QUACKS AND THE REASON OF THEM. 821 



man himself. Glacial geology also, with its vast contribution to 

 our knowledge of the earth, past and present, supplies one of the 

 best illustrations of the new geography in its fellowship with 

 geology. Glaciation is mainly a matter of climate and topography, 

 with perhaps a measure of cosmic influence ; in short, it is an af- 

 fair of geography. Of that keen scrutiny of surface forms carried 

 on by glacial science the new geography has largely been born. 

 Some will ask what economic value accrues with this vast devo- 

 tion to scientific geography which the next generation will see. 

 Surely no field of science will yield a larger intellectual harvest, 

 and the economic significance of pure science, though sometimes 

 out of sight, is never far away. 



QUACKS AND THE REASON OF THEM. 



By Dr. A. CARTAZ. 



THE story is told in Joubert's Popular Errors concerning 

 Medicine, published at Bordeaux, France, in 1579, that one 

 Gonelle, a jester at the court of the Duke of Ferrara, insisted once 

 upt)n a time that the trade which had the most followers was that 

 of doctor. To prove his assertion, he left his home one morning 

 to go to the palace with his nightcap on and his jaws wrapped up. 

 The first person he met stopped him with the question, " What is 

 the matter with you, Gonelle ? " '' A terrible toothache." "Oh, 

 is that all ? I'll tell you what will cure it." And every person 

 he met had some advice to give him. When the jester reached 

 the duke's chamber, the same question and answer were repeated. 

 "Ah," said the prince, " I know of something that will take the 

 pain right away." Gonelle instantly threw up his kerchief, 

 saying : " And you too, monseigneur, are a doctor ; I have only 

 passed through one street in coming from my house to you, and 

 have counted more than two hundred of them. I believe I could 

 find ten thousand in the city." Whether the story is true or false, 

 it could be told again in our days, and Gonelle would win his 

 wager without dispute. Everybody has had opportunities to try 

 the experinient ; and there is probably no one who has not per- 

 mitted himself to give friendly counsel to an ailing person in 

 passing good advice : " Such a person was cured by such a rem- 

 edy ; try it " ; and to jeer at the doctors, who know nothing about 

 the matter. 



It is not strange, in view of this instinctive tendency to sym- 

 pathize in the sufferings of another and to assist as far as possible 

 in curing them, that false doctors, charlatans, should have had 

 their day, even if only briefly at a time, in all ages and in all 



