d in
cold water. We remained some days, and did all we could for his
benefit; but he too joined the great host that is forever "going
west," for want of what the world fails to give them.

It is not given to every member of our profession to enjoy the
knowledge that he alone stands between the helpless and suffering or
death, for in civilization modern amenities have almost annihilated
space and time, and the sensations of the Yankee at the Court of King
Arthur are destroyed by the realization of competitors, "just as
good," even if it often does leave one conscious of limitations. The
successful removal of a molar which has given torture for weeks in a
dentistless country, gains one as much gratitude as the amputation of
a limb. One mere boy came to me with necrosis of one side of his lower
jaw due to nothing but neglected toothache. It had to be dug out from
the new covering of bone which had grown up all around it. The
whimsical expression of his lop-sided face still haunts me.

Deformities went untreated. The crippled and blind halted through
life, victims of what "the blessed Lord saw best for them." The
torture of an ingrowing toe-nail, which could be relieved in a few
minutes, had incapacitated one poor father for years. Tuberculosis and
rickets carried on their evil work unchecked. Preventable poverty was
the efficient handmaid of these two latter diseases.

There was also much social work to be done in connection with the
medical. Education in every one of its branches--especially public
health--was almost nonexistent--as were many simple social amenities
which might have been so easily induced.

At one village a woman with five children asked us if we could marry
her to her husband. They had never been together when a parson
happened along, and they now lived in a lonely cove three miles away.
This seemed a genuine case of distress; and as it happened a parson
was taking a passage with us, we sent two of our crew over in a boat
to round up the groom. Apparently he was not at all anxious, but being
a very small man and she a large woman, he discreetly acquiesced. The
wedding was held on board our ship, every one entering into the spirit
of the unusual occasion. The main hold was crammed with guests, bells
were rung and flags flown, guns fired, and at night distress rockets
were sent up. We kept in touch with the happy couple for years, till
once more they moved away to try their luck elsewhere.

Obviously