SOME VIEWS OF THE DOCTOR.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 455, 10 April 1912, Page 7

SOME VIEWS OF THE DOCTOR.

WHEN THE GOLDEN AGE OP HEALTH ARRIVES, It would be foolish to deny that some members of the public dislike as (doctors), and these unusual persons form an interesting group. Among them are they who talk of medical priestcraft, and of the tyranny of doctors, saying that our profession is a ring, a narrow and close trade union. They affirm that, many of us are ignorant, conceited, averi;ious, downright unscrupulous ; that we experiment on hospital patients and perform unnecessary operations for the hope of big fees or for the sheer delight of showing on" ; that we run after fads, go mad over vaccines and sera, and are neglectful of bedside observation ; that we call everything appendicitis ; that we arc indifferent to the real hindurances in the way of national health, and are absurdly afraid of quite harmless or even beneficient germs.

They look forward, some of them, to a Golden Age, within measurable distance, when vaccination will be abolished, and "sanitation" shall put an end to epidemic diseases ; they proclaim the saving efficiency of exercise, fresh air, wholesome food, personal cleanliness, well-drained and well-ventilated houses, and a quiet mind ; and they do not see the unkindness of thus proclaiming to the poor what fun it will be when there is no more poverty.

They do believe, some of them, that the world some day will get well and keep well by a sort of natural instinct, and a s it were of itself, without "'poisonous drugs," and without "the surgeon's knife." There will be no great need, in the Golden Age, of our services ; we shall still be a fairly honest craft, to De employed in times of especial dificulty, hut not more than that.— Stephen Page, in the "Hospital."