The Evening Mail. FRIDAY, MAY 17, 1878.

Oamaru Mail, Volume III, Issue 636, 17 May 1878, Page 2

The Evening Mail. FRIDAY, MAY 17, 1878.

' b'T.vNii'H. i!»e win ■ j created such a stir in DuiitJni by somejv. iiT't interfering with the "" practices ;m.l fossilised rations of a sictioii o? its niedk-al men. left for the North yesterday, aft- r having spent three duys in Uiuiiaru. Di-.ring that abort space of time he was wr.itL-J upon liy nearly a dozen of our townspeople v. ho are alilicted witn deafii'. s.-;. and, although pronounced beneficial results could scarcely be expected to show chemselvts so soon, we were glad to hear ;ion;e of the Doctor's patients bearing testimony to the fact that they have ahvady felt some benefit, and speaking in a hopeful manner of recovery. We see ( rio reason v.hy Professor Stanich's Oamaru patients should not be appre- . etably benefited by that gentleman':; treat- , nunt. and tiiere is just as little reason ■ why the jealousy of the medical fraternity . should be excited against him, as it was ; in Dunedin. In that city there are medical men of the old school whose cast-iron t notions will not admit of their imbibing j a knowledge of the improvements which j: are daily occurring in the science they j ' profess to understand. Anything out of j t the beaten track meets with their disap- j f

"man or an to poach on learnt their business thirty years\ or so. ago, and, being -well groiiJjfl e d ir.- its various branches, were the Recipients of certificates to that effect. Any man whose ideas are at variance withA] le irs—who comes to Gtago with a minjf well stored with a knowledge of the advance which his pro fession has made, and who has carefully studied a particular branch of the physician's art, and is prepared to bring to bear in his practice the experience and ability of the greatest medical men of the day—is ■> charlatan : notbccause he knows nothing, >:t because hi 3 ideas are not in consonance with petrified notions of men who treat all diseases of the ear in a hit-or-miss fashion. 2sow-a-days, it is almost an impossibility for any one man, let liini be never so well adapted for it, to become well versed in every branch of the medical man's profession ; and few men attempt to do so who wish to make their mark in the world. Some men, such as Critcheit, Jonathan Hutchinson", and Professor Graeff of Berlin, made the eye their special study, and the result lias been that those who were blind, and would have remained so till their dying day had they been necessitated to rely upon ordinary practitioners for a cure, now see, greatly to the astonishment of the devotees of the old school, who look on as amazed as though they had beheld the performance of miracles. No medical uiancouldsfjueczj into an ordinarylifetimc a perfect- of all the brandies of his profession. His system would succumb to the undue strain put upon his intellect; but a man may choose one branch, and by careful study obtain a perfect mastery over it. Professor St.wkii has studied the aural art, and, judging from the thousands of testimonials from grateful patients, we believe that he understands nis profession. It he does—and we think there is no room for doubt oil the subject

—what we arc going to write, should possess some weight. Before leaving Oamaru, the Doctor called upon us and left a legacy—not so much money, but knowledge which may prevent consequences that could not be remedied by mines of gold or silver. In speaking of the numerous causes of deafness, he said that one of the most fertile was that of boxing and pulling children's ears. With regard to the former, what adult i.s there who has experienced the sensation of what is popularly called a "box in the ear" in his or her childhood that cannot even now call vividly to miml the conseq'.ient shock. e are informed that it is not only a shock in sensation, but one in reality; and it frequently deranges an organ which is quite as delicate in its construction as the eye, and sows the seeds of deafness, which is too fro'ir.uiitij* incurable. Lat th>>3o parents who are in the habit of ou.xing tiie ears of their own children, and those school teachers who box the ears of other people s children, t'esist fr.mi so cruel and thoughtless a practice. Jud ication cannot be too highly prized, bir. it may be rendered abortive by such a mode of punishment. How many cases of deafness might not a school teacher produce who had say a hundred or so children under his or her care, and how many lives rendered burdensome and miserable. Even if the Doctor has performed no other good service in coming to Oamaru, the hint which he has enabled us to give should prove invaluable.