A Viavi Convention The egotist sets little value on human life, has little faith in humanity. He sees within himself the attributes he attributes to others. The egotist may become a dreamer. If he does he rapidly degenerates into the most hopeless pharisaism. An intellectual hermit, a moral paralytic, he honestly believes himself to be holy and without sin. The egoist may become a dreamer, too. If he does he remains sweet spirited, meek minded, revels in poetic imaginations, becomes artistically sensitive, and while of very little use to the world, in a small way he is beloved by the very few who know him best. The egotist may become an altruist. If he does he develops into a mischievous, busy fellow. He fancies he is rais D 151 ing people to his plane, either intellectually or morally. He pities all people who are not like himself, and sincerely desires to change their lives, using himself as a copy. He is increasingly self-conscious of his superiority over other people, as well as the inferiority of those whom he would save. The egoist may become an altruist. If he does his altruism is incidental, rather than a primary motive. Without trying in' contact with, because of his large, to, he does every one good he comes free and generous life. Without posing as a benefactor, or consciously sacrificing anything for others, he is a benefaction to all who know him, and his life belongs to the world about him. shrinks from the thought of missionary work, and yet in every word and act he is a true missionary. All About the Viavi Convention. EAR Doctor: Well, this Chicago is a wonderful place. It is a whole world in itself. I think every nationality under the sun is represented here, and all the cults from the ancient Hindu Yogi down to the numerous present day isms and pathies and ologies can be found in various parts of the city with their zealous devotees. I like to go into these different assemblies, and hear what they have to say, and gather somewhat of their philosophy of life. It is very interesting, and I find much good in all of them. But I must tell you of a convention I attended last week-or the week before, I guess it was-goodness me, how time skips! It was a convention of Viavi workers, those men and women who are engaged in the Viavi Health Movement. I had noticed some articles recently in the Journal concerning this Health Movement, and while I already knew something of it, I thought if I could slip into this meeting, which was just among themselves, I might get at the real innerness of what they are doing and what their health movement really is. He So I went down to the Masonic Temple on the opening morning, which was a blizzardly cold one-and you have to live in Chicago to appreciate what "blizzardly cold" means. Well, in spite of the hurricane winds that were blowing, I found over a hundred persons, about seventy-five per cent. women, already there. And Oh! such a Babel of tongues, such handshakings, and such cordial greetings. I didn't know any of them, and they didn't know me, so I just slid around among them and caught scraps of conversation here and there, and every woman just seemed to be talking as fast as she could, telling what she had done in her "field," how she had helped a woman here and a woman there, and what wonderful things had been accomplished, until I commenced to wonder if I had made a mistake and gotten into a meeting of missionaries from foreign "fields." But in a short time the meeting was called to order by Mr. Hole, who is at the head of what is called the Eastern field of the Viavi Health Movement. He is a snappy, straight-to-the-mark talker and started things off in good shape. There were several speakers during the forenoon session, and their whole theme was what the Viavi Health Movement is doing. One woman told of some very bad cases, indeed, that had been restored to health by the Viavi treatment, and, as you know, they claim this treatment is wholly vegetable, prepared in different forms to most quickly reach the part of the body affected, and I noticed they all emphasized the hygienic part of the treatment, such as proper bathing, breathing pure air, simple diet, etc., and the speakers urged the workers not to fail to get from every sick woman a plain statement as to her trouble and the cause of it, and to instruct her how it could by natural means be overcome, and to teach her how to live hygienically. I began to understand how they can accomplish so much with their Viavi treatment. They get the woman to live right, and of course that means a whole lot. And then I noticed they never said that Viavi "cures," but that "Viavi assists Nature to throw out the impurities from the system and to rebuild strength into the nerves and tissues." They were on the right track there, all right, and they put much emphasis on the fact of Nature doing the healing, and they didn't say it in Latin either, vis medicatrix naturae, but in plain United States, Nature is the only healer. They are missionaries, after all, and have their own fields of work, and teach women how to live, and stand by them and sympathize with them, and encourage them until they get them strong and well. I was somewhat disappointed not to find out more concerning the commercial part of this movement, for I had an idea that would be what they would talk about most. But I certainly didn't get into the right crowd to find out anything about that, for in all the conversations I overheard the money side of it was never mentioned. That these women do receive some remuneration for their work must of necessity be so, but that feature of it surely was lost sight of, for all they talked about was the good Viavi is doing. They were all anxiously expecting Dr. Law, of San Francisco, who is the founder of this Viavi Health Movement, and when he came in every head bobbed around to look at him, and so I did, too. He is just the right kind of a looking man to be at the head of a health movement. A large man, smooth-faced, glowing with health and energy, and when he walked up the aisle he really looked like health in movement himself. He walked up on the platform, slowly and deliberately laid down some papers on a table, and then turning round, with a broad smile on his good-natured face, said: "I'm right down glad to see you." The clapping that followed showed that every one there was downright glad to see him, too. He told how the earthquake had destroyed their laboratories, and the stressing times of rebuilding, and how the anxious letters from women all over the country, asking if they were to be deprived of Viavi, nerved him to the Herculean task of pushing on and reestablishing the work. It didn't take long to see that he has a good, warm heart for humanity. He urged upon the workers to give heed to the instructive part of this health movement, and to teach their people how to live according to Nature's laws of health. He read reports from various workers in the western field, and they were all along the same line of what I had been hearing women everywhere being restored to health by natural means. There were representatives from a large number of cities, Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburg, Washington, Cincinnati, St. Paul. Mr. Sharp, president of the eastern branch, was a very forceful and practical speaker, and has a good, honest, sincere face. The one thing throughout the convention that impressed me most was the genuine sympathy and love of humanity that seemed to animate every one of them. The high standards set by the leaders, the noble sentiments expressed, and the devotion and selfsacrifice of the workers to help the suffering back to health, and their en Some Thoughts on the Country Doctor thusiasm and love for the work were really inspiring, and all this with the cordial handshaking and hearty greetings during the intermissions, and the constant telling of saving this woman and that woman from some body-destroying malady, and bringing her back to life and health and joy sort o' gave the whole thing the spirit and savor of a good, old-fashioned Methodist prayer meeting, only here the testimonials were of bodies saved, instead of that vague, intangible thing called a "soul," and their teachings were of physical morality and integrity, which, after all, is the basis of all morality. Well, just look what a long letter I'm writing, but I must tell you what I heard one woman at the convention say. I was passing out through a whole crowd of them, and this woman was opening some mail and reading a letter, and all at once she exclaimed, "O isn't this just fine; two Viavi babies born in my field since I came here!" I suppose she meant that there were two women to whom maternity had been made possible by the Viavi treatment. I guess Roosevelt would endorse that kind of a treatment all right. But to be able to bring to a childless wife, with heart hungering and soul yearning for a child of her own-a longing instinctive in every real woman-to bring to her a natural method of treatment that will perfect her womanhood and give her the capacity of motherhood, that, I think, is a beautiful work, and worth while getting enthusiastic over. As I passed on, thinking of this, just as I neared the door, another woman, was vehemently and volubly talking, waved her arms above her head and shouted, "And she was saved!" Well, I thought, is this a campmeeting or is it not? And I stopped among others to hear her tell again what it was all about. It seems it was a woman who had been given up by the physicians to die, of tumor, I understood her to say, and she took the Viavi treatment to her and the woman 153 used it and got well. No wonder she shouted. I really enjoyed the convention and was glad to meet personally some of the leaders in this Health Movement. I found them broad, intelligent, really above the average. I think they are doing a lot of good. me. I heard Mangasarian the other Sunday. He has been giving a series of lectures on the "Missing Link" in evolution. He is an interesting study to He has a large following, holds and sways his audience at will-but it is not what he says that does it, for it has all been said before-but it is the man himself, and I like to watch and study him. I will write you more about him and his work later. And then there are those people with that curious name, Mazdaznan; I must tell you about them, too, but that will take a whole letter by itself. Will send you some articles for the Journal as soon as I get a little time. EVELYN PICKENS. No. 374 Dearborn Ave. N The Country Doctor. By FLORINDA TWICHELL, McDonough, N. Y. O ONE, not even the family minister, comes into so close relation to the inmates of the country home as the doctor. He is not only authority in all matters relating to health, but he is often able to direct the political policy of his patrons, and in many communities I have known, when church troubles arose, the opposite parties rallied. around rival doctors, forming a division. that gave coloring to all the social relations of the community. The doctor's business often thrives when everything else is dull, and he is often able to acquire money, while the farmers run behind. He is able to help his patronsfinancially, and gradually he comes to hold mortgages on their farms. Finally the farms come into his hands, not by trickery, but, as it seemed all the way along, from the very kindness of his heart in lending money to his pa tients; of course they might have gone over to the rival doctor, if he had refused. So he becomes an important financial factor in the town. Personally, I have great respect for the profession, yet since their opportunity is so great, I only wish one who finds himself in such intimate relation with a family,-loved and trusted above all others, might use the opportunity for their greatest good. Firmly as the family doctor is intrenched in the good graces of his best patrons, the matter of his selection is often a matter almost of chance. It seems to me a matter of sentiment that every family should have just such a friend as the doctor may be. He is sworn to secrecy, other friends are not. The tolerance with which good people. put up with rough, uncouth and profane family doctors, shows how truly attached they are to them. Yet, I see no reason why people should not sometimes change their physician. There are many reasons for consulting specialists who have given many years of study to a certain disease. Methods of diagnosis are not infallible, and life is too precious to trust to any one person, or to any one school of medicine. For my own part, I have been for many years too well suited with the Divine Physician, to whom I have committed my health, to run the risk of weakening my faith in Him by employing any other, yet I do not believe the care and preservation of one's health should be lightly regarded. lightly regarded. And the medical care and friendship of a skilled physician, who is honest and conscientious, are often very desirable, and, on the whole, it is better not to make change: I used to wonder at what seemed to me to be extreme touchiness in doctors. I had no knowledge of medical ethics, of course, and even now I can see no harm in consulting a dozen different doctors, provided we are frank and honest about it. There is a class of people, however, who are constantly changing. A patient becomes dangerously sick, and his friends immediately change doctors. He grows worse, perhaps from the nature of the disease, perhaps from the change of treatment; some one knows of a case that everybody had given up to die, and a certain doctor pulled him through. So the poor patient is subjected to another change, but death comes before there is time for another. None of the doctors has had a fair chance. The patient has certainly "suffered much of many physicians." None of them probably had any hope of effecting a cure. The old family physician is lost, and he will probably be the last to get his pay-if he ever does. I believe we are going to see before long a reaction in the medical world. Perhaps a reformation, something like when the priest-ridden people began to throw off the ecclesiastical shackles and recognize their right of free choice. The freedom in new research for physicians, the diffusion of knowledge. among the laity, the health studies in the common schools, especially the knowledge that shall tend to purity of life, the cultivation of pride in a healthy, robust figure, among young women, will give us a strong, healthy people in time. But I should be sorry to see the dear old ideal family doctor go from the country home. Just what the people would do without him I do not know. I look back with tenderness to his visits in my old home, when he ate at our family board, prayed with our sick ones, making lighter the way through the dark valley by his own. faith, as he held the hand of the dying. one, or turned to speak comfort to the family meeting their first great sorSuch was the young man who came to be our family friend. I do not know how he would rank with the great physicians to-day, but he was worth all he cost as a friend. row. A Does Milk Convey Tuberculosis? A Dishonest Father. CERTAIN farmer, a somewhat typical case of error, gave his twelve-year-old son a runty calf. The latter cared for the unpromising animal with much interest and enjoyed many happy moments thinking how he would finally spend the money thus earned. In three years the runty calf grew into a fat steer and brought $60 on the market, but the misguided father kept this money and put the boy off with another calf. Some years later he wondered why his son should persist in leaving the farm for an untried field of activity. How much better to have given the boy the $60 so faithfully earned and to have guided him judiciously in the use of it. It is a serious blow to a boy's moral character to have his own father's honesty thus brought into question. Say, young man, did you ever have such an experience? If so write it up and send it along. We will stir up such fathers a little. It will do them good. If some father would like to tell how he has improved on the above farmer's method, let us have it. Other fathers will read and perhaps reform. S Do Cattle Spread Tuberculosis? INCE Dr. Koch, of Berlin, has denied the theory (for which he himself was originally responsible) that cattle cause people to get consumption through meat and milk, there has been a frantic attempt to prove that the old Berlin scientist is wrong. The evidence is all tending, however, to prove that Koch was justified in affirming that cattle do not spread consumption, and that no one is in danger of acquiring consumption through meat or milk. One prominent investigator, Theobald Smith, M. D., of Harvard University, has an article on the subject in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal of November 26, which presents strong evidence that it remains to be proven that the bacilli which cause consumption in cattle are the same as those that cause consumption in the human species. He shows that human consumption is very prevalent where milk and meat are 155 little used. I quote one paragraph from his article: "Among the first to call attention to the prevalence of the human disease in the absence of the bovine disease was Kitasato, who in 1904 pointed out that human tuberculosis exists in Japan in all types, although the bovine disease does not enter as a factor. In a village in northern Sweden Regner described recently an unusual number of cases of tuberculosis not only pulmonary but glandular in type. Bovine tuberculosis could not be found by official veterinarians, and tuberculin gave no reaction in any of the local herds. Recently Heymann has called attention to a number of places where cow's milk is either a very insignificant factor or none at all in the feeding of infants and children, and where human tuberculosis is very prevalent. I am also informed by Dr. A. B. Withington that human tuberculosis is very prevalent on the Labrador coast, but that milk and dairy products are very scarce." I presume the outcome will prove just what I have been claiming, that the use of dairy products is a preventive rather than a cause of consumption. The fear of meat and milk has.increased consumption, no doubt, which adds one more fatal error to the list already standing against the medical profession. N Bone Tuberculosis. OW a cure for bone tuberculosis has been discovered. At least Dr. Emil Beck, of Chicago, says So. It seems that the doctor was experimenting on some poor crippled children under his charge at the Home for Crippled Destitute Children. I select one paragraph from an Associated Press dispatch which appeared in the Ohio State Journal of Nov. 6: "The treatment, which promises to bring relief to a large percentage of sufferers from this form of the great white plague, is simplicity itself, and consists for the most part in filling the cavity caused by the disease with a metallic salt, bismuth subnitrate, combined with a basis of vaseline. "The discovery was incidental to taking an X-ray photo of a little invalid. |