Page:Pearl of Asia (Child JT, 1892).pdf/336

308 had been administering cathartics for the purpose of expelling the wind that was supposed to be pent up in his heart causing the trouble. It was a new idea to them that there was no road to the heart except by way of the circulation of the blood or by the systematic influence of the nervous system. They regarded the liver as having so slight a fastening as to be liable to get out of its place, sinking down among the intestines and producing grave complaints by its erratic wanderings. Even up to the present time the students and native doctors at Wang Lang hospital could hardly be made to understand that there were kidneys in the human body, nor realize of what use they could be in the system. They know but little concerning surgery, they but seldom use a lancet, and treat cancers and tumors with a poultice made up of many ingredients, more injurious than beneficial. It was a long time before the natives would submit to a surgical operation; now that they have realized the beneficial effects of Western skill, they are not slow in catching on to a good thing, our surgeons and doctors are in demand, sometimes having to go hundreds of miles in the interior to amputate or set a limb. Thus it does not take long to break down the barrier of prejudice with them when they are to be benefited. It is well that the Siamese are inveterate bathers, otherwise the way that they live in filthy huts disease should run riot among them, the walls and floors of theirvooms being stained with betel saliva and other filth. No wonder that cholera has here its abiding place the year round, its natural home, as it has come there to stay. Vaccination is very popular with the people, having been introduced into the king-