, 1873-09-14
THE BRITISH MEDICAL LION.
Meeting Of the British Medical
Association.
Sir William Furgusson's Address on
the Wator~supply Of
London,
Cholera and Typhoid Fever as Results
Of Polluted Water.

Celebrities in the Medical World---The
Woman-in-Medioine Question.
Correspondence af Ths Chicago Tribune.
80 NonFoLx BQuAnE, LONDON, Aug. TO- 1873.
TIE BRITISH MEDICAL LION.
hnvo seon him In all hts glory, and vory
noblo bea3t he is, aud worry kind withal, except
TO An unfortunate woman now anu then, who
has boon caton up" In her attenpt to entor
his don. Knowing that this view Of tho medical
Dritou waB ono to which q safe distance lonfla
ouchantmcnt, 1.-Two to tell the story Of how ho
looks, acts, and thnks,-claiming tho distance
aa m cxc,ise for all errorB.
TIE uu1rIsu MEDICAL AaBoo1AT1oN
has just concluded its forty-flrst annual mcot-
ing. This is tho second tmo only that It has
mot in the City Of London, aud 1t WE d succcss
beyond all previous nucccsaus. It was not only
tho largest meoting OF tho Association that has
ever been held, but tho largest over held BY tho
medical profession. Tho fret London seaBion
wna held elovon yonrn ago, when tho old nalno OK
tho Association. " Provincial" was changad to
tho prcuont namo, " British" Up to this time
tl,cro was 4 lack Of genial community Of fcoling
botwoon town and country, aud tho metropolitan
physician took upon himsoif certatn airs Of
superiority. In the meantime, tho country
practitioners quietly asserted for themselves
professional status which tho ety-dignstarics
hAvo beon forced to acknowledge, and tho result
il tho union of the Provincial and Motro-
politan Associations under tho common
name, British. This, I take 1t, has moro
than q professional Significance. Americans
who Bpond thoir ti1no in London hotols havo no
idoa of the great distance OF tho Metropolis from
the Provinces. It cannot be computed in miles,
for fow hours rido will tako QUO to tho limits
Of tho Kingdom. Tho distance is ono Of educa-
ton aud culture. It is scarcely too forcble to
Bay that the distance is tho difference betweon
CIVILIZATION AND BAnnAn1sM.
It is tho boast Of metropolitan civilization that
It can measure its e1clusiyenosa by tho atrocious
barbarisms of Lancashire, Yorkshire, otc., whose
rank growth encroaoh upon the very border Of
that civilization. London, hoary With age, rich
With gold, ripo with culture, must DO wanting In
morale not to feel ashamed that thero is an un-
educated person within tho email circle Of ler
Provinces.
To return to the union Of the metropolitan
nnd Provincial bodies Of medicine. It argues we'll
for tho improvement OF the moral timbre Of
modern civilization, on,-England being tho &C.
knowledgod centre. No class OF men, clorgymen
not excepted, havo greater moral power At their
command than physicians. by moral power,
do not mean this or that religion, or profession
Of faith, but that power which does for man.
kind what tho light, boat, and aotinism OF tho
sun do for nature. The scientific mon Of d
community OF nation must always nfroct tho tono
Of tho morale Of that community or nation;
hence tho Significance Of their movements,
Modern medicine ernbodioa
TIE MOST ADVANCED op1N1oNa
Of modern science; hence, when " tho largest
asB6ciation Of medical men eyor voluntarily
banded together" declare there shnn bo noither
country nor city in thoir kingdom, there in hope
for tho "Educasion Act" and it's logical rosults,-
tho grating Of Metropolitan culture upon tho
wild growth Of tho Province, and tho civilization
Of England's domontio barbarian.
Aud must add that, while this barbarian lives,
and in Soma einatances clmbs into thopulpit Of tho
Established Church and to scat III Parliament,
numbering all the ha and RS in lis way, it ia
yory inconsistent in tho Saturday Reutc,o 10
speak Of
AMERICAN DARnAn1sMg.
It ia very ungratoful for it, 40 an organ of tho
English people, to wish that the great number
Of American travellers who are In Europe this
year lad remained at home. 1twould have bcon
fur moro appropriate for 1t to havo assumed tho
position of fond father welcoming home his
humorous family, whom ho could not support,
much less educate from country that had sup
piled them with both living aud learning. The
Objectionable American traveller doHcribed by the
Saturday Rcuieto is, in nino casea out Of ton, tue
British subject romode1ed, gratuitousy
educated, his hereditary empty pocket for tho
first timo filled, returning to his nativo land to
''Ahow or" It il but natural that ho should
want tho Queen to see how ho gets OH and
doubt not the moaoy 1e bringR baca is quite ac-
ceptablo to Her Majesty: Thu is digression,
tor which tho Saturday Rerie,c 10 responsible.
President Of the Association, Mr.. Alfred Baker,
and tho proaleut-olcct, Sir William Furgueson,
with 100 Of tho profession, attended, o choral sor-
vice ut ct. Paul's Cathedral: Tho principal fca-
turo Of tho service wna MondoIssohn's :" Hear
Ny Prayer" which took tho place OF tho anthem.
Tho influence Of tho music gavo ouo fine op-
portuuity OF seeing, tho lion lu roposo but, Ut
sight of lis cray hairs curionity toned itset into
yonorution. Upon moro than one gray-hoadod
oue could bo reAd the word
CONSERVATISM"
written as an illumination BY tho rich light OF
st. Paula Gcnle and windowa. Conservatism in
medicine ncnns. md my patients must die ao-
cordiug to rule rathar than live By innovation.
Doubtfoss Enylaud's gray haira saya England'a
peace. poli:ically, speakingi but tho e1treme
caution Of tho old lion sovorely ehafos tho spirit
Of tho young lion. The young mon Of England
complain that there ia no room for them; that
Gle places Of trust and honor aro given to gray
hairs: that youth Is crime and ago virtue.
board ono young Epglishman say he thought old y
men had no right to live; they should get out OF
The way, and maAo room for the young,--bo
obnoxious had Ills aoniora become to him
Whether good OF. evil in It's results, It Is truo
that here old sgo is always a, authority, aud in
surprised to find many gray hoada in tho British
Medical Association.
Tho first address, mas given by tho President
Br William FuFgusson. in the large hall Of King't
having delivered bis Yatedictorv. and baen elect