15 FEBRUARY 1902, Page 16

[To THE EDITOR OF TEE " SPECTATOR "] Sin,—Francis Bacon considered

one of the offices of medicine was to mitigate pain; whether with a view to convalescence or to procuring an easy and tranquil departure from life. He adds : —" At nostris temporibus, medicis quasi religio est, aegrotis postquam deplorati sint assidere ; ubi me o judicio si officio suo atque adeo humanitati ipsi deesse nolint, et artem ediscere et diligentiam praestare deberent qua animam agentes facilius et mitius e vita demigrent."—(" De Augmentia Scientiarum," IV.)—I am, Sir, &c., EDWARD W. SMITHSON.

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