THE DEAN AND THE DOCTORS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1882, 16 October 1913, Page 4

THE DEAN AND THE DOCTORS.

Sir, —After reading'your excellent (lo> fonco of the medical profession and its modern advances in your recent leador, I had 110 intention of discussing tho matter. I merely wished to draw attention to the fact that it was 110 now tiling for clergy to oppose medical and! other scientific progress. Your space; is too valuablo to bo taken up with tlier discussion 011 ancient history. Bull let "Halt and Lamo" look up his encyclopaedia and seo what happened to tlio anatomist Vesalius, and his writ-, ings ill tlio sixteenth century; to Bruno, burnt as a heretic in 1600; and to Galileo, tortured many years later. The in- , traduction of chloroform for midwifery by Simpson and the opposition of thq pulpit to it is of recent date. Even moro recent was the opposition of AVik borforco and other clerics to Huxley oi< tho question of evolution. Had it not, been for questions 1 and 2 in tho letter of "Halt and Lame," , B should not liavo, again trespassed oil your columns. (,

1. Tho question of tlio necessity for certain operations is a vexed one. Kveit doctors nro not nhva.vs agreed as to tlioi necessity for operations in certain cases.Take, for example, appendicitis. AVliilsti nil aro agreed that under certain conditions operation is absolutely ncces-i sary, under certain other conditions, whilst most surgeons consider nil operation nccessary, some do not. It is not a question of gold, for'the surgeon acts 011 tho same principle in tho public lios-* pital ns in private. Ido not believa that doctors, wittingly, do unnecessary operations, but that they .make soni* mistakes is unavoidable. fto man, doctor, or layman, can avoid making mistakes. , , 2. Jfy answer to tno sccoiifl (juostioit is in tho negative. Tho rccent Cost of Living Commission made it clear tlint, whilst wages and cost of hud increased, medical fees had remained unaltered. Those people unable to pay nrdinarv incdieal fees can join a lodge, nnd havo medical attendance for a small quarterly payment, or can attend a public hosp'ital/'whorc tho honorary medical staff opcrato free of charge. Whether or not my answers satisfy vour correspondent, "Halt and Lame." I Imve thrown my last stone, and will retired into tho background.—l am, L ' tC '' LAPIDATOR,