She knows more than some men; and I half think she has a soul, and that I may meet her in another world; and if I should blow her up I would expect to be haunted by her ghost as long as I live. I don't think I would care so much for the addle-headed superintendent, or for the engineer, but I couldn't knowingly hurt the engine, or help any other man to do it. Would you help kill a man, Doctor?

Dr. Putnam. No.

Wr. Jenkins. Nor would I help kill an engine.

Dr. Putnam. But you would not yourself hurt the engine, you would only put it on the right track.

Mr. Jenkins. Your philosophy is too fine for me. If neither I nor any other engineer did put her on the right track, the superintendent wouldn't take his foolish ride, and the engine wouldn't be blown up.

Dr. Putnam. Mr. Jenkins has given you my answer to your question, Dr. Warren.

If I have anything more to say in reply, it is to repeat what I have already intimated, that I am under no obligation to sacrifice my own self-respect for a man who wilfully and obstinately refuses to make any sacrifice on his

part in order that he may obtain my professional services.

The object which the patient and his medical attendant has in view, in asking an expert to give an opinion in such a case, is seldom or never fairly stated. The charlatan has never intimated to his patient that he has any doubt as to the nature of his disease. That is not the way with men of that class. He has consented to the consultation only to gratify a whim of the patient, and with the ultimate purpose of convincing his patient that he understood the case better than any one else; and inasmuch as he will be left thereafter in exclusive charge of the patient, he will have no difficulty in convincing him. Even in case of the patient's death, and he is permitted to make an autopsy, the proof that he was right and the expert was wrong will not be wanting. How can a physician consent to occupy such a position for the sake of the fee, and for nothing else? for no other profit can come of it to any of the parties concerned. Please read this paragraph which I have copied from the Homœopathic Code of Medical Ethics :

66

"§ 6. As the patient has an undoubted right to dismiss his physician for reasons satis

factory to himself, so, likewise, the physician may, with equal propriety, decline to attend patients when his self-respect or dignity seem to him to require this step."

May the attending physician indulge in that self-respect which is denied to the consulting physician? or may a homoeopathist exercise a degree of personal freedom which is denied to a Doctor?

SEVENTH CONVERSATION.

Old "Fogyism"-The Hippocratic Code of Ethics— The "Gentleman's" Code-Trades-union.

Dr. Warren. Our long and intimate personal relations encourage me to say some things to you which, under other circumstances, I would not feel at liberty to say.

Dr. Putnam. You are not likely to say or do anything which will disturb our friendly relations.

Dr. Warren. You are by some years my senior; and while it is undoubtedly true that age brings with it many advantages of mental discipline and experience, don't you think that old men are apt to fall into ruts from which it is difficult to extricate themselves? and that they move so slowly that they eventually block the road, and become obstructionists in the way of the car of progress?

Dr. Putnam. Become old fogies? Yes; but you see how it happens that they get into a rut. They have, in the course of their lives,

tried a great many roads, and, having at last found out which is the best, they are apt to stay in it. I don't think, however, that they often seriously block the way; since I have noticed that those on the car of progress manage to switch off, and to go past me with banners and a shout; and this is, in many cases, the last. I ever hear of them.

I understand you mean to imply that in my adherence to the code I am somewhat old fogy? Yes, I am; for a medical code is as old as Hipprocrates. The father of medicine had that instinctive appreciation of a humane art which led him to construct a code of ethics for his pupils, and to bind them to its observance by a solemn oath, which they were required to take before entering upon the practice of their profession. This code has been quoted and approved by each succeeding generation of medical men in all parts of the world, from that time until the present day. Some of its precepts, especially that relating to the disclosure of secrets entrusted by patients to their physicians, for the purpose of obtaining such medical advice as they could not otherwise obtain, have become embodied in the laws of most civilized countries.