Life, 1914-07-30 · page 27 of 40
Life — July 30, 1914 — page 27: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Main Illustration (Top):** "Weather Forecast: Rising Temperature Along the Coast, Followed by Squalls" depicts women in bathing attire on a beach. The title is a double entendre—the "squalls" (storms) refer both to weather and to the women's discomfort or complaints, playing on period stereotypes about women's emotional volatility. The artist is Marlaine McMillan. **Small Comic (Bottom Right):** "In the Dog Days" shows a child with tongue extended while panting. The caption warns against this behavior, joking that onlookers might think the child is "mad" (rabid). The humor relies on conflating childish behavior with animal behavior during summer heat. **Text (Left Column):** A serious essay praising doctors' growing medical knowledge and competence, contrasting modern advances with historical ignorance. The page juxtaposes satirical commentary on gender and behavior with earnest professional respect—typical of *Life* magazine's mixed editorial approach.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
WEATHER FORECAST RISING TEMPERATURE ALONG THE COAST, FOLLOWED RY SQUALLS it is a wonder that mankind has con- tinued to confide in them, and that they have managed, themselves, to retain any confidence in their com- petency for their employment. But we do confide in them, not because we believe them to be infallible, but be- cause we think they know more about health, disease and the human body than we do, And we are right about that. Al- most any doctor knows more about doctoring than the average layman, especially when the layman is ill. The average length of human life has been extended in modern civilized countries by fifteen or twenty years, and a good part of that valuable extension is cred- ited to the growth and application of medical knowledge. Doctors are far better taught than they used to be, and there is a great deal more that can be taught them with reasonable confidence that it is true. When we consider that their whole subject (the material part of it) is a carcass in two varieties, that can go in a box about six feet long and less than two fect wide, it seems wonderful that they did not learn ages ago every- thing connected with it. But they didn’t, and have not learned it yet, though nowadays they do know quite a bit, and are rapidly adding to their store of knowledge, The purpose of all the old pro- fessions—church, law and medicine— (Continued on page 199.) IN THE DOG DAYS “pon’rT PUT YOUR TONGUE SO FAR OUT WHEN YOU PANT, CHILD. SOME FOOL WILL THINK YOU ARE MAD" comicbooks.com