The Massachusetts spy, and Worcester County advertiser. [volume] ([Worcester, Mass.]) 1825-1831, 1830-04-14

the parts of which it is composed, and the &C.
casional disturbance to which they are subject,
has been naturally and necessarily considered
to be the ground of the science.
Without an exact knowledge of the delicate
springs and wheels and balances in the coDpli-
Gated machinery of the human body, it would
be insanity to attempt to restore their proper
action, and adjust their disordered movements
to each other. Unhappiy the acquisition of
this knowledge has been opposed by feeling
deeply rooted and of universal extent, not only
in the early and uncivilzed state of society, but
which has extended, though with diminished
strength, even to the improved state of the
world in which we live. Whether this senti-
ment be natural, or whether it be imbibed in
the course Of education, it must be treated with
respect, because generally diffused, and perhaps
founded on the best principles of our nature
The associations formed during life with the
corporeal fabric of our friends are too strong to
be divided by the stroke which separates it from
the Intellectual part /; and were it not possible
to cultivate anatomy without violating these
associations, it would perhaps be necessary to
sacrifice health and even life to sentiment so
strongly interviewer with our best feelings. II,
however, this science can be pursued without
disturbing the minds of the living, and if it is
important and even Indispensable to the well
fare of society, by saving many valuable lives,
and greatly diminishing the amount of human
suffering, every enlightened people must be de-
sirous of establishing it upon proper grounds.
The human body is one of the most comph-
Gated and wonderful work of the Creator OF the
universe. The number, the minuteness, and
the delicacy of its parts exceeds beyond all
comparison, the most complex pieces of ma
chinery which have ever been invented by hu.
man genius. To know them with accuracy re-
quires the constant labor of the most Industrious
individual. Yet without this knowledge, it is
wholly impossible to remedy multitude OF dis
eases and accidents to which the human body is
subject Every human being is hourly exposed
to death by the accidental wounds of hundred
blood vessels. These wounds may be remedied
with certainty, scarcely short of mathemat-
zeal, by an experienced anatomist; but in the
hands OF one destitute of precise knowledge, life
is more insecure than is ship amid shoals, I'M
der the guidance of mariner without chart,
compass, or star, or lead to direct his course.
Involved in the midst of thousand cords and
vessels and nerves, the we'll instructed surgeon
proceeds with GOODNESS and certainty 10 secure
the life of the patient, while the ignorant must
either incur the risk of destroying him on the
spot, or abandon him, as beyond the reach of
the means he possesses to save him. One of
the most experienced and conscientious physi-
clans of our commonwealth has stated as fact,
that within his knowledge, hundred persons
had persisted for want of a sufficient skill in
anatomy to perform one species of surgical OPP
Grafton. hundred lives lost by single dis
ease What numbers then must have been sa-
eriiced by different disorders and accidents !;
what numbers are now perishing what num-
bers must hereafter become the victims of an
ignorance which it is easy to remove. The
vigorous and the decripid, the poor and the rich,
are all exposed to the dangers of ignorance and
error. 1t is, however, the poorer classes who
suffer most, since the more wealthy are likely
to obtain that aid, which can at present be ad-
ministered only by limited number of individ-
uals.
Many well educated persons ask, why a
knowledge Of the human body cannot be obtain
ed from books, plates, and wax figures? There
is great degree of misconception on this
subject. The human structure is SO minute
and complex, that all the books and plates thar
can be Invented. give no adequate and practical
knowledge of this science. There are more
parts in single square inch of the human body
than in the most complicated wax figures ever
made; and this can no more be initiated by art,
than the sap vessels and germ vessels of plant
could be created by human power. The most
demonstratiye proof of the impossibiity of gain
ing sufficient knowledge of this subject with
! out dissections, is drawn from the fact that the
laborious and Impoverished medical Student is
ready to bestow his limited means on the ac-
quirement Of Anatomy under the most difficult
and embarrassing circumstances. Those who
cannot succeed in getting it in their own State,
go to others, and many resort to foreign coun-
tries in pursuit of information which ought to
be obtained at their own doors. Why does the
Student and even the practised Surgeon ex.
haust his time, his means, and his health, in this
npcnnafion If he EFou,c to o
that it can be obtained on easier terms2 Why
is he willing to risk the consequences of an
odum which may prove fatal to his prosperity,
if it were possible to qualify himself without
such dangerous labors? Even those who have
| once made themselves acquainted with the COM
+ plicated structure of man find it impossible to
| retain their knowledge without occasionally re.
wing it by dissection. The botanist and min.
eralogist soon loose their science unless it is
kept up by constant practice. The same hap.
pens to the surgeon-and it is well known that
the most skilful surgeons in Europe, whatever
their age and experience may be, never dare
to execute difficult operation on the living
/ without preparing himself by actual dissection
| In proportion as science has spread itself over
/ Europe, have the prejudices on this subject
been dispelled; and anatomy is now cultivated
! IN nearly all the nations of the Christian world
In our own country, the spirit of improvement
has been gradually removing the obstacles to
this study, and it is freely pursued in nearly all
the great cities of the United States In this
Commonwealth severe prohibitory statute still
exists, and thus the law requires Of every med
cal practitioner a knowledge ofanatomy, which
at the same time they deprive him of the mean:
Of acquiring.
The medical practitioner who attempts hispro.
fcssion without this information soon finds him
self dishonored and abandoned; and his place il
occupied by some one who has found the meani
Of studying his art in foreign country, or hal
evaded the execution Of the law at home. Thi.
state of things is as contrary to morality as it il
to reason and to the spirit of the age in which
we live.
| II the laws, prohibiting dissections, could b.
executed SO effectually as TO put a stop to the
study Of anatomy, TO what an amount Of suffer
ing would the public be exposed.
Hundreds, and we may venture to say thou
sands, and among them some Of the most valu
able members Of society, afflicted with various