Of nature and art in the cure of disease / by Sir John Forbes.

  • Forbes, John, Sir, 1787-1861.
Date:
1858
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Of nature and art in the cure of disease / by Sir John Forbes. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    videbat, sed quia id valetudo ipsa coegerat, miti- I gavit.* Like all other arts, the Medical Art was, of course, rude at first, its truths and its rational appliances being profusely intermixed with errors and evils and absurdities of every kind, derived from igno- rance, from fancy, from false observation, false in- ference, and especially from superstition. From its very nature, however, and from its foundation in the pains and sufferings of mankind, it was an art not likely to be undervalued or neglected, and, conse- quently, was likely to grow and improve as fast as experience and knowledge, and its own nature, could allow of progress. Accordingly, we find that the earliest records we possess of the Medical Art, in its formal state, those, namely, of the ancient Greeks, represent it as already in a high degree of advance- ment : that is to say, far advanced towards the high- est condition which it has since attained. If we except the arts of sculpture and architec- ture, and perhaps painting, which reached such an incomprehensible elevation at an early period among the Orientals and Greeks, it may be even doubted if any other of the arts had then arrived at a degree * Quintil., Instit II., 18.