The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, SEPT. 27, 1906.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1870, 27 September 1906, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, SEPT. 27, 1906.

Lest it should be assumed that we are in league with the medical profesI eion in condemning quackery as we did yesterday, we want to say a word about the medical profession itself and its work generally in thehopethat what we have to say may have the effect of lessening the work in which the medical profession is engaged, and also improving its results. It i 3 notorious that at the present time the conditions of living in and around Gisborne are not conducive to the most robust health, and it is equally certain that dangers to health lurk in every square acre of the whole area occupied bv its residents, and where population

is thickest thoro also aro tho dangers more munorous. To tho absoaco of propor wator supply and drainage that condition, oli course, is duo; it is tiioro foro not surprising that tho doctors aro kept busy, and thoro is a very strong probability that as warmor weather prevails they will have still more to do. Although thoro aro quacks in the modioal profession as woll as out of it, wo liavo no reason to assumo that tho local faculty include any such, and indued wo do know that amongst thoir numbor aro sorno at least that would rank high in thoir special departments in comparison with tho best mnn of tho cult anywhere. But wo do not want to soo thorn working day and night in thoir ondoavov to prosorvo tho sum total of human lifo and health, which, under oxisting conditions, is almost an impossibility. Tho doctor as a rulo has his specific for disease when it appoars, and tho knowledge aud skill which he has at conunaud and uses in emergency aro fortunately at the disposal of those who sull'or ;

but the doctor, it should be remembered, is not infallible, and there aro circumstances which tend to stimulate disease *and sometimes cause death, which ho cannot always control. In the larger centres of population these circumstances are minimised as much as possible, and when disease appoars there the doctor, aided by tho improved

conditions, is in a much better position to stamp it out than ho could possibly bo in the circumstances that are inevitable here at present. Let us cite an oxample of what we mean. It is a recognised fact that amid insanitary surroundings successful operation are impossible, and to achieve success it is not enough to sprinkle round a few ounces of formalin or to wash the lloors with antiseptics, and complete success demands the best possible surroundings as woll as the best appliances and skill. Here in our local operating theatre we have the skill and most of the appliances; but some of the necessary ones are wanting. In it, for instance, there is no sterilizer

nor aseptic furniture, and the operator and tho patient alike have to trust to luck for the successful result of the operation. That being the case, it is a matter of absolute wonder that our enquiries have elicited the eminently satisfactory information that of fifteen abdominal operations performed in the local hospital during the past year not one death has occurred, That in itself is a magnificent testimonial to the medical staff; but it gives no cause for a feeling of false security that that record can be continued unless every possible means are at the disposal of the surgeons to guard against possible inoculation. Another serious disadvantage is the limitation in the number of wards which compels surgical cases to be treated alongside medical ones, and the delirious fever patient to be couched alongside one requiring absolute rest and. quiet. It seems hardly creditable that such a state of things should be permitted to exist; but yet it is so, and again the medieahstaff is placed at a disadvantage. The very first and urgent care of the Hospital Board should be to have separate wards set apart for male and female surgical cases, and for male and female medical cases, and until that is done a grave responsibility rests upon the shoulders of the Board, Then for the diagnosis of disease a most excellent microscope has been provided ; but its actual value is almost nil until a bacteriological laboratory is provided with incubators so that cultures can be propagated and properly examined for the propor identification and treat" ment of diseases. Without them both the surgeon and the physician are largely groping in the dark, aud their work is necessarily uncertain, whereas with them certain diagnosis can be obtained aud the proper remedies applied. The Board may jib at the expense, but what is the expense compared with the saving of even one life ? Everyone applauds the work of the doctor and the nurse, when they are successful especially, and here is the chance to show some practical sympathy with their laudable work. But we have not yet pointed out how the

work of the profession may be lessened. That it can be done there is not a shadow of doubt; but it can only be done by the strictest attention to sani** tary laws which every individual member of the community must exercise. We have spoken of the dangers to health that lurk everywhere, and it needs no prophetic genius or bacteriological skill to foresee what is likely to happen when drains or pipes are being laid a year or two hence. The thought of it makes one almost shudder, and if we escape an epidemic then it will be more by good luck in weather conditions than anything else ; but the job will have to be tackled, and in the' meantime a study of sanitation is as necessary as our breakfasts are to the preservation of health.