Observations on the physiology and pathology of the nervous system : retrospective address delivered at the twenty-seventh annual meeting of the British Medical Association in Liverpool, 1859 / by A.T. Houghton Waters.

  • Waters, A. T. Houghton (Alderman Thomas Houghton), 1826-1912.
Date:
1860
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations on the physiology and pathology of the nervous system : retrospective address delivered at the twenty-seventh annual meeting of the British Medical Association in Liverpool, 1859 / by A.T. Houghton Waters. 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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    its progress during a period comparatively recent; discoveries which have almost revolutionized the whole science of organic life—which have thrown a flood of light on the highly complex phenomena of vitality, and reduced many of them to the ut- most simplicity; discoveries which have resulted in general- izations of an application so universal, and an importance so vast, as to entitle them to no lower position as established truths than that accorded to the doctrines of physical or chemical science; for what are the generalizations in physics, or what the laws of chemistry, which have a wider range, or an appli- cation more universal, than the principles of nervous action enunciated by the genius of Bell, or of cell-formation, mainly elucidated by the labours of Schwann ? To attempt to sketch the recent progress of physiology in all its varied departments would be alike impossible with an at- tempt at generalization, so great have been the labours of the cultivators of the science, so numerous are the details of their observations. Unwilling, therefore, to venture on the responsible task of addressing you on the general principles of the science, and feeling the impossibility of reviewing the whole mass of the subject, I resolved to deal with it in one of its details; a deter- mination to which I the more readily arrived, that I felt that, in addressing those who are engaged in the practical duties of their profession, I should best discharge my functions by giving the subject, as far as I was able, as practical a bearing as possible. Following, therefore, the example of others who have de- livered addresses on kindred subjects, I have felt that in select- ing some topic to which more especially to direct your attention, I should be acting quite in accordance with the wishes of my audience, and with the requirements of the subject itself. In- deed, such a course is rendered absolutely necessary at the present day, for to whatever branch of science we direct our attention, we find its sub-divisions so numerous and important, that each one claims a special share of our attention. But when, after much careful consideration, I determined to choose some special subject as the chief topic of this address, and had flattered myself that I had surmounted an important obstacle, I experienced no small difficulty, and no little trouble, in deciding which branch of the science I should select—on