The Dominion. SATURDAY, AUGUST 9, 1913. THE BATTLE WITH DISEASE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1824, 9 August 1913, Page 4

The Dominion. SATURDAY, AUGUST 9, 1913. THE BATTLE WITH DISEASE.

"The brightest stars in the medical firmament," to quote the words of Lord are now assembled in London,- for the International Congress of Medicine, for which a decidedly interesting and comprehensive programme has been prepared. Some of the most eminent authorities in the world are in attendance, and almost every phase of medical science will be discussed by men who. have devoted nearly the whole of their lives to this never-ending battle with disease. His Majesty the King is Patron of • the Congress, Sir Thomas Barlow is . President, and representatives are present from France, Germany, Italy, America, and other countries. Some idea of the magnitude of the Conference may be gathered from the fact that it is divided into no fewer than twenty-three sections, each of which is dealing' with a special branch of the scientific study of medicine and surgery. In addition to such subjects as medicine, surgery, heredity, and public health, papers have been promised on a wide variety of topics, including tho relations between ar-t and the history of. medicine, health legislation, epidemic diseases, and infant mortality, and the growing importance of radium in the treatment of disease is indicated by the fact that a special section is devoted to Radiology. The reports and papers may be written in English, French, German, or Italian, the use of other languages only being permitted if'some member of the Congress is prepared to translate them. These discussions on the cause and cure of disease in which some of the greatest living experts are taking part cannot fail to bo of the utmost importance, and should give a very real impetus to medical science in all its branches.

Medicine is one of the oldest professions in the world. Indeed, one of the papers to be read' at the Congress will deal with the light thrown by the healing practiccs of animals and savage men on the study of tho primitive _ ipedicine. In ancient Babylon disease was treated by means of sorcery and exorcism, but in Egypt there were trained physicians who knew how to set bones, and in the dispensing of drugs they gained a world-wide reputation. The Greeks learned anatomy by the dissection' of animals, and in Homeric times medicine and surgery were not unknown. Galen, tho great Roman physician, did good work in his day and generation; the early Fathers of tho Church also gave attention to the healing art; and the Benedictines spread a knowledge of medicine throughout the West. Later on the Renaissance had its influence on medical science, and at the beginning of tho seventeenth century Harvey,, who, we are told, was induced "to give his mind to vivisections," was able to explain the reeohanism of the circulation of the blood. : Towards the end of the eighteenth century Jenner started the practice of vaccination, and in the nineteenth century . Pasteur threw a flood of light on microbic diseases. Great improvements in sanitation and preventive medicine resulted from these investigations, and another important step in advance was made by the discovery of anaesthetics.

This age-long battle with the .ills that flesh is heir to makes a. wonderful story; yet when we look around us and think a little, the words of Cecil Rhodes seen; all too appropriate: "How little done; how much to do." Canoer, insanity, leprosy, and other scourges still defy all human skill, and the most that at present can be done is to afford more or less relief 'to the sufferers. Many of tho problems of heredity remain unsolved, and it is still, broadly, speaking, true that the "days of our years arc three score years and ten." However, a great deal has certainly been accomplished. The practical results of recent discoverers in hygiene, medicine, and surgery are most clearly shown, writes Mr. Whetham, "in the reduction of the annual death-rate of cities like London from about 80 per thousand two centiirics ago to the present figure of. some 15 per thousand." This alone is a spl'endid record, but in scores of other ways medical science has rendered services of incalculable value to mankind. It also has an inspiring future to look forward to. Cancer, and tuberculosis are being resolutely attacked, and quite recently a Fronch physician announced the discovery of a serum which is both' a preventive and a cure for typhoid fever. Every year new wonders in surgery are recorded, and Dr. Alexis Carrel, one of the pioneers of human grafting, declared in a lecture recently delivered in Parisl that from the surgical standpoint it is perfectly, feasible to transplant a member such as an arm or a thigh. It is, he says, only a question of sang-froid and technical skill. The transplantation of arteries and skin grafting are at present possible, and Dr. Carrel has arranged with ■ a New York hospital to keep him supplied with tlie _ necessary reserve stock of skin, which he preserves in cold storage by a special process. It is said that Parisians are of opinion that the day is not far distant 5 "when a man who has been severely burnt in Siberia may owe his life to a supply of skin providentially dispatched to him from Dr. Carrel's cold storage in New York." Some people may think that it is beyond belief that such things could ever happen; but in view.of what has actually been accomplished during tho past fifty years, no one can fix the limits of medical and surgical progress.