Observations on the comparative state of medicine in France, England, and Germany : during a journey into these countries in the year 1835 / by Adolph Muehry ; translated from the German by Edward G. Davis.

  • Mühry, Adolf, 1810-1888.
Date:
1838
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations on the comparative state of medicine in France, England, and Germany : during a journey into these countries in the year 1835 / by Adolph Muehry ; translated from the German by Edward G. Davis. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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

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    the same body to elect the physicians and surgeons. For the most part, those are chosen who are thought likely to maintain and increase the notoriety of the institution. They receive no other recompense than the fees already mentioned as paid by the pupils, and the advantage they find in becoming known, by their con- spicuous position. Although fame and practice may be obtained by means independent of these appointments, yet these are regarded as the surest passport to both. A visit is made daily by one phy- sician and one surgeon, so that each of the attending practitioners comes twice a week. One day in the week is devoted to receiving new patients, always excepting those meeting with accidents, to whom a separate ward is allotted, and who require no recom- mendation ; and one day to operations, generally at one o'clock. This day is in the difierent hospitals as follows:— Tuesday, at Guy's. Wednesday, at the London. Thursday, at St. George's, and the Infirmary for Diseases of the Eye, in Moorfield. Friday, at St. Thomas's. Saturday, at St. Bartholomew's and the Westminster. The examinations of patients are brief, and afford little instruc- tion to the pupil, because little regard is had to him; at least not so much as in the explanations and questions which occur at the bed- side in German practice. Regular clinics have only recently come into general use. If I mistake not, Brodie was one of the first who delivered clinical lectures in cases of disease. They are now com- mon to most of the hospitals, but it is rather in the French manner of general remarks, than by making the student prescribe, and over- looking his treatment, according to the German method. On the other hand, questions are often addressed by the students to the professors, expressed with great freedom, and answered in the same style. The internal arrangement of the hospitals is not so uniform as under the administration generale at Paris. Baths are not of so frequent application. Cleanliness and order are perfect. The wards are not so large as in Paris, have wooden floors and a chim- ney, are frequently washed, whitened, and painted, and as free air is deemed of great moment, the windows are often open. The bedsteads are of iron, without curtains, or having these to reach from the head to the middle of the bed. The sick are not in all instances separated according to their respective ailments ; surgical and medical patients are side by side. Above the head hangs a ticket, with the name and the directions, the prescribed diet tor instance, as broth diet, fever diet, ordinary diet, &c.; the ticket also contains the name of the attending physician or surgeon or both when both have charge of the case. In St. George's, the first storv contains the medical patients, the second the surgical; the females are in the left wing, the males in the right. There are