A Bit of the Truth.

Manawatu Herald, 13 June 1899, Page 3

A Bit of the Truth.

-♦ The most pertinent and startling queation ever asked is this :-r-" What is truth . " A Koman Governor propounded it once, under circumstances which greatly worried and perplexed hia official mind. And he ira_ not the first man or lhe last— not by myriads, So far as I know there has been no satisfactory answer. Some people (radicals and oome-outera of varioua sorts) fancy tbat in this, the tail end of a rather braggart and conceited century, they have flushed a fair-sized covey of truths by firing speculative shotguns into every wayside bath and bog. But have they done it? No, gentle reader no. They have put up crows and sparrows the same crows that picked the bones of the cave dwellers, in the timo oi Pilate. There were plenty of foo's of old, and there are plenty now. The ancient doctors indeed, perscribed some horrible stuffs as medicine :— they used viper's flesh and recommended pomegranate seeds for toothache because those seeds resemble human teeth. Very shallow and silly, to be sure, this sounds to us. But if you wanted to find things that oome very near matohing them in modern practice, I could show I you where to look. On my table I have a list of about 300 " remedies *' introduced to a suffering world within the past twelvemonth. " Must be some good ones among them," do you say? Possibly. Time will tel!. Meanwhile let us stick to what we are sure of. "We learn how to cure diseases," said Celsus. "by experience, not by reasoning," ••Some of .the greatest truths in medicine," said a learned Scotch doctor, came by the humb'est means ; not by synthesis or venesection, but by . the observations of peasants and the experiments of motherly women." Concerning a medicine discovered by one suoh woman, thousands of stories have been told and letters written. Here is an example: — " For many years I have suffered from indigestion and weakness. I seemed to have no energy for anything. I had a poor appetite, and what little food I ate caused me violent pains at the chest and between the shou ders. Frequently I had attacks of giddiness, and when I stopped I suffered from an unnatural rush of blood to the head. The pain which I was called upon to bear was often very severe ; it affected all pans of my body, and at night I got little proper and refreshing sleep on account of it. " As time went on and the complaint grew fixed upon me, I came to be excf eding'y weak, and now and again was ob iged to take to my bed. I lost flesh and and became guit 1 thin, living, as I did, only on milk, beef tea, and other kinds of liquid food. It wiil be understood, of course, that I had medical care, besides attending the South London Dispensary. Yet I j receivod no benefit from what was done for me. I "It happened that in January, 1789, a friend, Mr Pollen, to d me he had suffered in a litcilr, manner and had been cured by a remedy called Mother Seige 's Syrup. Acting on his suggestion I got a, bottle, and after having taken it I found great relief. Presently my, appetite returned and food no longer distressed me. Convinced that Mother Seigel's Syrup \\ as adapted to my ailment I continued the use of it until it was no 'onger needed. My health and strength were re-established, and I have since been well. This medicine had done vrii&t no others had been able to do. My husband, who suffered from biliousness, used it with th» same result. You bave my free conse- 1 to publish this brief statement if you deßire to do so." — (Signed) Mrs Julia Mossey, 133, Lorrimore Road, Kennington, London, S.E., January 20th, 1898. There is no royal road to the disoovery of truth or knowledge. Anybody may find it anywhere. It is not always he who seeks that finds. Valuable discoveries are usually* made by what, for lack of a better word, we call accident. The medicine that cures is the medicine we want no matter whether it is o'd as t h e earth or was picked up yesterday in the field by a child. The Mother Seigel's Syrup cures is proved by a cloud of witnesses, lt is a bit of the truth. Therefore it will not die out, and nothing can take its plaae. — __■■ *^*m ■—- ««*^