Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1856-04-12
Science Of Medicine. Opinion Of MA
gendie.

On assuming the Professors chair in the
College of France, the ctlpbrsted Marendie
TINS addressed the assembled students:
"Genfisnep '---Medicine Is a>greJd hrr,krc-
| | know it is called n scienct--s'iencp, indeed!
| It's nothing like science Doctors are more
| empires when they are not chnrntans. We
are ignorant as ignomnt ms men can be-
| Who knows ANYTHING in the world about
medicine d? Gentlemen you have done me the
honor TO come here and attend my lectures.
and must tell you frankly now, in the begin.
ming that know M thing in the world about
medicine and don't know any body who
does know anything about it. Don't think
for a moment T. at I havn't read the | lis nd
tsing the curse of lectures at the Medical
school know that this man teaches anato-
mv.that man teaches pathology. another man
physiology. such n one teaches therapeutics.
such another mnteris mcdica-EHbeint d as
pres? What's known about that? Why.
gentlemen at the school Of Montpelier (God
knows il was famous enough in IFS day y they
discarded the study or aratomy and taught
othng but the disnonsary: ard the doctors
educated there knew Just as much and were
quite as successful as any others. I repeat
it, nobody knows anything about Medicine
True enongh. we are gathering facts every
day. We can produce typhus fever for ex-
ample, by injecting certain substance into
he veins Of n dor-that's something; we
can alleviate diabetes and. | see distinctly
we are fast approaching the day when phthi-
SIS can he cured rs easily as any disease
We arc collecting facts IN the right spirit,
and dare say in n century or so The accumu-
ation of facts may enable our successors TO
form n medical science; Int ! repeat it 10
you, there is no such thing Eow as medical
science. Who can tell me how to cure the
headache? ? or--the gout? or disease Of the
heart Nobody. Oh you tell me the doc
tors cure people. ] grant you. people nre
cured, But how nre they cured ? Gentlemen,
Nature docs good deal, Doctors do-dev-
elsh litiIe--when they don't do harm. Let
me tell yOu. gentlemen. what ! did when |
was the head physician at X ote Dicu. Some
or 1000 patients passed through my hands
every year. divided the patients into two
classes: with one ! followed the dlspcnsary.
and gave them the usual medicines without
having the least idea why or wherefore to
the other | gave bread pills and and colored
water without. of course, letting them know
anything about it--and occasionally, gentle
men, | would create third division, to whom
| gave nothing whatever. These last would
fret good deal they would feel the, were
neglected. (s;ck people always feel they are
neglected. unless they are well dugged: les
inbeciies y and they would irritate them
selves until they got really sick; but nature
invariably came to the rescue, and all the
persons in this third class got well. There
was little mortality amouc those who re-
ceivod but bread rill aud coorrd water, and
tlr mortality was greatest among those who
were carefully druggod according to the dis-
pensarv. You ask then. what sc the use Of
my lecturing. I'll tell you. We lave come
here to study nature, not to spin fine theories
about this and that. and anticipate brilliant
conclusious--leave that to the Germans. gem
'lemen | don't say these doctrinedires fail to
hit occasionally upon some brilliant truth.
by the aid Of their thcoricS--for have some
times hecD astonished by lheir discoveries
bat for once they ard right, they are wrong Il
hundred times, and by their theories they are
never sure OF knowing assured what they do
know. Now what know. / know. There
can be no mistake about it, ] see it with
my eyes. ! tonch it with my fingers.
would not give that for all the theories in the
world-give me stubborn facts. That's the
way gentlemen, we Gre going to study here.