New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-05-14
PROGRESS OF MEDICAL SCIEA
~.-.. GERNANY.
BERLIN, April 5, 1860.
The N. Y. TnbsDe.

a whole they say there is no other that stands
nearly upon the same hight From my constant
intercourse with medical men and students dunng
The last ten years, coming here from all nations ana
eat of all the principal Universities OF Europe,
ipcLpe to think that the Berners are not alone 10
their opinions. The division Of labor Is such that
men can devote their lives 70 some single sueJec'
Of investigation and this they do throwing all olo
fA.or;es IN the winds and admitting nothing az true
,-h;eh IL not based upon actual observation Inc
.,.tsm of most thorough, searching examinations
e xb;cb every candidate for admission into any OF
AZ the professions must pass through some three OF
fopr (pot even an apothecsry being allowed 70 oPe"
. shep who cannot pass severe cross-exaniila'ion
=, Committee appointed by Government)' forces
.,,ry pbysjci,p 10 SECURE very eItensVe 'nro'
,ctiesI ard "book" knowledge at least OF nis pro-
kssi.p. The exact registry, also, wsic1 10 na"o
%sv.T, s,uo.nt. his pr ,gre,s, hrs general cbaric-
te, "A man of intellect and SKILL, and Judg neot,
ensb,es Il @ Ministry, 10 whose hands are all 'he
.nnoi,tmens 10 the Universities, 10 select tbe brst
vrn tbr. uphout Prussia-indeed one may almost
NV throughout GerDaDy-tO oil sny vacancies
vieh occur in the faculties Of any OF the great IN
stitut,ops Of learning.
ne mart of the Government to make 1t so.
Wlether its ra1k 10 the practice De as tlgb as 10
the theory Of me icne and surgery. 10 pc Mt upon
which / will not undertake to decide; but where
grester Operators than LaDgenbeck and GrsePe are
n be- found is question bard TO answer.
The tsct H. medic,l study aud Investigation bere
have escaped from the trammes Of the schools and
scou,red aD American freedom. The jurlsts and
tAe tbeolopinns are still digging in the soil OF the
nat. and sbs LiDeteen,h century must In Germany
f;e on the bed Of the sixteenth. But the student Ut
medicine here snaps bs bDgers at the past aod puts
H., questions 10 the subject of to-day, TO the dis
cases now IN the hospitals, ana not 10 tne "fiIels
Of I'D W"fm eaten fon"s.
The character If tie studies Of the present Ber
lin Medical Faculty is due b, the influence of the
Instructions ano examples OF Johannes Muller,
vhose death took pl zee one year ago, Apnl ~.
Miller may be said to be the fret who devoted
himself tn the Improvement OF mediclbe-haVng
frat mid a foundation for his labors IN vast aud
an embracog study Of the literature Of the science,
combined with closest study Of the animal ki1g-
Som from man dowbwnrd-by emsncipatng him
srlf from all old theories and assuming as he
fundamental principle that medicine ia n science
svkiect 10 laws as distinct and decided as those
Which undeTlio chemistry or PHYSICS lie was
sort Of practical Lord Bacon Ia the medical world
Miller NAV be- considered the man who gave the
Impulse under which medicine b's come tO be- con-
adhered ss in fact one oi the natural sceoces IL
n grest glory of Germany, especially North Ger
nav that the success Of n sceotifc man ar artist
does not d, pend upon birth or station. Raucb, the
,cslptOr was an instance IN art; Muller was
aaotbe, in science.
He va, the Son Of poor shoemaker Of the small
CITY Of Coblen'z, Cd the RhiDt-in Europe very
low oripin-and wa. born July IA, 1901. Like
Cuv,r who wns born not 'ar from the Rhine 10
Al.sse at that time German territory, Muller, 10
The ,ci Ools aud the gymnasium, to winch b" 'ether
aud sft.rwnrd bis SHOWED mother sent hun, with
great difficulty obtaining the pecaniHry meats tor
this, lad in view theology. lie was AZ that time
dealt. ed to b. come Catholic priest. 10 the Au.
tump of 1919 be went down the Rhine some 80
n,,les. AMI entered ,he University at Bonn. But
daring toe Years that the youth rad been passing
through the d,y, barren class-s OF jesuit school,
wkose methods Of instruction had known little
cha. ne snce it was established N the middle ages,
he had pouristed hs mind IN his leisure hours with
A.. 6,.r.,ure Of tn. dn,, especially Gocth., then
In his m,st productive years nn0 with collecting
And s,uiyipp plants aud ANIMALS du'ug hue walks.
Tss idea o, the priesthood bad bec"me DISAGREE
abb be- had doubts; the old scholastic theology
seemed to HIM but busks. After three dsys OF In
Asrision and w-igbii the matter be said 10 h
t;,nd suddenly: =. ] have decided; will stajy
smeccinr; l shall ut any rate, knew what have,
(" md whom serve" So the church lost him, a.
IL formerly ,o.t Buerbsave and Culver.
Muller took his degree i'll lo22, being then u
yssrs u age. just then philosophy vas the fash
Sn. Everybody was philosophical. " Through
"Schei pgs Nstu'-philYsophlr, everybody had
"learped 10 trace back I'll phen ,mena TO the idea
"cfthe absvlo'e" In Germany, at least, medical
science seemed htely 90 degenerate into pseudo
philosophical oobsense. Muller had by nature. and
espec'ally by his education, strong tendency IN
the same direction, his dissertation written f'r
kis degree sboas Fortunately at this time he had
h, c.n,e to Berlin 10 finish his studies and pass his
State examination. Here the t~o men ~ho had
the greatest influence upon bin by toeir lectures
as Goetke aud Humbaldt by their writing '-were
Hepel, the Philosopher and Rudolph, the srea,
physoloei.t. " Rudolph" said he, at later Pc
Tiod, vas, in HE tendencies, mainly anatomlch
and sk~ptical." This maps influence made Null
ler. He went back ~ Bonn another man, sod, IN
the 18th Of October, ic24, became . al rvat
Dccept"-a sort If tutor-in the University there.
Even at the r,sk OF making tbis letter too long,
must translate few lines from Nirch0ws admlr-
able ~ul"gy:
Here IN his public lectures. he avowed his new
creed. He spoke upon the necessity If system of
spLysiology founded upon severe philosophical OBJ
's~rvation of nature He proved that neither the
myihic nor the mystic treating OF the subject, nor
the false uaturphosophe, nor the raonahstic, nor
the idea physiology was the right"
With AgsssIz IN mind, read the following, which
Vircbow quotes from one OF Muller's wsrks:
"The study Of nature has itself, u sort of rehg-
ieus element mean by this il has It's forms Of wor-
ship. I think we may say il has is imperishabe
Priesthood. There Ia an experience which
has its basis in ideas alone; and from our
experiences again spring immediately ideas, be-
cause these act like the institutions Of an e.
tabtshed form Of worship. This modest, simple
viewing Of nature which is in its forced TO
perceive in all thin e only the real and in their phe
nonbs only the true, II the seHsc OF the naturalist
and especially of the phys'oogisi. Let such spirit
observe or experience what he may, he finds
eh.n ths ohe.t offers 10 the senses and