52 
ditions, the sources of their laws and customs 
and languages, are the same as ours or not. 
We must assume that it will become more 
and more important to educated men as the 
varied nations of the earth are brought into 
closer intercourse and a greater community 
of life. 
Among the specific advantages that may 
. be hoped from a spread of biological knowl- 
edge among the educated classes is an 
abatement of the surprising credulity that 
they often exhibit regarding natural phe- 
nomena. This credulity finds its most 
common manifestation in relation to dis- 
eases, their causes and their cure, and 
springs without doubt from ignorance of 
the elementary facts of biology. Men of 
ability and discrimination, of wide acquaint- 
ance with the affairs of life, or versed in 
the classical learning of the schools, are 
oftentimes as prone as a child or an untu- 
tored savage to be misled by the utterly ir- 
responsible views of ignorant persons con- 
cerning the human body and its functions. 
From time to time in the history of medicine 
sects arise which propose to treat disease 
upon @ prior: theories that are as devoid of 
a rational basis as are the incantations of 
the Indian medicine-man. The dupes of 
these theories are not alone the ignorant 
and untrained, but frequently the well- 
educated. They are deceived by the shallow 
sophistries of quacks and charlatans, be- 
cause, I fancy, the living body is to them 
what it was to the ancients, the seat of 
mysterious forces. About these mysteries 
they know nothing and, therefore, they are 
ready to believe almost anything, especially 
from the mouths of charlatans or self-de- 
ceived fanatics, because in the nature of 
things it is the latter classes that speak 
most positively and in the loudest tones of 
conviction, and such mannerisms carry 
much weight with most of us when we are 
upon unfamiliar grounds. 
I am entirely willing to admit, of course, 
SCIENCE. 
[N. S. Von. XIII. No. 315. 
that there are more things in heaven and 
earth than are dreamed ofin our philosophy, 
but this is a very vague and unsatisfactory 
premise upon which to erect a working 
hypothesis of life. I am sure that in the 
practical and serious affairs of life it is 
much better to be guided by the knowledge 
that we have, incomplete though it may be, 
rather than by wild speculations about the 
knowledge that we have not. The wrecks 
of many fantastic beliefs scattered through 
the history of mankind bear witness to the 
wisdom of this rule of conduct. It would 
seem that the primitive mysticism that en- 
veloped the healer’s art still clings more or 
less to the profession of medicine. Those 
who practice the art to-day, whether legit- 
imately or illegitimately, are supposed by 
many who should know better, to have ac- 
quired in some way the power to lift the 
veil that enshrouds the mysteries of life. 
It would be well for the profession as well 
as the public if this remnant of ancient 
superstition could be forever effaced, and 
practitioners of the art of medicine could be 
measured by the standards of knowledge 
and skill that apply to less occult callings 
of life. For naturally this factor is used 
chiefly by those who are least deserving of 
confidence, and to the undoing of a credu- 
lous public. 
We may infer that the establishment of a 
rational theory and practice of medicine 
depends nearly as much upon an education 
of the public as upon the training of the 
physician. Education in the traditional 
humanities does not seem to be sufficient 
for it is well known that those who are pro- 
vided with this culture may fall easy victims 
to the vagaries of quacks. One might sup- 
pose that instruction in the elements of 
human physiology such as prevails in 
many colleges and secondary schools would 
meet the need that I am describing. But 
seemingly this is not the case, and the 
reasons for the inefficiency of this kind of 
