physically and spiritually. The same observation is true in respect of the theologian, or religious teacher; he is not properly qualified-though he may be ordained and pronounced so to be by the schools-if he possess not a thorough knowledge of man's whole nature in health and disease, and is able to approach the subject inductively and to minister to him understandingly. He might lose some of his mystic, reverent, and impressive character, to his advantage, we think, by being thus qualified; but ultimately his influence would be greatly augmented for good among all classes. "The truth is so lovable," said Plutarch, "that it has only to be known to be embraced." It needs no mannerisms to increase its attractions, nor appeals to the unknown and Unknowable. The ancient leaders of opinion sought to unite these two functions, the physician and teacher, for of a truth they are one and should be so regarded. The priest-physicians of the temples and Asclepiadæ among the ancient Greeks, and the Egyptians, too, who were their seniors, possessed a knowledge of medicine-crude, of course, but such as was possible at those times, and cared for the sick; and if they made use of charms, amulets, prayers, and magic to effect their purpose upon the ignorant and credulous, it does not become us to criticise them for such superstitious indulgences, for they had the superstitious to deal with. The tabernacles, synagogues, and temples among the ancient Jews were devoted to the same excellent purpose; the priests were the reservoirs of such medical knowledge as was known, and administered to the infirm and sick. It is evident that the great lawgiver of the Jews, during his career of forty years among the Egyptians, acquired a knowledge of their system of government and jurisprudence, and of their method of treating diseases. To the Jews he brought this knowledge, and ultimately instituted the Egyptian form of government among them; and it must be confessed that, so far as hygiene was concerned, the laws and regulations of Moses could not be improved upon to-day as far as they go, except in a few minor particulars. Except in the practice of the art and the science of Surgery, which has been perfected in modern times, it is a question if the Mosaic system of caring for the sick is not the better one. It was a salutary check on the greed of gain since it was not a business. Under the present system, the love of money has infected the professors of medicine, with the effect of making the profession more a business than a high call of duty and humanity, regulated by the rules of trade with its arts and tricks for spoils and profits, rather than the love of doing good and serving the unfortunate, in the hope of emoluments. Under the impetus for spoils, Medicine has been split up into a variety of specialisms, in the practice of which great fortunes are often won. It is true that greater skill and proficiency are acquired by the specialist in his department, but it is at the expense of the family physician, and the dignity and standing of the profession. Under the old régime, caring for the unfortunate, ill, and afflicted was in the hands of the priest-physician, who was removed by his position from the need or desire of gain. His profession was, therefore, no source of profit to him, and he did not batten on the woes of mankind and have an interest in extending them. Moreover, under the modern method of caring for the ills of humanity, an illogical distinction is made between moral and physical ills, when, as a matter of fact, for the most part, they are intimately associated. This leads to a great waste of money and energy. The temples and churches as now conducted are places of luxury and edification, built and maintained at great cost to the people. The moral and religious pabulum which is dispensed by their pastors and teachers does not fully meet the requirements, as centuries of experience have shown, and it is not worth what it costs. It is well, of course, to keep before the people the fine precepts of Jesus and the laws of Moses; but every intelligent person knows that there are a thousand laws of God written on the tablet of every sensitive heart besides those of the Decalogue. One can keep every command in the Decalogue and yet be the greatest sinner in Christendom. The institutions of old, the temples and Asclepiada of ancient Greece and Egypt, were conse crated-not to God, who had no need of them, but to the people: a larger polity would consecrate the churches of Christendom to humanity, and especially to the sick-poor, the weak and infirm, more especially to those who suffer disease, deformity, and death in service of the state and the industries of society. They could still remain places where pulpit oratory, essay dissertations, and music could be heard and enjoyed; but their function should be enlarged so as to embrace not only ministering to the sick, the oppressed, and afflicted, not with empty sympathy, the spoken word, the consolations of religion, prayers, layingon-of-hands, but more by counsel and substantial helpfulness; also by instruction in the conditions of sanity of body and mind, to the end of prevention of disease and other ills due to ignorance and folly. Far be it from us to discredit the value of the kind word fitly spoken, the open hand, and the encouraging smile of hope and cheer to the sick, the suffering, and despairing; or the helpfulness of religious exercises and prayer: not that they possess remedial virtues; but rather that they furnish conditions for self-helpfulness, the all-healing powers within us-leading the sanative and curative forces of the organism away from the trammel of depressing emotions, and diverting them into proper and higher channels of activity, channels more conducive to convalescence. All know how beneficent the effect of this procedure. is upon the sick or care-worn, and especially upon the needlessly helpless and depressed; but it would not be justified by the fact of convalescence in any of these numerous cases to conclude that a miracle had been wrought, or that any supernatural or supernormal agency had been interposed. The agent of cure was within, in the physis (quats) of Hippocrates. The conditions and directions of its activity were supplied; Nature did the rest. Nature in man, be it observed, has a great store of reserve forces posited in the cerebro-spinal and sympathetic systems, held in reserve, like the prudent general or superintendent that she is, on which to draw in emergency cases, as is so often shown in instances of so-called miraculous recoveries from apparent imminent death. Primitive man, as will be seen in the following chapter, attributed all instinctive acts, and even the thoughts that came into consciousness, to God, or the gods. Hence the origin of the healing art was traced to them. When an animal was observed exercising the instinct of forethought or prevision, it was the inspiration of the gods. To them all intelligence below reason was of God or the gods. Hence they attributed the origin of Medicine to them, because all primitive creatures possessed the attribute of correcting or healing their wounds and maladies. Such powers were associated with the "All-Heal." Hippocrates called that principle physis (quois); and he also |