On the relations of pregnancy to general pathology / by Robert Barnes.

  • Barnes, Robert, 1817-1907.
Date:
[1876]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the relations of pregnancy to general pathology / by Robert Barnes. 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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    ON THE RELATIONS OF PREGNANCY TO GENERAL PATHOLOGY. BY ROBERT BARNES, M. D., Fellow and Examiner in Obstetrics of the Royal College of Physicians; Obstetric Physician to St. George's Hospital, etc., London, England. When your eminent President did me the honor to invite me to give an address to this Society, which comprises so many distinguished men, I could not help feeling more than the usual embarrassment. I knew I could rely with un- bounded confidence upon the generous indulgence of a friendly audience. But that indulgence ought not to be abused. It was still incumbent upon me to choose a topic not unworthy of the occasion, and to weigh well whether my shoulders would bear the burden. Now this last point is my difficulty. Topics are easy to find, but it could not be easy so to treat any one in such a manner as to interest, much less to instruct, a body of men so deeply versed in all the topics which fall within the scope of my poor ability to dis- cuss. However, I reflected that after all the responsibility of my appearance here would rest upon your President; that what my shoulders could not bear would weigh very lightly upon him; and that what I might find to say would not fail to elicit from him, and from his fellows, an outcome of rich experience and original thought, that would more than com- pensate for my short-coming. We have a saying in the old country, which is no doubt familiar to our children on this side of the Atlantic: “Any fool may ask questions, but it takes a wise man to answer them.” Now I am going to ask a great many questions. A man travels in order to learn; and learn he will if he carry with him an inquiring mind.