General observations on the philosophy of medicine; with some anticipations of its future state, arising out of a comparison of its progress with that of the sciences in general.

  • Gullifer, Joseph William.
Date:
1809
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: General observations on the philosophy of medicine; with some anticipations of its future state, arising out of a comparison of its progress with that of the sciences in general. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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

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    undergoing this thorough repair, and still slower in avowing, that, in medicine, silence is as often a cloak for ignorance as it is the charming companion of modesty.—When once any particular set of opinions, or parti- cular method of practice (however deprived these may be of the just attributes of science), have amongst medical men acquired an as- cendancy, it is extremely difficult to overturn the empire they obtain over reason ; no time should, therefore, be lost in abandoning ha- bits of mind so unscientific, which such erro- neous notions must always engender. Pre- possessions in favour of such prejudices can- not be too soon eradicated; for, if once suffered to go on uninterruptedly, they do in a manner so entwine themselves into the very principles of our nature, as to become an in- tegral part of ourselves, and to require the most painful efforts of a vigorous mind to check their career. The extreme reluctance with which the chemists of the last century gave up their favourite hypothesis of phlogis- ton, as introduced by their venerable master Stahl, must be fresh in the recollection of my