Clinical observations : a chapter in clinical medicine : what to observe in diphtheria / by W. Ogle, M.A.

  • Ogle, William, 1827-1912.
Date:
[1860]
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Clinical observations : a chapter in clinical medicine : what to observe in diphtheria / by W. Ogle, M.A. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    From Dr. Beale's Archives of Medicine, No. VI, 1860. CLINICAL OBSEEVATIONS. A CHAPTER IN CLINICAL^ MEDICINE. WHAT TO OBSERVE IN DIPHTHERIA. By W. Ogle, M.A., M.D,, Cantab., Physician to the Derby Infirmary. IT is generally acknowledged that clinical records are very unsatisfactory. They are either too long or too short; too diffuse or too curt j too particular or too indefinite ; too opinion- ative or not sufficiently attested; or, more comraonlyj they have all these faults in combination. They are diffuse and opinion- ative on some points, even egotistical, usque ad nauseam; and therein they are too long and too particular; at the same time, they are too general, or altogether silent on other matters, and this makes them lifeless, and practically too short. These defects are easily seen when the work is done; one's own note- book is full of them; the difficulty is to avoid them ab initio. Each fault may be traced more or less directly to a common origin—the want of method. This paper therefore, is, in the main, directed to the advocacy of Method in Clinical Medicine. Diphtheria is chosen simply as an opportune illustration. The first step towards the cure of a disease is to understand its nature and essence; we care not so much for its name, as for its nature; and its nature cannot be fully understood, with- out searching into its cause or essence. In the same way, when we wish to remedy any other evil, such as that which is before us, we begin by making a plain statement of existing defects; and, having done this, proceed at once to inquire into their origin. The faults that have been specified may be classified into those of omission ; those of repetition ; and those of substitution of opinion for fact, with their opposites. Each of the three