A treatise on the diseases of the chest and on mediate auscultation / by R.T.H. Laennec ... ; translated from the latest French edition, with copious notes and a sketch of the author's life, by John Forbes ... ; from the fourth London edition, considerably enlarged and improved, with many additional notes and an extensive bibliography of the different diseases ; with plates.

  • Laennec, R. T. H. (René Théophile Hyacinthe), 1781-1826.
Date:
1835
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A treatise on the diseases of the chest and on mediate auscultation / by R.T.H. Laennec ... ; translated from the latest French edition, with copious notes and a sketch of the author's life, by John Forbes ... ; from the fourth London edition, considerably enlarged and improved, with many additional notes and an extensive bibliography of the different diseases ; with plates. 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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    difficulty, or even simply of danger, I consider the use of the stethoscope as indispensable. In the great majority of such in- stances, it will, at once, remove all obscurity and difficulty; in every case it will communicate to the mind of the practitioner a degree of certainty, and consequent satisfaction and comfort, which no combination of mere symptoms can inspire, and which will, in most cases, have a beneficial influence on the future treatment. The best proof of the value of Auscultation is, however, found in the great progress which the practice has made in every country of Europe, as is sufficiently evinced by the medical publications of the last few years. There is, indeed, hardly any one of the civilized nations of the world, which cannot now afford examples of its acknowledged utility, either in its publications or in the practice of its medical professors. France, as might be expected, has taken the lead in this respect. The records of her medical literature can already boast of several works not unworthy of coming after the Treatise on Auscultation; and in the ranks of her most eminent practitioners, are several well qualified by their zeal and their practical skill, to succeed its lamented author. As claiming especial notice in this respect, I must mention the ex- tremely valuable works of MM. Andral, Louis and Bertin, so frequently referred to in my notes. Of the same class and cha- racter as the treatises of Corvisart, Bayle and Laennec, these volumes are (with many others which could be named) splendid proofs of the great superiority of the French pathologists over those of any other country in Europe, and entitle their authors to the highest praise for zeal, industry, and accuracy of research. The work of M. Andral, more especially, is fraught with the most important information respecting Auscultation. At the time of the publication of my Collection of Cases, now nearly four years since, I took occasion to lament the little, pro- gress made by the new methods of diagnosis in this country; but I have reason to believe that they were at that time practised to a greater extent than I was then aware of. Certain it is, that since the period alluded to, our medical literature has borne suf- ficient testimony to their increased and increasing progress; while I have learned from other sources, how extensivelv and