CO-ORDINATION OF SUBJECTS 41 



of some kind with them. It is to know what acts bring punishments, 

 so as to know what acts to avoid, which is the distinct province of ethics. 

 In other words, it helps us to arrange a definite "philosophy of life" for 

 ourselves. 



And lastly, one or two modern foreign languages should be known 

 in order that we can the better obtain another angle and another point 

 of view to the many possible explanations that the same facts may seem 

 to prove. One has but to read through any ordinary school textbook 

 of science to find what an overwhelmingly large number of foreign 

 names and papers are there quoted. This means that no one can deem 

 himself a master of his subject unless he know r s at least many of the 

 thousands of observations that have been made by the great scientific 

 minds of other lands. Unless he knows this, he is bound to spend a 

 large part of his life in the attempt at proving or disproving many things 

 that have already been proved or disproved by others. He is wasting 

 the time which should be given to more valuable work. 



From what has been said above it will be seen that all the sciences 

 must be studied to throw light on the different workings of the body. 



At this point it is necessary for the student to grasp the fact that 

 every living thing must be considered as a complete unity, like the clock 

 mentioned, and that every organ and every part of an organ which a liv- 

 ing thing possesses, is definitely connected to, and with, every other part 

 of the body. 



One may suffer from headaches, or with eye-trouble caused by dis- 

 placed bones in the feet, which in an indirect way press against nerves 

 connecting with the head ; or, one may have a backache or earache, or 

 even rheumatic difficulties, due to ulcers beneath the teeth. 



It is for reasons such as these that it is as necessary for a dentist as 

 well as an oculist to study biology, and learn the unity of the living 

 being. For there is no more reason for a student of dentistry to confine 

 all his study to the teeth alone, or an oculist to the eye alone, than it 

 is for a nerve specialist to study the nerves alone. Any such one-sided 

 study leaves out of consideration the most important factors necessary 

 to a legitimate diagnosis. And, with a wrong diagnosis, the treatment is 

 bound to be wrong, or at most, mere guess-work. 



It is well also for the student to bear in mind that, though he may 

 not immediately see the relationship of some things to the general 

 course he is taking, it does not follow that such relationship does not 

 exist. 



One can learn to start and stop a locomotive in twenty minutes, but 

 this does not make one an engineer. It takes years to do this. It is 

 not when all things go well that the expert is called in, but when things 

 go wrong. This is true of the engineer, the physician, the dentist, the 

 lawyer, and other professional men. And it is only he, who knows the 

 relationship of all the parts, who can hope to be an expert. 



