Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Wayne County, Ind.) 1831-1837, 1837-04-22
COME U NlCATIO y.


Fos tbs Riehsood Palladium.
Ea ncdss 10 sebss; sun. esni deoiass a"es.
CUos u'sn sissaeus neqe coosisssss ree'so-1orsee.
The writer Of last week signing hi0self 'J--,"
seems 70 hsve espoused right warmly the cause Of
rsfosm in medicine; though ] conceive that ne,
like his predecessors, has failed u make apPesr
wherein reform becomes necessary. He siIodes
with great propriesy TO the inability Of ''d'cu'e
and satire % engines Gos the overthrow Of even Eek
csp,ionable systems" end truly thinks that they
ore l.s less potent in oves,usning those that are
founded in ssa,h and supported BY legitimate De-
duclions
Fes the combating Of erroneous opiniens. truth
ndoed needs 10 such susilississ % these to a'fsy
them selves IN her ranks; season and argument sse
hss weapons fos either c0aqusst OF defence, end
though she may w ssssiIed M every hand ny
clouds of error, scattering IN their Posssn'ious track
ssives fearful 10 tie cause Of science; yet onward
giN 10 her march, unses,hed by che surrounding
dsnQe,s; shs will chine forth with intervals NJ IN
fading Ius,ss, heightened BY tho contrast with the
dscayi"g splendor Of these fsIlss sys'sms which
have, for time with me.sos.glsso. threatened her
Such systems there have been, o.
one time o. other ar the last three thousand years.
Age after age has reared up . fabric Of brilliant
exterior captivating to the superficial 'nves'g"s"s'
and promising Immortality to him wh" has boldly
reared the supcs.tsuc.urs. A few short years
have been sufficient to prove the legitmacy OF his
the unstable basis upon which It rest
ed. has csumblcd before the advancing light ot
truth, and the hand, that raised it slo, has, 10 ma
ny cases, been barely able to save from cb'iv'o"
q fragment Of its proud workmanship.
Such is . faint picture Of some Of the proposed
reforu,ations IN medical science; Teformations At
tempted BY men Of the highest intellec's; by the
most accomplished scholars and profound thinkers
Of their age. They have seen and felt that the
science was rot perfect one, and, in their zeal to
make ., SO, they have forgotten that imPesfect'on
stamps all human attempts, and have sunered
themselves to be led too far 10 pun suit Of favorie
and plausible scheme. Each one, however, has
given to the world some new truth, serving rs
ndmark for future investigations; and it il the
collecting Of those scattered AID isolated facts, end
embodying them in something like systematic ar
range meni that has rendered medical Knowledge.
for the last fifty years, more permanent IN ITS cha
racter than il had hitherto been.
Within the period just named, the Thomsonian
reformation has been much sgtatsd in various
communities; and, a. have before said, my wish
10 for the community to investigate this matter for
themselves. ! will now proceed to search out some
Df INV friend is arguments in favor Of said refor
ma ,ion,-if. happily, may be able 10 find them!
Tie first species Of srgume ntaien then, is, that
III reformers must expect to suffer in person and
property from those whose rights they are supposed
~ invade, and whose "earh born minds'-; tut
,e:e must ask question, taking il for granted
hs, the medics; Faculty 10 alluded to in this un
courteous eriihc: Is this tho character Of Pbys-
:ians throughout the world, or throughout our
country! IaPpealto one exanplc-snd numerous
might be acduced--to one too that o." has al
eady quoted, tho iIlustrious Sydsnh0m, is there
~ III Of this .eartil horn' character to be found
with this great manf Then I appeal to,
,,hers,-as Bsrrsare and Haller, and Rash, and
who have been tho lights Of their pro-
ession; the pride Of society, and the benef c'ors
# their race. do not call upon these names, sa-
red as they are. to place them in competition with
Eat Of Thompson, but TO show that the greatest
pen in the professioa have not been the groreilng
p,r,,s -" would have :hem to he they have ne
er opposed truth, from even the humblest source,
or do their enlightened followers Of the present.
ay: but when assertion and assumption 10 being
aimed upon the unsusPecting, as truth supported
y sound reasoning, then one and all will rise up
I'd cxclaim against such reformation a. this; tits
heir boundsn duty 10 society to do So
Gaco and Luther, in the ages Of darkness and
upersiiton. dared to promulgate truths in rciis ion
nd science that we're at variance with the bge'ed
Jews Of the Pnes,hood-and they suffered ''aonds
nd affections" for thus being its advocatcs.-i
Iorrey, too, whose name is now enrolled among
ne bcnefac,ors science, in still later times gave
the world is FIRST ideas Of the circulation Of the
lood-,he mes: important truth in the science Of;
INV siuocy, and though It came no, in contac, with