how. The
big-brained Carlyle says: "True effort, in
fact, as of a captive struggling to free him-
self: that is thought." We should teach
by example as well as by precept. Pre-
cepts are sometimes as worthless as a bank-
rupt's unindorsed promise to pay; for, as



19

 

20       SUNSHINE AND SHADOWS



Spurgeon, the great English divine truly
says: "When you see a man with a great deal
of religion displayed in his shop-window,
you may depend upon it, he keeps a very
small stock of it within." We, as physici-
ans, should teach truth by adhering to it
with the severest strictness. We should
teach neatness by carefulness as regards
our own person, work and surroundings.
We should teach patience and amiability
by keeping an unruffled front in the face
of trying ordeals. The reflection forces
itself in upon me that one who succeeds in
all these hard tasks would be rather more
of a saint than a " nineteenth-century-
doctor," but it is a possible thing to be
both, and we know the doctrine of a large
and worthy body of people in regard to
the perseverance of the saints. Permit
me to say in this connection that it is a
mistake for a man to be persuaded that it
is not possible to mantain a Christian
character in secular life. Paul made tents
for his bread, but never failed to shine as a
Christian; Newton mapped the stars to
keep up his holy life; Wilberforce, in the
heat and struggle and strife of public life,

 
OF THE PHYSICIAN.



always kept his flag floating as a child of
God; and the Grand Old Man-Gladstone
-never appears to finer advantage than
when he reads the Sunday lesson in the
little church at Hawarden. A good man
is a glad man, and there are more doors
open to such than to any other.
  It seemed to me a great sacrilege when I
read that the largest steamship that was
ever built-the "Great Eastern"-had to
come down to be used as a common coaler
on the sea; or for a splendid mill with its
wonderful machinery, made for the finest
work, the weaving of silks and satins, to
be choked with shoddy and greasy rags,
would be putting it to less-than its proper
use.
  The human body is the greatest machine
that was ever created, and it should not
be divorced from the purpose of its crea-
tion or debased to the meanest uses:
"A sacred burden is this life ye bear;
Look upon it, lift it, bear it solemnly;
Stand up and work beneath it steadfastly;
Falter not for sorrow, fail not for sin,
But onward and upward till the goal you win."



21

 

SUNSHINE AND SHADOWS



               SECTION II.
          MORAL QUALIFICATIONS.
"So live that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan that moves
To the pale realms of shade, where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not, like the quary-slave at night,
Scourged to his dungeon; but sustained and soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams."
                     -WM. CULLEN BRYANT.

  Horace (Quintus), the Latin poet, de-
scribes the physician in the twenty-second
ode: "Integer vitae scelerisque purus."
  It declares that his morals must be fit,
brains educated, motives beyond question,
and his common sense apparent from the
moment the bedside is reached; and, so-
ciety having found these qualifications
rewards him in two ways. As a first re-
ward, it permits him from his own medi-
cal income, to live well and die poor; but
his second reward is quite a different com-
pensation, sui generis. It cannot be esti-
mated by any unit of commercial value.
It is a reward of faith and belief, and when
it is bestowed, it carries with it the seal of
the divine commission, " Heal the sick,



22

 
OF THE PHYSICIAN.



cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out
devils. Freely ye have received, freely
give."
  The code of Ethics of the American Med-
ical Association, Article I. Section 3, says:
"There is no profession from the members
of which greater purity of character and a
higher standard of moral excellence are
required than the medical, and to obtain
such eminence is a duty every physician
owes alike to his profession and to his
patients. It is due to the latter, as with-
out it he cannot command their respect
and confidence, and to both because no
scientific attainments can compensate for
the want of correct moral principles. It
is also incumbent upon the faculty to be
temperate in all things, for the practice
of physic requires the unremitting exer-
cise of a clear and vigorous understand-
ing; and on emergencies, for which no
professional man should be unprepared, a
steady hand, and an acute eye, an uncloud-
ed head, may be essential to the well-being
and even to the life of a fellow creature."
  The physician is the man, into whose
care society intrusts the most valuable



23

 
24       SUNSHINE AND SHADOWS



possession in existence-the lives of its
individual members. There is nothing
more beyond this.
  He is their custodian, the court of last
human appeal. How essential it is, then,
that we should ever be thoroughly pre-
pared to discharge our professional duties.
When the physician has done, the end has
come; for
"The leaves of the oak and the willow shall fade,
Be scattered around, and together be laid;
And theyoung and the old, aid thelow and the high
Shall moulder to dust and together shall lie.
" The hand of the king that the sceptre bath borne;
The brow of the priest that the mitre hath worn;
The eye of the sage and the heart of the brave,
Are hidden and lost in the depth of the grave."
  It is no wonder, then, that as guardian
of its highest interest, society declares be-
forehand that the physician shall be only
of the best. Dr. Holmes once said, in an
after-dinner speech: " The medical pro-
fession is so pure, that its writers of fic-
tion are compelled to go outside its limits
to get material for the villians of their
stories." and this is but a reflection of the
real truth, for only recently some uneasy
genius who sought to fasten criminal pro-

 
OF THE PHYSICIAN.



pensity on the medical profession, could
only find seven hundred who had suffered
stautory penalty, among all the physici-
ans who have practiced in the United
States and Canada during the political
history of these two countries.
  The physician should possess the " four
cardinal virtues," viz.: Temperance, Pru-
dence, Fortitude and Justice. Only the man
who is strong in the strength of a lofty
integrity and exalted honor is fitted for a
profession demanding such high qualities
and imposing such grave responsibilities
as does that of medicine. The physician
comes into the closest and most sacred re-
lations of life. He sees men and women
in their -hours of weakness, sees them when
judgment and will are overthrown by dis-
ease, sees them when the intellect is so
shattered and enfeebled by disease that
its mastery is lost and ignoble passions
rule unchecked and unrestrained, and
there is, therefore, an imperious necessity
that he should be a man of sterling integ-
rity and stainless purity, "chaste as un-
sunned snow."   The most delicate honor,
the chastity of which is such that it feels



25

 

SUNSHINE AND SHADOWS



" a stain like a wound" is as necessary to
the true physician as sunshine to the flow-
ers of the field.
  The physician's confessional is not
always one where secrets are wittingly re-
vealed, but is often one where the de-
throned intellect or the disordered mind
makes men and women reveal that which
else no mortal ear had ever heard. Things
are heard by him which the speaker would
not have voluntarily given utterance to,
though death were the penalty of silence.
But not only does the physician hear what
in health would have remained unspoken,
for from many lips he hears voluntarily
revealed secrets that the world should never
know. He hears of infirmities that, if
known, would bring his patient to infamy
and shame, he hears that which, if re-
vealed, would destroy the peace of families
and wreck many lives. He holds the same
power over his helpless patient as does
the butcher over his innocent victim-

" The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day,
Had he thy reason would he skip and play I
Pleased to the last, he crops the flow'ry food,
And licks the hand just raised to shed his blood."



26

 

OF THE PHYSICIAN.



  He holds often and often a greater power
than that of death itself, for in his hands
is the power to consign his patient to a
fate a thousand fold worse than physical
death. The physician in whose mind
dwell coarse thoughts, not only dishonors
a noble profession and shames the tradi-
tiohs and history of a glorious past, but
he also puts snares about his own feet,
which sooner or later will be the means of
casting him headlong " into a pit of de-
struction."
      " 0, what a tangled web we wveave
      When first we practice to deceive."

  The life of a physician who is true to the
ethical laws of his profession and to its
traditions is a benediction, and he who
lives it crowns himself and those to whom
he ministers with unfading blessings.
" He that has light within his own clear breast,
May sit in the centre, and enjoy bright day;
But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts,
Benighted walks under the mid-day sun."
  The ethical principles woven into the
mental and moral organization of men are
like threads of gold woven into gross fab-



27

 
SUNSHINE AND SHADOWS



ric, they remain bright and untarnished
throughout all the years, while the base
parts grow dark and moldy in deca