Life, 1916-05-04 · page 49 of 52
Life — May 4, 1916 — page 49: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This poem mocks the medical profession's tendency toward unnecessary consultation and specialist referrals. Starting with one doctor unable to diagnose, each verse adds another physician, escalating from two disagreeing doctors calling a consultation, to three poking and prodding, to eventually nine male doctors (with a jab at Mary Walker, likely a female doctor of the era) before the patient dies anyway. The satire targets over-medicalization: doctors multiplying solutions rather than solving problems, each bringing competing opinions and unnecessary treatments (stomach pumps, "fancy tricks"). The darkly comic ending—"Find that you are dead"—suggests the patient expired despite or because of excessive medical intervention. This reflects early 20th-century skepticism about medical authority and the profit motive behind unnecessary specialist referrals, a concern that remains relevant today.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“Mum” (as easy to use as to say) takes all the odor out of perspiration A touch of this snow-white cream preserves the soap-and-water fresh- ness of the bath. Try it and see. 25¢—sold by 9 out of 10 drug: and department-stores rae “MUM” MFG CO 1106 Chestnut i Philadelphia The Multiplying Medics One little doctor Looks you through and through, Can't diagnose your case, Then there are two. Two little doctors, Failing to agree, Call a consultation. Then there are three, Three little doctors Poke you o'er and o'er, Send for a specialist. Then there are four. se Four little doctors > | Wonder you're alive. Another brings a stomach pump. Then there are five. Five little doctors, Trying fancy tricks, . ont an li Put a KODAK in your Pocket. : Have it ready for the unexpected that always happens. y- "| There’s a size for the vest as well as the coat. Kodak, a ; . you know, means photography with the bother left out. n- a. Catalog at your dealer's, or by mail. rt 7e EASTMAN KODAK CO., Rocuester, N. Y., The Kodak City. 2 t a G LY c E R I N E Ss re) A P Six little doctors Ask for a neurologist : he Preparing you for heaven, Then there are nine. or over three generations No. 471] White Rose Glycerine’ Seap has been aed—and Coiea by die a oes ® DD: Nine little doctors omen the wor! en there are seven. " of >: vip. TeRular use insures «clear, soft and All of them are men, smooth skin. Send for Mary Walker. vans is a delight 10 we No . ; s creamy xa are a lasting pleasure—a revela- Decide to operate, atyour favorite Gepartinent store of drusgi Call in a surgeon. Ten little doctors Peet tarps form savapte ate ine ie Then there are eight. Standing by your bed, 1 Ne. O41 Bath Salts and a savapie bottle of Ne . ” Come to a decision: MULHENS & KROPFF Eight little doctors . Find that you are dead. Devt. L. 25 West 45th St, New York City Think it's in your spine, —Kenneth Macgowan in Collier's Weekly. comicbooks.com