Nebraska advertiser. [volume] (Brownville, Nemaha County, N.T. [Neb.]) 1856-1882, 1862-08-23
lFOr the Advertiser.l
Philosophy and History OF Ned
iClne.

iClne.
Mr., Editor CO. auenl with The ehigh
est wants Of Tie medical science. thu
latest law 81 s University in Franc,
has renf q0isitlon that more
Frof na ulla q literature and philos
ophy kaald preoade the study Of sciences
ia ord to open the way and habituatt
e miad 70 search into the great problem,
Of science, and to perfect in US the power
Of dpprehending, in objects, the qualities
and aspects which remain Yeiled to The
medical science, because they are not il
its sphere, and properly belong to mere
philosophy. Such a Knowledge is SC
necessary for a professional man, that the
American Medical Associalion-our Ma.
tiOnal Medical Congress-in It's thirteen
th annual session, in New Haven, Conn,
on the 5th, 9th and 9TH, has recognized
its necessity. ior
"ResOEOed, Thatitbe hereafter regard
ed as an indispensable prerequisite to en-
rollment as a student of medicine in the
Office Of any regular physician, that the
party shall be at least seventeen years of
age, of good moral character and habits,
and shall have received a good, English,
classical and mathematical education, and
be able to read and translate the Latin
language, and an elementary knowledge
of Greek. so far, at least, as to be able
to TRACE the derivations from it to the Eng
lish language.
ResOIved, That this same requisite be
made indispensable before matriculation
in any regular medical college, and the
preceptor of such candidate for enroll
ment, be required 10 asceriain such qual-
scution BY actual examination and certify
thereto"
/ publish this for the benefit Of those
who have applied to me for such enroll
ment in my Office, / can admit them only
on the condition that they have the pre-
requisite mentioned by the American
Medical Association Without this pre-
requisite they cannot understand medi-
cal book worth reading, and, of course,
cannot honestly and conscientiously prac-
tice medicine. The gentlemen to whom
1 allude do not live in this vicinity, and l
choose to answer their request through
the columns of your paper, as, in this way,
this may also be Of some benefit 20 others.
In my opinion, besides the pre-requi-
site mentioned by the American Medical
Association, knowledge of philosophy is
also necessary, as 1 first observed and will
endeavor briefly to explain. Now, to
vivify the corse of history to give it
soul; to impart meaning and a connec-
tion to this arid chronology; to confer
speech and language to epochs already
gone by and silent; finally to carry into
the mysterious depths of medicine the
only light that can guide, it is indlspensa-
BILE TO cultivate in US the philosophical
facultyy for, no one ignores that any true
SCIENCE, whatever it may be, is necessari-
ly metaphysical theories are but the
metaphysics of sciences; without this
condition, they should cease to form
science. Good or bad, theories are always
the reason, more or less profound, more
or less extensive. of facts; there is not
one which does not contain some frag-
ment Of truth each of our medical Pc
RODS has its philosophy which character
ICES it, Which comments it, which prepos-
ses it. The present times has also its
own, which the Gazette Medicale, of
Paris, seeks to characterize in France,
and American medical periodicals seek
to characterize among US. A mere his
torlca glance cast upon medicine phevs
it subordinate, in its developements, 70 the
philosophical wave, whether i scars up
10 the nights cf speculaticns OF plunges
into the researches of particulars, 1t al
ways otficlates under the dominion Of
philosophical ideas; even those who en-
deavor TO elude their influence, are bro't
under the yoke nolens vOlens, willing or
unwilling. Thus, among the boldest con-
ceptions of physicians and the general
movement of the ideas of their time,
there is an intimate band, a solidity
which it is impossible to ignore or disown.
But to appreciate them according to their
Just value, we must be animated with the
spirit which has produced those concep.
tions, we must be inspired with those
IDEAS, of which our medical theories are
bat the reflection. Do you wish to know
| The condition Of medicine in country.
the spirit by which 1t is animated, its
characters, its tendencies, take view Of
the physicians of that country. Now,
there are no prospects of information
more luminous than those taken from the
reiening philosophy; survey the annals