THE CALL OF THE LAND 



with a beneficence that converts into prac- 

 tice the theory of men's brotherhood is none 

 the less but all the more calm in intent, 

 steady of nerve, true in execution. The 

 successful surgeon is something higher than 

 a mechanic. Back of the anatomical knowl- 

 edge, the trained mind, the clear eye, the 

 trusty hand, is a force mighty in proportion 

 as it is subtle and intangible, the aspiration 

 "to be to other souls the cup of strength in 

 some great agony." From this passion 

 sprang anesthesia to deaden pain, and 

 asepsis, widening the field of victorious 

 medicine and surgery and forcing death to 

 cede great classes of cases which from the 

 beginning it had successfully claimed as 

 its own. The author of the article on 

 Jenner in the Encyclopaedia Britannica 

 says: "There can be little doubt that Jenner 

 would never have had the perseverance to 

 carry through his great discovery of vacci- 

 nation had not his earnest benevolence 

 pressed it on him as a duty to confer such 

 a great and permanent benefit on the whole 

 human race." 



348 



