Gout and rheumatism in relation to disease of the heart / by A.W. Barclay.

  • Barclay, A. W. (Andrew Whyte), 1817-1884.
Date:
1866
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Gout and rheumatism in relation to disease of the heart / by A.W. Barclay. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    that the short sketch which has been attempted in the preceding pages has been the result of much time and thought devoted to the subject of disease of the heart. It would have been very easy to give numerous examples in proof of the statements which have been made, but I have thought it better not to weary the patience of my readers with details of cases. Salient examples may be occasionally selected for the purpose of proving particular points in practice, but the convictions which force themselves on the mind when devoted to the study of any particular subject are produced by the combined influence of many instances, and cannot be verified by solitary examples. It is very seldom that an experimentum crucis can be given in medicine : the laws of causa- tion are far too complex to be resolved by individual cases, however simple. It is only when an experience is very frequently repeated that it assumes any real character of pro- bability, and the relations of sequence and causation must be judged of by the test of varied circumstances and relations. If I have appeared too dogmatic in assertion it is only because a long experience has seemed to me to