Medical education for the people and the profession : an introductory lecture / delivered by W. Sherwood before the Eclectic Medical class, in Greenwood Hall, Nov. 10, 1852.

  • Sherwood, Wm. (William)
Date:
1852
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    Professor Sherwood's Introductory Lecture. The age in which we live has been so frequently styled the age of progress, that the expression has become common-place and stale. Still, it is difficult to approach the discussion of a topic having relation to human interests, without adverting to the astonishing changes which have occurred within the last half century, and to those which are now being produced in the various departments of human life. The discoveries of science have, in many respects, revo- lutionized the views, sentiments, and modes of life of entire nations. So sudden and so frequent, too, have these discoveries become, that we have almost lost the susceptibility to surprise by announcements of this nature. How brief the space that elapsed between the conception in the mind of John Fitch of the practi- cability of steam navigation, and the substitution of floating pala- ces for the keel and flat boats on our rivers ! And how quickly did this idea expand into a system of international commerce, which., by means of ocean steam navigation, almost brings the ends of the earth together ! How soon after the experiment of Franklin with his kite, is a whole continent converted into a whispering gal- lery oy the invention of Morse ! And it is truly astonishing to observe with what facility the habits, customs and interests of community are conformed to. and identified with, the various and radical changes thus pro- duced. A new discovery is announced, revolutionizing some department of human business. For a brief space it meets with opposition and curses, from those whose business it affects or perhaps destroys; but very soon all complaint is stilled, the ranks of mankind are re-arranged in a trice, and all are again pressing forward in the prosecution of industrious pursuits! The introduction of a labor-saving machine to-day, throws out of em- ployment a multitude of workmen, upon whose labor depend helpless families. To-morrow those men are occupied in other- business, equally profitable, while they enjoy in common with all others the advantages of cheapness and superiority in the pro- ducts of the new discovery! The property invested in horses, wagons and coaches, to ac- commodate the inland commerce and travel of a certain district, is withdrawn to some other section, or transferred to other pur-
    suits, on the construction of a canaL Then the canal stock is ruined by a railroad. A little complaint is heard at first, but the whistle of the locomotive and the clatter of the train drowns it all: and none wish to have it otherwise! And now the fathers and mothers of the land may be seen whirling over the plains, and along the valleys and through the tunneled mountains, at the rate of 40 miles an hour, and scarce can endure with patience the time lost in watering and feeding the iron courser, who, bat a few days ago, would not trust the boys to drive the carriage for fear that everything would be staved to atoms by a velocity of four miles an hour! We live in remarkable times and in a remarkable country. How many of this audience can tell at a word and with absolute certainty the number of States which compose the North American Republic ? Or, how many Territories there are at the threshold of our Union knocking torad mission ? One needs to go to school half the time, to avoid losing all his knowledge of the political geography of his own country! And the discoveries, revolutions and modifications so constantly occurring in all the departments of art, science, literature, &c, require a man to be a constant and active student, if he would not be behind the times. By the way, speaking of schools, and sciences, and students, reminds me that in the matter of popular education, in regard to what is taught, the modes of teaching, and the facilities afforded to all for in- struction, there ha-? been an advancement as marked and as salu- tary as in any other department of human concerns. Who now thinks of limiting the knowledge of the farmer or mechanic to the rudiments of letters and numbers ? Yet it is but a short time since instruction in reading, writing, and arithmetic to the Rule of Three, not only fulfilled ihe law, (as I believe it does still), in regard to wards and apprentices, but constituted the utmost boundary of the education which parents generally sought to bestow upon their children. And what an advance has been made in the modes of instruc- tion ! Who would willingly witness a return to the old regime of the ferule, the dunce block, and the long, dull, tedious task, which have been so happily supplanted by the map, the diagram, and oral lecture, with the various other fascinating methods pertaining to the inductive mode of instruction? And then there is our glorious free school system—those col- leges for the masses! Who would give up this greatest of all boons which the spirit of the age has conferred upon us, and re- turn to the old system of colleges for the wealthy, schools for the mediocrity, and nothing for the poor? Cheap and thorough in- struction for all, with ample facilities for classical and professional education, is the highest manifestation of that all-pervading spirit of progress which agitates and energizes the present generation. But what, it may be asked* has all this to do with the practice
    of medicine, or the duties and interests of a class of medical stu- dents ? I reply, much. It has very much to do with us as teachers —with you, gentlemen, as present students and future practition- ers, and with the community who are to be either blessed or cur- sed by your practice. I hold it to be our duty as medical teachers and practitioners to enquire whether we are keeping pace with the march of improvement, at which we have just glanced, and if not, to quicken our steps. That it is your duty as students to as- certain whether you are imbibing a spirit of liberality and pro- fessional progression, consonant with .the sentiments of an enlight- ened American community; or, whether you are drinking at a fountain from which flow out the adulterated waters of Conserva- tism, impregnated with the bitterness of persecution and the poi- sonous absurdities of the dark ages. And that it belongs to the community to enquire whether their lives and health are intrusted to men who will give them the benefit of those improvements which science has developed and which experience approves, in the hands of liberal and enlightened reformers. I will not now assume a position either affirmative or negative on the question—whether the medical profession, in the adoption of liberal sentiments, and in the promotion of medical science, is keeping pace with the onward rush of the age; though I must say, that upon the whole, 1 seriously doubt it. But I will remark that their lies open before the profession a highway of progress, of philanthropy, and professional elevation which it is their duty to pursue with promptitude and energy. I refer now to a general diffusion of scientific and statistical medical knowledge among the people. And it is to call attention to, and urge the importance of proper efforts to that end, that I appear on the present occasion. It has long been asserted that ignorance is the parent of super- stition. This is no more certainly true than the proposition that ignorance favors the practice of charlatanry in medicine. The grossly ignorant and superstitious may seek for health in the wa- ters of a charmed spring, at the altar of a patron saint, in the talismanic influence of some cherished relic, or under the manipu- lations and hocus pocus of a seventh son, but these and a thousand other specimens of credulity on the one hand, and knavery on the other are driven before the light of general intelligence resulting from a system of universal education. But there are other species of imposition which present them- selves in a more specious form and more respectable guise, from which the most accomplished education in science, literature and general knowledge is no certain protection. Indeed, I have thought, that persons who have spent most of their time in scien- tific and literary pursuits, so habitually trust all their earthly in- terests to the management of others, that they are ready to become the most easy victims of false practice in the hands of those, who, with no other qualifications than assurance and an air of learning, jnsinuate themselves into such society as guardians of health.
    1 have thought also, that my observation has warranted the conclusion., that a theological or legal education rather leads to unquestioning reliance, in matters concerning health, on the opinions of professional medical advisers, however unscien- tific or absurd such opinions may be. In fact, some of my cleri- cal acquaintances appear to be especially liable in this respect. The amiableness of true piety, and the habit of faith which the good man cherishes, seem to remove suspicion from his mind, and prepare him to follow blindly the advice of one who, with an ap- pearance of great sincerity, claims the qualifications of a scientilic physician. 1 do not say that men should not repose confidence in medical advisers*. On the contrary, the physician, when employed, should by ?■ 11 means enjoy imdoubting reliance on the part of the patient avid his family. But that trust should be intelligently bestowed. Every individual in community should be prepared to make a judicious selection: first, of the system of medication on which he will rely ; and,: ocondly, of a properly qualified practitioner as a medical adviser. Now it is absolutely certain that nothing short of a general acquaintance with the science and statistics of med- ic me can preparefany person to make an intelligent choice in this matter. The results of a general education of the masses in the sciences and facts connected with medicine, its uses and abuses, would be two-fold : First, its influence on community ; Secondly, its in- fluence on the profession. It would elevate the standard of general intelligence. The sciences embraced in the study of medicine are such as must use the stock of general knowledge, expand the intellectual capacity, and, if rightly pursued, improve the heart. These sciences are but a developement of the laws of nature around us and within us ; or descriptions of the most delicate and interesting organisms resulting' from the operation of those laws. Are the laws which rule inorganic matter worthy our attention? Is it important that the various departments of mathematics, pure and mixed, should be studied ? That men should be able to re- duce equations, demonstrate thecrisms.. solve problems, and un- derstand the doctrines of fluxions and conic sections? Is it a matter of moment, that our children should learn geography, natural philosophy, astronomy, &c, not only for the purpose of leir memories with practical truth, but of enlarging their capacities and giving strength and elevation to their minds ? And will net the study of Anatomy and its kindred sciences, Physiolo- gy and Pathology, be equally useful and salutary ? Sciences w hi:.h describe, not distant countries, mountains or rivers, that your learner maj never see; which develope not the laws of gravi- tation that govern worlds revolving in illimitable space ; nor yet the cold, abstract certainties of pure mathematics ; but which des- cribe his own body, its general and special characteristics; its tis-