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INTRODUCTORY  LECTURE,
DELIVERED AT THE
COLLEGE  OF  PHYSICIANS  AND  SURGEONS
CITY OF  NEW-YORK,
NOV. 5, 1830.
      *  0

       f'u              "'   -----\J*
       *    BY JOHN  B. BECK, M. D.

Professor of Materia Medica and Medical Jurisprudence in the University of the
                    State of New-York,

                 .N.V'            fo









                    NEW-YORK:

           (i & C & H. CARVILL, 10S BROADWAY.
1830. 

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I 23 6 
                 TO THE STUDENTS





                         OP THE






COLLEGE OF  PHYSICIANS  AND  SURGEONS







               OP THE CITY OF NEW-YORK,






    THE FOLLOWING LECTURE IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED,






                     BY THEIE FRIEND







                                     THE AUTHOR. 
 
LECTURE.
   In the whole career of human existence, there is perhaps
 no question to the determination  of which a man may be
 called,  so really important to himself as that which  relates
 to  the business or profession which is to occupy the thoughts
 and labours of his future life. According to the decision which
 he here makes, may his fortunes be prosperous  or adverse.
 and his name destined to honour or contempt.  The reason
 is  obvious.  Man is the creature of circumstances.   Con-
 stituted by his Creator a social being—endowed with sus-
 ceptibilities of  being  influenced by others of his species, it
is evident that his character and destiny must, to a very great
extent, be controlled by the associations which necessity—
or accident—or fortune may have forced upon him.   Hence
it is that by education and example he  is formed to good or
 to evil.   By the kindred spirits with whom he  sympathizes
and acts, he is stirred to lofty purposes and a noble ambition,
 or sunk into base thoughts and unworthy practices.
   It is not  merely, however, this general influence,  which,
 more or less extensively, is felt in  every occupation and in
every situation  in life, that  invests  with so high an interest. 
6
the choice of a profession.   The  minds of men differ as
much as their physical structures.   It is impossible therefore
that all can apply themselves to the same subject with equal
chances of success.   On this account it is that instances are
so frequently  met with of men,  even of powerful under-
standings and  abundant knowledge, proving unsuccessful in
particular professional avocations.   Energies  are  lost or
wasted on subjects unsuited to their nature, which had they
been  directed to other and more congenial pursuits, would
have placed them in the foremost  ranks of  successful com-
petition, and perhaps transmitted their  names with  renown
to after ages.
   It is evident, therefore, that much of  a man's character in
life may depend upon the profession which he  may select,
and the adaptation of it to his peculiar powers.
   You, Gentlemen, have made this selection, and,  I doubt
not, with a due regard to its just importance : and you have
chosen a study which in its dignity, general interest, and ex-
tended practical utility, is inferior  to none.  Of its dignity
and  utility,  it is almost unnecessary  to say any thing.  Its
 claims to these do not rest upon the  dubious grounds of ab-
stract speculation—they are laid deep in nature.   There  is
nothing so valuable to man as his life ;  and the means designed
to save and prolong it must be viewed as among the greatest
of earthly blessings.   Hence it is that wherever human be-
ings have been found, Medicine has always been held in the
highest esteem.  While in civilized  society and among cul-
tivated nations, it has been looked  upon as one of the noblest
 and most liberal of  arts,  among  savage nations it has been 
/
invested with a  character  more  sacred, and  allied to  the
Divinity  itself.   A  concurrence of opinion so  universal
among mankind—in countries most remote from each other
—in periods most distant—of nations the most rude and the
most refined, could never have existed without a sure  and
just foundation in truth.  Of the general estimation there-
fore in which medicine is held, as well as of its public utility,
there can be no doubt.  It is not  in  these points of view
solely, however, that it should be looked upon by those who
propose to make it  the study of their  lives.  They should
look  upon it in  its  relations to the wide range of human
knowledge, and the influence which it may exercise imme-
diately or remotely upon their intellectual and moral natures.
It is only by such an analysis that the question  can be de-
cided, whether they are about  to devote their  labours to
studies which shall  mature  and expand and brighten  their
faculties, and render their career honourable to themselves
and useful to the world.
   In casting round  for a subject on which I might address
you on the present occasion, it has struck me that there could
be none more appropriate than  such an analysis of the study
of medicine, mainly  with a view of urging upon you its
proper cultivation.  The subject is one of interest and im-
portance, and to do full justice to it would require more  time
and discussion than could with propriety be appropriated to
the present exercise.   I shall therefore confine myself to a
rapid notice of two or three important points, reserving the
rest to some future  opportunity.
   The great and leading idea that I would present to you, is. 
8
 that the science of medicine is essentially the study of man.
 To  a certain extent this is true, also, of the other liberal
 professions : not however in the broad sense in which it is
 so of medicine.   Man is a  compound  being, and it is only
 here that in all his parts, animal,  moral and intellectual, he
 is made the subject of profound investigation.   It is this
 knowledge of man, which in fact is the basis of our science.
 He is accordingly first considered and analyzed as an ani-
 mated piece of mechanism, furnished with certain organs
 and  endowed with certain powers designed to support and
 prolong his own  existence,  and to perpetuate  the species.
 Next he is viewed as the creature  of passions, under whose
 stormy sway he  is impelled to good or to evil,  rendered
 happy or miserable.   Finally he  is contemplated as gifted
 with an intellectual nature,  shining out gloriously in those
 mental operations which so pre-eminently raise our species
 over the  brute  creation.  Now, constituted as  man is,  all
 these different parts of his being reciprocally influence each
 other. At one time, we see the whole physical organization
 agitated and disturbed by the fury of the passions, or sinking
 before the deeper impulses of the intellect.  Then again,
 we  see the passions running wild, and the intellect itself
 shaken on its very throne,  by perverted conditions of the
physical organs.   To trace out these relations and to mark
their  varied results, as it is one of the most  profound, so is
it one of the most interesting and important studies  con-
nected with our science.
  But it is not merely as an individual, that man  is to be
examined.  In all his relations with the species, under all the 
9
various circumstances, and in all the  different situations in
which he may be found, he is to be analyzed.  When first
placed upon this earth, his dwelling limited to  one region,
using the same diet, subject to the same atmospheric vicissi-
tudes, and influenced by the same moral and religious causes
—the probability is, that for a long period the human family
was characterized by striking resemblances.   Diseases were
few and simple ; and the susceptibility of the system  to the
impression of  external agents, whether noxious or salutary,
morbid or medicinal, marked by a general uniformity.  In
process of time, however, man overleapt the limits  of his
original habitation, and urged his way to other and remote
regions, until finally he overspread the surface of the earth ;
and he is now found under every climate,  in every state of
society, with manners and customs the most diverse. Yield-
ing to the sway of varying causes, he now loses his unifor-
mity.  Preserving only those great general features which
identify the unity of his origin, in other respects he becomes
changed  and modified.  His colour varies, and we see in one
part of the globe, the white man ; in another, he  assumes the
yellow or olive tint; in a third, we find  him of the red or cop-
per colour; in a fourth, brown  or tawny; while in another,
he is perfectly black. Along with his colour, his structure un-
dergoes various modifications, and hence we have what are
called the different varieties of  the human race.  From the
same  causes, the vital properties of the system become mo-
dified. In  cold northern regions, the general sensibility is
blunted by the rigour of the climate.  While the muscular
system is fully developed, the brain and nerves exert but little
                          2 
10
influence.  There is a general dullness and slowness of body
as well as of mind : capable of great efforts when roused,
but requiring extraordinary excitements to rouse them.  In
equatorial regions, the reverse  of all this is seen.   Here the
nervous system predominates.  All the sensibilities are awake.
The skin, constantly stimulated by  the heat of the climate,
keeps up a corresponding excitement in the digestive organs.
While the muscular system is  enfeebled, there is a general
excitability, which is called into full development by the
slightest  stimulants.  It is owing to this, that so marked a
difference is found in the effects which are produced by sti-
mulating liquors upon the inhabitants of northern and south-
ern regions.   What would intoxicate  the latter, produces
scarcely  any  effect  upon the  former.   ' A quantity  which
barely ruffles the frozen current of a  Norwegian's blood,
would scatter madness and fever into the brain of the Hin-
doo.'   The mind itself  participates in these effects—the
imagination  rises ascendant over  the other faculties—and
man sinks into indolence and voluptuousness.
   If we follow man still further and trace  him in different
states and stages  of society, we shall find him marked by
striking peculiarities.   In one he will be found with a body
inirritable, and a mind inactive and obtuse; while in another,
he will be exhibited as the victim of sensibility and excite-
ment, physical as well as moral.
   Now in all these varied conditions man is to be studied in
all his peculiarities, inasmuch as  upon these depend, not
merely the character of the diseases to which he may be
subject, but also the mode in which  they are to be treated. 
11
Extensive and profound  however as this investigation may
already appear, it is very evident that  it would be exceed-
ingly defective were it not, at the same time, connected with
the study of the various agents which exert their  modify-
ing influences over  the  human frame.  Hence it  is that
medicine levies contributions upon almost every department
of human  knowledge.   Artificial agents too, employed in
the cure of diseases, are  to be carefully investigated, and as
they are drawn from the different kingdoms of nature, they
form a natural association with a number of sciences, the
most elegant and  useful.
  From this simple view of the nature of medical  science,
it must be obvious that  it is  of vast extent and abundant
variety.  Even to those  who  have  no  idea of practising it,
there is no subject which  can form so proper and solid a basis
for the  study of general  science, or for any  other profes-
sional pursuit, to which taste or ambition may  subsequently
invite.  The natural tendency of all individual studies, to a
certain  extent,  is adverse to any great enlargement of the
mental  faculties.   By making one subject a matter of par-
amount attention, the mind is led to attach an undue import-
ance to it.   Indeed, so much of the grand capital of a man's
life,  labour  and  time, may have been expended  upon  it
as to invest it wkh a real consequence to him, which intrin-
sically it does  not possess.   In proportion as this feeling
predominates, the mind  is  abstracted from other subjects,
and insensibly depreciates their value.   All the professions
suffer from this cause, more or less,  and all professional men
feel the deleterious influence of it on their intellectual powers. 
12
   To this  general tendency of professional pursuits, medi-
cine, however, is the least obnoxious;  and the reason obvi-
ously is, because it is based on a wider extent of knowledge,
and presents to the mind a more expanded and liberal view
of the relations of man to the  various sources of knowledge,
as well as of the connexion and dependencies of the sciences
upon one another.
   Hence it is that medicine has always sustained so high a
reputation among the learned.   Sir William Temple says of
it, " it is  certain that the study of physic is not achieved in
any eminent degree, without very great advancement in the
sciences; so that  whatever the  profession is, the professors
of it have been generally very much  esteemed on that ac-
count, as well as of their own art, as the most learned men
of their ages."  Hence too can be explained, very readily>
the fact of  the versatility of physicians, and the facility with
which they can pass from their own profession to other stu-
dies and  occupations, and why they are found to excel fre-
quently more in these than they would have done in medicine.
The study of medicine puts it in their power to take a ge-
neral and wide view of all the  departments of knowledge,
and thus enables them to select for especial pursuit such as
may be most congenial to their taste.   In this way it is that
scarcely a spot  in the vast domain of science  has been left
untrodden by the  footsteps of medical men.   Chemistry, so
wonderful in itself and so incalculable in its applications to
the useful arts, owes every thing to the labours of physicians.
Who are our zoologists, geologists, botanists, mineralogists ?
Generally, physicians.   In the  noble expeditions fitted  out 
13
by enlightened monarchs and governments, to extend the
knowledge  of our earth, who have been among the most
efficient agents in carrying them through ?  Why, physicians.
Indeed, wherever curiosity, enterprise,  or the love of sci-
ence have drawn men,there you will find the votary of medi-
cal  science.   At one time  you  see him diving  into the
mysteries of  Babylonian antiquities—then unravelling the
manuscripts of Herculaneum—now expounding the subtle-
ties of metaphysical science—or shining in the walks  of
elegant literature.  At one time  you see  him scaling the
Alps or the Andes—at another exploring the treasures of the
ocean.   You see him in the frozen regions of the north, and
under the burning suns of the  tropics—the pilgrim of the
desert—the companion of savage beasts and  still more sa-
vage men ;  and amid hardships, and privations, and dangers,
and sufferings, he is borne along  by an  enthusiasm as pow-
erful as it is unquenchable.
   Now it is self-evident, that any study which has the magic
influence of thus setting on fire  in its votaries, the love  of
science, and inspiring them with  a zeal so noble, cannot but
have a broad and liberal foundation.  Without wishing to be
invidious, it may boldly be asked, what other profession can
claim to itself this honour?
   It has been a common  objection to our science, that it is
not certain  in its principles—in other words, that it is a con-
jectural art.  That such  an opinion  should be entertained
by those who look at medicine simply on the surface, is not
to be wondered at; and all who have not made it the subject
of  especial  study, may be considered as in this condition. 
14
Ignorant of its real claims to confidence, they judge of it
from insulated facts and occurrences in ordinary practice,
where apparent contradictions  are continually presenting
themselves; or what is still  more unjust, they  form their
opinion of it from the speculations and theories of vain and
superficial minds, or the absurdities and ignorance  of prac-
titioners unworthy of the noble science which they profess.
  Tested by such a rule, every other science and art might
be shown to be equally uncertain and conjectural.   What
can be more  contradictory than the opinions of those who
practise the profession of the law ?  And yet what man lay-
ing claim to even ordinary intelligence, will not allow that
the great principles of law are founded in truth and nature ;
or in the language of Lord Bacon, that " there are in nature
certain fountains of justice, whence all civil laws are derived
but as streams;  and  like  as  waters do take tinctures and
tastes from the soils through which they run, so do civil laws
vary according to the regions and governments where they
are planted, though they proceed from the same fountains."*
Religion too, judged by the varying and contradictory opi-
nions of men, must  be pronounced uncertain and  conjec-
tural, not merely in its sacred and mysterious doctrines, but
even in its more obvious ethical precepts.   A rule of judg-
ment, therefore, which is not just in law or religion, certainly
cannot be  admissible in  its  application to medicine.  Any
argument, therefore, drawn from this source against  the cer-
* Advancement of Learning, p. 355. 
15
tainty of our science must fall to the ground, inasmuch as if
it proves any thing, it proves too much—if admitted in this
case, it would  subvert the certainty of almost every other
science.
   The  only method of accurately estimating the  value of
our science is,  to judge of  it simply by  itself, and if this
common justice  be done, there will  be little difficulty in
showing that its foundations are laid deep  in truth  and  na-
ture,  and therefore, that it is not conjectural.  If medicine
be uncertain, it must  be for one or other of the following
reasons.  In the first place, because diseases are ever vary-
ing in their character.  In the second place, because medi-
cines are uncertain in their operation.   In the third place,
because in the application of remedies to particular diseases
so much tact and skill are required, as to place it beyond
the rules of an ordinary science.
   It is only for one or other of these reasons that medicine
can be  uncertain ; for if diseases are always the same—if
remedies  are always certain in their  operation, and if  the
application of remedies to diseases be established upon clear
principles or certain observation, no one probably will pre-
tend that medicine is an uncertain art.  For the purpose of
ascertaining how far all this is justly applicable, I shall make
a remark or two upon each of these points.
   As diseases occur in a living machine which is liable to be
modified by a great variety of causes, it is  very evident that
they cannot, in all persons and under all circumstances, put
on precisely the same appearances.   Unless however it can
be shown that these differences are altogether arbitrary, and 
16
not governed by any rule, this fact, so far from showing the
uncertain character of diseases,  goes rather to  establish
the reverse.  Now in tracing back the annals of medicine,
we shall find that in all their essential features, diseases  are
the same in the present day that they were a thousand years
ago, and that the  modifications  to  which they are liable in
particular subjects, or in different countries, are all owing to
the operation of causes, many of which are known and ap-
preciated.  The descriptions given us by Hippocrates, espe-
cially of acute diseases, are true to this very hour, varied of
course in some respects by  climate, modes of living, and
other circumstances. If therefore the fact of diseases differing
in this way were not known, then  indeed all would  be un-
certainty and confusion.   The variety might surprise us un-
expectedly, and involve us in doubt and error.  As the fact
however is known that such varieties do occur, and as it is
one of the fundamental businesses of our science to analyze
these, as well as the causes which give rise  to them,  it can-
not, with any justice, be urged that on this account  there is
any uncertainty in the general character of  diseases.
   In the next place, in regard to medicines, they are no
more doubtful and uncertain in  their operation than diseases
are in their symptoms.   An emetic will vomit and a cathar-
tic will purge  as certainly and invariably now, as  they did
hundreds of years ago.  Under the different circumstances
however in which the human system may be placed, they will
produce their effects with greater or less facility, and in larger
or smaller quantities.  Children, for  instance, are vomited
with greater ease than adults ; as a general rule too  in warm 
17
climates, from the greater sensibility of the stomach, smaller
doses of emetics  are required than  in  northern regions,
where the stomach participates in the general insusceptibi-
lity of the whole system.   It is very obvious, nevertheless,
that all this does not prove any uncertainty in their opera-
tion.   It merely proves that their effects are controlled and
modified by certain circumstances, which it is the province
of  medical  science to elucidate.
   In the last place, with regard to the tact and skill required
in the application of  remedies to diseases, it is not necessary
to  say much.   It should  be recollected that medicine  is
 not a mere mechanical art, and therefore does  not admit
 of being reduced to  mechanical  rules.   This, however,
 by no  means  proves that it is uncertain, or that it does
 not rest upon  a  sure foundation.  To become  acquainted
 with the facts  and principles which it embraces, is within the
 reach of any ordinary capacity.  But in this, as in every other
 pursuit, men are  not all  found equal, and  high  excellence
 is not to be attained without a peculiar adaptation of genius.
 The same  holds true of  every science.  It does so of the
 mathematics, the most exact of the  sciences.   Of music
 also, the principles are wTell founded, and yet how  few are
 there capable of creating those combinations of sounds which
 have immortalized the names of  Mozart, Handel, and Ros-
 sini ? And so it is with medicine.   In the development, com-
 bination, and application of its principles, the genius of one
 man will shine pre-eminently above his fellows.
    In thus contending for  the certainty of our science, it is
                             3 
18
by no means to be  considered as perfect.  Resting on the
basis of observation and experiment, and these requiring to
be made upon man in all his phases, it is very obvious that
it must  necessarily have  been of slow  growth.  Encoun-
tering in itself intrinsic difficulties, we shall find in tracing
back its history, that it has suffered from the same causes
which exerted an influence so baneful  over the other sci-
ences.   Eminently  fortunate in  its  first  father,  who laid
its firm foundations,  after his time, medicine in common
with every other department of  knowledge, became the
victim  of a  false  philosophy, which if  it did  not wholly
extinguish the lamp of truth, so  dimmed  and obscured its
light, that men groped their way without an object and with-
out a guide.   For centuries the human mind was like a vessel
driven about on the trackless ocean, without a star or a pilot
to direct it.   There was  one general  eclipse of truth  over
the world.  At  last the great orb of day arose upon the
chaos of the intellectual world.   Lord Bacon appeared, and
advancing with a giant's strength, bore away upon his shoul-
ders the pillars of the temple of  error.   With one tremen-
dous crash, the stupendous fabric fell to the ground, burying
amid its ruins the labours and genius of  ages.   Previous  to
this grand catastrophe, it is true that medicine did not ad-
vance, and at this period its condition was such as fully to
justify what Bacon says of it.  "  Medicine is a science which
hath been more professed than laboured, and yet more la-
boured than advanced; the labour having been, in my judg-
 ment, rather in a circle than in progression.  For I find much 
19
iteration,  but small  addition."*   Since this  sentence  was
pronounced upon our science, whoever will take the trouble
of examination, will find in  it the most wonderful improve-
ment.   Perhaps a more satisfactory method of showing this
could not be resorted to than simply to notice the deficien-
cies in it, pointed  out by Lord Bacon himself.  With that
intuitive comprehensiveness which so peculiarly character-
ized his mighty intellect, he saw not merely that the mode of
investigating truth  was erroneous, " being a philosophy only
strong for disputations and contentions, but barren of the
production of works for the benefit of the life of man,"f
but casting his view  over the whole map of knowledge with
the hand of a master, he showed wherein the sciences were
wanting, and how  these wants might be supplied.  Among
those which he enumerates in medicine arc the following.
  First. Abandoning the method of Hippocrates in observ-
ing, describing,  and  recording   the histories of individual
cases of disease.
  Second.  The neglect of dissections, both of the human
subject and of animals, and also  post mortem examinations,
with the view of comparing the appearances with the symp-
toms during the disease.
  Third.  Want of due attention to mitigating the sufferings
of patients in diseases which are considered incurable.
  Fourth.  Neglecting to search for  special remedies for
particular diseases.
* Advancement of Learning, p. Ida.    1 Ibid. p. 1. 
20
  Fifth.  Not taking advantage of the  benefit derived front
mineral waters, to ascertain their peculiar  virtues, so as to
make " an imitation by art of natural  baths and medicinal
fountains."
  And lastly.  The deficiency which he considers the most
important, I shall give in his own words.  " The prescripts
in use are too compendious to attain  their end; for to my
understanding, it is a vain and flattering opinion to think any
medicine can be so sovereign or so happy, as that the receipt
or use of it can work any great effect upon the body of man.
It were a strange speech, which, spoken, or spoken oft, should
reclaim a man from a vice to which he were by nature  sub-
ject : it is order, pursuit, sequence, and interchange of ap-
plication, which is mighty in nature; which, although it require
more exact knowledge in prescribing, and more precise  obe-
dience in observing,  yet it is recompensed by the magnitude
of  effects."*
  To any one acquainted with the present state of medicine,
the bare enumeration  of these  deficiencies  carries with it
the proof of the vast improvements which have been made
 since the period in which  Lord  Bacon  wrote.  Were it
 proper to go into details, it might triumphantly be shown,
 that physicians, guided and illumined by the principles of the
 Baconian philosophy, have been  pursuing the path which has
 led the way to so many discoveries  in the other sciences.
 The Hippocratic method of  studying disease has been re-
1 Advancement of Learning, p. 199 
21
vived.   Anatomy and physiology, as built upon dissections
of animals and of the human subject, have been pursued with
unparalleled ardour, and are now justly considered as the only
rational basis of practical medicine.  The post mortem ex-
aminations with the view of ascertaining the seats of disease,
and comparing them with the  symptoms previous to death,
have been carried far beyond  what might have been antici-
pated.  For  many diseases, before intractable  to general
methods, special  remedies have been  discovered.  By the
aid of chemistry, mineral waters have been analyzed, and the
knowledge thus  obtained successfully applied in the treat-
ment of disease.   All  this has been done, and it is glory
enough for any science to have accomplished every thing
which the capacious mind of a Bacon could suggest as ne-
cessary.
   Notwithstanding all this, I am aware that  it may be said
that the spirit  of theory  and hypothesis still contaminates
our science, and exerts  its deleterious influence over our
practice.   To  this it is sufficient perhaps to reply, that the-
orists  are not the just representatives of  medicine  any
more than those visionaries who mystify their brains to dis-
cover perpetual motion, are the just representatives of natu-
ral philosophy; or than the aberrations of a disturbed intel-
lect are to be  taken as a  fair sample of the operations of a
sound understanding.  The truth is, theories do infest medi-
cine, and will probably continue to do so to the end of time.
These however are not to be considered as making up any
part or portion of the science.  On the contrary, they are 
22
 the mere blots upon the  surface—the excrescences, which
 like those of the  body, shoot out from the weakest  parts.
 They  are  the intervening bodies,  which  may  for a time
 eclipse, but cannot  extinguish  its glory.   Unlike truth and
 true philosophy, the spirit of theory is arrogant and exclusive.
 That prince of quacks and theorists, Paracelsus, acted it out
 in full when he ordered all the works of his predecessors to
 be solemnly burnt before  him while gravely seated  in his
 professorial chair, at Basil; at the same time declaring, that
 no one need scruple getting certain secrets of physic from
 the devil, and boasting o£  his holding  a conversation with
 Galen  and Avicenna  at the gates  of hell.  Another cele-
 brated theorist of the present day, although the taste of the
 age does not permit him to  consign to the flajHes  the labours
 of those who have gone before him, with quite as little cere-
 mony, denounces the whole of them as useless and vain, and
 holds himself  up  as  the first  and true founder of medicine.
 Trusting to the representations of the author of  the  " new
doctrine," as it is  styled, we should be led to suppose that he
is at last "the true prophet, sent  to  expose the  errors and
delusions of all preceding times—that for centuries men have
beep wandering in darkness, and that he has been commis-
 sioned  for the first time to hold before their astonished eyes,
 the torch of truth—that he has found the key to the para-
 dise of knowledge, and at his " open sesame," all its  flood-
 gates are to be thrown open—that he is the mighty necro-
 mancer,  who  is to pour out  his oil, and calm the troubled
 waves of controversy and disputation—that he is to extend 
23
 his magic wand over the medical world, and the millenium
 of (our science is to commence.  And what is the wonderful
 revelation which is to effect all this?  What is the  " philo-
 sopher's stone" which, after the search of ages,  has at last
 been discovered ?  Substantially nothing more nor less than
 this—That what physicians have been in the habit  of call-
 ing  Fever,  from time  immemorial, is nothing more than
 " Gastro-Enteritis," and that  the whole of the practice of
 medicine*is4o be reduced down to the use of leeches  and
 gum-water!  A discovery about as profound as Paracelsus
 flattered himself he  had  made  in his  famous elixir,  by
 means of which he gravely maintained that he could prolong
 the life of man to  the  age  of Methusaleh; and a  practice
 about as rational as the bloodletting and hot  water of Dr.
 Sangrado!
   Now with such follies and extravagancies, medicine, in
 its true and just acceptation, has nothing  to  do.   As a sci-
 ence, it is made up of that great mass of fact and principle,
 which has been accumulated by the labours of successive
 generations, having for its  basis the certainty of observa-
 tion and experiment.  vIt is worthy of remark too, that how-
 ever  theorists may have differed  and disputed, the great
 principles of practice have  not undergone^any correspond-
ing mutations.  An inflammation of the brain, for example,
 has always been treated very much as it is  at this present
time.  And with regard to the theories themselves, it is
gratifying to observe  how  completely the  spell of their
influence has been broken.  During the last century, for 
24
instance, how short-lived and limited have they been when
compared with those of  earlier date !  The doctrines  of
Galen, like the logic of Aristotle, held in base servitude the
whole medical world for upwards of twelve hundred years.
About the middle of the fifteenth century, the  theories  of
the chemical and mechanical physicians bore sway, and with
various modifications maintained their ascendency until the
time of Dr. Cullen.  Since then, theory has followed theory
in quick succession, each succeeding one exposing the fal-
lacy of its predecessor, and the whole tending to strengthen
the general conviction upon  the minds of intelligent and
reflecting  men, that all  should be  discarded.   Why these
theories have enjoyed even this ephemeral existence, is of
easy explanation.   Generally  speaking, along  with much
error, they have  contained some truth, and the whole has
been interwoven with so much plausibility as to gain them a
temporary currency.  In addition to this, they have usually
been promulgated by teachers of medicine whose opinions,
especially if they contain any novelties, are apt to  be received
with enthusiasm by youthful and ardent minds.   In this way
have many theories enjoyed a popularity which, under other
circumstances, they would never have  attained. Yet not-
withstanding all these artificial aids, they have scarcely sur-
vived beyond the death of their respective authors, and  even
if they did, a single generation of physicians, educated un-
der  another teacher, has  been sure  to sweep away every
vestige of them.   Cullenianism—Brunonianism—Darwin-
ianism, and all the other isms, have chased each other down 
25
to their peaceful slumbers: and at present, if we except the
theory of Broussais, we have none prevalent of any import-
ance.  And even the  " new doctrine"  is already sinking
into a premature grave.  It is highly honourable to the inde-
pendence and discrimination of the profession on this side of
the Atlantic, that of the numerous schools of medicine which
we have  in the United States, only one has been infected
with the gum-water theory.
  There  is another objection  which  has frequently been
urged against  medicine, which  it is  proper should not be
concealed; and this is,  that it leads to religious infidelity.
In  answering  this  charge, it is essential that its precise
nature and extent should be accurately  defined and un-
derstood.  A  little reflection will make it obvious that it
involves two  things  quite  distinct;  and these are, in the
first place, that as a  matter of fact, physicians  are  justly
tainted with the  charge of scepticism;  and in the  second
place, that supposing this to be the fact, it is the genuine and
necessary result of the study of medicine.  Both these enter
into the general charge, and unless both can be substantiated,
the whole must fall to the  ground.   It  is  not necessary to
inquire very minutely into the first of these propositions.
Indeed, it would not be a very easy task to make out a scale
by which to  judge of the relative  degrees of  scepticism
pervading the ranks of our profession  and  those of other
classes of individuals.   That physicians have existed and do
exist, who by their infidelity have dishonoured the fair fame
of our profession, cannot be denied.  On the  other hand,
                            1 
26
the fact is equally certain, that many of its most distinguished
members have been the sincere and unaffected believers  in
the truths of religion.  And another fact is equally unques-
tionable, that medical men, as a body, at least so far as we
see them in this country, are quite as distinguished for their
zeal in the cause  of piety as any other class of men pur-
suing a calling purely secular.  Admitting all this however,
the question still remains, does the study of medicine give
the mind  any bias to infidelity ?   Does it tend to weaken
the foundations upon which our faith in  religion is founded ?
To my mind nothing is clearer than that it does not, if it  be
followed by its legitimate results; and for any other results
we certainly are not responsible.   To a well disciplined and
reflecting mind, is there any thing in the  study of that curious
and delicate structure, the human body, which displays the
power and skill of the  divine architect  more than all the
blazing wonders of the  heavens—is there any thing in the
study of diseases, their symptoms, causes or cure, which can
possibly produce such effects ?  On the contrary, is  not the
direct tendency of such  studies to force upon the mind the
conviction of the existence and controlling superintendence
of a superior Power—and at the same time, that man, though
fearfully and wonderfully made, is a frail  and transitory and
dependent being.   The truth is, it is impossible that medi-
cine, if properly cultivated, can ever be  subversive of morals
or religion; and the whole  history of our art, from  its ear-
liest infancy down to the present hour, furnishes the most
satisfactory evidence of  the truth of this statement.   But I
cannot stop to  pursue this subject. 
27
  I have thus, gentlemen, in a very rapid manner thrown out
some general ideas in relation to the science which you have
chosen  as the study of your future  lives, and have endea-
voured to show that it is founded in truth and nature—that
it is capable of giving full scope and development to all the
mental faculties, and  if properly viewed, to strengthen the
feeling  of reverence for  the great Creator of all things.
It is truly a noble science, and the youthful votary need
not be afraid of giving up to it the full and undivided power
of all his faculties.
   In undertaking to lecture on a science of which I enter-
tain such exalted opinions, I feel conscious of assuming a
high and sacred responsibility.   To the student, much, I had
almost said every  thing, depends upon the impulse which he
receives on commencing his studies.  Early impressions are
always the most vivid and lasting; and it is in the lecture-
room that opinions are imbibed which  may tinge the whole
professional career of the physician.   It is here that he in-
sensibly acquires his habits of thinking in relation to medical
subjects.   It is here that he receives, unconsciously perhaps,
a bias to particular doctrines or theories.  It is here, if ever,
that he is to be inspired with  a love of his science.  It is
here, in short, that he is to lay the foundation of a character
which is to bless or to curse mankind.   Under the full con-
viction of these  considerations, it  should be  the  constant
endeavour  of the teacher  to  conduct  all  his instructions.
Associated with colleagues distinguished  for  learning and
talent,  and whose services in the cause of science are known 
28
and appreciated, not merely in this country, but in Europe.
I feel confident that you will hear nothing in this institution
which is not calculated to give a just and honourable direc-
tion to all your labours.
   To reap  the full benefit however of their instructions,
there is one thing essential, and that is, co-operation on the
part of the student.  No one was  ever yet made a learned
man, or  a great physician, by simply listening  to the in-
structions of others.  To become such,  he must labour
for himself.  And by doing so, by the beneficent disposition
of Providence, it will be found that every one has his cha-
racter entirely at  his own disposal.  There  are some men
so favoured of heaven that the outpourings of their mighty
intellects seem but like the transmissions of celestial intelli-
gence.   These, however, are rare, very rare exceptions—
rari nantes in gurgite vasto—and beyond these, the universal
law of our nature holds true, that nothing great or good can
be accomplished without labour; and with this, even  ordi-
nary minds can accomplish almost every thing.   This is the
true Aladdin's lamp which converts into sober realities all
the glittering visions of the  imagination.   It is this has
felled the forest—erected  cities—founded  empires—con-
trolled  the world.  Now this mighty  agent every man has
at his command, and he has only to use it properly to secure
all that enthusiasm can inspire, or ambition covet.   To do
this successfully, it is necessary to begin early.  Youth is the
proper season for enterprise and exertion; and if  they be not
displayed then, as a general rule, they will be looked for in 
29
vain at any subsequent period.  If you analyze the history
of the men who have astonished the world by their exploits,
you will find that a large proportion of them have performed
their  greatest achievements in early life.  Alexander the
Great, who sighed that he had no  more worlds to conquer,
died at the  age of thirty-two.  At the age of twenty-five,
Napoleon crossed the Alps.   At twenty-seven, Cicero  un-
dertook the  celebrated defence of Roscius the player, which
laid the foundation of his after fame—the very same age at
which Demosthenes  first began to distinguish himself at
Athens ;  " as if,"  says  the  historian  of  Cicero,  " in these
geniuses of  the first magnitude, that was the proper season
of  blooming  towards  maturity."*   The great  Linnseus
sketched the outline  of his Systema Naturae before he was
twenty-four years old; and  at the early age of twenty-six,
Calvin published the work which has immortalized his name
—"the  Institutes of the Christian Religion"  containing  a
system of doctrines which with no material alterations, con-
tinues to govern the religious creed of a large section of the
christian world.
  In our profession, the absolute necessity of early and assi-
duous study is especially evident.   A knowledge  of medi-
cine is not to be gained by intuition.   What is true of the
poet, Poeta nascitur, nonfit, is altogether inapplicable to our
science.   Such attainments in it as shall make their posses-
• .Middleton's C'irero. 
30
sors revered while Jiving and transmit their names with ho-
nour to remote posterity, must  be the  result of long and
ardent labour, for which the most protracted life is but too
brief.  It was under the full conviction of this truth, that the
father of medicine uttered that  memorable apothegm—ars
longa, vita brevis est.  Begin then, gentlemen, early, and let
nothing interfere with  the great object to be  proposed to
your ambition—that df distinction in your profession. 
 
 
 
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