Fallacies of the faculty, being the spirit of the chronothermal system. In a series of lectures / [Samuel Dickson].

  • Dickson, Samuel, 1802-1869
Date:
1839
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Fallacies of the faculty, being the spirit of the chronothermal system. In a series of lectures / [Samuel Dickson]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    FALLACIES OF THE FACULTY. . i if LECTURE I. INTRODUCTION—PHENOMENA OF HEALTH AND SLEEP—’ DISEASE AND ITS TYPE—CAUSES. Gentlemen, We daily hear of the march of intellect, of the progress or perfection of many branches of science. Has Medicine kept pace with the other arts of life,—has it fallen short or excelled them in the rivalry of improvement ? This question will be variously answered. The more speculative and inexperienced members of the profession will natural¬ ly assign a high degree of excellence to their favourite pursuit; some of them may even smile at a question which they suppose has been long settled: but these rely for the most part on two great sources of error, the boast¬ ing assertions of disingenuous teachers, and the misrepre¬ sentations of the medical press; the greater number of which publications being, like the newspapers of the day, mere organs of party, have an object in crushing down and mystifying every truth that might militate against the interests of particular colleges and schools. The late Sir William Knighton, to much worldly wisdom and sagacity, joined a competent knowledge of the medical literature as well as medical science of his age. May I beg of you, Gentlemen, to lend me your attention while I give you his opinion of the later state of our art: “ It is somewhat strange,” he says, “ that though in many arts and sciences, improvement has advanced in a step of regular progression from the first, in others it has kept no pace with time, and we look back to ancient excellence with wonder not un¬ mixed with awe. Medicine seems to be one of those ill- fated arts, whose improvement bears no proportion to its antiquity. This is lamentably true, although Anatomy