ing his services to any one whom he may de- 
sire. 
Finally—We come to a charge in respect 
to the poor, made against the profession by 
those who know nothing of what they com- 
plain. “A physician should be considerate 
ol the poor” is not only a rule in our by-laws, 
but is a virtue daily pracdsed by all physi- 
c ans. It is doubtful if there can be found 
an exception. Ours has been called a silent 
protession, and as a rule we prefer to say 
nothing of our charities, but must meet the 
calumny that we are severe with the poor. 
In every large community there may be 
found physicians who yearly give from a 
few hundred 10 several thousand dollars in 
services. The number of visits made and 
the miles travelled are not recorded; nor the 
hours devoted to the suffering poor, not only 
as physician, but often in the capacity of 
nurse'as well. This labor is performed in 
private practice, to say nothing of the care 
and attention bv certain members of the pro- 
fession which is given to the thousands of 
poor unfortunates wt.o crowd the dispensa- 
ries, hospitals and charitable institutions in 
our great cities. 
VVe ask no compensation for such labor 
and expect none.' The “God bless you” 
honestly and reverently offered by those who 
are recipients of our care, is our reward, and 
with that we are satisfied. 
We do not in this paper advocate the 
withholding of a single visitor needed atten- 
tion to the suffering poor and unfortunate. 
But is it not Mine that a change be made in 
the present method of business relations 
with our patients? If circumstances seem 
to indicate the necessity or desirability of a 
reduction or change in our schedule of prices, 
then a revising of the lee table should be 
made, and, having decided upon a fair and 
just compensation for our services, then by 
proper means let our rate of charges be made 
known to the public and adhered to by the 
profession with the exceptions suggested. 
In this way we shall obviate many of those 
unpleasant complaints and insinuations 
which are now with some show of reason 
lorced upon us. 
Found ! At a well known druggist’?, a porous 
plaster that not only relieves, but cures. It is 
Khan’s Kidney and Back Plaster. Abso-J 
lutely the best porous plaster known. j/‘ 
The finest mayonnaise dressing for ail kinds of 
salads, cold meats, raw tomatoes, pickled sal- 
mon, cabbage, etc., is Durkee’s Salad Dressing. 
It is, besides, more economical than home-made. 
For M' dicinal and Domestic 
Use a pure Whiskey is often required. Ask for 
the G. O. Taylor Old Bourbon. It is a standard 
article. Druggists and grocers have it. 
Fean’s White Glycerine 
I3 acknowl dgt d to be far superior to anything 
on the market for the use of all skin diseases and 
the improving ot the complexion. It penetrates 
the skin without irjury. 
FEES FOlt PHYSICIANS’ SERVICES. 
BY A PHYSICIAN. 
That there is a decreasing sense of obliga- 
tion on the part of the public in reference to 
the payment of physicians’ bills, and agrow- 
ing feeling among physicians that their ser- 
vices are underrated, and a just recompense 
too often refused, cannot be questioned. 
For this condition of things the profession 
itself is largely at fault. Why is it that the 
bill for medical attendance is the last one to 
be paid, if paid at'all? May not one reason 
be found in the fact that there is no prear- 
ranged rate of compensation, so that the 
public may know definitely what the charges 
of a physician will be before his services are 
asked? 
Is it not too often the case that a physician 
is called to attend a patient, makes the nec- 
essary number of visits, and on presenting 
his bill weeks or months after, is asked for 
the first time “how much he charges fora 
visit?” 
In no other profession or vocation is there 
such looseness or entire absence of business 
habits. The clergyman’s salary is fixed when 
he takes a parish ; the lawyer’s fee is known 
to his client in advance; teachers, mer- 
chants, mechanics, and even the bumbiest la- 
borers have eacli a definite price for their 
services which is well known by those who 
employ them. But with the physician, it is 
claimed by some, that it is lowering to the 
dignity of the profession to bring the subject 
of pay into notice early in attendance. Keep 
on with that notion a while longer and it 
will be the exception and not the rule to re- 
ceive anything for medical services. It 
would not take many years to degrade the 
profession to a condition that has no parallel 
in any other sphere of professional or mer-. 
cantile labor. We should then be the recipi- 
ents only of such gifts as our patients or 
their friends might choose to bestow for in- 
dispensable services. 
We claim that it is not lowering to the dig- 
nity of the physician, but rather just to both 
himself and the public, that nis charges 
should be prearranged and known as in 
other pursuits; for to say nothing of money 
as the means of support to himself and his 
family, a doctor’s knowledge and skill are 
his invested capital from which he is entitled 
a fair return. 
But it is a fact, that, as a general rule, the 
public do not know what the usual and proper 
fees charged by the physicians in their re- 
spective eomaiimit'cs are. 
,* As in everything else,so among physician?, 
all do not adhere to a unity of charges. Tak- 
ing the average charges by physicians in the 
New England states; it may be stated that 
the usual fee charged for ordinary attend- 
ance, is from one to three dollars a visit, the 
time of such visit being, understood to be be- 
tween 6 a.m. and 10 p. m., and the dis- 
tance within one mile from house or office. 
For each additional mile, from fifty cents to 
one dollar extra is charged. For visits dur- 
ing the night or between the hours ol 10 p. 
in. and 6 a. m., a double fee is usually 
charged. For calls at the office, from fifty 
cents to a dollar and upwards; medicine may 
or may not be included. Fees for obstetric 
and surgical practice are usually enquired 
into at the time the service is rendered, and 
often in advance. The charge being known 
before band, it is optional with the family 
whom to employ. 
Previous knowledge of the usual charges 
for ordinary medical attendance, is what is 
lacking, and the want of such seriously af- 
fects the relations and feelings of both pa- 
tient and physician. 
The remedy for this evil is to extend this 
requisite knowledge among all classes. The 
question naturally arises, how may this be 
done? To bring this information to patients 
and the general public, requires only a clear, 
straight-forward business course. A physi- 
cian sb< uld b a gentleman ot' course, and it 
possessed of the instincts and conduct of a 
gentleman, he will give no offense, whatever 
method he may adopt. 
A spirit of courtesy is as necessary in a 
physician as in an undertaker, but be has as 
good a right to have a fixed and recognized 
price for his labors as the undertaker has to 
have a set price for the objects of bis traffic. 
There are several ways in which the 
knowledge alluded to may be extended. 
One is fo^Sthose physicians who are members 
of a medical society, to have a printed copy 
of the fee-table of the association, neatly 
framed and hung in the waiting room of 
their offices. This table could easily be 
consulted by those who are waiting their 
turn to see the doctor, and would also be 
handy for reference at any time. 
Another method, is to have extracts from 
the fee-table printed on the back of the bill 
heads. As such bills are usually preserved, 
a schedule of charges would always be at 
hand. Another method of a similar nature, 
is, for those physicians who have professional 
cards, giving location of office, residence, 
office hours, etc., to use the back of them for 
this purpose. 
Again, when a physician is asked what his 
fee is, he should plainly answer by stating 
his charges in a clear business-like manner. If 
he is a member of a medical society, and in- 
tends to adhere to the fee-table adopted by the 
association, then let him announce the lees as 
they are there represented. On no consider- 
ation should he so far forget his relations to 
brother practitioners as to say, that the fee 
usually charged by members of the society is 
so much, but that he shall only charge so 
much, naming a le-ser sum. 
If a member ol the society, and if, for any 
reason, he does not choose to a>k the full 
fee, then let him name Ins own charges, and 
not slur the society with reterence to the fee- 
table wbicb has been adopted. If a physi- 
cian is not a member of anv societv, he is’ of 
course at. liberty to make his own fee-table. 
The existence of fixed prices on the part 
of physicians, has caused complaint from the 
public, and jealousy in the profession. The 
former have thought that a fixed sum was 
unjust, and that where a difference in fees 
have occurred, that certain members of the 
profession were overcharging, while ihe lat- 
ter, hearing of alleged undercharging, have 
felt that there was trickery in the camp, and 
their only safeguard was being destroyed. 
This is in part due to the fact that the real 
spirit of the rule laid down bv medical 
associations is not clearly understood. The 
following, selected from a copy of the By- 
Laws. of one of the county medical societies 
in this state, is believed to be a fair repre- 
sentation of such articles. It reads as fol- 
lows : 
FEES. 
“A fee-table has a local application, and is de- 
signed to indicate a fair or average aieount due 
for services- But it the patient fully understands 
it beforehand, a physician is at liberty to place 
any value he s-es fit upon his services. It is 
then at the patient’s option to d» cline them or 
to pay the prioe. A physici n should be consid- 
erate of the poor.” 
This is the larger text in the article, the 
smaller being of interest only to the profes- 
sion. What can be more just to the patient, 
or fair for the physician? 
If the knowledge of a physician’s stand- 
ard charges are of special value to the pub- 
lic, are they not of equal importance to the 
physician? If from stuilv, experience or su- 
perior advantages, he considers bis services 
of special value, how much better for Iiim 
early in his attendance upon a case to let that 
value be known. Then, if the patient is un- 
able or unwilling to pay the rate charged, he 
will have an op ortunity to call another. 
This is better than to continue in attendance 
with no such understanding, and finally, aft- 
er taking charge of a long and severe illness, 
to have one’s bill refused because it is too 
large, or to be obliged to make a considerable 
discount in order to obtain anything. 
There is no construction ol the above 
clause that prohibits any physiciau from giv-