The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-10-05

OPENING OF THE MEDICAL tOLIFGE-DR.
CULLES's LECTuRE.-The first lecture Of the
present course at the Medical College of
Virginia was delivered bv DR.. !. :. D.
Cullen. in the chemical hail. last night.
After extending TO the students a cordial
welcome to the college halls he congratu-
lated them upon the choice of profession
which, although it does not present the
dazzling allurements of wealth and ease.
afforded i fair prospect Of that honorable
fame attendant upon energy and perse-
verance. The shrine at which the physician
worships is not that Of 4 sensation of a dav.
tt is not one Of the dark and occult sciences.
performing its miracles and working its
cures by the aid Of divinati0n or weird in
cantation. 1t is not of the specous q iSns'
and pathies 80 rife with the present
generation. But it is one Of the noblest and
most time-honored professions upon the
globe-one that has existed in every age and
in every cline, and been appealed to Fhv
saint, by savage, or by sage" It's earliest
history, though lost in the depths Of IN un-
recorded antiquity, is sufficiently known to
Justify us in believing that it was cocval
with man and cnntcmporaneous with the
period Of his existence, when his
"DisobcGlence and the fruit Of that forbidden trcc
Brought death Into the world. and all our prO.''
j
Of the history Of medicine. noting in brief
the leading discoveries. and contrasting TIE
science Is it is now with its state in ancient
times. DWELLING lightly here, he next
sketched the profession as it is at this day.
He showed how, within the memory of
men still living. by the single discovery Of
vaccination, the terrible disease Of smallpox
has lost its power; how. by the nse of the
precautionary means employed through the
sanitary branch Of medicine cholera has
lost its virulence, and hygiene has deprived
it Of the pabulum Of existence how deadly
miasmas have. by the wonderful and spaci-
tic effects of cinchOna and its salts. been mo-
diied and controlled: and sketched the
beneficial results of the discovery Of the
StethoScope and ita great principles. The
discovery or anT>thetics. the microscope,
the endoscopo. the opthalmnscopc. and the
sphymograph. were also touched upon and
their uses indicated.
To appreciate the entire change Of front
which medicine has made in our day in the
management of diseases. one has only to
read the literature Of thirty wears ago and
contrast it with that now issuing from the
press. The conclusions drawn By Such an
examination must he based upon statistical
data in regard to the reldtire trtdhty Of
diseases and the duration of their treatment
then and NOR. Under the new system We
can prove that human life has increased
q per cent, and that diseases formerly con-
siGered necessarily fatal are now ilv s1th-
ducd and rcmcdiable. The statistics of Pa
riSian and other hospitals show that fifty
years ago one patient in sercn died; now,
only one in thirteen. The average duration
of treatment was then thirtv-nne days.
now it is only fourteen. The fatality in Oh
stctrical practice was, in the last century.
one in .fO1ty-now it is one in t,rO huudrcd
and ffty. The conservatism Of surgery i
exhibited In the statement Of Gain Of
thirty-tiv per cent in the saving of life. and
operations like oyanotomy. then considered
almost unjustiliablc. are now performed a>
frequently and safely Is any other Of the
capital operations. Again, the knife is not
so ruthlcSSiy used, and reScctionS have sub
stituted amDutation in numbcrlrSS cases.
After further consideration Of the progress
Of medical science the lecturer discussed the
alleged uncertainty of the physicians art.
claiming that doctors differ not more than
other professional men. The concluding
part Of the address was more particularly to
the students. and referred to the chair Of
medicine. filled by Professor Cullen-' the
diseases Of women and chldren.' lie spoke
Mt length Of the interesting character of this
subject. and the Importance Of making II n
special study, and concluded with q glowing
Gnd chivalrous tribute to woman, citing the
words Of Schiller