solely for their faults, as too many do to whom criticism has the one signification of condemnation and never anything like laudation. It does not seem to captious critics that the examination of a work may result in the praise of its good qualities as much as a fair statement of its defects. It is only the vainglorious carping criticaster, with the most superficial knowledge of the subject of his attempted criticism, who spends his time fruitlessly in writing what the author had not said or should have said, whom he failed to quote, and why he did not mention A and B. whose works in reality had no pertinence whatever to the subject of the review; or he goes to the opposite extreme and praises another work which happens to be worthless.

The competent young reviewer takes into account human fallibility and is not too ready to accept a mere opinion, even when given by one high in authority, unless it be based on a rational interpretation of well authenticated facts which alone are of scientific value. Every student of literature and science knows how difficult it is to form a correct judgment of the merits of written or printed productions even after repeated examinations, and that fair, unbiased, just criticism is never easy even to the experienced reviewer when he makes the best use of that refined discernment which is able to seize the beauties of a poem or of lofty prose, and to distinguish the perfect from the mediocre, the noble from the sublime, and find for each its rightful place. The fairest reviewer then is he who knows thoroughly well the subject of his review,

and who is blessed with clear perceptions, good sense, superior literary taste and sound judgment.

A young medical man asked "at what time in the career of a physician may he begin the special study of diseases of particular organs or regions of the body?" This question, so often asked, has been answered in the same spirit and substantially in the same letter as the following:

The physician, after five years of general practice of medicine when he will have had ample opportunity to observe the divers phases of many diseases, and to acquire due skill in their diagnosis and treatment, may, if his inclination be toward specialism, begin the closer study of disease of some particular organ, apparatus, or region of the body. During this second period of five years, while still engaged in the special study, he should continue his general practice which would have the good effect of hindering the too sudden decrease of his field of observation, and also serve to fit him all the better to confine his labors to the restricted new field without danger of mental coarctation. At the end of the second five years, that is to say, ten years after graduation, he may safely exclude all patients affected with diseases other than those to which he is giving special attention. So that, according to the views of Doctor Storer, the successful specialist must first have been an especialist who is a physician in general practice that gives especial attention to the diseases of some particular organ, apparatus, or region of the body. This, of course, would be during the second five years, or later, of practice when he could continue for an indefinite time

as an especialist, or devote all his energies to the study and treatment of the diseases of a particular organ, apparatus, or region of the body and thus be a pure specialist; his clients, at first, coming from colleagues who are general physicians, and later, as his reputation for skill is extended, also from sufferers who have been under his

care.

On this subject of specialism, sentiments worthy of serious consideration are contained in Doctor Flint's address on "Medicine of the Future," and are now quoted for the benefit of young specialists:

"The unavoidable subdivision of medical literature and medical instruction into special departments makes necessary, to a certain extent, specialism in the practise of medicine. It is certain that this will not lessen, but increase, in the near future; and it is important to think of possible emergencies which are even now foreshadowed. Specialism conduces to the advancement of knowledge. It behooves us, however, to consider, were the practice of medicine to be given up to specialists, what would become of the medical profession. With due appreciation of services devoted to special branches of medical knowledge, there are tendencies pertaining to the practice of a specialty that should not be overlooked ... the danger of

what may be called professional demoralization

A dangerous tendency is to such a limitation to a specialty as will lead to withdrawal from the common interests of the profession. A medical specialist should not thereby, in his sentiments and conduct, be any the less a physician;

the honor, dignity, and usefulness of the profession, as a whole, should be as sacred in his estimation as if he were not a specialist. If the effect of specialism be otherwise, alas for the medical profession of the future, as regards the respect of others and the self-respect of its members!"

The same young physician propounded the following question: "What are the best ways for a busy physician to prevent his becoming narrow, conceited, and arrogant?”

There is no hope whatever of bettering the mental and moral status of the narrow, conceited, arrogant, ignorant boor who styles himself a physician and assumes superiority over all others, for he is a true type of the congenital charlatan who would not if he could alter his ways. But the honest busy physician, too much occupied to emerge from his mental shell, is likely, at length, to realise that self-sufficiency is hardly becoming and that he must make a radical change in his habits and begin to give more attention to the doings of others and thus to profit by that wholesome attrition which will soon smooth his mental asperities and which he will find in the medical societies where he will be continually learning some good and useful things, where he will discover that there are many who know quite as much as he does, and others that are his betters in medical lore. He will then fully appreciate how becoming is true humility in science, and how necessary it is to the increase of knowledge. With the help of a brother physician he will soon be rid of his sour mental and physical dyspepsia, become really cheerful, go among his friends to show that he has foresworn solitude, take to

smoking good cigars, to reading entertaining works of fiction, and even to reading medical journals like any other plain unpretending physician, lest he degenerate, as he had been warned, into a veritable modern Doctor Akakiaself-satisfied, safe, stupid, harmless; forgetting nothing learned at college, but obstinately refusing to adopt new methods.

The propounder of the question doubtless had encountered some unfortunate, untutored medicaster afflicted with the peculiarities which he so aptly characterized, and therefore thought that a remedy or, at least, preventive measures might be suggested for the benefit of those threatened with the infirmity. But the affection is generally congenital and gives little or no promise of cure. However, in some sporadic cases of great acuity, the malady may be nipped in its budding stage or, at least, relieved, by the means already indicated. It is not unlikely also that the inquirer was led to ask the question after reading the account, by Athenæus, of the Syracusan Menecrates who had given himself airs as being, by his skill in medicine, the only person who could cause men to live, and compelled all who came to be treated by him of epilepsy, then called the sacred disease, to enter into an agreement that if they recovered they would be his slaves. And so they followed him wherever he went,all attired in the style of divers gods and demigods, whilst he personated Jupiter, shod with slippers, clad in purple, having a golden crown upon his head, holding a scepter, and thus going about with his chorus of gods. He once wrote to