Inaugural address delivered in the Mater Misericordiae Hospital, on the opening of the annual session, November, 1880 / by Thomas More Madden.

  • Madden, Thomas More, 1838-1902.
Date:
1880
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Inaugural address delivered in the Mater Misericordiae Hospital, on the opening of the annual session, November, 1880 / by Thomas More Madden. 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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    into reputation and fortune), were all long ago well known, but in the course of time had fallen into that desuetude and oblivion which will as surely one day overtake our boasted inventions, and from which they may in due course be again ■ resuscitated and claimed by future discoverers. I will not, ] however, go quite so far as Chaucer, who says— j “For out of the olde fieldis, as men saieth, Comith the newe come, fro yere to yere; And out of olde bokis, in good faith, Comith all this newe science, that men lere.” But, as Lord Bacon has well expressed it, “ the river of Lethe ! runneth as well over as under ground,” and certain it is that - the student of the now-neglected works of the ancient medical ^ writers will find many striking coincidences between so-called ■ recent inventions and the long-forgotten ideas of our pre- decessors. I By the cultivation of a taste for literary pursuits, and V especially for the ancient literature of your profession, you | will moreover best fortify yourselves against those disap- I pointments and weary hours of hope deferred which may lie | before even the most successful aspirant to medical practice. ' Some such tincture of literature will not only be a sure solace in those moments of trial, but will strengthen you for j the battle of life, and fit you for your position as members of m a liberal and learned profession. fl The Irish medical profession inherits no mean traditions. In ancient days our country was not less noted as a seat of • learning—insula doctorum—than it was as an abode of ^ sanctity—insula sanctorum ; and at a period when the flicker- ing flame of science was almost extinct in many parts of Europe it still burned comparatively brilliantly in this re- mote island. In the library of the Royal Irish Academy there exists an extensive collection of ancient Irish medical manuscripts. Some years ago, having had occasion to consult