Report of the Standing Committee on Medical Literature ... presented to the American Medical Association, at its third annual meeting, held in Cincinnati, May, 1850.

Date:
1850
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the Standing Committee on Medical Literature ... presented to the American Medical Association, at its third annual meeting, held in Cincinnati, May, 1850. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    number of practitioners, and for drawing their attention to unex- plored or neglected subjects; and they tend to unite the feelings and action of physicians within the region where they circulate, and in this manner to promote the interests of the whole piofession. It has been objected to the character of medical journals in this country that they are, in many instances, established by gentlemen connected with medical schools, and for the purpose, mainly, of sus- taining these latter. It must, however, be admitted that the advo- cacy of particular institutions is seldom, if ever, offensively obtruded; for the most part, it is indirect, and rests upon the merits of the articles furnished by the professors. In this there is certainly no cause for blame; it is rather a laudable means of attracting at- tention to educational establishments, and of diffusing scientific knowledge in regions which would else participate but slightly in the onward movement of the profession. Persons who have been chosen for their superior acquirements to conduct the education of medical students, may very properly avail themselves of the press to address a larger and more enlightened audience beyond the college walls, and vindicate their ability as instructors. A large proportion of the journals alluded to may, indeed, contri- bute scantily to the fund of medical science, or in some instances may perhaps do mischief by giving currency to crude or unsound doctrines; yet it is certain that, by means of materials borrowed from foreign and domestic sources of authority, as well as by a portion of their original matter, they disseminate a greater amount of good than of evil, and, on the whole, are useful auxiliaries in advancing science. No one could be so exacting as to look for a high degree of scholar- ship or science in journals published at a distance from the great centres of population, where higher professional reputation rewards the exertion of talent; where the constant association of well-in- formed men keeps the mind alive to the reception of new ideas; wdiere libraries and all other appliances for literary labour abound; and where the personal criticism of friends and rivals stimulates and encourages, while it chastens the efforts of those wdio aim at instruct- ing the profession and themselves. Genius has never yet been able to dispense with such helps, and least of all in the departments of science which deal with external things more than with mental intuitions. To expect from journals that are denied such advantages the same degree of excellence attained by their more fortunate rivals wTould be in the last degree unreasonable. We submit that the local journals ought to receive the encourage-