The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1855-11-08

This body assembled at the Universe y Of Nes York,
Wednesday evening when it was called TO srder at
~ O'Clock, by the President, the venerable JOSH W.
Francis NJ d. who referred to the act that this vas
the eighth anniversary of the institution and alluded to
the objects it designed to effect and the success which
had hitherto attended its labors and deliberations He
then called upon the Rev Dr. Hutton to address the
Throne a Grace after viii III he introduced JonS WATSON
d.. who delivered the annual ADDRESS, OF which the
following Is the suostance:-
have not reaciiy consented to before you this
evening since believe that profession from its
babitua acquaintance with the sick ,om is more in
cned than the forum Few physi-
clans are distinguished public speakers Eioquence
gives spirit to he pulpit and an ornament 70 the bari
but profession is silent Yet have not felt at
liberty to refuse TO address you this evening To the
initiated many pleasures attach themselves to the medi
cal profession which 20 others ~ould seem incompatible
with its and who wonders that the votares Of the
healing art like others drawn together in the bonds
Of social and scientific union The attention Of
the audience called to the subject OF the ira
dictionary history Of ancient medicine. The art
a. the present Day 50 universally prae.is,ea
should have existed without having enjoyed its
benefits but learn Of several of the early nations who
had no physicians Among these were mentioned Persia
whose monarch compelled TO import the first prac
titioner Of medicine into that country The Romans
also, without the services Of physician until the
year Of the city $685. when they obtained from Greece
The of this individual however by
equal to the efforts mace to secure his services and the
Inhabitants Of Rome little gratifed ut the result
OF their experiment TINT many years afterward we
learn, Cato found the country enjoying immunity from
country had other practitioners than those moderate
" acquainted with the properties Of few herbs and who
wrought upon the superstons of their patients They
possessed great influence but their personal safety
not equal TO their influence In Egypt the priests
ens s ss ~ sis
y to the treatment Of special Diseases attending to
diseases Of the others to those Of the others still
to those Of vital Among the Greeks there
three sources Of medical knowledge the Gymnasa the
Schools of Philosophy and the T. IMPLIES Of Escuspus In
the first the art OF intellectual pursuits and athe
tic exercises chiefly taught but the gymnasiarchs
governors Of the gymnasia being frequently called upon
to exercise their skill in cases Of accident gained some
dextery in the treatment of other Diseases 1t is diff
cult 10 say how far the teaching Of medicine carried
in the schools philosophy but we know that Plato was
contemporary Hippocrates Pythagoras and many Of
the philosophers Of the school Of Crotora also attained
distinction in the practice OF the art The temples of
Escuapus the chief sources Of acquaintance with
the principles of medicine Candidates for admission to
the sculspian schools whose parents were not Asce
pades required to be Of the age of 20 years. and
before entering the temples obliged to go through
the ceremony of publication series Of mysteries were
then gone through with, the intatory of which
called illumination and the ultimate coronation In
the process Of these mysteries the student obliged
to take an oath in the name Apollo Panacea Hygea
and all the gods and goddesses to maintain certain OBJ
seryances If honor and justice, and to lead almost
spotiess life which the physicians of the present day
yscans maintained by annual salaries from the
State, although there were others who practised medi
cine privately They did not usually visit the sick, but
retired into the temple and after publication, pre-
tended to have vision in which they were in
structed how to treat their patients. The slaves
Of the physicians also allowed to practise among
their class The ancient practitioners while they
possessed less skill in administering TO disease requiring
medic Al aptness, In many surgical diseases nearly
successful their descendants. In the early lie Of
Plato much objection was made to the attempt TO cure
chronic diseases, and the argument was used that
Esculapus would have undertaken sanctioned
such endeavors Great fault also found with the
nosology Of disease, and believed that the
presiding divinity Of the healing art would have given
counfensnce to such names as dropsy, catarrh, &c.
Restrictions were placed upon certain surgical opera
ons and the sale Of poisonous drugs and medicaents
by mountebaDks and empiricpeddiing priests Plato
denominated them. OF the personal history Of Hippo
know but little He studied under Of the
most distinguished ofhe Asclepiades certain that
during the Peoponnessan his services to the State
gained him many distinguished honors To his efforts is
greatly due the removal of the study OF medicine from
the schools Of philosophy and making them the object of
separate schools He first reduced the science Of medi
cine to system and finally died mt the advanced age Of
&c. After illusions to the contemporaneous school Of
Nidos ard comparison Of the principles of that with the
school of ppocrntes and some ad iionol remsrks the
lecturer announced that he had already exhausted the
time usually occupied in the annual address, and
tired
voted that the thanks Of the body be rendered
Dr. Watson for his address, and that he be invited TO
fnh it at his own convenience, and the session was
declared adjourned.