DOCTOR} ENTRE NOUS liversity of Californif Southern Regional Library Facility Short Stories JAMES BAYARD CLARK UCSB LIBRARY y/ui^c^t^c. DOCTORS- ENTRE NOUS Short Stories By JAMES BAYARD CLARK Illustrations by JOSEPH ST. AM AND Published by THE MEDICAL TIMES COMPANY New York Copyright, 1922 By JAMES BAYARD CLARK Printed by L. MlDDLEDITCH Co. New York, N.Y. DOCTORS^ ENTRE NOUS Acknowledgment is made to The Medical Pickwick for permission to bring these stories out in book form Contents PAGE 1. An Unlocked For Conclusion ... 7 2. How Dr. Jones Came Back - 23 3. The Narrow-Minded Layman - 46 An Unlocked for Conclusion THAT THE MEDICAL PICKWICK should have sent me a pressing and personal note request- ing me to write some account for its columns, and that I should have received this note the very day after I had attended, with a group of the med- ical officers from the Base Hospital, a meeting of the Norris County Medical Society in the city near- by, seems like a happening touched with a little something more than mere coincidence. To begin with, it was impossible for the editor of the Pickwickian publication to have foreseen what was to occur at this meeting (even if he were aware that such a meeting was to be held), just as it was impossible for him to know what did occur when he wrote to me, for his letter ante-dated by several days this particular gathering ; so I still say it seems more than an ordinary coincidence. From almost the beginning of the meeting my mind was constantly assailed by the thought that I was not living through a present-day experience at all ; but what was going on about me was no more or less than a speaking likeness of some epoch of Charles Dickens's matchless imagery. I even rec- ognized some of his characters, but out of respect to the profession they go unnamed. I could not refrain from whispering to one of 7 An Unlocked for Conclusion my companions, at the time, that I was certain the ghost of Dickens was directing this occasion and, then, on the following morning came this note from Mr. Pickwick, as it were, directing me to make a contribution to his paper. So I will try and write, as faithfully as I can, the account of that evening. When the Norris County Medical Society sent an invitation to the Base Hospital of this great canvas covered camp to send one of its surgeons to read a paper before the members of that society and to enter into discussion with said society, it was cheerfully and sincerely accepted. The Chief of the Surgical Service was chosen and he selected, in good time, his subject for reading and discussion. So, when the evening arrived, some fifteen or twenty of the Base Hospital staff went along with Major Dizern, who was to read the paper before the society. With military promptitude we presented ourselves at eight o'clock on the seventh floor of the Chess Building and at the door of the Norris County Medical Society Club rooms. In general character and appearance these club rooms were like hundreds of others the country over, just as were the medical men therein. I had been in many such, but the past year and a half, spent in the clean fresh air of camp life, made the smoke-ladened and breathed-over air of the place seem less agreeable than is within the scope of ordinary descriptive terms. Hospitality in our hosts was not lacking, 8 An Unlocked for Conclusion and, after some introductions, it was said that the meeting was to be "called to order." The society members, most of whom were in apathetic little groups here and there, faced somewhat more in the direction of the Chairman's table while that func- tionary moved forward and at the same time the small company of officers took their seats near the center of the room. By the time the Chairman and President of the Norris County Medical Society had reached his place of distinction at the center of the table and, with considerable dignity, seated himself, the mem- bers and guests were in their places. At his right, and sitting at the end of the table, was the female member of the Norris County Medical Society, and she evidently was also its recording secretary a person of perhaps fifty odd and presenting a rather pleasing and decidedly better cared-for appearance than most of her fellow members. Why a woman wants to vote or be a doctor is generally pretty hard to understand. This lady, however, who seemed entirely feminine and amiable, gave no special outward evidence of why her natural womanly course had been deflected and why she had taken up the males' duties in this vicinity, until your glance passed over the males themselves; if she did it for that reason, then she was a noble woman. As the President, with true presidential poise, fingered the gavel and cast his eyes over the assem- 9 An Unlocked for Conclusion bly, a little space of time was furnished to gather in a few more impressions of those who practiced the art of healing in this community. Just as it is impossible to tell how far a toad can hop by its color, so it would be equally unfair to pass too hasty a judgment on the professional ability of the members of the Norris County Medical So- ciety from just looking at them. Yet, as the eye traveled from those rows of erect, clear-skinned, well-nourished, bright-eyed, alert Medical Officers to the poor-conditioned "members," perched in varying attitudes about the room, it was difficult to down some of the more obvious conclusions fur- nished by what the scientists call "comparative study." At that moment, however, this little study was brought to a sharp finish, for with a wholly unexpected vigor the president brought his gavel down upon the table with a resounding bang. Whether most of the members were deaf or whether he was not quite sure everybody knew he was 10 An Unlocked for Conclusion president, was hard to tell ; but his expression as he committed that violence to the table was in entire keeping with one in very high office. As he rose slowly to his feet, the mallet still vibrating in his hand, a welcome on behalf of the society, so he said, was extended to the visiting Medical Officers of the Army Camp their city en- tertained upon its outskirts. When he had gotten entirely upright and in fitting presidential attitude, he called attention (the Medical Officers' attention) to the depleted ranks of his own society; how a very considerable number, those who could best be spared, had gone, how others, had it not been for the limit of age, or the pressing necessity of the community or, as in a number of instances among the younger men, an expected addition to the family, or an ailing aunt who depended on them or some other fortuitous circumstance had frustrated their "hopes" of joining the Army. The next subject the president touched on was a proposal to the members of the society to show any cases. This was followed by a thinking spell. Were there any reports of cases ? Another thinking spell, even longer than the first, was finally followed by a little presidential persuasion, which finally brought one of the young members to his feet. He reported a case. After another period of mental searching, someone evidently concluded that if the young man could get away with such a case as he reported there was room for another, so member number 11 An Unlocked for Conclusion two rose and commenced the recitation of his case. I cannot remember at all what he said, but he kept on for some little time saying it when number three arose about eight feet away from number two and started to talk about his case. When number three commenced, someone whispered in my ear that that was Dr. Stayon, their surgeon, who limited his practice to nothing but surgery. I said I was glad to hear it was limited. When the speakers were both going nicely, I stole a glance at our of- ficers' row, but not an eyelid flickered as they sat at attention. If the president noticed anything in the way of a slight parliamentary prolapse, he made no comment on it, and perhaps he was wise, for it was very soon evident (though neither speaker seemed to be aware of the other's presence) that number two showed signs of running down while, on the other hand, Dr. Stayon, with apparent unconsciousness, seemed to be getting a better foot- ing. He was a rather tall and oldish man with a little thin, flat hair pasted down above a little thin flat face, who seemed to have difficulty in giving birth to more than three or four words a minute, or at least that was the impression his speaking gave me. By this time it was all over with number two who sat down without anyone in the world paying the slightest heed to him. Even Dr. Stayon was seemingly unaware of his eclipse. There was no resentment anywhere evident, even number two seemed to have none. The doctor who limited his practice to surgery 12 An Unlocked for Conclusion kept on quietly delving behind an imaginary duo- denum and somehow could not make clear with the limited number of words his speech area was pro- viding his tongue with, just what he was after there when for a moment or so he stopped entirely. It could presently be seen that something was stirring inside of him. It was soon apparent that it was an idea, for he looked around at the blackboard behind the President's desk; then he moved over to it and picking up a piece of chalk, he applied it very firmly and began what seemed to be intended for a circle, but before he got half way round the much- put-upon piece of chalk broke, and his finger nail was finishing the job with a jarring creak, when he noticed what had happened. The audience, though quiet, was smoking hard. I did not dare look at Major Dizern, sitting opposite me, when he started once more. This time the chalk held, for it wasn't long enough to break again. He finished out the stroke his finger nail had failed on, and made a sur- vey. He had completed a half circle. Then he drew lines below and extending broadly on each side of the crown his chalk had crumbled on. He stood away. He approached again. He had accom- plished a very creditable 13 An Unlocked -for Conclusion outline of a lady's hat; but it could be seen he had not finished, for there was the plume, or the decora- tion or whatever women call the thing they fasten aft or amidship of the crown, to be added, and which he immediately began to supply; and soon it rose above the crown and quite gracefully leaned over to one side a little. I said to myself, "he's having trouble with the feather," although it really looked more like a cucumber. Again he stood away, and I looked at the man next to me who had said he limited his practice to surgery only, but the man was looking at the picture and as Dr. Stayon had commenced to demonstrate his drawing, I turned my attention to the artist. "This," .said the doctor, pointing to the crown, "is the tumor I was telling you of, and this," indicating the brim of the bonnet, "is the loop of intestine to which it was attached" ; and then very slowly, as he brought his forefinger to the cucumber, "this is a large piece of omentum which 'came away' with the specimen." With this he walked back to his chair and sat down. The room seemed very still. Somebody started to wind a watch. I looked at mine, then I looked at the president, but he gave no evidence of any- thing unusual having happened ; in fact, he was just about to speak. "Gentlemen, any discussion on the case of Dr. Stayon?" Short but rather painful pause. "If not, gentlemen, I should like to take upon myself the pleasure of introducing to you Major Dizern, who will read the paper of the evening." Let me say here, that in giving this account of 14 An Unlocked for Conclusion that evening, it is not my intention to make any comment or to criticise in any way the proceedings, but to record as simply as I can what took place. As Major Dizern was called upon he rose promptly in response and came forward. Some- how, as he turned his alert bright face with its glow of health and vitality toward the members, the mental fog which had been settling down on the society seemed suddenly to vanish. But that, of course, may only be an outsider's viewpoint. "The subject I have selected," he said, "is that of 'Local Anesthesia.' " Then with that clean-cut and concise force which is characteristic of all he has to say or do, he drove straight forward to the very heart of his topic. There seemed to be no missing his meaning. After clearly and rapidly reviewing the pioneer work in this field of surgery, he took up the technical side of the subject and told of the elements essential to its success. For a few moments he dwelt on the necessity of a refreshed knowledge of anatomy, of regional anatomy and its nerve trunk relationship, and the distribution of the sensory nerves to be dealt with. He then told of the drugs in use and the manner of using them. After that he gave a brief but brilliant account of all that local anesthesia skilfully used had accom- plished in the mitigation of human suffering and the actual saving of human life. He drove home until there seemed left not the least remnant of reasonable doubt that it was paramount to criminal neglect to use ether and chloroform and the older time methods of general anesthesia in that count- 15 An Unlocked for Conclusion less number of cases where the surgeon, with a little study and little care, could employ a safer and surer way; a way which would not only banish the danger and distress to his patient, but would cut down the period of his post-operative course and put him back to normal in the shortest possible time. With that his paper was ended. Then with that buoyant smile, ever so near the surface with him, he looked across at his audience and said, "Gentle- men, I want to thank you for your kind attention." With that, he returned to his seat. It seemed as if an express train had, on passing through a desolate island stopped just long enough to momentarily break a deadly monotony and leave a little actual food for its starving inhabitants. But my thoughts were soon banished by the president's conventional announcement that the subject was now open for discussion. Before very long one of the "members" rose from a corner. "President and gentlemen," he said, "I want to tell you something of my experience with anesthetics." (He spoke as if after a lifetime struggle, he had finally emerged into the open places.) "Some years ago, I discovered that the bad effect of ether could be completely counteracted. "This I have repeatedly told the members of this society. By the method I employ there is no need to hurry with the operation while the patient is 'under.' I do not now see the nausea and vomiting following operations on my patients. Though I use ether liberally I do not see the nausea and 16 An Unlocked for Conclusion vomiting afterwards." (Some imp in my brain whispered that he was probably at home eating his dinner.) "I have used this method so long that I do not see the use of changing now. My method is this : Before the operation I give my patient a dose of soda bicarbonate of soda." Whereupon he sat down. That was the first contribution to Major Dizern's paper. I looked around just in time to see Major Tall slipping out of the door. The rest of the offi- cers, however, sat tight. The next speaker rose from near the center of the room. It is remark- able how details sometimes stick in the memory. A passerby certainly would not have picked this gentleman as one of the profession. He seemed to be eating an unlit cigar which, as he began speaking, he held in his hand which rested on his protruding waistcoat. "Gentlemen," he said, "I have been much interested in the major's paper be- cause I have tried out one of the preparations of local anesthetics he has mentioned. It was put up by what I supposed was a reputable firm. I used it in fourteen dif- ferent cases and in thir- teen of them the opera- tion was followed by sloughing. ' I should like An Unlocked for Conclusion to inquire of the major if this has been his ex- perience ?" Major Dizern rose to answer this question. "I have had quite a little experience," he said, "in the use of this preparation, but I have not seen the result following its use the doctor speaks of. From what the doctor has told us I am unable to say why the sloughing he speaks of occurred." Presently, after another little Norris County interval of waiting, another of the members got up. I looked in his direction. It was Doctor Stayon would he tell it or draw it on the black- board? I could not help wondering. But he chose the former carrier of thought and launched slowly into the none too clear stream of ideas he had to sail upon; but I lack the temerity to take my reader on that voyage. In brief, the fol- lowing sentiments on the subject under discus- sion (but never actually discussed) may be taken to fairly represent this surgeon's state of mind upon the matter. Yes, he was familiar with the present opinion that a good deal of the routine surgery could be done under local anesthesia ; but it took considerably more of the surgeon's time than he felt able to give to follow this method. Then there was all the added trouble of teaching a staff of assistants new ways. He had started once or twice to institute local anes- thesia as a regular thing in certain cases ; but he guessed he perhaps had been too lazy to pursue it as a regular procedure. Another objection was, that it took a good deal more energy to 18 An Unlocked for Conclusion operate in this way and in the presence of a con- scious patient. "And then one naturally slips back into the old ways one is accustomed to." The time it took to tell this was the time the minute hand takes to cover a little more than half its circuit. Two or three more of the overtired looking members then spoke and, on the whole, rather sided with their anemic colleague who "limited his practice to surgery." Further prodding or persuasion from the presidential seat failed to furnish any additional "discussion." As I look back now, it seems to me that this perhaps was fortunate, for from where I sat I had been well able to study the expression of Major Dizern's face as the debate proceeded. The expression of those features which usually radiated such a friendly sense seemed to have accumulated a look by no means easy to interpret. Something there was which had upset the serenity of that extraordinarily even temper. His was not a nature to take offense at nothing. Yet the gath- ering seriousness of his face foreboded some- thing. Of personalities in the proceedings there were none. What was there, then, that caused the setting of those mental muscles? But the president had risen from his seat and started speaking. "Gentlemen," he said, "you have heard the discussion of the paper." Then, turn- ing to Major Dizern, he said : "Have you any- thing further which you wish to say on this subject?" Major Dizern rose and turned so that 19 An Unlocked for Conclusion he faced all the members of the Norris County Medical Society. He faced them with a level look which somehow lifted the attention on to tip toes. "No," he said, "I have nothing further I wish to say on this subject." After which he paused one might say he stopped, so altogether final did his statement seem ; and yet he still stood where he was with his eyes fastened on his audi- tors. He was no orator; yet it was the orator's arch act to bring to focus every particle of atten- tion, which he unconsciously employed. As he stood there one could feel that emotion which was being held in check ; yet the control was per- fect. "No," he repeated, "I have nothing fur- ther which I wish to say on the subject we have had under discussion." The way he said this reminded one of that stillness which one feels sometimes before the storm. "What is there to say," and this time his voice rang out, "to men who are not fit not physically fit, by their own acknowledgment to march in the progress their profession is making?" The storm had broken. "What use is there to discuss a serious subject, a subject, the importance of which is charged with no less an issue than the saving of human suf- fering and human life, with men who make the acknowledgment that they are too busy to bother or too lazy to learn the way to advance? What use is there for men to pursue the profession of medicine who will not keep themselves physi- cally fit for the fight? Who are poisoning them- 20 An Unlocked for Conclusion selves by tobacco and perhaps alcohol; who are poisoned by over-eating and lack of active out- door exercise? Who let themselves run down and then dare to take on the responsibility of the physician's or surgeon's life, which means the greatest of all human responsibility, and calls for the greatest of all personal sacrifices, and demands the upkeep of the most perfect physical condition?" When he said this last I could not but look at those two rows of well-muscled and all alive medical officers who had gotten from their year or two of Army service the secret of health and hardiness. If the members of the Norris County Medical Society could only see them at sun rise going through their "setting-up" stunts that started their day, how it would help them to understand what Major Dizern was driving at "What right," the speaker was saying, "have men to take the oath to first of all serve the interests of the sick and then straightway turn it to personal profit or, worse, to personal neg- lect?" With that he walked to his chair and seated himself. Never before have I seen or heard of such a conclusion to a medical gather- ing. Nothing, I believe, was further from Major Dizern's mind, when he came that evening, that such would be its ending. I have tried to record what passed without prejudice and have finished my task. After Major Dizern sat down, there was a peculiar silence. The President's tongue seemed paralyzed or, at least, he was unable to furnish 21 An Unlocked for Conclusion a concluding note. The fat man, who had earlier been eating a cigar, stood up; I think someone had poked him from behind. "What what right," he said, "has anyone to criticise the professional conduct of the N. C. M. S.?" He stood there vibrating, as flustered fat men will, and waiting for further inspiration, when the female member of the society, her eyes bright and her cheeks a little flushed, rose to her full height, looking straight at the fat man, and said : "What right? By the right of fair dealing to the patients who trust their lives in our hands. Oh ! I wish I had been a man !" 22 How Dr. Jones Came Back IT looked somewhat, when Captain Jones got out of the service, as if he might not recover his usual pre-war poise and peace of mind. Weeks went by after his return to the bosom of his family and it seemed as if he was never to be the same old happy and capable friend and father again. But he did come back finally, and had it not been so this record of his strange recovery could never have been known or related here. Dr. George Harvey Jones, as he was known in ante-bellum days, was a man among men. Bred of the best stock in one of our larger cities, he had forged his way forward to the leading surgical posi- tion in not only the city, but far wide of it. To those in civil medical practice his scientific attain- ments need not be told. As a man he had certain marked characteristics, for which, by those who knew him well, he was deeply respected and joyfully loved. He was too modest and retiring, besides being too busy, to have a host of intimate friends, but the quality of his professional work assured a broad acquaintance. He was tall and rather slender, with a slight stoop; but it was by the lines of his face which marked for the intelligent student of human nature what manner of man he really was. He was only a little way on in the fifties when the war broke out, though he looked considerably older. This may have been partly due to the thinnish 23 How Dr. Jones Came Back whiskers touched with gray. One needed only a glance to see that his exercise had been largely mental rather than muscular. To the young snap- shot student of men he was rather a queer-looking guy- In his face one who saw, saw first of all an unusual force of character tempered by a rare kindness of nature; and in his eyes a humor which seldom lost the fun of life. This last trait, however, by the time 1917 came upon us, had been almost sunk out of sight by the tragedy of war which none can know or none may feel as deeply as the doctor himself. The shattered frame of youth, the fearful mutilation, the suffering, the dreadful sickness, and the death which is the medical man's part of the war game to do for and deal with, must leave its mark on every sincere and humane surgeon's mind. It must be confessed that in April of 1917, when First Lieutenant Jones sallied forth in a uniform he appeared a rather odd figure. For some years he had been on the books of the Medical Reserve Corps, and this it was that made him available for the first call for physicians. Although he had at- tended for the allotted period of eight days a medi- cal officers' camp a year or two previous, they had not made of him a very snappy military personage. Of this fact, however, he was quite unconscious. What had been impressed on his mind at this camp, though, had been carefully stored away in his brain, and had been made a subject of considerable thought and consequence to him. He had left that camp which had given him his first military inlook with 24 How Dr. Jones Came Back a very strong belief that it was the military surgeon and not the civil surgeon who deserved re- spect for personal sacrifice in the choice of his profession. Here he had become acquainted with a kind of medical man he had not known before. Here were sincere, earnest and scientific men who, thinking nothing of personal ad- vancement, were giving their all of talents to the cause of sanitation and the prevention of illness; who were giving their best of manly service to their country, and all for a pittance, while the civilian doctor drove from house to house collecting large fees in a comfortable automobile. In listening to the lectures of these Medical Of- ficers, Dr. Jones could not know that the entire Medical Corps of the regular establishment was not perfectly reflected by these four or five fine men who represented so well by their own personalities what an Army Medical Corps should be. With avidity he drank up the words of military knowledge and wisdom they poured out. Through their lectures on army discipline his own ideas of faithful obedience to one's commanding officer were crystalized, should one be called on to serve one's country. He idealized that relationship between the superior and inferior officer even to the point of always endowing one's commander with wisdom and real knowledge. He made it his faith. It was with this military equipment Dr. Jones eagerly entered on his service as Lieut. Jones and made ready to rely on the wisdom of any order or on any duty assigned to him. Of rank for himself 25 How Dr. Jones Came Back he gave no thought; that was for those into whose hands he gladly and trustfully gave himself to determine. He knew the grim task which the people of his country had before them and he wanted his share of it. He also knew his share measured by his ability and experience would be no light task or foolish frittering away of time on schoolboy's duties or calisthenic exercises. By his ability as a surgeon he had risen to the foremost rank; by his ability as an organizer he had the building up of one of the most important hospitals in his part of the country to his credit; by his energy and constancy he had accustomed himself to a large daily task. These things he wished his country to have the full benefit of in the hour of her need. And it was these things that filled Lieut. Jones's mind on that bright April morning in 1917, when he received his orders for duty from the War Department. Let us here draw a pall over most of the details of the following two years of military duty as it fell to the share of Lieut. Jones, who later on and before the forces of war were dispersed, became Captain Jones of the Medical Corps. The record will show with what celerity and care each duty assigned to him, no matter how simple or trivial, was carried out. After a few weeks devoted to counting teeth in a recruiting station, under the direction of one of his previous students he was sent to the training camp for doctors. Here he followed out the schedule of daily duties with minute care, devotedly trying to extract from 26 How Dr. Jones Came Back the curriculum some useful bit of knowledge which he might apply later to the cause he had so much at heart. He saw what a splendid thing the en- forced exercise and protracted daily hikes were for the young men in the barracks with him, and he tried to keep his mind as much as possible off the all too obvious results, both immediate and future, involved in running the elderly, fat and wind- broken medical gentlemen up hill and down dale. Of himself he thought not at all, further than to make a mental note of the fact that he remembered he had paid his life insurance up to date. After two months of military polishing and with hardly any physical impairment as a result, the longed-for overseas orders arrived. In due time the little group of medical material of which he was one, found itself in France. They were destined for service with the British forces at the front who were sorely in need of fresh medi- cal replacements. For some reason or other Lieut. 27 How Dr. Jones Came Back Jones felt a gladness which it was hard for him to understand. He loved his country and he had lost no time in placing himself in his country's service where he felt he was best fitted to be of some actual use, and yet this assignment with the British pleased him. But this was no time for the solving of per- sonal problems ; there was work at hand to be done, and he went to it. He got along famously with his new associates. Not that he had failed to get on with the regulars of the Medical Corps at home who had commanded him, for he had. It was for them to do the bidding and for him to fall to, and there had never been the slightest hitch. He somehow or other seemed soon to become great friends with these quiet, apparently indifferent British officers, with whom he was now working shoulder to shoul- der. They somehow seemed to understand each other. He was only a day or two at the rather simple tasks first found for him when they had something more important for him to do. This also was only a transient place, for without seemingly to notice the manner of his work or its results they quietly raised him to more responsibility, which in his simple way of doing things, he as quietly took hold of. It seemed as though these British fellows knew without thinking about it just what this new Lieut. Jones of theirs could do, and they gave it to him and he did it. It was almost three months that he had been with them, these splendid, purposeful, forward plodding, kindhearted, discerning British friends of 28 How Dr. Jones Came Back his for they had really become friends when the orders came which were to see him back with his own people again. When he said good-bye to them he wore the little ribbons which betokened their appreciation of his services while he was with them, but when he got back to the unit and to his people again the ribbons were in his pocket along with the medals they stood for. Somehow he did not know just why he did this. In his new assignment Lieut. Jones had for a time considerable leisure. The hospital which had only recently been set up had hardly begun to func- tion. The young medical officer in command was plotting out this and that kind of treatment while the administrative affairs limped along. There was a tension in the atmosphere of an indefinite charac- ter which was not altogether easy to explain. Two or three majors who had just been taken into the service, and who had held off going in until they were sure of a higher rank, arrived from the other side. One of these young men Lieut. Jones knew, as only a few years ago he had been one of Lieut. Jones's internes in his hospital at home. It was only a few days after this that Lieut. Jones was How Dr. Jones Came Back transferred to another unit; and this time, happily for him, a fairly busy one. It was here that some fate had marked for him a halting place; for here he remained many consecutive months. The young Colonel in command, who had been a Lieutenant in the regular corps when the war came upon our country, was especially keen to try out many methods of surgical care as well at the same time to ad- minister the executive side of the hospital. Others as well as Lieut. Jones saw the future of this plan. It is perhaps best at this point to bridge over any further record of Lieut. Jones's army experiences with but very few words. That he was quickly responsive to all that he was called upon to do. That he faithfully watched for an opportunity where his own initiative could be brought usefully into play. That he was as wholly indifferent to his own comfort or personal advancement as he was entirely possessed to see his country's cause intel- ligently, energetically and economically carried forward. With these things in mind then, the unrest which slowly worked its baneful way into the sensitive soul of First Lieut. Jones can perhaps in part be ap- preciated. But heavy of heart as he was he did his duty and as the British say "stuck it" until the very day of his discharge. Then it was that this curious inhibition seemed to seize hold of him. The reaction had come at last, and when he was free to tell the whole world and his representatives in Congress assembled any- 30 How Dr. Jones Came Back thing he chose, his lips were sealed. His mind seemed to be choked with things he could not say. His family, when he reached them, complained "we cannot get a word of any of his army ex- perience from him." His friends said, "but he will tell us nothing, and we had expected to hear so much." But all saw that he was suffering a mental distress which made the serious business of setting about his private affairs again practically impos- sible. It seemed plain to those about him that there was no personal bitterness or resentment hidden behind this singular restless, dejected state of mind which so utterly unfitted him for a return to work. He even seemed a bit queer, they thought, at times, yet no clue to the real trouble could be gotten from him. His family and friends took counsel together. 31 How Dr. Jones Came Back They were puzzled. They were more they were really anxious. "Let us avoid calling in a doctor if possible," said his wife. What wisdom a physi- cian's wife often shows! For all that, they finally decided to call in Dr. John Ledyard, not so much because he was considered the best psychiatrist in the city, but that he was looked upon as really hav- ing a lot of common sense. Besides he was a close friend of Dr. Jones. When Dr. Ledyard had had a talk with Dr. Jones and gone over his case carefully without having arrived at any further conclusions than everyone else, which was, that it was a "queer case," he came out flatly with the opinion that the patient should have rest and quiet out on a western ranch. Ac- cordingly the details of the journey were made, and arrangements for a shack on the ranch of an ac- quaintance of Dr. Ledyard completed. Mrs. Jones was to go with him, and it was decided to take the boy and girl along, too. When the equipment for outdoor life was got, they were ready to start. Though the patient seemed to take little or no interest in the plans he set up no objections to the project, this once spirited and useful leader who was now being so pliantly led. Dr. Ledyard was at the train to see them off and he promised that at the end of the summer he would run out for a little visit with his old friend. Thus it was that the first step toward the yet un- thought of extraordinary remedy which was to effect Dr. Jones's recovery was taken. 32 How Dr. Jones Came Back While the country through which they traveled, with its bloom of early summer freshness, should have roused the most dejected to joy in merely liv- ing, it left the doctor wrapped in his thoughts and indifferent. A few days after they arrived one would have thought, except for the cut of their outing clothes, that they were quite old inhabitants. Mary and her mother had set immediately to work cleaning and making home-like the little cabin set off at a distant corner of the ranch. Dr. Jones and Fred, his son, had taken over the task of setting to rights the long unused barn a little distance from the cabin, and making the bit of ground around these simple buildings as tidy and neat as possible. They were set up on a little rise of ground which fell off quite sharply to the east of the cabin, and at the bottom of which reached by a path through a bit of woods was a sparkling stream making its winding way along a stony bed. The main build- ings of the ranch, a mile or so away, were hidden from view by a little intervening knoll so that a search in all directions failed to reveal a single habitation. The weather had been perfect and the blue of the distant mountains almost matched the blue of the sky. They were situated just in that interval between the heights far away to the west of them, and the plains off toward the eastward which gave the uneven country patched with forest growth and park-like spaces that sense of wildness, and at the same time a look of cultivation which so often goes with that vast western area. Four or five weeks had slipped by, and who in 33 How Dr. Jones Came Back that crystal atmosphere gazing off on the superb display of nature with all artifice excluded, could willingly think back on such painful scenes as war- ring nations packed full of people and only then cooling off from the heat of conflict; and yet the bent head of the doctor as he sat on the little bench by the cabin door told its story of a troubled and still wounded mind. Mary, who was sitting near by doing some mending and stealing from time to time little anxious glances at her father's silent fea- tures, laid her work aside and exclaimed: "Oh, father! why can't you just tell it all to me?" "Ah, child," he said, "if I only could." Then- after a little silence, "how does that thing of Steven- son's go 'There's so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us' " "Oh, yes," broke in Mary, "I know That it hardly behooves any of us to talk about the rest of us.' " "Yes, yes," he said, "that's it! Stevenson was a fine fellow, but I've no doubt he was thinking of party politicians and newspapers when he jotted down that text. It won't do for my purpose, though no, it won't do for me." He rose heavily and went into the cabin, while Mary, shaking her head slowly, picked up her sewing again. Fred had been gone all day and as the afternoon waned Mary was not surprised to hear in the distance the cowboy's whoop which Fred had adopted. He had started off early in the morning to ride some fourteen miles down to Stay- 34 How Dr. Jones Came Back ville where the little Post Office and store were to see if there were any letters. Though she was not surprised to hear his calls, which were slowly growing closer, there was some- thing in the now petulant, now angry quality of these noises which made her throw aside her work and stand up to see if she could get a glimpse of him coming over one of the little hills where the narrow road lay. It was not long before her search was rewarded, for coming out of a little clump of trees by the road at the foot of their own hill could be seen Fred doubled up in the saddle and backing old Bessie with apparently an effort to get on the road again. It was impossible in just that position for Mary to see him tugging at a rope. Her amaze- ment can partly be appreciated when the sight of a long-eared animal on its haunches, which at the distance did not look unlike a huge rabbit about the size of a pony, came sliding out, as it were, from underneath the trees toward her brother. She ran a little forward, not knowing in her first impulse whether to cry for help or not, when suddenly, and apparently without any reason, the animal got on his four legs and trotted forward, passed Fred and sat down again in the middle of the road. The boy, straightening up and turning his horse, rode on past his companion until the rope became taut again, when he was halted after another short slide by the animal such as the one which greeted Mary's eyes at the first sight of it. After a few minutes of this straining and tugging (Mary could now see the rope) the boy launched another series of whoops 35 How Dr. Jones Came Back intermingled with some of the choicer epithets he had learned from a neighboring ranchman. These methods, however, even when coupled with jerks of the rope, made apparently not the slightest impres- sion. Again, without reason or warning, the animal rose and trotted on. This time Fred was quicker and by keeping the rope slack followed on for a considerable space until the next sitting took place. Then came another slide by the beast, and a few more not over-carefully chosen words from the boy, and the usual wait until at the convenience of his companion another stage in the journey was ac- complished. By the time the travelers in this fashion had gotten almost to Mary, Mrs. Jones had arrived upon the scene to learn the cause of the unusual sounds which had reached her in the cabin. Fred, when he reached them, and with great beads of perspiration falling from his disgusted and tired countenance, delved deep into his pocket. "Here's the mail," he said, as he thrust a crumpled package of letters and papers toward his mother. "But where on earth," exclaimed Mrs. Jones, "did you get that creature?" "Bought him," laconically muttered Fred. "But where?" "Village," said Fred. "What are you going to do with him?" asked his mother. The boy, who had turned around, replied, "Take him to the barn. Is supper ready?" But the answer to this question he did not get, for either it was his casual mention of the barn or 36 How Dr. Jones Came Back for some other utterly unanswerable reason, his four-footed friend made a rush for the building spoken of, and it was all Fred could do to keep from being pulled out of the saddle as he urged the tired Bessie in that direction. Though Mary and her mother had come to expect surprises from the lad, they found it hard to contain their amuse- ment at this last. "Oh, if father had only been his old self," said Mary, "what wouldn't he have given to have seen Fred as he came up our hill." With the mention of the doctor the old look of anxiety returned to Mrs. Jones's eyes, as she drew Mary toward the cabin, saying, "Come, we must look at our letters. Perhaps there will be some- thing to cheer your father up." She said this in a rather hopeless fashion, looking over the package Fred had given her as they walked toward the door. "Oh, here is a letter to me from Dr. Ledyard !" she exclaimed as she stopped to tear it open and eagerly read it. "He says he will be out to see us about the middle of September, and he hopes your father is quite himself again by this time. That is only two weeks off. I'm afraid he will not see much change in his patient, dear," putting her arm around Mary's shoulder, as they started on again toward the cabin. The next day, when they were all seated around the dinner-table about noon, Dr. Jones looked up and addressed his son. "Fred," he said, "what is that animal you 37 How Dr. Jones Came Back brought back with you yesterday? I've been look- ing at him this morning in the barn." "A burro, the fellow said it was," he replied. "Yes, I know, but that isn't what I mean." "Oh, you want to know what a burro is," said Fred. "Well, maybe you could call it the Ford of the horse family, that is, before they put the self- starter into it." His mother and Mary thought they saw some- thing like a smile about the doctor's mouth, when they compared notes later; but Fred's definition after they had seen something of his experience the day before did not tend to make very sober judges of them. "No," the doctor said, "what I wanted to know is, how you came by that animal ?" "Oh, I just bought him, that's all." "Why did you buy him?" "Because the fellow wanted to sell him." "How much did you pay for him?" his father asked. "Three dollars," said Fred. "Has he a name?" "Sure, I named him." "What is his name?" the doctor inquired. "Colonel," Fred jerked out as he got up from the table and lounged toward the door. "Hold on!" shouted his father, and Fred turned around. Mary and her mother both said afterwards they were sure father almost smiled. "Look here," said the doctor, "I'll buy the the 38 How Dr. Jones Came Back I'll buy him from you. Will you take six dollars? That's twice as much as you paid." "I'll take three," said Fred "if you pay me right now." "All right," said his father, taking out his pocket- book and handing the money to Fred. "Now the the animal's mine." "Yes," said Fred slowly, "he's yours now, dad," and he rushed out of the door. The next morning the doctor was up earlier than usual, and it was remarked between Mary and her mother just before dinner time that he had spent a good part of the forenoon in the barn. Three or four days slid by, and it was noticed that the doctor was up early every morning now, besides they somehow thought he seemed to carry himself straighter. No one, however, had noticed the doctor walking out each morning from the barn door which opened away from the cabin, and that with him each morning was the colonel. What took place during this earlier association between the doctor and the colonel must be left to conjecture, for there is no record of it. But it was about this time when Fred was fooling around outside of the barn that his father's voice inside attracted his attention. A large knot in one of the boards of the barn had fallen out and left a hole about on the level with Fred's eye. W r hat he saw inside of the barn made him curious and anxious to stay, but a sense of honor which one would have naturally expected a child of Dr. Jones to have, made him immediately withdraw his eye from the knothole and betake him- 39 How Dr. Jones Came Back self to a log a little distance off, where he sat down to think over the situation. No, he could not spy on his father that way, though he was very curious indeed to understand better what that glimpse had revealed. There was his father leaning back in a little old wooden chair, very much as one might sit in a swivel chair by his desk. There was no desk, however, but a barrel, turned bottom up, served as one, and on this his father was lightly tapping with a pencil he held in his hand. The colonel was stand- ing very still in front of his father and apparently listening attentively to him. After sitting on the log a little while longer and thinking over what he had seen, Fred's curiosity got the better of him, and he made up his mind to go into the barn and take a chance on breaking up the privacy of the interview taking place there. He therefore betook himself around to the barn door, which he pushed open and entered. Fred was rather taken aback by the fact that his father, on seeing him, evinced no apparent surprise. "Come in," his father said, "and close the door. I was just about to make a few remarks to the colonel here, which you, as a citizen and a pro- spective member of the medical profession, might perhaps profitably listen to." As Fred sat down, his father continued, "the colonel and I have after a rather short acquaintance come to a nicety of understanding which is proving most satisfactory." The colonel at this point blinked his eyes and started to lie down and roll over, but a little re- 40 How Dr. Jones Came Back minding tap with the cane the doctor had brought him almost immediately back to "attention." "We have lapses," the doctor said to his son, "but they are growing less frequent." "Now," he said, addressing the colonel, "let us go on with these little daily talks which are proving so mutu- ally helpful. You, as a representative of the regular establishment; as an officer in the Army's Medical Corps, must see that you don't see, in fact, must see that you can't see or never have been able to see; but let that go, it is relatively a small matter. As yet you do not show any signs of understanding why we of the medical profession in civil life went into army service. Now this may surprise you when you know that we really went in as doctors to serve our country, to serve the boys in the camps and in the trenches; and it wasn't at all as you supposed, that we went in to serve you." At this the colonel cooly turned his back to the doctor and raised his tail straight in the air. "Sometimes, Fred," said his father, "I am almost led to believe the colonel gives hardly more than superficial attention to some points which we doc- tors think are quite important. Attention !" shouted the doctor, "About FACE ! Into the army we went, Colonel," continued Dr. Jones after his order had been executed, "and without hesitation or reserva- tion we placed ourselves trustfully and absolutely in your hands." The colonel's right ear dropped down to the side in a curious knowing fashion, and he winked slowly. 41 How Dr. Jones Came Back "Attention !" The ear stood up. "But," the doctor went on, "though we went in with the innocence of a lamb, we came out with the wisdom of a Solomon." The colonel gave a slight shake. "So," said the doctor, "if you should consider reviving the Medical Reserve Corps it might be best to think the matter over first. You will find some doctors who think highly of soldier- ing titles, such as Captain and Major and Colonel; you will find others who think more highly of pro- fessional and scientific usefulness ; but you will find all will be loath to acting as a steed upon which the regular medical corps can ride to higher rank and its own personal glory." Here the colonel took a look around the 42 How Dr. Jones Came Back barn. "No, Colonel," said the doctor, "there is no one else present here but Fred, so you need have no anxiety. And as we are alone," the doctor's voice had risen and become more emphatic, "let me tell you this before we close this subject for the morning. You've clean missed the measure of the men of the civil medical profession who gave up everything they had to go into this war with you, and whose talents you wasted like water and whose character you never took count of. Tangled up in red tape and held down by the inexperienced boys you made their com- manding officers, you compelled them to inaction when they might have been saving countless lives; you doomed them by delays when they might have carried your whole corps to real accomplishment and actual glory. Your responsibilities, Colonel, were great, and if you had taken the medical pro- fession in as your partners in medical matters in- stead of your inferiors, you would have won for your country much that you have forever lost. They made no profession of military matters, but they were gentlemen at heart most of these medical men,, and you need not have been fearful or jealous of your own positions or your own rewards. You were ," but here the colonel could stand it no longer. He drew up his head and flopped down on his haunches and let out the most piteous "hee, haw hee, haw hee, haw, haw, haw." "Come, Fred," the doctor said as he rose, "we may as well go to the cabin," and as they walked 43 How Dr. Jones Came Back out he added, "and I believe I could eat some din- ner, too." The fact that the doctor's appetite was returning had not been lost on Mary or her mother. Women are keen observers in these small matters which are often the straws telling the wind's direction. But not until this day had they noticed any real signs of encouragement. It was after dinner when they were all sitting about the doorway that the doctor remarked to the family at large as he looked off toward the blue heights in the distance. "Here we have been for almost two months and I don't believe any of you appreciate what a beautiful spot this is, with the brook and the trees and the hills and those magnificent mountains over there and the blue sky above us." Mary and her mother exchanged glances. After this day Fred was a regular attendant at the morning conferences, and each day to the family were the doctor's returning spirits made more evi- dent. Fred did not deem it necessary to mention to his mother or sister anything of these morning experiences; for, as he said to himself, "women don't understand these things." Fred did not him- self understand that all these days in which he had not missed a word of this wonderful and illuminat- ing talk from his father to the "Colonel" that his father had been taking this means of unburdening his mind to his boy. Dr. Jones himself knew how perfectly useless it would be to tell these things to the world; but to talk them out to someone made 44 How Dr. Jones Came Back him feel better and in the course of a week he had talked out enough to make him feel like quite a dif- ferent man; and when Dr. Ledyard arrived he found his patient cured. 45 The Narrow-Minded Layman ON this particular evening, it must be con- fessed, as I started out to attend the meeting of The Elite Obstetrical Society, my mind was not over-stirred by any special anticipation of excitement. That there might be some sound and deliberate debate was all I had reason to allow my- self the pleasure of looking forward to. I had not at all counted on any other element entering into the occasion to lift my thoughts out of the usual quiet conventionality of these gatherings. Although not especially engaged in the field of obstetrics myself I still liked to follow its prog- ress. Having been away for over two years on account of the war that is, having been away from the meetings I mean, I would have been away that is, well I felt it was my duty to remain at home as so many others went into the military service. As I was saying, over two years away from these obstetrical meetings left me rather poorly informed as to the progress my obstetrical friends had been making this while. I was glad, therefore, to be going to this meeting to polish up somewhat that knowledge which my absence had rendered rather rusty. On arriving, the pleasure of meeting so many old acquaintances and friends after so considerable a lapse of time was very gratifying; and to look 46 The Narrow-Minded Layman about at this well-groomed group of successful physicians in evening dress was indeed refreshing. On taking my seat I looked anew at the pro- gram, and this time with a special interest; for I had just been presented to the distinguished guest of the society, Dr. Lightfinger, who was to deliver the address to us on that evening. He was the ready up-and-doing delightful type of man to whom we owe our splendid rapid urban upbuilding of the west. My eyes followed him with interest as he made his way up to the plat- form in front, giving his rather large soft hand- shakes to the right and left as he passed on. In personal appearance, tall with black curly hair, he was distinctly moulded for female admiration es- pecially for the admiration of our newer type of woman. One might almost say that Nature her- self had made of him a lady's specialist, so altogether harmoni- ous was he with the field of en- deavor in which he was pursuing his career. He sat down on the right of the chairman. To the left ranged the other speakers "by invitation." After the usual preliminary introduction in which the chair- man introduces the speaker by ex- plaining that he needs no intro- duction, Dr. Lightfinger rose to speak. My seat chanced to be along the side of the room and 47 The Narrow-Minded Layman near the front, so that as the greeting of applause broke forth I noted the genuineness of its char- acter in the faces of the audience. It was at that moment my eye caught sight of a face entirely strange to me, yet there were a good many other faces also which were strange to me there that evening. Was it because this man remained with hands still and with a pecu- liarly immobile, or shall we say sceptical, ex- pression on his face while others were assiduously clapping, that my eye caught his person and my mind so suddenly became occupied with his per- sonality? The answer seems hardly worth pur- suing, for whether it was this or something else which aroused so immediate an interest is of small concern beside the fact that a sudden and peculiar interest in this individual seemed all at once to be experienced by me. It seemed to me he presented a striking ruggedness of appearance foreign to the faces usually seen about New York. There was that in his firm features and direct clear eyes which seemed to pull one up with a kind of mental start. A something instinctively reminiscent of old New England ancestry seemed to be aroused. But such musing was rudely checked by the voice of the speaker as he began his address. The title of which, as the program announced, was, "My Method of Hand Delivery by Version of the Child." It is to be regretted that time has robbed my memory of so many of the pleasing and well rounded scientific terms used in this branch of medicine ; and that I shall have to fall back on sim- 48 The Narrow-Minded Layman pie descriptive terms in setting forth an account of this illuminating evening's discourse. In general, however, I shall follow as closely as possible the doctor's rendering of his thesis. Fortunately for my better understanding of his remarks I did remember the term Version and that it meant turning the baby from its usual position before birth, to an opposite position where it is brought into the world feet first. I also remem- bered that this delicate and somewhat hazardous procedure might be employed on those rare occa- sions when it seemed necessary to relieve an ab- normal situation which threatened the life of the mother or child. The speaker's remarks will soon show how far indeed behind in this particular branch of our profession I had fallen during my enforced absence from these meetings. "It's a great honor, I'll say, to have this chance to hop over East and give you fellows here in New York my little talk." The speaker's easy one might almost say breezy way of beginning his discourse immediately captivated us. "It's the hand-picked baby," he continued, "that's the baby of the future. What's the indi- cation for my method of version and pull- 'em-out operation? That's the question everybody asks first thing. The answer is simple. When a woman's going to have a baby. Now, of course, you can't expect the small town and coun- try doctor to get the big idea as fast as us city fellows do. Hidebound conservatism, that's their trouble. If you want to get any return on your 49 The Narrow-Minded Layman time spent in our profession in these days watch the surgeons. That's what I tell the country prac- titioner." This was followed by some applause, particularly by the younger men present. "Now I suppose you want to know the technic my technic of this little operation," went on Dr. Lightfinger. "It's how it's done, not why it's done; that's always the interesting thing in surgery. For example, if you have an apple tree you don't ask why you want the apples and you don't necessarily wait for the apples to come down by 'emselves either. When you see that the apples are about ripe you go up after 'em and pull 'em down. Well, that's what my operation means." I do not know why, but for some reason or other my gaze happened to wander across the room and quite incidentally to light on the face of the stranger again. And among all the sympathetic faces of the listeners his struck me as being, well, to say the least, unsympathetic to our speaker's interest- ing and distinctly progressive discourse. I thought little of it at the time and again found my atten- tion fixed on Dr. Lightfinger. "When the woman is ready to have the baby; that is, when the operator is ready for her to have it," he went on saying, "she is brought to the op- erating room, and there put under. Under is the word. We give her a regular surgical anaesthesia. We must make sure she has it good before the sec- ond or 'business' stage of labor begins. If you don't catch 'em before the real pains have set in you miss more than half of the thing that is mak- 50 The Narrow-Minded Layman ing this operation popular. Make no mistake about that, for it's the avoidance of any discom- forts of having a baby that takes with our present- day woman." The approving nods throughout the audience attested to the fact of this wise observa- tion. "Now when the mother and baby are thor- oughly and deeply insensible and all muscular ef- fort and resistance suspended, the operator rolls up his sleeves and draws on what we call our 'party gloves/ which come up to the elbow. At this point there is no need to hurry. The patient will not run away. With a pass of the hand lubricated with soft soap, baby John or baby Jane, as the case may be, is grasped by the feet and around our little friend swings, looping the loop, so to speak, and then presto ! the little feet are dragged into sight. The fol- lowing steps are easy; just a pull, then a twist, then another pull, with possibly a slight tug, and there is your next Ameri- can voter out on the table." For a moment the speaker paused for breath after this minute and lucid descrip- tion. "I have de- The Narrozv-Minded Layman scribed the technic of doing this operation," con- tinued the doctor, "but it is in the management of this class of cases that the trick really lies. For if you manage these cases properly you'll find they will flock to you." On the last words there was a perceptible rustle in the audience as it straight- ened itself up. "And remember," went on the speaker, "each case is an operation. A regular sur- gical operation with a regular surgical fee." It seemed to me I could hear a slight scraping on the floor as though chairs were being pulled just a little closer to the speaker. "Last year," went on Dr. Lightfinger, "I had more than a thousand of these operations." As I looked up I saw a number of the older men figuring on little pieces of paper or on the backs of their programs. "Of all these cases I lost only seventeen," said the doctor. As every one looked up with surpise the speaker smiled and shook his head. "No, no, gentlemen, I'm not referring to my mortality. We will not speak of that. These seventeen patients I lost were so many opera- tions lost; for failing to call me in time, they had their babies in the odd way at home before I could reach them to get them into the hospital. With the great majority of our present-day women, how- ever," the speaker pursued, "there is little danger from this kind of loss in practice. Our women are getting to dread any pain worse than our fore- fathers ever feared Satan. What with canned food from the delicatessen shop, and electric cooking on the table ; what with absolutely no exercise or house- hold work to make them strong, they haven't the en- 52 The Narrow-Minded Layman durance or the courage to face pain or stand any strain whatever. So usually it's no trouble to per- suade our women of today to see the sense of my 'painless extraction' method." This little sally of the doctor's brought a general laugh, for he really could be very funny. I say a general laugh, but that perhaps is not strictly cor- rect, for a chance glance across the room brought the stranger's face at that moment into my view. In it I beheld a most peculiar expression, an ex- pression I find difficulty in defining. Was it dis- gust? Hardly, I see no reason for that. Per- haps it was indigestion. At any rate the doctor was speaking again and I turned my whole atten- tion once more in his direction. "Now I hope you will all take up this method of the hand-picked baby here in New York," Dr. Lightfinger went on to say. "Why, there is prob- ably no city in the country as well suited for this operation as right here, unless possibly you include Chicago, where the women are simply a soft and pleasure seeking class, and where they hardly know what physical strength and endurance means. Be- sides," he added, "if you take it up here it will be- come the fashion in Chicago and all over the coun- try just as skyscrapers, shimmy dances, knee skirts and suffragettes have become the general fashion in all our other cities bv your New York example. "Now gentlemen, in bringing my little talk to a close I want to say that I do not claim that this operation of mine is the last word in obstetrics. I feel rather that it may be looked upon as perhaps a 53 The Narrow-Minded Layman stepping stone, and that later we may possibly edu- cate our patients up to expecting a Caesarean op- eration as a routine thing." With this last far- sighted observation the speaker resumed his seat as the audience broke out in a prolonged applause. As I glanced about the room in interest, noting the society's fullness of response to this master of obstetrical methods, my eye unconsciously fell once more upon the stranger. Rigid and still he sat in the midst of our hearty demonstration which fol- lowed our confrere's splendid discourse on his im- portant contribution to our profession's art and knowledge. Rigid. Yes, more than rigid this stranger sat, his firm features had taken on a pecu- liar tense expression. He looked as if he were about to hurl out some crushing anathema. Was this only my imagination ? I sat wondering, for no one else seemingly was paying the slightest at- tention to this strangely antipathetic person with his suppressed expression. But the business of the evening was being re- sumed and I had no mind to lose any of its inter- esting features by a wandering inattention. Quiet was once more restored and the chairman was on his feet. His smiling face showing the satisfaction we were all then enjoying as our minds lingered over the words and wisdom of our eminent guest. He was saying just what chairmen always say at this juncture, "but," he added with a flutter of originality, "we have not partaken of all our in- tellectual food as yet." Which witticism brought from two or three of our quicker minded members 54 The Narrow-Minded Layman a precipitate laugh. "We have here," continued our chairman as he pointed to the gentleman on his left, "a noted specialist in our field of work, and one who is little behind Dr. Lightfinger himself in the employment and the expounding of modern methods." I am sorry I cannot recall this gentle- man's name. To me he was a stranger, and I had been taking much interest in a quiet study of his personality as I sat below him, I like to make these little studies and from such observation make deductions and thus determine where people come from and what their rating at home may be. But where this gentleman came from puzzled me. It was either from Brooklyn or London, I felt quite sure. Some things about him suggested Brooklyn, yet when he rose slowly to speak but I must get back to the subject. The gentleman had already risen and was lift- ing Dr. Lightfinger to a pinnacle of permanent fame. He had himself, he said, been a student of this master's remarkable technical skill. He told of his long acquaintance with the doctor and his ad- miration of his progressive work. And with a large number of other pleasing remarks he brought his words to a close and gracefully resumed his chair. The discussion of the subject was then thrown open and one after another of our society's pro- fessors rose to speak. There was none but spoke in praise of our guest's ability in operating upon the expectant mothers. Some of our more conserva- tive professors hesitated to advise that all women 55 The Narrow-Minded Layman should be delivered in the fashion Dr. Light- finger advocated and personally practiced; but I cannot recall one who came out with a flat denial that Dr. Lightfinger was not pursuing the right, the proper and the scientific course. Not being a specialist in this work myself it would be presumptuous indeed for me not to look to the wisdom of our own professors as conclusive and not to admire with them the great advance in the field of obstetrics I had the honor of becoming acquainted with on that long to be remembered evening. As I looked toward our chairman I saw his eyes roving the room for any further discussion of the subject. By his side sat Dr. Lightfinger, his face lighted with that quiet satisfaction and pride which one sees in the countenance of those, who having scaled the heights, sit in peaceful contemplation of the scene below. All about the room the faces seemed to reflect that contentment which one might expect as the aftermath of the splendid intellectual excursion upon which we had been carried that evening. The chairman, it seemed to me, was about to turn his smiling face to our eminent guest and speaker and offer to him the opportunity of any closing remarks, when when rising slowly to his feet I beheld the stranger the individual who had drawn my attention so often during the evening. My breath caught in astonishment. His strangely compelling features seemed to me oddly set. I do not know what impression the others in the room 56 The Narrow-Minded Layman may have had as the man came to his feet. I saw no unusual signs of surprise as I glanced quickly about and over their faces. From the chairman's face there certainly shone the same affable and at- tentive expression as he formally inclined his head to indicate to this man who had risen that he had the floor. A queer feeling came over me. Was my astonishment then entirely unfounded, entirely a thing of my own imagining? Why indeed did the occurrence of this person's rising set any emo- tions loose within me? Did I expect a rude and incoherent outburst? An outburst which would shatter that fine mental state to which we all had been exalted and which only scientific men can know? The next moment I felt a fool and that was the quick answer to my forebodings; for the low tones of the stranger's voice were already roll- ing slowly and indeed very coherently forth. I gasped internally to think that I should have antici- pated an unruly demonstration from him this man of the quiet, even voice. "Mr. Chairman," he was saying, "I do not wish to enter upon any discussion of the subject pursued here this evening under a misapprehension of the fact that I am simply a layman, and chance to be present as an acquaintance of one of your members." Now it is a little unusual for a non-professional man to attend our meetings, and it is rather more unusual for him to essay his opinions. Never- theless we are, as it is very well known, an un- usually broad-minded profession, and without hesi- 57 The Narrow-Minded Layman tation the chair ruled that unless any member ob- jected we would welcome the stranger's remarks. There being no objection offered, the stranger bowed his acknowledgment, and moving a few steps, came to the side of a table by the wall. He then turned so that he faced us all. Once he had turned he gave the impression of being planted there, so firmly did he seem to stand. For full a minute the man remained perfectly silent, looking into the faces of his audience. Looking deep into us, it seemed to me. I cannot tell what was passing at this moment in the minds of the others. Much less can I describe my own thoughts. A grotesque image appeared to rise in my mind. The man before us gave me the strange impression of a powerful piece of rapid fire artillery and that we were all actually looking into a cannon's mouth. The absurd fancy carried itself on. It seemed to me as if each one of us was experiencing the same impression. The room was very still. What could he have to say, a mere layman, in this gathering of highly trained and scientific men? I was beginning al- most to feel uncomfortable for him as he stood there silent and fixed. Then came his words. I might well have saved my sympathy, for his be- ginning indicated no need of moral support. "What measure may be employed," began the stranger, "to estimate the esteem which is the heri- tage of the physician? From antiquity forward, what profession is there which has been so faith- fully followed, so implicity trusted and so pro- 58 The N arrow-Minded Layman foundly respected?" His clear, precise words, though spoken in the lowest tones, carried to every corner of the large meeting room. "You doctors, you who are the champions of humanity," he went on, "I stand before you a picked few of you sta- tioned at the peak of your profession. You stand atop of wonder. The world gapes upwards at your achievements." Oh, how I had misjudged him! This man with the even tones and perceiving mind. I looked about at his eager auditors. They, too, were not missing a word. Our distinguished guest and speaker of the evening seemed to me to be larger and broader ; he seemed actually to have swelled in all dimensions as he sat there next to our smiling chairman. But the stranger was proceeding. "Times change. Conditions alter. Men get new and dif- ferent impressions of their fellowmen," went on the layman. "My father was a physician. In him my respect for your profession was born. We lived in a small New England community. There it was he dedicated himself to his difficult life work. His pay was meagre, but his reward was great; for he was conscious of the service he rendered ; the service he gave in trying to guide his people in the pathway of God's laws as prescribed by Nature." As I looked around I could see that the fine simile he had drawn had not gone unnoticed. "I repeat," went on the speaker, "men get new impressions of their fellowmen." There was an emphasis put into 59 The Narrow-Minded Layman this last remark which seemed to straighten the backs of his listeners. "I have been in your great city here but a few days. Chance has thrown in my way a few glimpses of the modern physician the physician who is thrilling the world with his new conquests. It is in the great city you find the essence of this modern medical man who is leading the world on" he repeated slowly "on, on, to what?" His hearers were now all alert as he continued. "It will not take long to sketch the trend of humanity in the hands of this present medical profession." The speaker was leading on to a fine climax, I felt sure of that. As I looked up the audience ap- peared as if it wanted to clap, waiting only for the speaker's pause. "I will tell you just a few facts which have come before my face, during this one day, and in your own particular specialty of the baby and how its career is directed. They were in- teresting facts," he continued, "and perhaps they may solve some problems in our present social puz- zles, when they receive thoughtful attention." The room remained very quiet as we all listened to hear his summing up of our great profession's progress. "This afternoon I chanced out on your brilliant Fifth Avenue," he started. "A luxurious motor was rolling by. I saw a little man with a little pointed beard leaning back amidst the cushions. 'There,' exclaimed my companion, 'is one of our most eminent physicians. He has made over a mil- lion dollars !' " Several of the younger men at this 60 The Narrow-Minded Layman moment involuntarily clapped their hands. "Over a million dollars," slowly repeated the speaker, "teaching mothers how to mix cow's milk and sugar to fool their new-born babies with, while they hunted pleasure and excitement in their skins of slaughtered animals and feathers of slain birds." Several of our prominent physicians looked up in utter surprise at this sudden suggestion of criticism. How absurd indeed for this layman to be express- ing his narrow-minded views of our scientific af- fairs. What could he know of our far-sighted goal, anyway? "All doctors," he went tensely on, "I am told, have now learned how to instruct mothers in this method of defrauding the infant of its natural food, and natural birthright." What does he mean? What is this layman driving at? That was the question I read on all the faces of his listeners as I glanced about. "This," went on the speaker in even more distinct terms, "may be looked upon as one of the steps leading up to our present shame- ful and disorderly social state." " 'Come,' my companion next said to me," the stranger went on saying, " 'and I will show you some of these bottle-fed babies those that have survived and are now grown up.' He took me into a large and ornate hotel near by. He showed me a great room edged with little tables. The room was filled with boys and girls in their teens. The girls were being hugged and danced about on the polished floor, or inhaling cigarettes at the small tables. The boys were pouring out drinks from 61 The Narrow-Minded Layman their pocket flasks. 'This/ said my guide, 'is the generation of cheated children, by the selfish or in- capable mothers, tutored by their doctors. Here is the dressing room where the little girls check their corsets and paint their lips before going in to dance !' " The room seemed to have gotten warm and op- pressive. I not only noticed it myself, but I saw that the others had also. The chairman was wiping his brow. They must have turned on an extra sup- ply of steam heat, I found myself thinking; for it certainly was getting stuffy in that room. But somehow everyone seemed to sit up quite straight as his next words shot out. "But tonight," his voice had risen, "I learn that even God's plan of giving birth to babies is about to be abandoned. That besides forcing unnatural nourishment upon the infant, it is to be forced into the world by un- natural means. That each birth is to become an al- together artificial act. That each mother and her baby is to be drugged with the potent poison of an anaesthetic, on the far off effect of which no one dare venture an opinion. Supposing our women do fear the pains of labor, what does that mean? It means that they have been allowed to slide down the slope of degeneracy into a state of physical un- fitness for motherhood. And the only answer to that from an intelligent medical profession is to see that they are guided back to that state of strength and health which is their human heritage." I could see his listeners getting distinctly restless. For myself I do not pretend to know anything 62 The Narrow-Minded Layman about this specialty so was not especially impressed with the stranger's remarks. "Each birth," he went on, "is to become a high- priced surgical operation so that your fees will compare favorably with your brothers, the surgeons who have grown rich ahead of you." Was it that the speaker was getting taller and larger, or was it that his listeners were shrinking? Perhaps it was simply an optical illusion on my part. "Yes," he said, "I commence to see the mean- ing of the 'onward' movement of this modern medi- cal profession." None of us liked this last re- mark and I think some of us would have shown our resentment if well, if the stranger hadn't kept right on shooting out his remarks. "Once," he continued, "the medical profession was an honored profession pointing out to struggling humanity the ways of Nature as the path to follow, the laws of Nature as the laws to respect. With self sacrifice and earnest effort, they pursued their way, pointing out to their trusting patients the cost of greed and artificiality and personal selfishness, and the tax it levies on posterity. Is it on this hard-earned and honorable reputation that you doctors of today are entirely capitalized ?" His last remarks were hurled out in such a way that there was brought back to my mind that early impression of him as he stood like a rugged piece of field artillery getting the range. He was cer- tainly getting his range. "What excuse," he thun- dered, "has the medical profession to make for 63 The Narrow-Minded Layman playing into the hands of human depravity and degeneracy? That is the question which keeps coming back when I see the children who have been tricked out of their mother's milk and m o t h e r's care and mother's love and guidance." His words were coming very hot and fast now. There was an apathetic look, I thought, about the audience, or was it apoplectic, for some were looking very red indeed ! "There was a time," he went boldly on, "when the worthless women who refused to nurse their babies, or the sickly women who could not nurse their babies, were looked upon as not fit for the high estate of motherhood. A time when the moral stand of the good phy- sician allowed no compromise on this." At this point I thought surely one of our great professors would have would have well, would have gotten up and said something; I, of course, as I explained, was really out of the discussion. The speaker's words were booming out again. "The handiwork of the modern physician speaks for itself. At the top of society his results roar out their evidence. He has taught the pampered rich how to spawn their puny posterity. The fash- 64 The Narrow-Minded Layman ion is fixed for the masses to follow. A degen- erated population cries out its origin. Crimes, crookedness and confusion have polluted our generation. A state of moral and physical unfit- ness reaches from the top of society down to the very bottom of it." He finished off with a snap of his powerful jaws. It was very unpleasant to hear them come together. He was raising his clinched and brawny fist above the little table, and drawing in his breath to hurl out another epithet. I remember thinking at that particular moment of what would happen to the table when that fist came down on it. The faces of his listeners wore a peculiar look; a furtive look. Some were restless. Some were red. His big voice broke out again. I lost his words; for just then a most shocking thing occurred. One of our professors (the one whose splendid student's manual was making such a stir in professional cir- cles the book entitled "Cow's Milk for Kiddy While Mother Roams") suddenly, and without the slightest warning, toppled forward from his seat. Several nearest by rushed to his aid. He was prone on the floor before he could be reached. A considerable confusion followed. A half dozen or so grasped our confrere and bore him from the room. Our professor was not a lightweight. The broad doors of the apartment had been quickly thrown wide. With the bearers of the burden many others followed. A general exodus ensued. It was not especially orderly. As I glanced back into the room passing out with the others there 65 The Narrow-Minded Layman stood the stranger, the audacious layman, his arm still raised. His voice was stilled, but on his face there lingered the strangest look. I can still see him as he stood there, a faint enigmatic smile frozen about his lips. After seeing the professor sufficiently revived and taken away in his motor, and after learning from one of our ch'agnosticians that it was nothing more than "a slight ptomaine attack" which he had suf- fered, I strolled homeward myself, my mind, as can be imagined, very full of the unusual occur- rence visited upon our meeting that evening. 66 UCSB University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 305 De Neve Drive - Parking Lot 17 Box 951388 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90095-1388 Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. UCLA COL LIB RECEIVED AIG 09 2005 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY A 000 608 329 9 University of Califo Southern Region* Library Facility