Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1837-04-26
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COMMUNICATION.
For the Gazette.

For the Gazette.
Mr.. EDITOR: No period Of our coun.
try's history has furnished evidence Of
SO general pefscverlng aud success.
ful spirit of improvement as the pre-
sent and when we add to this the
pleasing fact, that great proportion
of this spirit is directed TO objects of
useful character, and which will most
ly contribute to the advancement Of
human happiness, by mitigating either
moral or physical evil, we shall cer-
tainly have good reason to congratu-
late ourselves upon living in an age
extremely propitious to the destiny of
man. Ills with pleasure | behold the
legislative protection extended to the
various branches of mechanism, to the
merchant, to the profession Of the law,
to corporations OF various kinds, whilst
with deep regret | see the MEDICAL
FAcULTY left destitute of the least pro-
| lection.
1t may be said, that medical men
overlook some valuable discoveries,
because these discoveries had their or
igin in sources to which professional
pride will not stoop; but, tor the cor
rectness or incorrcctness OF this asser-
ton, shall not stop to inquire. Ofthe
dignity Of the profession, | need say
nothing, it has stood the test of time
and although its theories and doctrines,
derided and deprecated, by those who
were unable to comprehend the dlih
cuties attendant on its acquisition, or
extent of talent sufficient for its sue
cesslul prosecution, still its paramount
utility, " the high rank it holds among
the sciences, have never been denied.
TO an enlightened community, it is
scarcely necessary to prove the vast
benefits conferred on mankind by the
science of medicine, or the necessity of
its exercise being confined to particu.
lar class of men, the business of whose
lives is to examine the hidden causes
of disease, aud the adequate modes Of
cure, requiring an exclusive devotion
to those duties totally incompatible
| with other occupations, and no one Lut
tho physician can be aware Of the diff.
| ficullies TO be overcome, or the labor
to be undergone, before such point is
attained, as renders him confident in
the resources OF his art in averting the
poisoned shaft of disease and death. !
shall not attempt to point out the orr
gin OF primoval learning of mankind.
TO guess at the wisdom Inscribed on
the columns, tabled to have escaped
the overwhelming deluge, will avail us
naught. A we know is that the faint
but steady light which "a AIMED on eau
casus, was denied to Atlas and the An.
des. 1t can, however, be discovered,
through the misty vista of time, that
the truths of medical science were
comprehended at a very early peri.
od-at an age not very remote from
that catastrophe, remembered by all
nations, and which is marked in giant
characters, or the great globe. The
first definite records we possess of the
medical art are derived from the
Greeks though, as the greater por.
ton of ancient knowledge was by sym.
bols and types, confined to the priests,
and has been lost in the lapse Of ages,
it is impossible now to decide whelhe err
our tutelary divinity was first enshri.
ned in the vast halls of Meroc, or in
the more classic fame of Delphos. In
no department of human knowledge,
has the propensity TO attribute common
events to the agency Of preternatural
causes, been more fully developed than
in medicine. Credulity is one of the
strongest characteristics of our race,
and exists equDlIy in the highest de-
gree of civilization and in the untutor-
ed savage, in the sceptic and the be-.
lever, in the poet and warrior. Ba.
con acknowledged ITS existence, and
the stern mind oil Johnson, bent beneath
its influence and even in our own
days, Napoleon, the destroyer and
overthrower ofancient monarchies, and
the subverter of long established pre-.
JUDGES, was believer in destiny, and
mingled reliance on his peculiar star,
with his mighty projects Of reform. In
medicine it would appear that from the
, moment man turned his attention to
the relief and cure Of diseases, not con.