The Press. — London, England, 1853-10-22 00:00:00

592 " Tndred, sir!" I said, " you hhoodil haw• given yourself a holiday on such an oocasion, and not come down to lecture. , • " Nay," returned he, " etaid ! I came down to lecture the day I was married nt3aelf!" - - - - - . It was in I F4O 1 that Abernethy published hi s principal work, lly Hook, - in which he en deavoured to reduce his principles to system. This production is defended by Mr Macilwain at great length, lint the contro 1-my does not belong to oar columns. I,llw most persons of quick temperament, he was inclined to try filets lry prueone e iveil iwpres sisn►s, and to attach more importance to theories than in actual practice was iliae to them. In his contempt of quackery lie fell into something like it, when to bliNt! tine• in consultation " he referred his patients to his book, and especially page His essential kindness of heart, strongly insisted on here, has never that we recollect been doubted ; but that tidgettiness or irrita bility which it is admitted he possessed is rl fault which medical 11101 above all others should endeavour to overcome. Sometimes his rudeness Hilt with just reproof : A hilly, the wife of is very Pinked him, and finding I heard of your rudeness Itt•fore l 'lune, sir, lint I dill not citioret this." When Alivrinthy mop hi r the loremeripti. n, Nile said, " Whet 11111 I no slim %tilt this ? • "Anything you like. Pot it in the fire, if pin please." The hilly took him wt his word, luitl his fee on the table, threw the preseripti tttt in the tire, and hastily left the room. Alteenethy followed her into the hall, pressing her to take bark her fee, or to let him give her another preseription ; but the holy was inexorable, and left the MOW. On the other haunt, he was rangy if ever known to trentu poor patient roughly : We had (write* Mr. Maellwain I UN dresser A' II 04 - %Wend& period the °error many of his patients ; but we cannot charge our • nirimay with a single instance of unkindness to a hospital patient, whilst we ar e d ee pl impressed by the constant prevalence of a generally kind and unaffected sympathy with them. In private practice, also. any caw that really required skill mid (Hs erbninatiou was pretty sure to meet with the attention that it deserved. A correspondent of the author supplies a ease in w•hieh, ))V considentte attention, Abernethy saved the leg of a poor hospital patient : It was on going thrnngh the wards after a visit to Bath that, looming up between the rime of beds, with an Ma nicure .'n,wd of pupils after him, myself among the test, that the appaiitlon of a poor Irishman, with the scantiest shirt I ever saw, jumping out of Lad. and literally throwing himself on his knees at Abernethy's feet, presented itself. For some moments everybody was bewildered; but the poor fhllow, with all his country's eloquence, poured out suds a torrent of thanks, prayers. and blessings, mid made such pantomimic displays of his leg, that we were not long hit iu doubt. "'That's the kg, yer homier ! tllury be to tiled ! ler honuor's the boy to do it ! Ab l y the h eit y cle , b e your hell ! Long life to yer homier ! th e di vi d e w ith the 4441041 m that said yer lemma. w o uld c ot it eft!" A T , Tlw man hail come into the hospital about three ths before, with diseased ankle, and it had been at owe eon• dimmed to amputation. Something. however. induced Abernethy to try what rest and constitutional treatment would do for it, and with the happiest result. With some difficulty the patient was got into brit. and Abernethy took the opportunity of giving us a el' turn about discos,* and their constitutional tr e atment. And now commenced the f u n. Fiery sentence Abernethy uttered, rat eittifirmed. " Thrue, per blitmor, divole a lie in it! His hit is the grate &visitor entirely 1" While sit the slightest allusion to his ease, on' went the he& clothes, anti up %Wilt the leg as it' he were taking aim at the ceiling with it. "'That's it, by titers! and a blither leg than the villin's that wanted to cut was II NM after I went to London, and I was much struck with Abernethy's manner; in the lst of the laughter, st.top big down to the patient. he said, with di earnestness, I am glad your leg is doing well, but never kneel except to your Maker." (living Abernethy all the credit he deserves for his kindness to poor patients, we really cannot see why persons of superior refinement and delicacy should have been most exposed to his rudeness. It is creditable to his benevolence that he never would take a fee from any person whose ability to give it he haw 11%8011 to dealt. As a lecturer he was unrivalled. He had the happy faculty of engaging the attention of his hearers and of entbreing his principles by illustrations, and by a look and manner that were never forgotten : roe AILL etigatittlrife t % inn iii i i i Tel 11 : l% ry case ailmowt was tale, iunl every tale iuipre. , ett 4 111. ; 1 •-•tatqloimis:,.s.' biltlfikt i.oute relation in the smiettire, of lb. Ont. if he was telling any- • . , • 4 ..,,A,, A i' -. 1 •• . . • . 4e• • . -- 1 '.-- THE PRESS. thing at all humorous it would be lighted np by his halfshut, half-smiling, and habitually-benevolent eye. His position was always easy and natu r a l—sometimes homely, perhaps. In the anatomical lecture he always stood, and either leant against the wall with his arms folded before him, or resting one hand on the table, with th e other perhaps in his pocket. In his surgical lecture Ile always sat, and very gent-rally with one leg resting on the other. He was particularly happy in a kind of cosi ness or friendliness of manner which seemed to identify him with his audience, as if we were all about to investigate sometloing interesting by/41w, and not as if we were going to be "Its-tared at "sd all. lie spoke as if address ing each individual ; and his discourse, like a happy portrait, always; seemed to be looking you in the face. His vo i c e pwillibnl rose above the osonversirtional, either in pitch or tone. It was in general pleasing in quality, and en livened lay a wort of &winless of express' . Ills loudest bone was never lipremsivi: to those nearest to hius, his st subdued audible everywhere. The range of pitch was very limited : the expression of the eye and a slight modulation being the media by which he infused through the lecture an agreeable variety, or gave to particular sew tiutents the requisite expression. A couple of the cases he related in his lectures may find plaice here, as being cha racteristic of his 'style : A gentleman, having recovered from a very serious ill ness, was threatened by the influence of the same causes with a return of his malady. " lie thought," sa id Al te r. nethy, " that if he did not drink deeply he might eat like a glutton." lie lived in the country, anti Mr. Alwrnethy one day went down a n d dined with him. " Well," said Alwruellty, " i saw hue was at his old tricks twain ; being a merchant, I asked him what he would think of a man who, having been thriving in business, had amassed a considerable fortune, then Went and risked it all in some imprudent speettlat' ?" " Why," said the merchant, " 1 should think him a great ass." " Nay, then, sir," said Abernethy, " thou art the awn." Few old pupils will forget the story of the major who had dislocated his jaw. This accident is a very simple one. and easily put right ; butt having once happened is apt to new on any unusual extension of the lower jaw. Abernethy used to represent this as a frequent ocennence with an hilarious major; but, as it generally happened at mess, the surgeon went rou n d to him, and immediately put it in again. One day, however, the major was d' g about fourteen miles fmtn the regiment, and, in a hearty laugh, out went his jaw. They sent for the medical man, whom, said Abernethy . , we must call the apothecary. Well, at first he thought that the jaw was dislocated; but he began to pull anti to show that he knew nothing about the broper mode of putting it right again. On this the major gan to be very excited, and vociferated inarticulately in a strange manner ; when, all at once, the doctor, as if he had just hit on the nature of the case, suggested that the major's cotnplaint was on his brain, and that he could not be in his right mind. (In hearing this the major became furious, which was regarded as confirmatory of the doctor's opinion. 'They accordingly 'wised hint, confined him in a strait waistcoat, and put him to bed, anti the doctor ordered that the barber should be sett for to shave the head, and a blister to he applied to the part atliTted. The major, fairly beaten. ceased making resistance, but made the best signs his situation and his impeded articulation allowed for pen and paper. This being hailed as indicative of returning rationality, writing materials were set before him ; and as soon as he was sufficiently treed from his bonds he write—" For ( h l's sake, send for the surgeon filthy regiment." This was accordingly dune, and the jaw readily minced, as it had been often before. " I hope," added Abernethy, " you will never forget how to reduce a climb tented jaw." Ile held the post of hospital surgeon but twelve years : he had worked hard, and had not always taken that care of himself which he reemninended to others. We have heard he was accustomed to sad• that he was a finger-post to show the way, not to walk in it. lie lived, :Itel' worn in constitution, four years after wards. dying in his sixty-seventh year. His earnest inquiry, penetrating intellect, and even the eccentricity of his views, had good effect in stimulating the medical mind of his time, and inciting it to original research. It is singular that Abernethy was horn about the time Hunter settled in London, and that he published his first work in the year that Hun ter died. Abernethy's lectures did justice to Hunter's greatness. and to some extent carried forward the views of that great man. The name of Abernethy will probably sell this book, indifferent as it is. Were Mr. Mac ilwain to expunge the matter tone half of the whole we suppose) having no direct connection with his subject, and make better use of the sources of information, which must be open to him, for collectift further facts, he might easily make up a popular volume. The public is very willing to receive a life of Aber nethy, but very unwilling, we imagine, to take under that title the rambling views of Mr. Mad!wain on men, matters, and medicine in general. SATURDAY, NEV WORKS UN LO iIC. 1. The Art of Reasoning, de. With an Outline, qf the History of Logie, and an Appendix an Recent Logical Derelopments. With Notes. Ily Samuel Neil. Loudon : Walton and Nlal)erly. 2. ',vim' Science Considered as an Eduaitional Element. Au Inaugural Address delivered in the Theatre of the Royal College of Sur geons in Ireland, &e., by John Murray, A.M., LL.D., Professor ,of Logic in the Royal College of Surgeons iu Ireland. Dublin : Hodges and Smith. I. A clever book, containing all that is usually found in works on logic, illustrated by re ference to all sorts of authors and opinions. The severe symmetry of a text-book is not attained nor attempted ; but the different parts of the subject are explained in clear and lively language, impossible to be misunder stood. All the great logical miters are quoted, and, in return for their assistance, cordially praised. Those who wish for a popular view of the subject—and„judging by the success of Mr. Oilbares " Logic for the Million," they must be many—will find something here to meet their wants. Mr. Neil falls into the mis take—common enough —of supposing the " Idola " of Bacon to be idols that men worship. They are rather spectral shapes that beset the mind and delude the vision; and the word bears its Greek sense, as Bacon indicates (" De Augmentis," b. v., ch. 4), by connecting the term with Plato's " Myth of the Cave. " Idolatry " has nothing to do with the matter. Other mistakes there are—and no wonder — but they do not affect the value of the volume, which, as a popular compilation, takes a fair place. 2. The lovers of logic may congratulate them selves on such a sign of the times 'as the appointment of a Professor of Logic to assist in medical education. Of Professor Murray's qualifications we would not judge from the present pamphlet, which is somewhat crude. IVe question whether the term " logics," as distinct from " logic," " prevails in common use at all"; and time is wasted in showing, first, that these two words " must have some inseparable affinity," which is pretty evident; and then, that " logos," viewed as the origin of one of these words, must have a more re stricted sense than when viewed as the origin of the other, which is an error. Professor Murray copies the very words and phrases of other logicians without the least acknowledg ment. In four or five places this liberty is taken with a well known manual by Mr. Thom son, which is not even named throughout the pamphlet; whilst large passages from Whately and Mill occupy so much space that, if these and the unacknowledged borrowings were re moved, all that remains of Professor Murray's own might be covered by a midge's wing. A Treatise on the Book if Common Prayer. By the Bev. William Gilson ilumphry, B.D. London : John W. Parker and Son. MIR work has been composed " for the use of the theological student," and its author hopes that it may also be useful to the increasing body of the laity who " desire to be intelligent as well as faithful members of the Church." A rival work to Wheatly should display great 4ierits to obtain success. This difficulty has been felt by Mr. liumphry, who frankly ac knowledges the learning and piety of Wheatly, but suggests that portions of his valuable treatise are now obsolete. We concur to some extent with that opinion, though the defects of Wheatly, on close examination, will be found more in the modes of his statement than in respect of his matter. Some questions of discipline which were of importance in his day have in our times lost all but their scholastic interest. On the other hand, the Tractarian controversy has given fresh in terest to various other topics, and these we might expect to find handled in a new dissertation on the Prayer Book. We do not, however, meet with so much of these in the present case as we might look for from the examining 4:Wean to the Bishop of JAoadou.