dition, and is of immediate public interest. The man who conquers a dangerous disease or who performs a difficult surgical operation needs no other endorsement. Unless he allows avarice to draw him into a practise more extensive than his constitution will bear, he will have a fair degree of leisure for liberalizing his mind by the study of subjects outside of bis particular sphere. The history of modern times no less than that of antiquity offers many examples of medical men whose interests were almost coextensive with those of mankind. That the physician, the investigator, the philosopher and the litterateur may be happily blended in one person is finely illustrated by the latest, though it is to be hoped not the last, volume either of the man or of his kind, the 'Aequanimitas' of Dr. Osler.
No one who is acquainted with human nature will be surprised when he learns that the class of medical practitioners known as 'quacks' flourished among the comparatively enlightened Greeks of ancient times. Often, however, the quack is one who strives after results by a method that has been tabooed by the corporation to whose regulations it is assumed that he ought to have subscribed. Though he is an outlaw, before the tribunal of mortals he may be just as good as if he were an in-law. That mysterious and apparently inscrutable part of our being known as the nervous system has always presented problems which medical practitioners have been unable to solve. Why should not a faith-cure be as legitimate as any other cure, provided it is genuine? And there have been faith-cures time out of mind. When persons can not control their own imaginations, the task would seem to be doubly difficult for any one else. Often the most important part of the physician's business is to arouse in his patient the will to get well, and whatever will accomplish this can not be stigmatized as fraud. When hope is lost all is lost. I have known not a few persons who died because they did not want to live or were at least indifferent; and probably an equal number who materially lengthened their lives by the mere determination not to die. My attention was drawn to this phase of pathology many years ago by a curious incident that came under my observation when I was a mere lad. I did not hit upon the explanation until long afterwards. I have seen the same thing repeated many times since then. A vender of medicaments of his own concoction used to visit our neighborhood about twice a year. One day as he was driving along he began to feel unwell, and, contrary to the proverb that doctors never take their own medicines, picked from his chest a vial containing what he believed would afford him relief, and drank some of its contents without looking at the label. Having occasion shortly afterward to leave his wagon to visit one of his customers, it occurred to him that he had drunk from a bottle containing a strong poison. He at once began to feel very sick. A sort of stupor
