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ANATOMY
              A LECTURE

INTRODUCTORY TO THE COURSE
DELIVERED IN THE
PHILADELPHIA ANATOMICAL ROOMS,


                FIFTH SESSION, 1825-6.



         BY JOHN D. GODMAN, M. D.
            LECTURER ON ANATOatY AND PHYSIO LOOT.
 ''Si quis me redarguere potest et demonstrare quod non recte sentiam aut agam, l«to
anirno sententiam mutabo; VERITATEM enim quxro qua; nemini unquam damno fuit.
Ego quod est mei officii ago, cauera non me avellunt."......Marcus Antoninus.




^  --. jK J  PUBLISHED BY THE CLASS.

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                PHILADELPHIA:

              PRINTED BY WILLIAM FRY.
1826. 
\1Z&
  At a meeting- of the class attending1 Dr. J. D. Godmas's Anatomical
Lectures, held January, 1826, Thomas Old, M. D. was called to the
Chair, and Joshua Whitall appointed Secretary.   The following reso-
lutions were unanimously adopted:—
  Resolved, That a committee of two gentlemen be appointed to wait
on Dr.  Godman and request for publication, a copy of his Introductory
Lecture to the present course.
  Resolved, That should this request be complied with, the same com-
mittee be instructed to cause the Lecture to be published in a pamph-
let  form.
  Whereupon  Henry F. Askew and Perrin Barker, were appointed
to carry these  resolutions into effect.
                                   THOMAS OLD, Chairman.
  JosnuA  Whitall, Secretary. 
                      ANATOMY

           TAUGHT BY ANALYSIS.



                 A LECTURE, &c.

  THE History of Medicine anterior to the time of Hippocra-
tes is lost in the obscurity of fable, though we must believe
with Celsus, that in all ages it existed in some form, however
rude and insufficient this may have been.*  Notwithstanding
the high degree of improvement to which our  science  was
brought by the  Coan Sage and his disciples, its progress to-
wards perfection has been exceedingly slow, and almost univer-
sally impeded by an evil of the first magnitude—the disposi-
tion to speculate upon slight and  insufficient data, to the
neglect of accurate and patient observation.  By this the
most ardent and enthusiastic inquirers after truth have been
allured from the right v/ay, and followed the brilliant  crea-
tions of their own fancies,  until the realities of facts have
ceased to present a charm, or to excite even a temporary in-
terest; and eventually, those who  might have extended the
boundaries of knowledge and augmented the usefulness of our
science, have expended their best  efforts in endeavouring to
bring all the operations of nature into subjection to their own
preconceptions.   Hence ensued the innumerable  hosts of
theories and systems,  which so long attracted the admiration
and wasted the time of students of medicine; many of thesethe-
ories consecrated by the force of talent which gave them birth*
rest quietly beneath splendid monuments  which the labours
of their founders have erected to their memory—while a far
* " Hxc [Medicina] nusquam quidem non est." 
4
 larger number of humbler fortune, have sunk into well merit-
 ed oblivion, or occasionally flit around their former abodes,
 the melancholy memorials of time misspent  and  industry
 unavailingly exercised.
   To a student of medicine, glowing with the ardour of youth,
 and feeling for the profession he has adopted  all the enthu-
 siasm of a first love, this disposition to  speculate upon a slen-
 der capital of knowledge, is accompanied by  serious incon-
 veniences, and followed by lasting injuries.  Too frequently
 the acquisitions  made merely by reading  for  a few months,
 are permitted to inspire him with vain  notions of accounting
 for the most mysterious processes; the observation  of a few
 insulated facts fill his mind with  the  hope of being able to
 build up a system which shall brave the shocks of time and
 accident—while from a superficial  examination of instru-
 ments  of surgery, he is induced to believe that his ingenuity
 can supply all their deficiencies or add perfection  to every
 excellence.   When any one allows this disposition to sway
 his mind, study soon grows drudgery, and  the  patient obser-
 vation  of fact becomes distasteful and irksome: the indulged
 imagination roves to new excesses, and when the period of
 study is ended, and the  physician should go forth prepared to
 render assistance to his fellow creatures,  by having learned
 the true conditions of the organs, actions and laws necessary
 to health,  he enters  a world of his  own  creation ; he  sees
 what he has been accustomed to imagine, and  exerts himself
 to avert evils which have existence solely in his own brain.
 Before he  awakes from this  dreaming condition, his sober
 companions, who have been content to  learn  the facts  con-
 nected with  their profession, and deduced their principles
 of action from the knowledge they have gained of the opera-
tions of nature, outstrip  him in the career of professional use-
fulness and  distinction, win  the admiration and respect of
society, and enjoy the fruits  of their well merited success,
 while our speculatist  is  lamenting that his talents are  ne- 
5
glected—his efforts unavailing—and his fertility of invention
thrown away upon a stupid and undiscriminating world.
  Allow, however, that this  is a heightened picture, and the
extreme of an injurious mode of acting—let us ask ourselves
whether we do  not often experience that impatience which
urges us to generalize from slight reading or a small collection
of facts ? Whether we do  not jump to conclusions without
examining the ground with sufficient accuracy? Whether we
are not more willing to adopt a labour-saving  doctrine than
be at the trouble of carefully examining how far it is support-
ed by facts? Should we discover that we are subject  to feel-
ings of this sort, we have need to be on our guard—we must
form a good resolution into  a steady habit of  action, in op-
position  to this unphilosophical spirit, and tie our attention
down to the investigation of useful facts, however seemingly
dry and uninteresting, until imagination is brought into sub-
servience to reason, and its excursive  vigour is so far re-
strained as to lighten  our task without  turning us from our
proper course.
  The truant disposition of which we have been speaking,
has impeded the  study of our  department no  less than that
of the science  in general.   Centuries  elapsed between the
earlier steps of its improvement, and even down to  the be-
ginning of the lives of many who are yet in being, it existed
nearly in the condition in which it was left by its first culti-
vators.   But the true  mode of study being once fairly re-
verted to, the study of facts and not of opinions, the  celerity
of improvement  outstripped the most ardent anticipation,
and the veil interposed by prejudice and scholastic  dogma-
tism was forever withdrawn.  A new and steady light was
substituted for the feeble and flickering glare of conjecture—
a new impulse was given  to all departments of science, and
medicine underwent a regeneration, from which the most'
gratifying hopes may be  formed of her future beneficial in-
fluence. 
6
   But, as the science of medicine, is a collective term for a
 great number of sciences, with which the physician must
 be to a  certain extent acquainted,  our hopes of the future,
 cannot be followed by fruition, unless you, who are to be the
 agents in producing  these desirable  consequences,  are tho-
 roughly  resolved to undertake the work in the proper spirit,
 and to contribute each his part, to the consummation so de-
 voutly to be wished.   I wish you to cherish your  enthusiasm,
 as a precious endowment without which nothing good or great
 can be effected; but  I would also endeavour to persuade you
 to secure its  endurance, by engaging in the  pursuit of pro-
 fessional excellence with a thorough persuasion that your la-
 bour is to be  immense—your privations many—the obstacles
 of great  magnitude,  and the  necessity for exertion uninter-
 rupted : but comfort  yourselves at the same time by the re-
 collection that your reward is exceedingly great, if  you per-
 sist to the end.  Should you  ask what reward  can be ade-
 quate to a life of so much exertion;  what recompense can  be
 offered for such toils—what remuneration can be given for
 all that must be relinquished ?  I bid you to pronounce the
 name of Hippocrates,  of Sydenham, of Boefhaave,  Harvey,
 Holler, Jenner, Hunter, Rush, and the sacred  few,  who like
 them have heaped benefits on mankind by their professional
 labours;  whose names are associated throughout the world
with honour and blessing by all who are capable of estimating
the value of knowledge and  loving their fellow creatures:
look  at their  imperishable renown, which, towering with in-
destructible grandeur over the wrecks of empires and nations,
will survive as long as mankind are susceptible of generosity
and gratitude—and answer these questions  for yourselves ! 1
  It is true that to some  studies the  mind is invited by the
beauty of the  objects to be examined, and its ardour kept alive
by the rapid progress  which is  made; there are others to
 which the way is less delightful and  the interest excited is
 neither so intense nor inspiring, although  nothing is  present- 
7
ed to repulse or offend; but anatomy has not an inviting as-
pect, nor are its concomitants suited  to  stimulate the in-
curious to labour nor to rouse the indolent or indifferent to en-
thusiasm.  The first  approach  to  this science is generally
made amidst the gloom of prejudice and the confusion of ig-
norance ; the  first glance at it, is most commonly that of
aversion and the first attempts to acquire its elements prac-
tically, are almost uniformly made  in disgust.  To these im-
pediments may be added numerous  factitious  difficulties
flowing from various  sources, among which, the want of a
proper conviction of the true value  and universal appliptrfion
of anatomy to medicine, the inaccuracy and inappropriateness
of many  books  first placed in the hands of students, and the
dangers to which they are in many places  exposed by  ven-
turing to appeal from books to the knife, may be enumerated
as of the greatest magnitude.
  When we consider  all such circumstances, together  with
the actual extent of the subject and the vast number of facts
which are to be remembered, it will not appear  surprising
that comparatively  so few grow fond of the study, and those
who become perfectly acquainted with its details so extreme-
ly rare.   Neither shall we be surprised that many  persons
content  themselves  with alleging  these  difficulties as  a
cause of their want of ardour, or  that they remain satisfied
with a superficial knowledge of the subject  rather than make
the necessary exertion in order to become profound.  In fact,
he who  would study anatomy properly should be endowed
with no  ordinary share of resolution,  should be thoroughly
convinced of the importance and necessity of making his best
efforts, and have an enlightened view of all the  benefits an-
atomy is capable of conferring on the subsequent steps of his
professional career.   His progress  must be  slow,  in order to
be sure, for although he may be gifted with  the brightest tal-
ents, and grasp at the the treasures of genius with a hand of 
                           8
power, yet without  untiring and enduring  perseverance  he
cannot anticipate an ultimate triumph over the obstacles to
his success.
  Anatomy is unquestionably the foundation on which  the
healing art is based—its application to every department of
practice is continual.  We may derive advantage from con-
sidering it in  some of its bearings on  the  other segments of
the great circle of medicine.
  As anatomy teaches us the structure and connexions of the
parts composing our bodies, one of the immediate consequen-
ces of studying it is the acquisition of some ideas relative to
the functions they perform. The anatomist imperceptibly be-
comes a physiologist even when  most busied  in examining the
details of construction,  and when he subsequently enters  on
the special study of the functions he speedily  acquires clear
and  precise  notions of the actions  of individual parts; of
their relations to the whole system; and of the reciprocal in-
fluence of the parts on the whole.  Careful induction and ex-
periment teach him to trace out the laws which make health
and life dependent on the uninterrupted succession of certain
actions ;  and as the light of anatomy  is shed upon the more
minute parts  of the system, his views  increase in comprehen-
siveness, he looks upon his profession  with a higher feeling
of respect, and a fuller glow of hope for its  further improve-
ment and usefulness.
  Having acquired a well grounded knowledge of natural or
healthy functions, the student no longer finds it difficult to
comprehend how various diseased conditions may be produ.
ced, and he is able to detect the earliest aberrations from
health by symptoms imperceptible to  such as  are  not ac-
quainted with the structure and  function. He is also prepared
to foresee the results which must ensue from a  continuance
of such disarray, as well as to distinguish between secondary
symptoms and such as are original:  thus while one  less
thoroughly imbued with the requisite  knowledge would  be 
9
treating a patient for consequences, he would more efficient-
ly apply his powers to the removal of the causes whence they
sprung.  This power of discrimination may be perfected to
a very high degree, and almost in the direct ratio of our  ac-
quaintance with the structure and functions  of  the  various
organs in the body.  It is an unfortunate notion that a stu-
dent may devote too much time to anatomy; because  at  the
time he engages in business he can rarely or never enjoy  the
opportunity of renewing his anatomical  researches, and he is
continually liable to be called on to treat diseases or injuries,
which, to be properly understood and judiciously  managed,
will require his clearest recollection of the minutest points in
anatomy.  It  is on occasions which  baffle the ignorant  and
confound those who have  been negligent,  that ths value of
your anatomical labours will become apparent, and public ap»
probation will manifest a vast difference between the esteem
bestowed on him who has  not spent his youth in  vain,  and
that, shown to one who has been content with forms  and  ob-
servances, instead of striving to acquire knowledge.   Under
all circumstances, the practitioner who bears his anatomical
and physiological knowledge constantly in mind, has in  the
most difficult situations a  chart by which to steer, and  is  ac-
quainted with resources upon which he can rely;  while  one
destitute of this assistance is tossed upon a  sea  of doubt, is
entirely at the mercy of accident, can make but random efforts
to extricate himself from danger, and knows not  the point to-
wards  which he is hastening.
  Surgery in all its various subdivisions, may be said to have
no  existence  independent of anatomy,  being constantly en-
gaged in the preservation of the natural conditions of the body,
either by mitigating the effects of injury, replacing what  has
been broken or disjointed, or else in removing of  what  has
become noxious.  The usefulness and excellence of the sur-
geon is in  immediate proportion  to  his  familiarity with all
the details of organization, with  all  the minute and  curious
                           B 
10
 relations of parti.  To discharge his professional duties to
 advantage, and do proper  honour to himself and his profes-
 sion, nothing  in anatomy  which  is attainable should be un-
 known to him—nothing should be unexplored by  him that
 can  possibly  shed light on the changes  which  disease may
 produce, or on the nature of morbid conditions which enlight-
 ened dexterity might relieve.
   If we examine  what surgeons have been distinguished as
 public benefactors in all ages and countries from the time of
 the  immortal Vesalius to the present  hour,  we  shall find
 that they have been those who were most  profoundly ac-
 quainted with anatomy and physiology, and who have most
 assiduously and practically devoted themselves to their cul-
 tivation.  It is true that  empirics have at different times,
 gained  celebrity  by the  performance of certain operations,
but we must recollect how  many persons must have perished
 under  their hands before their skill  was obtained; and how
little they were guided by any principle in the course they
pursued.  That anatomical knowledge alone,  constitutes its
possessor a  surgeon, is what  we do not pretend  to advance;
but without it a surgeon* cannot exist, for the term to be cor-

  * In a note to my translation of Coster's Manual of Surgical Operations
I have attempted to  point out the true character of a " surgeon," and
take the liberty of introducing it here for the benefit of those who have
 not the work above mentioned.
  " The difference between a surgeon and a mere operator, may be more
thoroughly appreciated by contrasting them :—the surgeon inquires in-
to the causes and removes the consequences of constitutional or loca]
disease—the operator inquires into the willingness of his patient to sub-
mit, and resorts to the knife.  The surgeon relies on the restoration of
the healthy actions by regimen and medicine—the operator relies on
himself, and cuts off the diseased part.  The surgeon, reflecting on the
comfort and feelings of his patient, uniformly endeavours to save him
from pain and deformity—the operator considers his own immediate ad-
 vantage, and the notoriety he may acquire, regardless of all other con-
 siderations.  The surgeon reluctantly decides on the employment of in- 
11
rectly applied, can only be given  to those who, to a proper
degree of collateral information, have  added a thorough and
practical knowledge of the construction, relations and  func-
tions of the organs composing the human frame.  To be a
surgeon without a knowledge of anatomy, is as impossible as
that a  blind man  should be a painter; to such  a person all
colours would be darkness—to such a surgeon every variety
of texture would be but one confusion.
   If we consider every branch of medical education and prac-
tice in detail, we shall discover that each has a more or less im-
mediate reliance on anatomy and  physiology, and that all the
best established principles of medicine are founded upon the
knowledge of structure and function.  Anatomy is the only
department which may be strictly declared to have an inde-
pendent existence, inasmuch as Physiology, Pathology, The-
rapeutics and Surgery exist only in immediater eference to it;
and the sciences of Materia  Medica and  Chemistry pertain
to medicine, only  so long as they  refer to the other branches
which  presuppose  an acquaintance with anatomy.
   No  incentive to  exertion  can  be wanting after you have
seen and felt how intimately and inseparably connected  our
science is, with all that is rational and useful in medicine.
Without  it  physiology cannot exist—pathology cannot be
studied—practice would be reduced to random experiment—
and surgery degraded from the high rank it now holds. With-
out the torch of anatomy to direct his movements, the efforts

struments—the operator delays no longer than to give his knife a keen
edge.  The surgeon is governed by the principles of medicine—the
operator most generally by the principle of interest: one is distinguish.
ed by the numbers he has saved from mutilation and restored to useful-
ness—the other by the number of cripples  he has successfully made.
The surgeon is an honour to his profession and a benefactor to his fel-
low creatures—the mere operator renders the profession odious, and is
one of the greatest curses to which mankind,  among  their manifold
miseries, are exposed." 
V2
 of the accoucheur would be in vain, on those occasions wheit
 (thus aided) his judicious  interference is  attended with life
 and safety to the mother and her tender offspring.  Without
 a  knowledge of anatomy  and physiology in  vain might the
 chemist  follow nature through her mysterious combinations,
 to  discover  agents of greater potency and usefulness than
 those  already  employed:  in  vain might  the  student of ma-
 teria medica cull the  drugs of distant  climes, or explore
 the boundless  regions of our own  land  for medicinal sub-
 stances.
   Such then being the importance of anatomy, and  its abso-
 lute necessity to the formation of a  good  physician,  it may
 excite surprise that any votary of medicine should neglect
 opportunities of procuring that knowledge, which is the grand
 axis his  profession  revolves  upon,  and  to which continu-
 al reference must be made in the performance  of the  most
 ordinary professional duties.   The importance of anatomy is
 often assented to with readiness,  but it is too frequently not
 properly felt until the individual is placed  in situations where
 all his deficiencies stare him  in the  face, and  his mind is
 agonized by recollections of valuable opportunities irretriev-
 ably lost.  A greater misfortune can  scarcely be imagined
 than to witness operations performed by those  who have  no
 better knowledge of anatomy than is supplied by their indis-
 tinct recollections of demonstrations imperfectly attended  to,
 or the anatomical details given in descriptions  of surgical
 operations.   This mode, of studying anatomy  on the living
subject, is unfortunately not so rare as it should be, though the
 evil is daily decreasing: your presence in our city at this sea-
 son, is the most satisfactory guaranty  that it soon must en-
tirely cease to exist.
  Independent of the utility of this science, the wonders of
animal organization afford  avast  extent of intellectual grati-
fication to the learner.  He who looks  on  the body but slight-
ly, sees much to admire in the adaptation of parts, and the com- 
                           13
 bination of the whole. He may remark, that the organs of sense
 are so arranged as to bind together by a community of desires
 and expressions—he may see that strength  is combined with
 mobility, energy with'elegance, grace with motion, and beauty
 with repose.   He may remark how the mind imparts to the
 countenance all the varieties of expression, indicative of  its
 emotions—but he cannot so fully appreciate even these cir-
 cumstances;  cannot so truly feel the excellent  perfection of
 design, the unerring  correctness of operation,  the richness
 of beauty, or the harmonious accord which pervades every in-
 strument and function of our  systems, like  the man who has
 possessed himself of the principles by which he should judge,
 and learnt enough to teach him how to admire.
   Take for example the eye,  that organ which seems to live
 only when influenced by the mind.  Let it be  seen under
 the impulse of exalting passion, or debasing propensity; when
 it sparkles with exuberance of joy,  or rolls in  the lustrous
 languishment  of love;  when it beams the intensity of devo-
 tion, or flashes forth the  electric light of genius:  or behold it
 when anger, hate, or fierce revenge, shed their lurid influence
 over the soul—how  wonderful are the changes,  how endless
 the variations of expression.  Yet the wonders of its organi-
 zation exceed  even  the  number  and beauty of these.  The
 texture of its coverings, the  delicacy of  its fluids, the tenuity
 of its nerves and vessels, are individually objects of astonish-
 ment when examined.   The observer finds that it is not only
 a perfect instrument for receiving the rays of light, but that it
 is furnished with a beautiful apparatus for directing its surface
 to every point, and is endowed with other organs  to moder-
 ate the intensity of light  and preserve its surface from inju-
 ry.  It is no longer a single instrument, but a combination of
 the most admirable organs; each perfect in its kind, each inde-
 pendent  of the other, yet the co-operation of the  whole abso-
 lutely essential to produce the least of the expressions refer-
red to. 
14
   Vou are  doubtless willing to admit the  importance and
 general utility of anatomical knowledge; but, you may possi-
 bly urge that the difficulties to be encountered in its acquisi-
 sition are of a magnitude commensurate  with its usefulness.
 To say that there are not some serious obstacles in the path
 of even  the most devoted student would be incorrect;  yet it
 is a fact, that the worst of these obstructions may be surmount-
 ed by those who have courage and  perseverance enough to
 make the attempt.  There is however no "royal  road"  to an-
 atomy—no short rout by which her treasures may be attained.
  Various methods have been devised to render the path which
 must be trodden less rugged, and to aid the  progress of the
 traveller by affording him every facility for understanding the
 nature of the country through which he must pass.  Among
 others the person who now has the honour of addressing you
has made an effort with a similar view.  As many of you are
unacquainted with the true character of this method,  I beg
leave to lay before you such a description of it, as will enable
you to form an opinion as to its  possible  advantages,  and to
compare it with the mode of teaching commonly employed.  In
order that you may judge of it to greater advantage we will
refer to the ordinary method, succinctly and  fairly, previous
to entering on an explanation of our own.
  In the usual academic course the bones are first individual-
ly and collectively demonstrated; and then the muscular sys-
tem is made the subject of examination. To make the student
acquainted with the muscles, they  are prepared in private
previous  to the  time when they  are  to be shown  to the
class—carefully  denuded of every particle not  belonging to
their composition, during which process the  superior  layers
must be raised in order that the subjacent ones may receive
the same preparation. In this state, the student sees  the parts
in a condition,  which in nature they  never have,  however
adroitly they may be replaced by the anatomist who performed
the dissection, inasmuch as their configuration must be to a 
15
certain extent materially altered during their cleaning up; and
by the removal of all the connecting and modifying textures
to which they owe so many of their peculiarities.  The  lec-
turer may, it is true, verbally supply the deficiency and relate
how and why certain parts were removed, but this is  a very
slight compensation, as the student  does not see what was
there, nor does he comprehend the difference its  presence
would make. A similar difficulty arises when the other parts
of the system are presented; they are demonstrated in a state
of insulation,  they are shown alone  and almost entirely se-
parated from their natural  relations.  They are successive-
ly brought before the student and they are thus shown  to
him in order that  he may know how  they ought to be, in
order that he may imagine them in their natural conditions
and relations, by mentally recombiningall the parts which are
separated, and by supplying all the matter which has been dis-
placed.   Let me ask such of you as have any experience, if
when present at such demonstrations,  you  felt as if looking
at the actual anatomy of the parts? If you did not feel that
something was wanting to  convince you of its  reality, that
some link of the chain was withdrawn which seemed to de-
stroy all proper connexion between what you heard and what
you saw? Or let us ask of those  who have  attempted to use
the  knife themselves, after no other preparation than the com-
mon course of reading and seeing demonstrations thus made,
what was their feeling and  what their progress? Are they not
universally at a loss? Scarcely recognizing any  thing which
has  been shown them; having no idea of the manner in which
the  appearances were produced  by the dissector, nor of the
experience and skill requisite to the production of the views
they have seen.
  The ordinary mode of teaching in public  demonstrations is
by the most difficult process for  the  student.   The  person
who prepares  the  dissection  in private, analyses the parts,
by separating, and then presents them to his class in order 
16
 that they may see them in this condition, and learn from them
 as far as possible,,by mentally supplying  their connexions
 and relations; thus the  operation becomes synthetic to the
 learner whatever it may have been  to the teacher.  To con-
 vey a general idea   of  the  parts  composing  the human
 frame,  this  method  is  adequate  to  the  purpose; but  to
 qualify the student for forming a correct notion of the rela-
 tions and actual conditions of structure, and to enable him to
 enter with advantage  upon  the exercise of practical  anatomy
 is what daily experience shows not to be the case.
   I have  thus endeavoured to lay before you a fair view  of
 the common  method  of teaching anatomy in public demon-
 strations, and without the slightest wish to  detract  from its
 merits.  Indeed, were I to  choose a method  which would af-
 ford the greatest opportunity for display with the least diffi-
 culty to the lecturer, it would be the one just described.  But
 not having yet forgotten  my own feelings when attempting to
 learn anatomy from  such demonstrations, I am inclined to
 prefer a mode which, although the most difficult for the teach-
 er, is,  according to my experience, the most  advantageous to
 the learner.
   The method we  shall now consider is one  which I first in-
 troduced into  the public  lecture  room nearly five years ago,
 and consists in the employment of the most natural and easv
 mode of teaching, by  making the analysis of the parts in the
 presence of the class;  showing how the organs are connected
 and how they should be  separated.  The difference  between
 the introduction of this mode  of teaching into the public class
 room, and employing it in private to prepare the parts for de-
 monstration, need not  be dwelt on—in the latter case  an in-
 dividual separates and examines the parts for his own benefit;
according to the method  I  have adopted, the dissections are
made before the eyes of the  class, at the same time that the
 relative positions and functions of the  parts  are explained.
It was never pretended that a new mode of analysis  was dis- 
                           17
covered—-the plan  proposed was to employ  a well known
mode of examination in such a way as greatly to lessen the
student's difficulties, abridge his anxieties and toils, and show
him how to accomplish, what under ordinary circumstances
must long have remained a mystery.  This mode of teaching
anatomy was called analytic, (not because the usual process
is less analytic to the preparer, but,) because the student parti-
cipates in the analysis; it was called a new method not be-
cause the parts had never been thus separated before, but be-
cause it had not previously been introduced into the public
lecture  room, in order to show pupils how to do the same in
private. Whether a similar idea ever  occurred to any one
else I know not—nor have I ever met with, or heard of  any
record of the fact.
  You are not for a moment to suppose that this method re-
quires  the  teacher to begin abruptly  with  whatever  part
may fall under his  knife, and thus to jumble  promiscuously,
integuments, arteries, veins, muscles or nerves.  Far from it;
he  may be as systematic and methodical  as in the ordinary
mode of demonstration.   We  will suppose  that the bones
have  been described and the study of the  soft parts is to be
commenced.  The  subject  is brought before you  untouched;
you are informed  that the muscles are to be the special ob-
jects  of attention,  but  in exposing a  muscle, the class see
all  the parts as they are removed, and how they are connect-
ed  with it, conceal its appearance, or  modify its action.  It
is the muscle however, which is then the principal object, the
other parts are but  cursorily glanced at, sufficiently to warn
the student, that he is to encounter them and show him how
they are to be removed.  Having done this, the muscle is  dis-
played; its figure, and peculiarities of origin, connexion, rela-
tive position, insertion and function are detailed, and the stu-
dent  knows on the evidence  of  his own senses  what other-
wise he could only have learned from  the lips of the teacher.
Supposing then that the muscular system has  thus been  dis-
                           C 
                           18
 posed of, and the arterial system is to be the next subject of
 demonstration; the heart and vessels are laid bare before the
 class, the arteries are pursued throughout their distributions,
 and are shown in their natural relations.   All the parts with
 which they are connected are incidentally mentioned, and the
 manner of removing them shown, so that the student not only
 Jearns that such and such vessels exist, but sees how they ex-
 ist in relation to other organs'; at what depth they are  situa-
 ted, how they  pass to their distributions and the manner of
 cutting down upon them to most advantage and with greatest
 facility.  A similar course is pursued  when the nervous sys-
 tem is studied; the class again see the other textures, as rela-
 ted to this system and become familiar with the structure,
 which under ordinary circumstances must for a long time re-
 main  unknown.   Further explanation of this method of teach-
 ing is not at present necessary; suffice it  to say, that the
 principle of showing the student the actual characters of the
 human structure is uniformly adhered to.  There is no rea-
 son why after  showing the parts in connexion and  then se-
 parating them before the class, the same textures should not
 be again shown,  prepared in the usual way; in order by the
 first to exhibit  their condition in the living machine; and by
 the last to furnish a diagram of any one system of parts insu-
 lated  from all the rest.
  We have already adverted to the fact, that the method we
have proposed  is not the easiest one,  and that if the feelings
 of the lecturer were solely to be consulted, it would not be
preferred.  It will not appear singular then, that those who
are engaged in demonstrating in the usual way should un-
willingly think of relinquishing their mode, or be induced to
approve or adopt a more difficult new one.  But, as this is a
matter which is eventually to be decided by the general voice
 of the medical community, we  do not despair of seeing the
 time  when the usual mode of demonstration will be  so far
changed as to  allow  the student  to see in the lecture  room 
19
 something of the mystery by which the parts are made to as-
 sume such curious appearances, as are there frequently pre-
 sented.  The liberal and enlightened of those who teach an-
 atomy in the usual manner, are willing to acknowledge the
 difficulties and defects of  their method, however little they
 may be inclined to use that which  has been proposed to you.
 Those who will be  at the trouble of examining and under-
 standing, must perceive  that it has the advantage of keeping
 continually before the student the relations of parts, and
 making the connexion  between structure and function  more
 evident; that it teaches the pupil how  to conduct his own
 researches and makes a more lasting impression on his mind ;
 inasmuch as  he can remember what he sees and hears much
 better than what he hears alone.
   In my commendations of this method, I speak, after five
 years  experience in the employment of it, and  after having
 been honoured for many successive courses with the presence
 of as numerous, as respectable and as enlightened classes of
 pupils, as have ever attended private lectures in this city.
   If I believed it less valuable than another mode, I  would
 at  once  abandon  it  entirely—but feeling  convinced  that
 it is highly advantageous to the learner, and susceptible  of
 being improved to a still more beneficial extent, I ask for it
 nothing but an impartial  trial, a fair estimation, and then,  to
 be received or rejected as it may deserve.  For myself, I ask
 no favors; I seek no patronage; but  such as you can deliber-
 ately and spontaneously offer: it would  humble me to receive
 that from your good nature, which'l can alone  accept  as a
 testimonial of your matured approbation:—I  should despise
 myself, as I do all that is base and unworthy, could I stoop to
 excite your passions, instead of deciding your judgements, in
my favour; or attempt to poison your minds, against those who
are my rivals in the competition for professional renown. 
 
PHILADELPHIA ANATOMICAL  ROOMS.
MEMBERS OF THE CLASS.
1825-6.
 Henry Neill, M. D.
 Thomas Old, M. D.
 Dr. Edmund Irby,
 Dr. Thomas  Davis,
 Amos Ward,
 David S. Thomas,
 Albert G. D. Vethake,
 James Culbertson,
 H. H. Hubbard,
 Thomas P. Bagwell,
 Sidney S.  Prince,
 Thomas B. Custis,
 David Bowman,
 Thomas It. Brinckle,
 Lewis Springer,
 Martin  Reed,
 William A.  Penniman,
 Perrin Barker,
 Joseph Shallcross,
 William R.  Rose,
 Thomas Custis,
 Edward  Stanbery,
 Jacob W. Ludlam,
 J. Mechlin, Jr.
 Pugh Houston,
John L.  Dorsey,
 Raleigh T. Browne,
 Francis M. Boykin,
 Peyton S. Cocke,
John E. Nicholson,
R. W.Williams,
Philadelphia.
Virginia.
Alabama.
Berkley,  Va.
Edenton,  Georgia.
Edenton,  Ga.
Newark,  N. J.
Pennsylvania.
Georgia.
Accomac,  Va.
North  Carolina.
Accomac, Va.
Accomac, Va.
Wilmington, Del.
Wilmington, Del.
North  Carolina.
New Fork.
Granby, Connecticut.
Pennsylvania.
Virginia.
Accomac,  Va.
Zanesville, Ohio.
New Jersey.
Washington, D. C.
Florence,  Alabama.
Fredericktown Md.
Fredericksburg, Va.
Isle of Wight,  Va.
Surrey, Va.
Sussex, Va.
Columbia, Ga. 
22
William Lewis,
Hugh M. Neisler,
Gunning F. Bedford,
William Shultice,
Robert Montgomery Bird,
George Spackman,
Henry B. Bauman,
Charles Ellis, Jr.
William  M. Fenimore,
Ellis Leftwich,
Henry F. Askew,
Joshua Whitall,
Caspar Morris,
George C. Dillard,
George Ware,
Enoch P. Hoopes,
John N. Sebrell,
J. K. Bonsall,
Charles Evans,
James W. C.  Nadenbousch,
George A. Sykes,
Benjamin H.  Stratton,
Samuel W. Bowie,
Henry K. Lathy,
P. Q. Beekman,
Richard C. Corbin,
Caspar W. Pennock,
Dorie S. Ball,
W. V. S. Crocker,
James Adair,
Fowler Holt,
Joel W. Dupuy,
Joshua Rhoads,
Daniel Bedinger,
Sidney W. Smith,
Sussex, Va.
Athens, Ga.
Baltimore, Md.
Fredericksburg,  Va-
Delaware.
Philadelphia.
Lancaster,  Pa.
New Jersey.
New Jersey.
Bedford,  Va.
Wilmington, Del.
Woodbury, N. J.
Philadelphia.
Green  County Ga.
Morgan, Ga.
Chester Co. Pa.
Surrey, Va.
Delaware Co. Pa.
Philadelphia.
Berkley Co. Va.
Greenville, Ga.
Mount Holly, N. J.
South,  Carolina.
Northumberland, Pa.
New,  Jersey.
Virginia.
Chester Co. Pa.
 Washington, Ga.
 Georgia.
Indiana, Pa.
 Georgia.
 Prince Edward Va.
 Philadelphia.
 Virginia.
 District of Columbia. 
Edward T. King,
Roger Davis,
Samuel W. Groome,
P. M. Kollock,
William M. Bonwill,
John Thornton Stoxe,
John M.  Kinnear,
George Fox, Jr.
Martin Weaver,
James Knox Luckie,
Hudson S. Burr,
Caleb  Ash,
Samuel A. Barton,
George Powell,
Rockefeller Dakin,
 William F. H. Davis,
Charles T. Davis,
John S. Whitehill,
Lewis Rodman,
 Peregrine B. Battell,
 Herndon McKee,
 Robert Fulton,
Edward F. Martin,
John B. Groves,
 C. Conwell,
 Charles H. Martin,
 William Finney,
 John M. Raiford,
 William Johnson,
 Andrew Thomson,
 William Means,
Alabama.
Chester, Pa.
Elkton, Md.
Savannah, Ga.
Delaware.
Pittsburg, Pa.
Lexington.
Philadelphia.
 Germantown, Pa.
 Georgia.
Philadelphia.
Philadelphia.
 Pennsylvania.
 Chester Co. Pa.
 Wilmington, Ohio.
Maryland.
 Norfolk, Va.
 Columbia Pa.
 Pennsylvania.
 Delaware.
 South Carolina.
 Maryland.
 Lehigh, Pa.
 Columbia,  Tennessee.

 Lehigh, Pa.
 Virginia.
 South Carolina.
 Delaware.
 Chambersburg, Fa.
 Shippensburg, Pa. 
 
 
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