A system of personal biologic examinations the condition of adequate medical and scientific conduct of life / George M. Gould.

  • Gould, George Milbrey, 1848-1922.
Date:
[1900]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: A system of personal biologic examinations the condition of adequate medical and scientific conduct of life / George M. Gould. 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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    to some far-off unity of mutual helpfulness and life? The crowning work of scientists is to turn science into prescience. The unification of the sciences dealing with the conduct of life; the making practical and useful our knowledge of the individual organism; and lastly to establish a scientific prescience—such^are the ideals of a living anthropology. Is it not at once plain that these ideals can be realized only by a system of periodic examinations and records made every year or every five years, throughout the life of the individual organism? Such a system of records may be held generally to comprise the following ele- ments : 1. The hereditary datum— The endowment at birth, the influence of heredity, must in every way govern and condition the development of the organism, and modify every reaction to environment. It is wise therefore in all ways possible to fix, at the opening of life, what is this datum of inheritance. Nationality, ancestral and genealogic histories, craniology, cerebrology, etc., help to make up the estimate of this factor. 2. The developmental and historic record.—Especi- ally during the period of growth—childhood and adoles- cence—should the space between the annual or quin- cjuennial systematic examinations be historically epit- omized. The strains, work, illness, and tasks con- quered or incomplete, are surely a necessary part of the life-chronicle. 3. The morphologic or anthropometric examination is fundamental.—In this the Bertillon system, modified, perfected, and expanded, or something similar, should form the basis of such a system of physical measure- ments, descriptions, and records, statistic and graphic, that any future variation of the organism would be de- tected in later examinations; and thus -would be pre- served the morphologic picture of the individual for the whole life.' 4. The physiologic record would include the testing and tabulation of all the significant reactions and func- tions. These would be made up of all necessary dynam- ic tests of the muscular system; of statements of ac- curately observed metabolic and nutritional functions; m