The position and prospects of rational medicine : an oration delivered before the members of the Hunterian Society, on the 15th February, 1860 / by Stephen H. Ward.

  • Ward, Stephen Henry, 1819-1880.
Date:
1860
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The position and prospects of rational medicine : an oration delivered before the members of the Hunterian Society, on the 15th February, 1860 / by Stephen H. Ward. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    that each member should do his best to promote its interests. But when it became necessary to decide upon the subject of my Oration, I felt the full force of the pre- dicament in which others had been placed before me. I felt that infinite ingenuity had been exhibited by my predecessors in selecting, and much power in dealing with different medical topics. Somewhat moodily T murmured, “ All the courts are thronged with suitors, all the markets [overflow and not a little perplexed, added, “ what is that which I should do?” Soon, however, the conviction forced itself upon me, that occasions such as these should be devoted, not to special subjects, for which ample pro- vision is made at ordinary meetings, but to consider- ations of general professional interest; and I determined, despite a full sense of my inability to descant effectively upon such a theme, to glance at the present position and prospects of rational medicine. I felt that, under this head, I could notice any important medical events of the past year, could allude to occurrences more imme- diately affecting our Society, and give utterance to those thoughts and views which every man, who thinks at all, must have in reference to the profession he is pursuing. Much that I shall have to adduce in relation to my subject will, I fear, want the charm of novelty, and where such charm may, to some extent, invest it, it will be at the risk of offending ancient prejudices, and dis- turbing cherished traditions. Under the term medicine, I embrace its different