Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1866-02-23

lime and ascertains them to be phosphoric
acid and lime. The phosphOric acid, it still
further dec0mposes, and finds it 10 be the
result of auniOn between two parts of phOs-
phorus and fine parts of oxygen. These
two simple elements, it is again ascertained,
must unite in definite proportions in order
to constitute phosphoric acid, and what is
true in this instance, is also true of every
substance throughout the whole range Of
chemical affinity, whose elements unite in
definite proportions. Chemistry, therefore,
IS essential to the anatomist, as it enables
him to become acquainted with those con
stitueats of the body that cannot be recog-
nized by their form and texture.
Scarcely second in Importance to chemis-
try, in anatomical and physiological inves-
legations. has become the Microscope. Says
a distinguished anatOmist of our own cOun-
try: .EThe intimate recesses of the animal
system formerly were TO the students Of
anatomy what the interior of Africa long
ago was to ge~ographers. Now what have
We come to in our own day? In the first
place the minute structure of all the organs
has been. made out in the most satisfactory
way. The special arrangements OF tine
vessels and the ducts of all the glands, Of
the air tubes and y~esicles of the lungs, Of
the parts which make up the skin and other
membranes, all the details of those complex
-parenchymatous organs which had con-
founded investigation so long, have been
lifted out of the invisible into
the sight of all Observers" He
further adds; "But the great triumph
ofthe microscope as applied to anatomy
has been in the resolution of organs and the
tissues into their simple constituent anatom-
zeal elements. II has, taken up general
anatomy where Bicbat left it. lie had sue
ceeded in reducing the structural language
of nature to syllables. The microscopic
observers who have come after him have
analysed these into letters, as we may call
them,-the simple dement's by the combi-
nation of which Nature SPELLS out successive
ly tissues, which are her syllables, or
CANS which are her words, systems which
are her chapters, and so goes on from the
simple to the complex, until she
binds up in one living whole that
Wondrous volume Of power ana Wis
dom which we call the human body
affords me peculiargratifeation to here tes-
tify to the ability and skill with which
chemistry and the use of the microscope
are taught in "Charity Hospital MedI-
cal College" 1t is one Of the many con
vineing proofs furnished by this institution
that those who have it in charge arc keehly
alive to the best interests of its pupils, and
to the welfare of the profession at large.
PATHOLOGICAL INQUIRY.
After having devoted himself to the
purely elementary departments, a suffi.
cient length of time to comprehend them
in part and in whole, the student finds
himself placed upon the margin ri
Uuter works OF a still broader field
of research, viz the contemplation of NOR.
bid phenomena. Heretofore, he has beer
engaged in a study of the normal or healthy
conditions and relations o. the structure
and functions. No0, he seeks by the lighi
which his previous study has afforded him
to familiariEe himself with all those deUia.
tioas or abnormal conditions of structure
and function 70 which the hufian Body niay
be subject. Need l say that here is an al.
most illimitable field! Who can hope sue.
ces5fulIy to enter it and comprehend iti
vastnese, to traverse it systematically
that had no knowledge respecting
the narrow windings that alone can leao
him through lite l~abYrinthian depths? J
answer in positive terms, and most lnequiv.
oeaily, 10 ore, unless he has previously sup.
piled himself with the touch of science
Pathology of course, is ignored by charla
tanism for the reason thatthe latter attache;
no importance to those scientific bases, with.
out which there can be no pathology. From
the stand point of the intelligent pathOlu.
gist, how does charlatanism appear? 1t ii
viewed as a myth, in his estimation
and never raises itself up to the standard
even, Of his contempt;
Pathology begins at that point where
there is a deviation from health
1t is here where the student find
merttG anatomy and Hsoroid physiology unit
ing to furnish a new field Of research and
zl.--z T-IooI oTr,o
ceivable form of deviation, as compared
with the healthy structures and functions
there conffonts him. Here is labor for &
life time. Anatomy, physiology, chemistry
snd the microscope are all in daily requisi.
ten, and f~ruitless would be his efforts il
this almost boundless field If research were
he deprived of them. The reason why path.
ology rs a branch Of medical science wai
unknown TO the physicians Of the early
periods, will readily appear from the fol
lowing historical allusion TO their ideas o.
bratomy:
''The liver was considered, from time i'm
memorial, as the organ of the circulation
of the blood. 1t was supposed that the
veins took their origin in this organ, and
hat they were the sole order of vessels that
contained blood. The arteries were sup
posed to contain in their normal state, vi
! Ldl bDlItlS O0lYt VI WHICH tut uGdII WAS Aht
great reservoir" Again, we are informed
that, "Hippocrates and his successors had
no precise notion of the nervous system
they comprehended under the term he50ra
nerves, tendons, ligaments, membranes,
and true nerves. aristotle was but little in
advance of his predecessors in this matter ;
he regarded the brain as an inert mass,
without sensation, and supposed that tho
nerves originated in the heart.
The rays Of scientific light shone too
dimly in those early periods, to admit of the
existence of pathology. Such continued to
be the case from the time of Hippocrates to
the beginning of the sixteenth century
The absurd notions entertained in regard to
the mechanism of the body, in those early
periods Of medical history, explain why it
was that the pathology, diagnosis and treat
ment of disease, were so little understood.
We're the history of modern charla-
tanism, in any phase, to be written at
the present time, l doubt whether as much
even. could be said in behalf OF
its claims upon science as wo End recorded
in support OF the merits OF the empires OF
the middle ages. In the latter instance,
candor cOmpels US to be charitable. The
physicians of the earlier periods sought
light and acted in accordance with what
they possessed. The charlatan of our own
time, of whatever "pathy" or "ism," that
may be embraced in the general catalogue,
as rule, resists light rather than seeks it.
He well knows the tendency of light, of
knowledge, is to dissipate the fog that sur =
rounds him and his followers.
1t is admitted on all hands, that prior to
the sixteenth century, universal darkness
prevailed in regard to the anatomy and
physiology of the body, and consequently,
pathology was without foundation. As pa
thology is the foundation of correct diagno-
sis and treatment, it follows of course, that
the men of those earlier times could only
speculate and indulge in wild faneies re
specting the cure of disease. To attempt the
study Of disease without first understanding
the body, would be like attempting to form
words without letters; to undertake the dag
nosis ofdisease, without a clear appreciation
of its pathology or nature, would be like at
tempting to construct sentences without
words. Letters, words and sentences com
bined, are not more essential in reading a
chapter, than are anatomy, physiology and
pathology combined in the diagnosis, or
Of a disease IN the human body.
AS the lamp of elementary science guides
US through the domain of pathological in
curry, so does the torch of the latter illu-
inmate all the highways and byways we
are compelled to traverse in diagnosis, the
KEY to successful practice, whether it be in
medicine or surgery.
DIAGNOSIS THE TRUE TEST.
Diagnosis Is the only true balance in
which to weigh the physician or surgeon.
is the practical test Of his attainments,
Judgment and skill. ALI ranches of science
learning that pertain to medicine, are
to, and unite in diagnosis. It is
l. - 1