ervice or for any national calamity
such as floods, earthquakes, forest fires, epidemics, etc. When neither
war nor calamities require their presence, they devote themselves to the
service of the needy poor, or wait upon the rich, if called. The heroic
service rendered by the surgeons and nurses from this hospital in the
Cuban War, brought their work into great prominence.

At the suggestion of Miss Barton, the medical department of the hospital
was commissioned to treat diseases without the use of alcoholic liquids.

Dr. Lesser, the executive surgeon, is a German, and of German education,
having received his medical education in the Universities of Berlin and
Leipsic. In a conversation with a press representative, Dr. Lesser said
some time ago:--

"We have been convinced that the use of alcohol can be entirely
eliminated from our medical practice, and this has been
practically accomplished at the Red Cross Hospital. We find that
where stimulants are required, such remedies as caffeine,
nitro-glycerine and kolafra take the place of alcohol, and are
even more satisfactory. The main use of alcohol is to stimulate
the action of the heart in various ailments. The blood is thus
forced to the remote parts of the system, and poisonous
substances carried away. But, besides serving this good purpose,
the drug tears down and ultimately destroys the cellular tissues
of the body. A relapse is certain to follow the application. The
drugs that I have mentioned serve exactly the same purpose
without the disastrous results. We are proving this every day at
the Red Cross Hospital.

"Only a few days ago a boy was brought in, apparently at the
point of death. He was put into bed and watched by the nurse.
After a little ammonia had been given to him as a stimulant, he
unconsciously expressed himself to the effect that it was not
the same as they gave him in another place, and gradually when
it dawned upon him that no alcohol was administered by the Red
Cross, he said, 'Gin has allers made me better.' The doctor in
charge, who already suspected that the boy was pretending
illness for the sake of the drink, was not surprised an hour or
two afterwards to learn that he had demanded his clothes,
dressed himself, and left the hospital most ungratefully, but
apparently quite well."

Dr. George F. Shrady, one of the consulting physicians,