MEDICINE 229 



through human agencies. God does not go about prac- 

 tising medicine or come to see a patient ; if He comes to 

 him, He comes in the shape of a man. If a town pos- 

 sesses a good physician, people may look upon him as a 

 blessing from God ; but the presence of an ignorant or 

 greedy doctor is a public calamity and a curse to all. 

 But all bodily diseases will be cured at the legitimate 

 hour, when the battle of life is ended and the angel of 

 death opens the portal to the eternal^ kingdom of rest." ^ 



The Practice of Medicine 



As there are five causes of diseases, so there are five 

 different ways of removing them, and therefore five classes 

 of physicians : — 



" I. Naturales — i.e., those who treat diseased conditions 

 with opposite remedies ; for instance, cold by warmth, 

 dryness by moisture, &c., according to the principle, 

 Contraria contrariis curantur. To this class belonged 

 Avicenna, Galen, &c." (Allopathy, Hydrotherapie, &c.). 



" 2. Specijici. — Such as employ specific remedies, of 

 which it is known that they have certain affinities for 

 certain morbid conditions. To this class belong the 

 Empirics " (Homoeopaihy). 



^ The word eternal does not signify a time without end, but a state in 

 which time is not measured, and in which it therefore does not exist. 



2 A misunderstanding of the doctrine of Karma may give rise to an 

 erroneous belief, which may be productive of serious harm. There are 

 great numbers of religious fanatics in the East, and some in the West, 

 who would not make an attempt to pull a person out of a burning house, 

 even if they could easily do so, because they believe that if it is "the 

 will of God," or his Karma, that he should perish in the fire, it would be 

 wrong to interfere with that law, and to frustrate the purpose of God. 

 They should remember that if it was the will of God which caused such 

 a person to fall into danger, it must also have been the will of God which 

 sent them near, and enabled them to save ; and if they neglect to do 

 their duty and suffer him to perish, they are arrogating to themselves the 

 prerogatives of gods. They then act against the law, and will become 

 responsible for their act. God acts through man, and a man who does 

 not respond to His call, and refuses to obey the Divine command, spoken 

 within his heart, is a useless instrument, and will be rejected. 



