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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 1. 



holding up the standard of the Christian re- 

 ligion. But we do not lose by shunning " even 

 the appearance ot evW.'' These little transac- 

 tions or little inconsistencies tell in a way that 

 no one can comprehend. They tell away off 

 into the future; and when a man once gets a 

 reputation for doing not only all he agrees to 

 do. but all that micrht be reasonably implied, 

 it is worth more lu him than money in the 

 bank; it is worth more than the backing of 

 influential friends; it is worth more than to be 

 a miZt-io?iaire, for it is something that endures 

 through time and eternity. 



Perhaps we need such lessons often to help us 

 remember the golden rule. Years ago I decided 

 that it is an excellent thing to be very careful 

 of one's promises; but after having made a 

 promise, either verbal, written, or printed, 

 either in private or public, once having made a 

 promise or agreement, be very sure to do all 

 you promise, and, as a rule, just a little more, 

 in order to shun even the appearance of evil. 



BATTLE CKEEK, MICH. 



I was greatly interested, as you may know, 

 in going through the hospital — an immense 

 building which stands, near the sanitarium. I 

 can nut begin to tell yon about all I saw there, 

 but I will mention some things. One room, for 

 instance, is devoted to glass bottles and globes 

 containing tumors that have been removed by 

 surgical operations during years past. There 

 are hundreds of them. They are from the size 

 of an egg up to that of a bushel basket. A 

 complete history of each case was kept on file 

 for reference. I asked my guide. Will K. Kel- 

 logg, a brother of the doctor, if eri'ors in diet 

 were probably the cause of the tumors that are 

 becoming so alarmingly orevalent. 



" To a certain extent, Mr. Root; but errors in 

 dress are a far larger factor, without question, 

 in producing tumors " 



"Errors in dress!" said I. "Do you mean 

 tight lacing?' ' 



" Yes, and that same fashion of cramping the 

 body in other ways. The reason why tumors 

 are more prevalent among women is probably 

 because they are more apt to cramp themselves 

 by their clothing." • • 



Dear friends, does not the above indicate a 

 terrible state of affairs in such an enlightened 

 nation as ours? 



Dr. J. H. Kellogg, of Battle Creek, is prob- 

 ably one of the foremost surgeons in the world; 

 at least, so far as I know, he is generally ac- 

 corded that credit. As my visit happened to 

 be on the regular operating-day, I was, by the 

 courtesy of friends Keck and Kellogg, invited to 

 be presentduringoneof themostcritical and dif- 

 ficult operations. Adjoining the operating-room 

 was a little room called the chapel. Here the 

 surgeons, together with the nurses and stu- 

 dents, all meet for a brief season of prayer be- 

 fore undertaking any operation that may have 

 a fatal termination. As I looked into that lit- 

 tle room I could not but breathe a prayer that 

 the time might come when every surgeon and 

 every physician in our land, who takes human 

 life, as it were, in the hollow of his hand, could 

 have the spirit in his heart of asking the great 

 God above to give him wisdom and guidance. 



The room prepared specially for surgical op- 

 erations is lighted by skylights from above., 

 so that every facility that the best and strong- 

 est light can furnish is at hand. There were 

 three or four surgeons present, and perhaps 

 half a dozen nurses, belonging to the hospital, 

 and I was at once struck by the intelligent and 

 cheerful appearance of the nurses. 



The suhject to he operated upon was a 

 woman. What could be more tilting than that 

 gentle Christian women should be all round 

 about her to assist in every way they could, not 

 only in sympathy, but in kind womanly at- 

 tentions and touches ? Just above the operat- 

 ing table was a little gallery for the use of 

 medical students. All the nurses, all the doc- 

 tors, all the students, were covered with a 

 white robe or gown. These gowns enveloped 

 the whole body, even to the feet and head. 

 Their office is to protect the patient from iiny 

 microbes or bacteria that might accidentally 

 be brought in on the clothing of some one pres- 

 ent. Your humble servant found a place 

 among the medical students, enveloped in his 

 robe like the rest. At my elbow was a short- 

 hand writer to take down every particular in 

 regard to the case, and to note every word, ex- 

 planation, and direction given by Dr Kellogg, 

 the operator. 



The patient was suffering from a diseased 

 kidney. She had bpen operated upon hefore; 

 but in order to save her life it was now deemed 

 best to remove the diseased member entirely. 

 Hot water or boiling water was used every- 

 where as a precaution against blood-poisoning. 

 The knives and all the instruments were- 

 thoroughly cleansfd with boiling water. Per- 

 haps it may ^e news to some of you, that, un- 

 less this great and extreme care is exercised in^ 

 cutting into the human body, the surgeon may 

 do more harm than he does good. The medi- 

 cal fraternity at Battle Creek understand these 

 things probably as well as anybody in the 

 world, for they have a corps of expert micro- 

 scopists, entomologists, and expert scientists 

 in, every thing pertaining to bacteria and 

 fungoid growths, (ireat quantities of luke- 

 warm water were first used to wash out the 

 diseased portion of the body. The patient was 

 given chloroform by means of a delicate appa- 

 ratus that was new to me. Dr. Kellogg pro- 

 ceeded very slowly and cautiously. At first he 

 gave us a little running talk by way of ex- 

 planation; but whon the discovery was made 

 that the diseased kidney was entirely envelop- 

 ed and covered up by growths of tissue and fat, 

 then he finally explained to us that it was a 

 very difficult and dangerous case. 



Iii cutting away this abnormal growth, the 

 blood came more and more, for it was interlac- 

 ed with blood-vessels. The attendant nurses 

 supplied lint and bandages to take up the 

 blood, and the warm water was applied almost 

 Incessantly to wash away the blood so the 

 doctor could see where the point of his lancet 

 was penetrating. He explained to us that one 

 little cut too far or in the wrong direction 

 would be almost surely fatal. Never before in 

 my life did I feel so intensely that these things- 

 an- all in God's hands after all; that in spite 

 of all the wonderful skill that has been achiev- 

 ed in the practice of surgery, God still holds the 

 slender thread of life in his own hand. I know 

 that they prayed In their little chapel before 

 the work began: but my praying was done 

 (and it was done in real earnest too) while it 

 seemed— at least to me — a question whether the 

 patient could ever survive. Finally, during the 

 most critical portion of the operation, the 

 chloroform seemed hardly adequate. The pa- 

 tient shut her teeth, and there seemed danger 

 that she might choke. I do not know whether 



