Poem read at the Banquet, Oct. 15, 1896, by W. S. Nay, M. D., Underhill.
The Country Doctor-well, what shall I say,
That will help the poor fellow 'long life's rugged way,
That will brighten and cheer, or cause for a time,
The dark side of life with lustre to shine?
He dares to be free at least once in the year,
From the groans and complaints, we so constantly hear,
And join with his clan his notes to compare,
And for future complaints the better prepare.
This country M. D., so-called from his place,
Is a man among men who is keeping apace,
With matters and things, and his patients declare,
His equal can seldom be found anywhere.
This man among men, it is often well said,
Must be in his town the recognized head.
He must know all he can, and make you believe,
That what he don't know would be hard to achieve.
He must never allow any lack of progression
To step beween him and his noble profession.
For once to admit that he's not very wise,
Would cause his good patients the greatest surprise.
In medical knowledge he's expected to be,
The "sine qua non," as you doubtless will see.
If baby has colic, he must know at a glance,
The cause of the trouble, and his prospects enhance
By informing the mother that its well that she sent
At the opportune moment, or she'd had to repent.
For baby you see would have gone sure as sin,
Because of the "flatus" that's pent up within.
He is called by a father (to be) in his joy,-
Who expects the advent of a "bouncing big boy."
The doctor quite promptly responds to the call
And is greeted by mother-in-law, father, and all,
In a most cheerful way, and in due course of time
Presents them the heir, who in feature and line
Is pronounced by them all as exceedingly fine.
But, the "bouncing big boy," whom father expects,
The doctor declares is of opposite sex,-
And he further declares had he known their desires
He'd arranged the affairs as occasion requires.
In his wisdom the doctor must now appear
Not alone to be able to make the deaf hear;
He must also, as well, cause blind ones to see,
Lest he prove not the doctor he's expected to be.
In small-pox and measles, or similar ills,
He must show equal tact in dispensing his pills.
With assurance from patients he must cure them at once Or his title will signify "Medical Dunce."
This doctor, no matter about a degree,—
If he only writes after his name an M. D.,—
The people demand no superior knowledge,
For they never inquire respecting the college
From whence he came forth, and they don't care to know, Provided he says he can do so and so.
If he rides thorough the village at quite rapid pace
The people will reason a quite urgent case
Demands his attention, and the faster he drives
He proves his desire to save people's lives.
He signifies soon his early intention
To avail himself of a modern invention;
To place in his office an instrument known
To the public at large as a Bell Telephone.
It brings all his patients from distance, so near,
He is willing to pay fifty dollars a year.
If on the same line there should happen to be,
As it often does happen, another M. D.,
How convenient it is to receive on the line
The more frequent calls, which we often opine,
Are rung by himself, but he laughs in his glee
Since he thinks that he fools his brother M. D.
This rural physician finds secular cares,
Demanding at times from his business affairs
His absence from home, but he don't dare to tell
His reluctance to leave, lest his patients get well.
Fearing people in town may not know he is there,
His presence demands that he promptly repair
To the leading hotel, where with flourishes gay,
He signs himself Doctor A. B. from St. J.
On meeting a friend of some local renown,
He divulges the causes that bring him to town,
Emphasizing the fact, that he ought not to come
As professional work needs attention at home.
This doctor prescribes what he says will do good,
(Ten cents worth will do for a whole neighborhood)
I venture to say without losing my pride
That the bottle costs more than the liquid inside;
He gravely explains to his patients the need
Of abstemious diet on which they should feed,
But he never applys to himself such a rule
For when he is sick he eats like a fool.
I have heard there are times when the doctor speaks rash
Having calls from some people who have'nt the cash;
He returns to them word that he really can't go
Because other business is troubling him so.
Very soon he is asked by some intimate friend
To join with a few, and his influence lend
In a quite pleasant way—perhaps with the boys
In the social events, which he always enjoys-
"Tis then he forgets that the time that he spares
Is so precious a boon in his busines affairs.
The wise country doctor must be always on call,
Be the fee for the service greater or small;
But if once he should hint that the fee should be paid
He is often informed that the charge he has made
Is much in excess of what they believe
Is the reasonable sum that he should receive.
Perchance he concludes that for policy's sake
It is better, perhaps, a deduction to make;
He then is informed-to accord with their plan-
That the bill will be paid as soon as they can.
This rural M. D., if he hopes to succeed,
Must never denote by word or by deed
That matters religious he should ever control,
But attend to the bodies and not to the soul.
If perferment is craved, and political strife
Steps in to intrude on professional life,
He must sacrifice business as well as his friends
In order to gain his political ends.
If this doctor belongs to the F. & A. M.
And he joins with the Bros., like other good men
On festive occasions, his patrons then say
He is getting unsteady and is always away.
The facts in the case in a nutshell are these:
Whatever he does he never can please;
So opinions of others must be laid on the shelf,
He will do best of all if he pleases himself.
So much can be said for the country M. D.
Who wants to be good, but never can be.
Obituary of C. P. Frost, M. D.
By Wm. T. Smith, M. D., Hanover, N. H.
Carlton Pennington Frost was the son of Benjamin and Mary Brant Frost, and was born at Sullivan, N. H., May 29th, 1830. When he was six years of age his father removed with his family to Thetford, Vt., for the purpose of educating his children at Thetford Academy. After graduating from the Academy, young Frost entered Dartmouth College in the summer of 1848, and took his degree of A. B. at that Institution in 1852. He registered his name soon after as a student of Medicine with Dr. Worcester, of Thetford. Like most of the young sons of Vermont and New Hampshire who have made their way by their own efforts from the farm to a college degree, he began early to teach school. He taught at Dublin, N. H., be fore entering college. In those days Dartmouth had in the winter what was in effect a vacation of three months for the benefit of pedagogues, and these months Dr. Frost spent, during each year of his college life, in teaching at Barrington, Vt. During the first year after his graduation he filled the same position. In 1854 he went to Grafton, Mass., as principal of a school in that place. During that winter in a period of religious interest he made profession of the faith in which he thereafter lived, by uniting with the church. Teaching for bread-winning, he pursued dili
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