General therapeutics, or Principles of medical practice : with tables of the chief remedial agents and their preparations : and of the different poisons and their antidotes / by Robley Dunglison.

  • Dunglison, Robley, 1798-1869.
Date:
1836
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: General therapeutics, or Principles of medical practice : with tables of the chief remedial agents and their preparations : and of the different poisons and their antidotes / by Robley Dunglison. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    the case. If a man cannot observe and reason on topics of ge- neral physics—indeed, on general topics—he cannot on medical topics; and, accordingly, the best rule for estimating the abilities of the physician by the unprofessional, is by examining into the character of his mind, his modes of reasoning, his degree of mental application, and his general qualifications. A man of ordinary mind, application, and attainments may register a few facts; and, by comparing them together, may deduce useful in- ferences so far as these facts may permit, and in this way he may prescribe sufficiently well in ordinary cases; but such cases are not the touchstone of knowledge. In the multitude of try- ing cases that present themselves to every practitioner, in the course of his career, what painful anxiety is felt by him, if he be well informed in his profession, and, withal, a philanthropist! What careful comparison of his own experience with the recorded experience of others ! What an amount of physico-moral reflec- tion before he decides ! Perhaps in no other profession or calling are the intellectual and moral feelings so much enlisted; but what consolation awaits the physician, when he can feel satisfied, that the result, at which he has arrived, accords with the de- mands of the case,—that the decision is adequate to the emer- gency. These are cases in which ignorance is bliss, but how fearful the responsibility of such ignorance ! Views, like these, have given occasion to legislative enactments—which are every where too inoperative—to protect the public against the igno- rant, the mercenary, and the—too often—unprincipled pretender. The curriculum of study, required in the different Medical Col- leges, has been suggested by a wise care for the lives and the health of the public, and such a period of attendance upon the lec- tures that constitute it has been prescribed, as may enable the in- dustrious—even if not highly gifted—to qualify themselves for entering upon the broad field of observation, and of extended usefulness into which their avocation may carry them. It is within collegiate walls, that the student acquires the promi- nent facts of his profession, and the great principles appertaining to its practical administration. He there learns the theory, on which all sound and rational practice is based. Too often, amongst the uninformed, the theoretical and the practical pursuit of a call- ing are placed in unworthy contrast. In no art can sound prac- tice exist without theory. Theory is the mental process, which binds observed facts together•; compares them with each other and deduces appropriate rules of practice. Very different is this from the hypothesis that emanates from assumptions not proved.