General observations on the theory and practice of medicine; being an attempt to apply the spirit of Lord Bacon's philosophy, to subjects of medical reasoning / [Joseph William Gullifer].

  • Gullifer, Joseph William, -1827.
Date:
1817
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: General observations on the theory and practice of medicine; being an attempt to apply the spirit of Lord Bacon's philosophy, to subjects of medical reasoning / [Joseph William Gullifer]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    which Physicians daily employ, without an- nexing any correct or distinct idea to them ? I feel persuaded, from the prodigious im- provement that chemistry has lately under- gone, partly owing to the philosophical no- menclature introduced by the French, and partly to the scientific arrangement observed in classing the different parts of its system, that, if a path somewhat similar to this, that is, a plan conducted upon principles nearly allied to it, were once opened, and steadily pursued, we should then gain a very import- ant desideratum to guide the studies of medi- cal men. When speaking upon the sources of misunderstanding, and fallacy arising from the ambiguity of language, it ought not to be forgotten, as the Abbe de Condillac has well remarked, that we think only through the medium of words ; and that the first step towards the attainment of a philosophical system, is the acquirement of an accurate language for the ideas we express. It is not, however, the language of medicine itself that is so exceptionable—the doctrinal parts of it are no less so. Whilst the doctrines of Sym-