The medical profession, its position and its claims as a science, a business, and an art : an address / delivered by Ezra M. Hunt, M.D. as president of the Medical Society of New Jersey, at its ninety-ninth annual meeting ... January 24th, 1865.

  • Hunt, Ezra Mundy, 1830-1894.
Date:
[1865]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The medical profession, its position and its claims as a science, a business, and an art : an address / delivered by Ezra M. Hunt, M.D. as president of the Medical Society of New Jersey, at its ninety-ninth annual meeting ... January 24th, 1865. 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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    inary and arbitrary distinctions. We shall then not fall to distinguish between those who, in a proper way, lay claim to superior skill, and those who, with gilded baubles, long adver- tisements, and vaunted cures, seek only cash and notoriety combined. Let the practice of ph}Tsic, as a business, have thus its defi- nite plans and methods ; let love of it as a science and an art, and energy, high-toned devotion to it ;is a daily vocation, be the motive power, and it will not fail to place itself in a still more commanding position, and reap brighter and more golden rewards. I HASTEN TO SPEAK LASTLY OF MEDICINE AS AN ART. Old Playfair was right when he said, a principle in science is a rule in art. It is difficult to dissociate art from its sci- ence, or science from its art. Wherever you find a real sci- ence, there you are sure, ere long, to discover a corresponding art. There is not always the same order of sequence, for sometimes the science gives rise to the art, and then again the art may introduce the science ; and oftener still, both are uni- ting their labors to luminate and advance each other. And so it is in our calling. The science and the art of medicine are indissolubly connected. They travel on in the same di- rection, not always just alongside, but still ever in intimate correspondence, aiding, abetting, and elucidating each other.' A true art ahvays seeks to illustrate and apply science, and to test theory by utility. The profession of medicine responds to these requisitions. It is so practical that it is called the practice of medicine. Its chief effort is to use its science and its art, both in direct application to the wants of man. With both, it aims at practical purposes, and has definite plans by which it operates for the benefit of humanity. It is eminent- < ]y utilitarian in all its ends and aims. All art is so. Even the fine arts, with the exquisite pleasure they yield to the senses, and the culture they give to the developing taste, are humanitarian and utilitarian ; but still more, our art, as it seeks to give that sweet relief which follows the lull from ex-