Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1856-10-28
! t.NING STAR.
LOCAL. INTELLIGENCE.

Il
LECTURE OF PRor WARIsa large
amphithestre Of the Washington Infrmary
was well filed last night, the occ aston being
the delivery Of the Introductory lecture OF the
course to the students Of the National Medical
College by DR.. j. J. W airing. -s..-.
In opening, the lecturer impressed upon inc
class the fact that they live in an Hippocra-
team age, and belong to an Hippocratean
school, and warned them to fortify themselves
against the dangers and allurements OF blind
speculation, that rife source OF all the mis-
chiefs and errors recorded on the pages OF his.
tory. Noticing the various medical errors OF
the past and present, which multiply upon US
ad rnfnituvp, run their brief career, aud are
supplanted by new ones, the Professor called
attention to that revolution in medicine brought
about by HippOcrstes so early as 300 years
Is. @. .r-
Medicine, two thousand years ago, made
more progress in the lifetime of three indi-
viduals, than it did from that time forward to
the middle of the last century. and medicine
stood upon a sounder basis two thousand years
ago than it did one hundred years ago or at
any period between those dates.
In the earliest ages, men. without exception,
regarded disease as inflicted by those higher
powers which they worshipped, and their only
means Of cure was to appease Divine wrath
Hence the temples of worship naturally be
came the resort Of the sick, aud the priests
the ph ysicians who attended to their cure
The Greeks were the first and only nation
in whose temples the true end and scope Of
medicine was not entirely disregarded, and
though their priests sought alike to deceive
the people with oracles, yet they found them
selves constrained, in the growing Intelligence
Of this remarkable people, to observe with at
tentiOn the operations OF nature. In doing 80
they profted largely by the custom which
then prevailed for grateful devotee. to hang
up in the temples rOtiUs tablets describing the
symptoms of their diseases and their modes Of
cure
In process Of time the two temples Of Cos
and Guidos became almost the sole resort Of
the sick, an exclusive scat of medical knOwl-
edge, and in the time of Hippocrates these
temples were literally covered with vo'ive
tablets, the perpetuated record Of observations
made through q long series of years. In its
infancy, Greek philosophy. regarded medicine
as one of its legitimate subjects Of study, aud
in course of time the philosophers boldly re-
nouneed the practice and teaching of medi-
cine under the veil of mystery, and forced the
priests to follow ttsir example
The lecturer traced the rise and progress Of
the Hippocratean school Hippocrates was no
individual, but a series Of individuals, alii.d
in strict line Of descent, who, Transmitting
their knowledge from father to son. distn-
guished themselves by their courage and abl-
ity. Of these Hippocrates the greatest WIS
Hippocrstes II, grandson of Hippocratss
and it is TO him that Galen thinks is due the
honor of having founded that school of prn-
ciples which has always bsen known as the
Hippocratean. As Psychologist, psthologist,
aud practitioner, he far exceeded those who
had preceded him in boldness of thought
Independence, and originality. IN his time
blind speculation and subtitle reasoning b al
taken the place of superstition in the schools
of philosophy. Contrary to the spirit Of his
age, Hippocrates devoted himself to the obser-
vZtiOn of facts in nature, and troubled him
self very little about developing theories and
hypothesis or in making a vain display Ct
s1phisms Unscqdainted with the Bsconian
theory of Induction through the natural ORR
ginality of his mind and his sound common
sense and prudence, ne was guided by it, and
only because guided by it, was he enabled t,
give such an impetus to medicine and throw
go much actual light upon the mysteries Of
the art as to insure for him, through all time,
the name Of Father Of Medicine"
He was the first physician to trust much to
nature, not from ignorance, but from sound
reasoning lie exercised q wise discretion in
the use Of remedies, expecting benefit from
the siistsnce OF nature. He il, therefore, the
author Of what is called the /" Expectant plan
of Treatment " This method, lost sight of
after his death, was never revived till our
day, and is now rapidly superceding the old
plan of treatment A neglect Of this Hippo
use of violent remedies during the last centu-
~, and, in consequence reaction in this; q
reaction which, IN Germany, gave origin to
Hahnemann and his llomep athia system, q
salutary tendency, it is true, but carried to
an absurd extreme by the empty speculstions
of this German dreamer
The lecturer proceeded to trace the history
OF medicine dogn to our own times; of its
falling, after the HippOcrateau age, again
into the hands Of speculAtOrs and theorists
of its transfer, with Greek learning, to Rome;
of the mutilated condition in which medical
art passed into the hands of the Arabians,
who contributed nothing TO it's advance, and
just a. the Romans lef. it the Crusaders restored
i. to Europe The different medical schools
prevailing at different periods were passed in
reyiew-the DOgmatic, Empire, Methodic,
Pneumatic, Mechanic, Chemical. and Dy-
manic. What monuments have they left BE-
hind TO mark their existence wat contribu-
tons have they made to science? Not one
Fortunately for Us, little band of investi-
gators continued TO search for facts through
this dreary period Of idle dreaming, and
taste for the positive slowly grew up and took
the place Of love for the speculative; and
this great nineteenth century is once again
Hippocratean in its method Of search for the
hidden truths in nature
The lecturer closed by urging upon the stu
dents TO take as their motto observation OF
nature, the only source of unrevealed truth
20 believe nothing but proven facts; TO avoid
speculation TO wed themselves to 10 system
of belief, and finally to be perfect sceptits in
science, as perfect believers il religion.
Prof Waring has good delivery and many
advantages ss a lecturer He was warmly con-
graduated at the close Of the lecture by several
eminent members Of the faculty present.
THR BOARD OF ALDERMEN met, and was
called to order at the usual hour, last evening.
A ccmmu nieation was received from the
Mayor announcing his approval OF recent acts
of the two Boards laid on the table
Also, one transmitting the bank account;
referred.
Also, one in reply 20 resolution Of inquiry;
referred.
Mr.. Busey Introduced bill extending the
time for the return Of the lists Of registered
voters for the present year; passed.
Mr.. Riggs, from the finance committee, re-
ported a bill making an APPROXIMATION for GER