Weekly Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1853-1861, 1855-05-24
ADDRESS,
Delivered before the Indiana State Medical So
ciety, BY d.. II. J. Bray, on Wednesday, the
1cs1 ;-.f


18th inst.
osnslszsA e. tks Xslissl Soeisty.
By the kindness and urbanity of my cotefn- /
porares rather than by any deserved merit
have he pleasure To greet you, and 10 bid you
hearty welcome to the Sixth Annual session OF
the Indiana State Medical Society.
We have come from different parts of our
State, severed Cor time the ties of the domes-
tic Preside, and the pleasures Of the social cir
Gle, and congrsgated within the walls of this
house, not, / trust. with the selfish intention to
promote political or sectarian party; neither
have we visited this CITY with the more lauda-
bic djsire TO commemorate the deeds Of great
ness achieved by our illustrious sirss but act
Uated by feelings mole philanthroPic and
praise vorthy.-we wish to unite our honest,
though feeble efforts, To improve the science OF
medicine, that we may more efectually stay the
unsparing hand Of the plague; the pes5lenec
that walketh IN darkness at monday, and pour
the balm of health in the hectic bosom
feel that We have selected profession tIa
Il worthy of our highest ambition, and wen de-
serves 10 be called noble.
The earliest practice Of it arose from the most
generous sentiment which nature has implanted
IN the breast of man. From that sympathetic
benevolenee which leads Us to feel for the suf-
feriugs and misfoTtunes Of others, and inspires
within US an anxious desire to alleviate them.
The mandate inscribed upon our commission Is,
10 90 and remove the malsdies Of the nations;
stay she hand Of the destroying angel of death,
and heal thai dreadful wound inflicted BY sin.
which brought death into the world with all
our woe"
TO take familiar and rapid survey of the
healing art, its rise, and progress, connecting
with the history Of the lives Of those who have
embarked in this grand palladium, may not be
improbable, or uninteresting to US upon this oe-
easion Our task takes US back to the most dis
tant shores Of time; to that country which once
gave science and learning 20 the world, but
which Is now in the grossest darkness OF ignoF-
ance and superstition. All human records agree,
that the arts and sciences first appeared in the
East; the delightful habitation Of our first pa
rents where native genius displayed itself
amidst the universal darkness OF the prlmeyai
world
We are informed by historians and common
tafors, that Immediately after the flood, few
old sages existed who commenced the cuitlva-
ton Of physic, by observing the symptoms OF
their own disorders, the maladies OF others, ana
nv enduring what caused, and cured them =
The art thus imperfectly established was soon
improved by exposing the sick in the public
markets, and on the highways, so that stran-
gers. and those who passed by could examine
their disorders If they knew any remedial
accent effectual, they would advise them with
regard TO their future treatment. All the cures
thus effected, we've faithfully recorded they
were engraved upon the pillars, tables and
walls Of the temples, for the benefit oil succeed
ing generations.
Thus was our gallant barque launched upon
the trackless deep, by the Assyrians, Babaio-
mans and Chaldeans, nearly four thousand
wears ago. She has since been riding surge and
billow, fearlessly and manfully breasting the
brosd-sides with which her enemies have
thought proper to greet her progress.
The cultivation of the science of medicine
and the practice of it, soon fell into the hands
of the priests, who for the sake OF popularity
and influence. appropriated the medical art te
their own benefit. performing such mystical
spells and lamentations, rs appealed powerfully
10 the reigning superstition of the age Though
charlatans, they made many important improve
ments in anatomy, by virtue of their priesthood
According 10 their custom, they offered up to
their different deities daily sacrifices Of differ
ent animals, whose carcases were minutely ex
amined and inspected, as no sacrifice would
make atonement for the sins and iniquities o
the people, or please the deity, but such as
were perfectly sound hence, they were obliged
to be solicitors in their inc uirng after the sign:
of their perfect health, and TO learn from exam
ination what state Of the viscera implied tina
the animal was not sound, as they were respon
sible for the success, or miscarriage OF thei
oblation from the morbid, or healthy appear
ance Of their 6bres. A knowledge Of the heal
ing art was soon known by the Egyptians. wh'
cherished the wannest friendship and love 70
their deceased friends This public feelin.
gave rise to the common custom Of embalming
which gave additional facilities to the study 0
the human system. To perform this duty the
were obliged to open the body, take out the Wis
ceTa, and I'LL up their spaces with a compost
ton Of spices, which afforded an opportunity q
learn the structure and situation of the parts
2 Thus was the way prepared for Aesculapius
whose remarkable genius astonished the world
and caused him to appear like one far in adj
vance Of the age in which he lived. He wa
the ilustrious pupil Of the famous Centaur.-
He far eclpsed his master, and acquired fol
himself areputation which burns brightly annie
the more than twilight darkness OF the-fsbz:
lo1s and barbarous time in which he fiOurished
Honors were shovered upon him from all quar-
tiers his descent was traced 10 the gods, anC
he himself deifed, by his admiring countrymen
and temples were dedicated in every part o.
Greece to the great god of physic-
The death of this distinguished personag'
is yelled in much obscurity. Diodorus Siculu
the historian Of the age, informs Us that the in
visible world, while he lived, ceased to be PEG
pied with It's victims, and Pluto, one of tn,
heather gods, jealous Of the number thus res
eued from the grave, contrived to punish hin
by a summary death. How little have we 4
q
life Of one of our modern Aesculapius.
During centuries which followed the death O
this distinguished parsonage the practice Q
medicine was confined to his descendants, VIII
presided over the temples of learning dedicate,
TO him. The temples dedicated to the god Q
healing were the hospitals to which hundred
resorted, and the priests ministering at the alta
were the physicians who treated their multiforr
maladies. he administration Of medicine Te
Il
even in our day works wonders, proved tn
magnum remedium of the many.
The most distinguished name of antiquity i
our art, is Hippocrates. He appeared in tbs
remote age, like great rock in the midst of
desert, overshadowing all around it, or like III
sun, whose luminous rays disperse the dNknes
of night, and diffuse JOY and animation to tn
world This distinguished parsonage held ran
far above his predecessors or cotemporaries.-
He was educated in the school Of Heroditus. an
had an industry untIring in the pursuit of hi
fayorite studies; with taste improved by year
of travel and observation, he possessed min
stored with the richest lore of that remote age
But the knowledge thus acquired failed TO sal
isfy an intellect of such giant mould
The pillars fixed as the boundaries of huma
attainment, he refused TO recognize; penetratin
far beyond them, he expanded new vstas {
light, explored untrodden regions of truth. anc
alike with the errors of an ignorant and super
stitious era, he stood forth in his own strength
type of deep power, dignity and majest,
without parallel. Justly has he been style
the Father of Medicine. He was medical phi
losopher in the strict sense of the term By tn
indomitable energy of his mind, he patientl
surveyed the inner temple Of nature, studied Ill
phenomena of life, and discovered the gres
chain Of sympathy which unites the whole Of
ganism into one beautiful and harmonious sy.
tenn. From his writings we discover the fir,
rudiments Of an important branch of medics
science. called physiology. He also made cor
siderable progress in pathology, and is III
founder of sect of theorists, known as humol
alists. They believe that the citadel of life ma
be invaded by disease through the medium ,
the fluids, and by many of our own craft thi
doctrine Is orthodox at the present time Ans
Their no less important theory, and one whic
shows the originality and penetration of hi
mind. is that of crisis, or the natural tendenc
of disease TO cure at a certain stated period d,
pending upon a natural train Of actions, which
when proceeding in their due course, terminal
in the removal Of the morbid action. He co
lected the previously scattered and isolate