Astrology in medicine : the Fitzpatrick lectures delivered before the Royal College of Physicians on November 6 and 11, 1913, with addendum on saints and signs / by Charles Arthur Mercier.

  • Mercier, Charles Arthur, 1852-1919.
Date:
1914
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Astrology in medicine : the Fitzpatrick lectures delivered before the Royal College of Physicians on November 6 and 11, 1913, with addendum on saints and signs / by Charles Arthur Mercier. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by University of Bristol Library. The original may be consulted at University of Bristol Library.

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    the retainer was satisfactory, he refused to look at the papers. No doubt there were needy saints, not too scrupulous, who would undertake any case for a candle or two, whether they were qualified to treat it or not; just as now there are sixpenny doctors, and surgeons who will undertake a case of mental disease; but it is to be hoped that the leaders of the profession had more conscience, and that a saint who specialised on blindness, for instance, would no more undertake a dislocation or a fracture than a Chancery leader would under- take the defence of a prisoner at the Old Bailey, or a reputable surgeon would treat a patient suffering from mental disorder. So far, then, our mediaeval ancestors were thoroughly well provided with patrons. There was scarcely any occasion in life that had not a saint who had specialised in its requirements and was ready to supply them for a consideration —for a sufficient number of candles. But it is evident that such a complete equipment of saints could not have been suddenly, nor even rapidly constituted. It must have been the growth of years and of generations; and moreover, we must remember that there was a time, at the beginning