The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1853-10-18

one means by which the evil be- reached and that
means is to spread al the country Of inte
gent and well prepared Physician.
say, then it Il the bounden duty of every conscen
tous man to give his support to the medical colleges
and that they lack nothing needf for their eff
cheney ,-ring that it il these institutions alone
which be brought to bear this waste OF life The
knowledge which has been gathered in the dissectng
room will produce its results in the railroad shanty,
il will be felt among that wandering population which
fringes the advance of civilization; nay, here at
home will and way into those sinks of restitution
vice which your hospitals can reach For the
sake of living humanity permit colleges to dissect
fhe dead
say moreover that conscientious is at liberty
to withhold his exertons from enlghtening the public
this matter to until the result is aimed IT,
as a people stand idly by and make effort there
lies at door great national crime All history teaches
that such sins overlooked. Is not the
Spaniard still IN the hands Of the for that Indian
blood which cries for retbuton from tia silver mines of
Mexico For the aings of the individual there mercy,
but in the OF Providence mediator is provided for
the sins OF nations There is inhexbie return Of good
for good, and evil for evil
1t often to surprising thing when witness
the charity Of this city, its sympahes sent forth in
thousand ways in behalf of the destitute and afflicted,
the wealth that is avshly expended in doing good
matter whether the object of it be here in distant
countries that little interest is taken in the medical
colleges which in truth are first among the means of
minsterng to the physical suffering of our race Unsus
tanned by the State without aid from the community,
these institutions of true learning quietly discharge their
duty and perhaps the day is not distant when they
shall be better understood, and have their reward
The illustration have been drawing from the dresdful
loss emgant life in the United States is only one out
many that might have been presented Reasons just
forcibe mgh be applied TO every rank OF society Tor
there is no empion from disease Especially in those
which require the skill Of the surgeon does the ne
cesty of anatomical knowledge become conspicuous.
oes any certainly know that before tomorrow
he may require that skill 10 tie artery to ampu
tate limb Speaking as do in the presence of the
first living surgeons is there any necessity for me to
force that precepY They will bear their testimsny that
their art cannot exist except upon anatomy its basis
and that just in proportion the surgeon is skul,
must his knowledge of anatomy be profound
And here again-thougn we are all liable to accident,
for we know not what moment may bring forth, and all
therefore deeply interested in the perfection of surgery
may more enquire by whom is it that these
beneftsare chiefly fe4 What class among US is it to
which such troubles are most incident Is il the who
luxurousy rolls through streets and his
life in ideness? Or is it the aborer, whs earns his bread
by the sweat of his brow who has to face the hardshps
and risks and bitterness? who, If there is dangerous
service TO be done perform it, though at the peril
life mb9 Five sixths of the surgical practice of this
State is that class.
whoever follows the argument here presented will
cognise that it is not without purpose repeatedly
ton Of anatomy appeal to the preuaces OF the laborng
class and conceal from the their great share of the
benefit In bringing the whole community to better
understanding this matter 1t should unquestonably
be first object to satisfy ALL that what seek not
for the exclusive advantage of but for the
good 1t takes nothing from the force of the argument
when thus that the poor the greatest
gamers Such conclusion should cast ray Of light
the views Of the reluctant politician.
The Western territories have claim upon the Atlantic
Staesa claim for protection and aid Their population
constitutes what might be justly termed the advanced
guard OF the American nai0n, Is TO the
way for the of civilization that follow In the
last seventy years pursuing steady has push
ed from the ridges of the Aeghanes to the foot of
the Rocky Mountains and at point it has thrown out
column to the Pacific 1t is duty Of hardship, and
rska struggle with the ruggednes of nature and the
treachery of the Indian We have of fairly esti
mating the loss of life in this duty; but considering its
nature may ,e assured that what holds good in
other warfare holds good in This too-the advanced
guard bears the brunt of the campaign. life
Of adventure must needs be life Of accident.
" York, which beyond all other States, reaps
no advantage of these labors, ought surely take
the lead in giving to those who thus pre- eminent
work for her good Ny fre ads cannot found hos
pta there but you can provide the accomplished ply
stefan and slul surgeon There admirable societies
in this city, which occupy themselves in sending mis-
sonares for the religious instruction of those distant
brethren but one except the medical colleges which
sends them the Of physical relief The pesten-
tal masm and accident suffered to do their
And again say that it is solemn dusy which you
cannot dvest yourselves Of to omit means for the
thorough instruction Of those who led by Providence
to dispense the benefits of medicine in those distant
gon- It not for you to put difficulties in the way of
their obtaining the XII owledge they need so long as
there sands your statute book law depressing the
study Of anatomy and thereby ntng knowledge Of
1 wss the STATE o. Ne" YORK guilty Of crime TO the
stand here in the midst of community familiar with
missionary PROJECTS community which pours out its
wealth for the spiritual vel heather tribes all over
the globe. ask that community what it will
render when it is called to account for the ext notion Of
the Indian tribes Of this continent For want of physi
clan who could vatcinate, the smallpox has swept off
whole nations not leaving solitary survivor Do you
suppose interest you or In
ds, or Burmah will excuse you for this awful desolaton
at your door?
In this l come to the chief point of my dis
course, which is to tell you that institutions for the cu
tvation OF medicine and surgery not to be dealt
lightly BY, and that you have responsibility in their
welfare which you cannot shake on-especially as
respect colleges in the city, for though would utter
word derogatory to country institutions ably ad
minstered AZ they are yet it must come home to the
common of every that it is not in a country
village but in great city that disease is to be 1t
is not in Oxford Cambridge but in London that the
medical schools of England found. There is a phys
cal necessity which overrues all legislation. Here in
New York you will sometimes have three thousand emf
grants landing in daya mass Of restitution to which
the medical student may extend succor, and from which
he may draw knowledge Duty to yourself to your fami
y to the city, to the State to the nation that
you shall help best you may in increasing the
of usefulness Of your medical colleges YOU with
out doing wrong embarrass their action By penal laws
was profound sense Of the sovantage which would
such reflections those have been entertaining which
first led the Greek kings Of Egypt to break through the
practices OF antiquity and especially through the religious
sentiment of the country they ruled over in directing
the professors of the medical college at Alexandria to dis
sect the Dead and prepare teatses setting forth the in
ternal construction Of Exact medicine dates from
those emil htened times. And though in subsequent
ages the Roman pire declined, and the Saracen
develt ped anatomical nvesga ton ceased-for
the Koran pronounces him defled who touches corpse
yet the knowledge which had thus been contributed by
the Macedonian monarchs was too precious to be lost Il
preserved throughout the Pagan times ard handed
down from physician TO physician in Africa and Span
until long after the crescent had suppanted the The
surrepous researches of the physicians Of the fourteenth
century began to suggest the necessity Of revising what
had thus been derived from remote antiquity With ibe
raj views the Papal governments example Eu-
rope and Italy became distinguished the foln
tain of anatomical knowledge. When DOT of the long list
of her great anatomiss, | recall of those whose
Immortality connected with the structure the
human body; when speak Of the tubes Of Eustachius
and those OF Iaopus; the wing OF lpgrssus and the
lobe Of Spgeus; the nuses Of Vaaa, and the glands
OF Mirbcnius; the bridge Of Varou and the valve of
Vieussens; the OF Vdius and the vein of Savael
lathe sounds fall ike household words the ear of the
medical student. series of splendid discoveries and
works the result-discoveries which lasting
nument to that glorious country the mother Of European
civilization.
1t my intention TO have given you few thoughts
what might be termed the religious view Of the
though standing here medical professor Perhaps
might have stepped from my right position in doing
And after all where Is the necessity IL Is enough that
fall back tn. fact have just men toned Whatever
religious sentiments may De, Protestant Catholic
shall surely all in this that they who thus first
sanctihed practical anatomy before Europe deberaed
when they took that Yet they did in age
only theological discussion Of the deepest
feeling done in view OF The solemn the
dead IL done with the consent of OF the largest
understanding the highest philanthropy, and sin
piety question All that could say in