The difficulty of obtaining competent counsel in the country can only be
fully comprehended by the intelligent physician who has had experience
therein.
From Dr. Richmond's "_Scenes in Western Practice_," I have selected the
following lamentable incidents, which I have abbreviated as much as is
consistent with the facts, related by the doctor, who in this case was
called to a wealthy and influential family, two of whom, wife and child,
were prostrated by epidemic dysentery.
"As my credit was at stake, an old and very grave man was, at my
suggestion, added to the consultation, to guard our reputation from the
usual visitation of gossiping slander that always follows a fatal result
in the country. He examined the child, and gave his opinion that the
symptoms resembled those of ipecac!... But death was ahead of the doctors,
and the little sufferer passed quickly away to a better world.
"Another child had died in the vicinity, and the _neighbors_ decided on a
change of doctors for the lady. By my consent the inventor of the
'Chingvang Pill' was called, as I assured my friend his wife would now
recover without either of us!
"He came, and readily detected the fact that he was in luck. His patient
and fees were both safe, and I was floored.
"'Of course, Dr. R., you will call when _convenient_,' was a polite way of
'letting me down easily,' and I did call.
"Everything went on swimmingly for two days, when suddenly the scale
turned; two other children were taken vomiting bile and blood. The doctor
was in trouble, and on my friendly call his eye caught mine, and spoke
plainly, 'My credit, too, is gone,--the children will both die.'
"The children grew rapidly worse; the council of the _neighborhood_
decided to call further aid. Another regular was called, and, being one of
the heroes, he advised (it is solemn truth, dear reader) _one hundred
grains of calomel at a dose_! His reason was, that he had given it to a
child, and the patient recovered. His medical brother thought it a little
too steep, and they compromised the matter by giving fifty grains! Copious
quantities of fresh blood followed the operation, and the little victim of
disease and quackery slipped from his suffering into the peaceful and
quiet grave!
"One patient remained, and it was decided to call further counsel.
"A simple but shrewd old quack was curing cancers in the neighborhood, who
sent word to the afflicted family that he 'could cure the remaining child
by cleansing the bowels with pills of butternut bark, aloes, camphor, and
Cayenne pepper;' he would feed the little fellow on twist-root tea that
would at once stop the discharges. Strange as it may seem, the wily old
fool was called into the august presence of three M. D.'s, and a score of
other counsellors. He gave his pills; fresh blood followed the raking over
the inflamed and sensitive membrane; the child screamed with torture, and
was only relieved from its horrible agony by enemas of morphine. The
celebrated '_twist-root_' (an Indian remedy, whose virtues could not be
appreciated by the educated physician) followed, and death closed the
scene.
"The old cancer-killer escaped by saying the morphine given in his absence
_killed the child_."
[Illustration: 'OPATHISTS IN CONSULTATION.]