Vol. 60, 1909 - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

DR. ll^o^^'OK COOK, DISCOVERER, lieve, that he would become a ravinj, maniac
Doubtless this Journal is not alone in feel- were he to be discredited bv the world In
ing great elation over the fact that the first some respects he has already shown himself
human being to have actually reached the far from being a normally 'balanced iudi-
Koal of three hundred years of human en- vidual. There can be no doubt however
deavor was a plain every-day medical man. that so far Cook has the best of the aro-u-
\et we do not mean that, for Dr. Cook is ment. He has refused to retaliate, he has
more than a plain, ordinary being. There conducted himself in a dignified and couris
something extraordinary about the man teous manner, and he has only to prove
who was able to do so wonderful and, till that he has been there. On the other hand
that time, unique a stunt as was accom- Peary has acted the part of a small, spoiled
phshed by this Brooklyn doctor in reaching child, he has shown how puerile and selfish
theXorth Pole. We should, of course,— is his spirit, and not only must prove that
and we do—find greatest pride in the fact Dr. Cook has not been there, but he must
that Dr. Cook is an .-Vmerican, but next to at the same time adduce evidence to prove
the patriotism which thrills our liearts, with that he—the great Pearv— "nailed the
that of millions of other loyal Americans, Stars and Stripes to the North Pole." We
because the stars and stripes were the first do not for a moment wish to attempt to deto
flutter in the polar breezes, comes the cide the controversy. It is perfectly possipride
that Doctor Cook is a medical man. ble that both men reached the Pole,' but our
It isn't that the penetration of the mystery purpose is merely to witness to our great
which hitherto has kept the Pole shrouded admiration of Frederick Cook, the physicfrom
man s prying instincts means anything ian, the gentleman, the explorer, the greatto
us in a medical way; but it simply adds est discoverer since Columbus
a whole laurel vvreath to a profession which «oM«rER-s method or art.p.c.au
has too long been content to strive for rbspir^tion
achiev-ement within the restricted bounds The Silvester method of artificial respirao
medical science. Dr. Cook's discovery tion has doubtless been more widely taught
of the Big Xa.l is but another evidence of and employed than any other. It is neces-
Amencan grit, perseverance and determm- sary only to mention. t that one shall be
ation t was a test of human endurance perfectly understood. Another method was
to withstand the hardships and privations, taught by Marshall Hall, and still another,
which to us are well-nigh unthinkable, which is likewise better known in this
Enough, however, has been said and IS still country, is the method introduced and
being said, and, perhaps, for months will demonstrated by Benjamin Howard. A
be said, in praise and wonder over the man newer method has recently been advowho
first found a way to the North Pole, cated by Schafer, and those who have em-
His name has been inscribed among the ployed it report that its simplicity and the
names of those whose fame is undimmed by ease with which it is put in practice render
the passing years, and no amount of petty it the best method vet devised,
jealousy, niud slinging and disparagement Schafer's method differs from Howard's
has succeeded, or will succeed, in dimming i„ that it depends entirely on the fact that
the lustre of his imperishable name. i„ ordinary tranquil respiration the dia-
The attitude of Commander Peary has phragm sinks with inspiration, and as it
justly received the stamp of mean and sinks pushes forward the epigastrium. If,
small-souled by the whole world. There therefore, this portion of the belly be cornremains
little that could be said in regard pressed it pushes the viscera back against
to his actions and utterances throughout the diaphragm, drives it upwards, and exthe
whole affair. The majority of lay pels air from the lungs. Schafer insists on
papers of the whole country have, we be- this principle, and has no desire to comlieve,
shown a tendency to side with Dr. press the thorax at all, though practically
Cook in the controversy, and all because he the thorax is to some extent compressed,
has consistently acted the part of a gentle- He has shown that compression of this part
man toward the other side. Peary seems of the abdomen causes a large exchange of
to have an idea that no one but himself had air, larger, he thinks, than can be obtained
any right to find the North Pole: because he by other methods, including Silvester's.
had made numerous attempts and failed he Professor Keith and others, however, doubt
apparently had conceived the notion that he this latter conclusion.
had a monopoly on the wliole Polar region In brief Howard's method was to put a
and that all who dared tresspass should be large pad under the shoulders, and bend
looked upon as poaching on his preserves, the head back until it was at right angles
This ambition to be the first man to reach to the trunk: in this position the trunk is
the North Pole amounted to an obssesion drawn forwards, and the glottis is necesin
the case of Peary to the extent we be- sarily open. Then he got astride of the