HA RD W1CKE' S S CIENCE-G OS SI P. 



53 



paler beneath. This was thought by Sir W. Hooker 

 to be the species to which preference is given, and 

 B. scrratifolia, Willd. (Fig. 24), (Dios/na serratifolia, 

 " Bot. Mag.," vol. xiii., pi. 456). Leaves I inch to 

 l£ inches long, linear, lanceolate, tapering at each 

 end, sharply and finely serrated, three-nerved ; 

 flowers white upon short peduncles. 



The leaves of all this species are marked with 

 glandular dots, which is characteristic of the members 

 of the Rue family. Some of the leaves have distinct 

 glands at the crenatures ; this is conspicuously the 

 case in B. crenulata. 



The properties of buchu are aromatic, tonic, stimu- 

 lant, diuretic, &c. An infusion, or a tincture, is 

 prepared from them, which is greatly praised as a 

 remedy in chronic inflammations of the bladder, 

 urethra, and in chronic rheumatism. 



The Hottentots make a powder of the dried leaves, 

 and, mixed with grease, use it for daubing the body ; 

 in fact, it forms a part of their toilet. They also 

 use the leaves steeped in brandy for all sorts of 

 complaints. 



PRO GLORIA DEI : PRO UTILITATE 

 HOMINUM. 



By Dr. Alfred J. H. Crespt, 



Examiner, Hon. Life Member and Lecturer, 

 St. John Ambulance Association. 



ALTHOUGH the advances of medicine and 

 surgery have of late been rapid beyond prece- 

 dent, and human suffering can now be relieved with a 

 certainty undreamt of thirty years ago, and many 

 diseases which till yesterday baffled the skill of the 

 physician and were the despair of the surgeon now 

 admit of easy and prompt cure, it is nevertheless more 

 than ever true that the watchword of the scientific 

 medical practitioner is and must ever be Prevention 

 rather than Cure. To prevent is far easier than to 

 relieve, and in consequence the suffering accompanying 

 illness is entirely avoided. Unfortunately, the world 

 does not fully enter into the spirit of modern medicine : 

 it continues to regard illness and accident as coming 

 one hardly knows why or whence, and to be dealt 

 with, when they come, secundum artem, but not to 

 be prevented. In truth, disease is the penalty of the 

 infringement of nature's wise laws, and accidents, 

 though not so obviously preventable, generally admit 

 of their worst sting being removed. No medical 

 man fails every year — almost every week — to see cases 

 of suffering that have been aggravated, perhaps 

 actually caused, by ignorance. The careless handling 

 of an injured limb, and the not knowing how to remove 

 lime from the eye, and to control haemorrhage, cost 

 life, limb, and sight every day, and in some part or 

 other of the world, many times a day. The sufferer 

 may command the most perfect medical skill, and 

 may have kind nurses and every comfort and appliance, 



which wealth can purchase, but if the right kind of 

 help is not given at the nick of time all may be of no 

 avail, and the ablest surgeon and the most com- 

 passionate nurse can cheer and comfort but cannot 

 save. Accidents are the commonest of occurrences. 

 Two or three hours in a general hospital of the 

 largest size make even the initiated shudder : the 

 pressure is so continuous and severe, and a score of 

 fresh cases frequently present themselves in a single 

 day at every large hospital. If allowance is made 

 for the many cases seen by private practitioners, and 

 those escaping medical observation altogether, or not 

 presenting themselves until irremediable injury has 

 been done, a total so appalling is reached that the 

 imagination is overwhelmed. A large Insurance 

 Society states that one person in twelve meets with 

 an accident every year. Nor are children exempt 

 from accidents, but let us exclude them, and allow, 

 roughly and incorrectly, that two-fifths of the 

 population consists of young children, there remain 

 24,000,000 of persons among whom 2,000,000 

 accidents occur in a single year in the United 

 Kingdom alone. In America accidents are as 

 frequent, and other civilised countries show figures 

 equally appalling. In a large majority of cases skilled 

 assistance is not of special value at the moment of 

 the injury, but in all instances the knowledge that 

 that skill is possessed by bystanders, or by the 

 sufferer, cheers and gives confidence. The assurance 

 that the doctor will do everything that skill permits 

 makes his arrival doubly welcome. The patient 

 begins to mend as soon as he hears the familiar step 

 and sees the sympathetic face. He feels that he is in 

 safe hands and his mind is calmed. Why should not 

 every man and woman have some acquaintance with 

 the means which have been found most efficacious in 

 emergencies ? No tedious course of study is needed ; 

 and no special ability ; although common-sense, 

 unless guided by knowledge, is practically useless, 

 and sometimes actually dangerous. It is just those 

 energetic, matter-of-fact people, who feel that some- 

 thing ought to be done, but do not know what, who 

 are the most likely to interfere and to aggravate 

 suffering and cause incurable mischief. 



It was precisely because the aims and methods of the 

 St. John Ambulance Association were so imperfectly 

 understood, and in many quarters so thoroughly 

 misunderstood, that Lieut. -Col. Sir Herbert Perrott, 

 Bart., the chief secretary, asked me some time ago to 

 assist him with my pen to remove these misconcep- 

 tions, and though my time is very greatly filled up in 

 a variety of ways, independently of medical practice, 

 I felt that I could not refuse to render the help he 

 desired ; and accordingly I have in the pages of 

 the medical press and in those of several general 

 magazines drawn attention to a subject which has 

 urgent claims on every benevolent and humane person. 



To give instruction that would be useful in 

 rendering "First Aid to the Injured in Peace and 



